Chapter 215 214. Carlisle: I want to coach bad boys...Legion!
Since the opponent cannot defend their four young talents, they should seize this point and magnify it infinitely, adjust the tactics, and give the four young talents better conditions for scoring.

Strengthening confrontation on the defensive end and speeding up the double-teaming and switching speeds are indeed for better defense, but the more important purpose is to make the opponent make offensive choices quickly, increase the opponent's error rate, and increase the number of counterattacks.

Bickerstaff's coaching style is different from that of mainstream coaches, which left Carlisle stunned.

The key is that these strategies all worked!
Carlisle's impression of Bickerstaff during his playing days - the opponent that teams in the top half of the playoffs in the 1980s and 1990s least wanted to face.

However, he did not pay special attention to the games of the team coached by Bickerstaff at that time. The Pacers team he coached was in a turbulent period in the past two years, and it was difficult for him to pay attention to other teams.

So he never really understood Bickerstaff's coaching style.

Tonight, he truly realized the impactful coaching style of Bickerstaff - unconventional and extreme!

This old man can be called the coach version of Ginobili. If he can't kill his opponent, he will stab himself to death.

No wonder he could only lead the team to the divisional finals and couldn't go any further.

Normally, a team that reaches the divisional finals would have fully entered the playoff rhythm and would be in its best form after two rounds of series. Bickerstaff's extreme coaching style is likely to kill him.

But Carlisle had to admit that he could not and did not dare to imagine the Bobcats' playing style tonight, and this low-probability event did happen, and the game was successful!
On the other hand, Sanders' views are similar to Carlisle's, but he does not have Carlisle's ease as a bystander. As an opponent, he just wants to curse.

How can that old man be so unstable when he is over 60? It really gives the opponent a headache!

Unfortunately, this old guy was lucky, and he won the best coach award for his coaching style.

And for Sanders, who had the best chance of winning the best coach award in the 03-04 season, his award was snatched away by Hubie Brown, who had nothing better to do and returned to coach for two years. When it comes to luck, comparing yourself with others is really frustrating.

After some complaints, Sanders began to make adjustments.

In the first half, he called for a 20-second timeout, but did not make any major adjustments. When he called the timeout, he was preparing to adjust his strategy and go hard on the opponent's offense, but he gave up after calling the timeout and just emphasized defense as an attempt to interrupt the opponent's rhythm.

Because the Bobcats had already launched their offense when they were least prepared.

In G1, they had already seen the ability of the four core players of the Bobcats to seize scoring opportunities. They scored 21 points in the first half of the quarter. That night, it was Sanders who induced the opponent to fight against the star. He was prepared for defense, but still conceded 21 points in the first half of the quarter.

And tonight, the Bobcats took the initiative to fight against their stars and specially formulated tactics. If the Pistons reduce their defensive investment and strengthen their offense, the Bobcats' offense may take off directly at the beginning.

Sanders can only hold on for a while and wait to enter the rotation.

...

After the official timeout, both teams made lineup adjustments.

The Bobcats sent out a combination of Jarrett Jack, Rondo, Gerald Wallace, Jumaine Jones and Okafor.

The Pistons sent out a combination of Billups, Hamilton, Delfino, Webber and Rasheed Wallace.

The Pistons adopted a style of play in which Billups and Webber were the tactical core, Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace were responsible for long shots, and Delfino cut into the basket to attack.

The Bobcats continue to compete with the individual abilities of their players. When Jarrett Jack plays one-on-one, the others are ready to retreat and prevent counterattacks at any time. When Gerald Wallace or Okafor plays one-on-one, Rondo finds a position to receive and assist. Jarrett Jack and Jumaine Jones only need to find open opportunities to receive the ball, without having to consider whether there is space to pass the ball with the two frontcourt players, because Rondo is there.

With this lineup, the Pistons had stronger offensive firepower than the Bobcats, and they scored 4 to 12 in more than 9 minutes. When the Bobcats called a timeout, the Pistons chased the score to 22 to 26, narrowing the gap to 4 points.

After the timeout, the Bobcats sent out a combination of Felton, Rondo, Zhang Yang, Millsap and Muhammad. Felton came on and took advantage of Millsap's screen to take a step, turn around and hit a three-pointer.

Looking back, Rasheed Wallace received a pass from Webber on the left sideline and passed it toward the top of the arc.

Hamilton ran away from Rondo, caught the ball, turned around and shot a three-pointer... and it went in! 25 to 29, the Pistons kept the score close.

