The Whip of the God of Basketball

Riley, an old fox, felt that he was right. He saw O'Neal being targeted at the beginning of the first quarter, so he replaced O'Neal in the first half of the first quarter and replaced him with Alonzo Mourning.

Then, the Heat began to play at a slow pace, using Davis's personal ability to actively fight with Haslem at the basket, scoring continuously under the basket, and slowly closing the point difference.

Since the Suns did not have Stoudemire, their offense naturally became unstable. They rushed at the beginning and missed three shots after the timeout. The back and forth between the two sides was exhausting. By the middle of the first quarter, the score became 15 :11, the Suns lead the Heat by 4 points.

The Heat's offense was not much better. At this time, as Mourning made a foul while defending inside, Marion was sent to the free throw line. Both the Heat and the Suns began to make substitutions.

Riley replaced O'Neal again, and as expected, Leon replaced the Suns with a five-small lineup. This time he still used Brent Barry. Obviously Dudley's performance in the first two games did not satisfy him. He would rather use the thin and slow Barry than the young and strong Dudley.

Because the most critical thing for the five small lineups is offense. As long as the offense can be highly efficient, it doesn't matter if the defense is a little worse.

But when there is O'Neal on the opposite side and you still use the five small players, everything will be a bit troublesome. Boris Diaw, as the team's center, has to defend O'Neal.

After Marion made one of two free throws, it was the Heat's turn to attack. O'Neal, who had rested on the bench for a while, was full of energy and asked for the ball in his ribs. He spread his arms and thrust his butt, and Diaw disappeared completely. He was completely defeated by O'Neal. blocked.

After receiving the ball, O'Neal pushed back. Diaw wanted to take the stool away, but O'Neal was experienced and was not fooled at all. As soon as Diaw withdrew, he squeezed in and dunked hard with one arm! O'Neal hung on the rim for a moment, then took two dominating steps. He was almost the last dragon in the league.

The Suns, who switched to a smaller lineup, completely stretched their offensive formation. There was no one in the three-second zone, which made O'Neal uncomfortable. Diaw took the ball from the waist and pulled it out, all the way to the three-point line, and then Marion started from The wing cut into the basket, Diaw made a high pass, and Marion wanted an alley-oop.

But Haslem disagreed. He and Marion took off at the same time. The confrontation in the air caused Marion to be unable to complete the alley-oop. He just picked the ball, turned around and hooked again, but missed. O'Neal turned around and grabbed the backboard, and the Heat counterattacked.

It was still O'Neal. He cut in the middle during the counterattack and went directly to the basket to hold Diaw. White Chocolate made a through pass. O'Neal turned around and hit an easy hook, scoring 4 points in a row!

At 15:16, the point difference was narrowed to only 1 point by the Heat.

After that, the two sides exchanged offense and defense, and the Heat took advantage. At the end of the first quarter, the Heat led the Suns by 1 point, 31:30.

This makes Leon's small lineup seem a bit useless. For three consecutive games, as long as the small lineup is used, points will be lost. As long as Turiaf is used, the situation can be controlled. If it were another coach, he would have been defeated. He kept his mouth shut and switched back to his normal fighting style. But Leon obviously doesn't see it that way. He believes that players have not found the correct way to play when they are at a height disadvantage.

The sense of rhythm, self-confidence, and tacit understanding all need to be developed slowly. He firmly believed in his concepts and ideas, so for most of the second quarter, the Suns still used a small lineup. Nash stood up again and scored with his personal ability when the team needed it. This season, Nash has played more like Kobe, and fortunately, he is in really good shape.

At the end of the first half, the Suns were tied with the Heat at 59:59. Nash scored a team-high 15 points in the half, while his opponent Shaquille O'Neal scored 18 points, which made people feel It has a new look.

During halftime, Dan D'Antoni and other assistant coaches complained to Leon, why are they still using this small lineup with obvious holes? What is his power? Also, does it go against his style to continue to let Nash play like this?

Leon did not answer this directly. He just said, "I believe in my teammates. They will find the best feeling for playing this lineup."

In fact, Leon has given careful guidance in the recent training, including some tactical details. However, when the players actually get on the court to play, they will inevitably still play according to their old habits.

For example, sometimes too much ball passing, or hesitation in choosing breakthroughs or shots, and habitual issues in pick-and-rolls cannot be corrected in two or three sentences.

At present, the only player who has truly understood and implemented Leon's intentions is Steve Nash. He is turning himself into a killer who can score and assist, assigning part of the organization's tasks and allowing himself to be on the offensive end. More flexible and more aggressive. Others are still slowly adapting to the changes in their offensive roles in the five-small state.

In the locker room, Leon constantly emphasized that in a small lineup, he must be more flexible and changeable, take advantage of mismatch and space advantages, and exert his aggressiveness.

"Everyone has to be an attacker and attack proactively instead of waiting for Steve to feed you the ball!"

This is what Leon has said the most these days. The Suns players are used to being fed by Nash. As a result, the pressure on Nash's shoulders has increased dramatically in the playoffs. Once Nash cannot hold on, others will not be able to stand. come out.

At the same time, Diaw was scolded by Leon again. In the three games without Stoudemire, Diaw's performance as the main insider on the field was average, and he did not reach the level of the French magician in 2006. After the scolding, Diaw Ang thought for a while and adjusted the formation. Let Shawn Marion play the center position and Diaw move to the fourth position. The main activity area is from the waist and ribs to the top of the arc, further utilizing his passing ability and long-range shooting ability from the outside.

After making such adjustments, the Suns' offense became smoother in the second half because the players played more proactively and played by themselves when they could, reducing mistakes. Although not every attack works, the team is very active in offensive rebounds, creating more offensive opportunities.

As for the Heat, they still focus on the inside, using O'Neal to drive the team's offense. But O'Neal was older and his lack of physical strength began to show. He took too many shots in the first half, and in the second half, the person defending him became Marion. Although Marion still couldn't withstand O'Neal, O'Neal, whose physical strength declined, began to miss consecutive attacks.

Once they don't score, they will be counterattacked by the Suns. During the counterattack, Jascovicius's three-pointers came very quickly. He hit two consecutive fast-break three-pointers, opening the score immediately. . These were the only two three-pointers he hit in the entire game, but they were the two three-pointers that changed the situation.

At this time, because the Heat did not have Wade, it became difficult for them to chase points. Riley had to put O'Neal on the bench to rest more. Without O'Neal, the Heat's offensive system was in chaos and they became dependent on players. Personal ability and piecemeal dependence on small coordination. For an undersize power forward like Haslem, if he doesn't have the restraint of a super center inside, his role on the offensive end will be almost useless.

Once O'Neal goes off the court, the Suns have a pure five-small lineup, and the Heat play Mourning as the center. The Suns players will not easily break through. Instead, they will constantly use the pick-and-roll to find mismatch opportunities, and then launch from the baseline, corner and center. One-on-one attack. Mourning has no other role except to protect the backcourt rebounds. On the offensive end, the Suns' defensive rebounds were well protected in the second half, and the Heat had no chance.

Leon watched the Suns' performance from the sidelines, and the score was almost pulled away. He knew that the players were finally starting to feel better. As for the Heat, O'Neal was sweating profusely while sitting on the bench. He is 35 years old this year, his weight is still around 300 pounds, and there is a trend of further increase. He will never become the peak monster again. .

In the NBA, behemoths will grow old from generation to generation and be defeated by new behemoths, but now it seems that there will be no new real behemoths.