In the last attack of the first quarter, Zhang Yang faced the defense of Prince who was rotating in, and waved to Millsap for a pick-and-roll. When Prince took small steps and was ready to switch to the pick-and-roll, Zhang Yang suddenly started, changed direction and broke through from the left to enter the three-point line!
Prince had excellent defensive awareness and did not completely lose his position. He blocked the middle road, forcing Zhang Yang to go down the left side.

He followed Zhang Yang's footsteps and retreated to the inside, then reached out to interfere when Zhang Yang jumped for a layup... defensive error!

Zhang Yang switched the ball to his left hand in the air. Prince subconsciously pressed forward, but failed to stop Zhang Yang from throwing the ball and even committed a foul!

With the referee's whistle, Zhang Yang made a layup and the referee indicated that the goal was valid. Prince fouled Zhang Yang on the shot.

2+1!

Sanders was already standing on the sidelines, with his arms folded across his chest as he watched Zhang Yang walk to the free throw line.

Bad boy Jack's awareness of scoring opportunities and his courage to strike decisively when the opportunity comes are both great.

What is a genius? This is it!

Some people, with an ability of 90 points, may only be able to show 85 points in the game. When faced with an important game, under pressure, they may only perform 80 points or even worse. There are many such players in the NBA.

But some people are not afraid of pressure, have good awareness, high basketball IQ and great courage. In important games, they can perform at 85 points with an ability of 90 points, giving their opponents a 95-point sense of pressure. Such players are rare even in the NBA.

Bad boy Jack is the latter!
Watching Zhang Yang score the free throw, Sanders tried hard to control his emotions. It was about to be the intermission, and he couldn't let his players feel that he was under a lot of pressure. He had to maintain a calm, composed and wise image.

As Billups rushed to the frontcourt and missed the buzzer-beating three-pointer, the score was 32 to 25 at the end of the first quarter, and the Bobcats continued to maintain a 7-point lead!
Sanders was extremely emotional because of Zhang Yang's 2+1 in the final moments, and Carlisle was also very emotional in the audience.

He had the idea of ​​joining the Bobcats, mainly because of Jordan's face and the Bobcats' good lineup, but his personal desire was not very strong.

But when he saw Zhang Yang score 2+1 against Prince's defense...this genius, he wanted to coach!

...

费尔顿5投3中、其中三分球2中2拿到8分；张杨6投3中，加上3中3的罚球拿到9分；隆多2分、奥卡福6分、杰拉德-华莱士5分、贾莱特-杰克2分。

The Bobcats scored more concentratedly tonight than in G1!

However, the defensive intensity has gradually increased. In the second half of the first quarter, the Bobcats only scored 4 points in more than 9 minutes. It was thanks to Felton and Zhang Yang's singles that the half-quarter score was increased to 15 points, tying the Pistons who had increased their offensive firepower. Bickerstaff concluded that it would be difficult for multiple stars to open up like in the first quarter.

His adjustment was very simple...

After the intermission, the Bobcats sent out a combination of Rondo, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Millsap and Muhammad.

Rondo is the main point guard. If there is an opportunity to break through and score, he will break through. If not, he will pass the ball to Zhang Yang from the outside for one-on-one shots. Alan Anderson is responsible for receiving three-pointers, cutting in and counterattacks, while Millsap and Muhammad are responsible for rushing and scoring.

Defend with all your strength!

So Bickerstaff's coaching style becomes more and more difficult as time goes by. Sanders fully anticipated his adaptability this time and just needs to analyze it based on the idea of ​​how extreme it is.

However, knowing how the Bobcats were going to play, Sanders had no good way to respond and could only fight along.

Without Ben Wallace, the Pistons lost their mid-range sweeping defense, and their wing blocking ability also declined significantly. They can no longer strangle Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace like they did in last season's playoffs!
Zhang Yang scored 8 points in the first half and led the team to 12 points.

In the second half, Bickerstaff sent out a combination of Felton, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace, Okafor and Perkins. Gerald Wallace also scored 8 points in the half and led the team to 11 points.

For the Pistons, Hamilton played the entire quarter and scored 9 points, Billups scored 4 points, Rasheed Wallace scored 4 points, Webber, Prince and McDyess each scored 2 points. Despite the Bobcats' defense, they only scored 23 points.

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats maintained a 7-point lead, with a halftime score of 55 to 48! After the halftime break, in the third quarter, the Bobcats' playing philosophy was the same as in the second quarter, but the details were different, from taking turns to play for half a quarter to playing together.

张杨第三节打了10分钟，5投2中，加上5中4的罚球，拿到8分。

奥卡福打满整节，6投3中，加上6中4的罚球拿到10分。

With Felton and Perkins each scoring two points, the Bobcats scored 22 points in the third quarter. While maintaining their score, they also continued to limit the Pistons' scoring.

汉密尔顿7投3中，加上4中3的罚球拿到9分，比卢普斯拿到7分，拉希德-华莱士进了一个三分球，麦克戴斯补篮打成1次2+1，又只拿到23分。

After three quarters, the Bobcats led the Pistons by 77 points, 71 to 6. In the second and third quarters, they only allowed the opponent to narrow the gap by 1 point!
During the intermission, Sanders looked at the statistics of the two teams on the big screen.

山猫队那边，奥卡福三节16分、杰拉德-华莱士三节13分、费尔顿三节11分、张杨三节25分，全队77分里有65分是这4人拿到的，得分集中情况比上一场更严重，得分占比84%。

But so do their Pistons!
Hamilton scored 8 points in the first quarter, 9 points in the second quarter, and 9 points in the third quarter, a total of 26 points in three quarters, which was more than that bad boy.

Billups scored 18 points and Rasheed Wallace scored 12 points. Of the Pistons' 71 points, 56 were scored by these three guys. If Prince's 5 points are included, the ratio would be 61/71, which is even worse than the opponent's. They accounted for 86% of the points!

Sanders had this feeling in the first quarter, but was powerless to stop it.

They had a bad start and were trailing by 7 points at halftime. Without Ben Wallace, their defense was at best top-notch and they could no longer play the league's best defense like they did in the playoffs last season. Facing the onslaught of opposing stars, they had to ensure the success rate of their offense, and the best way was to give the ball to those three guys to shoot.

The game had already reached this point, and Sanders didn't feel upset. Who could have thought that the old man would resort to such a trick? He could only continue to arrange the tactics of defense + fighting against the star player, and fight with the opponent in the final quarter!

...

As for Bickerstaff, of course he will continue to rely on stars. Unlike Sanders who was forced to rely on stars, he relies on stars actively.

Who says Jeff Van Gundy's style of play is useless? It's just that the Rockets' lineup is not good. Look at them here. If they have more capable players, wouldn't this tactic work well?

Zhang Yang continued to play.

He played for less than 8 minutes in the first quarter, a little more than 6 minutes in the second quarter, and 10 minutes in the third quarter. He only played 24 minutes in the first three quarters. In addition, his defensive role was similar to that of McGrady after his serious injury. In most rounds, he was only responsible for defending Prince and Delfino, two players who had no ball-handling ability and only had a single scoring function. He was in good physical condition.

By arranging defensive roles and rotating the lineup, Bickerstaff created conditions for Zhang Yang to play the entire final quarter.

On the Pistons side, Hamilton, who played the entire first three quarters, also continued to play.

Hamilton makes the head coach much less worried than Zhang Yang in terms of physical energy distribution, and he doesn't have to think about it at all.

In the 05 Finals against the Spurs, Hamilton played an average of 42 minutes per game, the highest in the game. In the 04 Finals against the Lakers, he almost made Kobe vomit by running him, playing an average of 44.4 minutes per game, second only to Kobe's 46.2 minutes per game, ranking second in the game.

Given the running distance and defensive intensity tonight, Hamilton will have no problem playing the full game.

The intermission is over and the final quarter begins.

Zhang Yang and Hamilton continue to compete!
Hamilton ran frantically looking for a chance to catch the ball and shoot, and Zhang Yang seized the opportunity to play one-on-one.

Hamilton has Billups to take charge and share the pressure of singles, while Zhang Yang also has Okafor, Felton and Gerald Wallace to help him.

The confrontation and fierce attack in the previous quarter had an impact in the final quarter, and the scoring efficiency of the stars of both teams declined.

On the Pistons side, Rasheed Wallace was basically useless in the final quarter. Apart from defense, he could only receive three-pointers from the outside. He couldn't even run. He had to stand with his hands on his hips on the offensive end to recover his strength for defense.

Even Hamilton's shooting percentage dropped significantly in the final quarter. He played for more than 10 minutes and only scored 8 points with 3 of 6 shots.

Billups threw 4 three-pointers and only made 1, and he got 5 points by making both free throws after being fouled during a breakthrough layup.

With Rasheed Wallace's catch-and-shoot three-pointer, the Pistons scored 10 points in more than 14 minutes.

The situation was similar for the Bobcats. Zhang Yang played 8 singles and made 7 successful shots, 7 of 2. With 2 of 2 free throws, he only scored 6 points.

With Okafor's 4 points and Gerald Wallace's 10 points, the Bobcats scored 12 points in more than minutes.

With 10 minutes and 24 seconds left in the final quarter, the Pistons narrowed the gap to two points and chased the score to 85 to 89!

It was the Pistons' turn to attack again. There was not much time left. Billups didn't care and singled out Gerald Wallace, breaking through... stepping back and taking a long two-point shot... and made it!
At the critical moment, you can always trust the shooting of the civilian FMVP! 87 to 89, the score difference narrowed to two points!

When the offense and defense change and someone needs to step up to shoot the key ball, Zhang Yang will never fall behind. He falls to the elbow area on the right side of the three-second zone to receive the ball and back-up Billups.

Hamilton is thin and Prince is relatively slow, so at the critical moment, Billups took the initiative to assume the responsibility of defending Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang's back-to-the-basket moves were slow, but suddenly he sped up, as if he was going to turn around and shoot a jump shot. Billups quickly pressed forward... and he fell into the trap!

Zhang Yang pulled the ball and turned around with excellent rhythm, leaving Billups behind and rushing into the three-second zone, facing Rasheed Wallace's defense and making a shot... and it went in!
91 to 87, the Bobcats regained a 4-point lead!
The Pistons were on offense, and Gerald Wallace stuck very closely to Billups, preferring to let him break through rather than give him a three-pointer opportunity. With less than a minute left, the Crown Prince's defensive choice won unanimous praise from the commentators.

But Hamilton had an opportunity!

He led Felton around in a big circle, and finally made Felton unable to run, and went around to a 45-degree angle on the left.

Billups cooperated well with Hamilton, and as soon as Hamilton reached the 45-degree angle, he delivered the ball to the position.

Hamilton received the ball and turned around, facing Zhang Yang who was rushing up from the baseline, and took a three-point shot... and made it!
90 to 91, the difference narrowed to 1 point!
Bickerstaff did not call a timeout. Felton received the serve and moved forward firmly. After reaching the frontcourt, he signaled Zhang Yang to go to the low post. Rasheed Wallace focused his attention on Zhang Yang.

This junior has a very high basketball IQ and his physical strength has declined, making it insufficient for him to support long-distance breakthroughs. The distance of his back-to-the-basket shots has been shrinking little by little, and he has even reached the elbow area where inside players usually stay when doing back-to-the-basket shots.

Rasheed Wallace was distracted for a moment, and when he looked back... Okafor ran out!

He hurried to follow, but it was too late.

Felton used Okafor's screen to get rid of Hamilton and shot a three-pointer...and it went in!
Felton responded to Hamilton's three-pointer, widening the gap to 4 points again!
The Pistons called a timeout!

With only 26 seconds left, Sanders arranged a three-point shot and let Hamilton shoot.

Billups is better at three-point shooting, but when he plays against Gerald Wallace, he is good at breakthroughs but not three-pointers. The height difference is more than ten centimeters...

After the timeout, the Pistons took the ball from the frontcourt and attacked.

The Bobcats made a personnel adjustment, replacing Felton with Rondo to defend Hamilton... but he was still impossible to keep up with because he ran too fast.

However, when Hamilton circled twice and caught the ball, Zhang Yang blocked him!

Zhang Yang simply ignored Prince. It was a credit to him that the little prince made the shot.

But Hamilton didn't believe Prince's key shot, so he chose to do it himself, pulling sideways... He failed to get rid of Zhang Yang, and time was running out. He faced Zhang Yang and interfered with the three-pointer... It missed! Zhang Yang's interference was very effective!

After Zhang Yang interfered with the shot, he rushed straight to the front court... The bet was right! Rondo, who was thrown away in the elbow area, grabbed the defensive rebound!

Billups only reacted and tried to defend Rondo after seeing him grab the rebound... but it was too late!
Zhang Yang rushed to the frontcourt, received a long pass from Rondo, took two steps and made a jump shot...and it went in!
96 to 90, with 8 seconds left, the Bobcats are leading by 6 points and have secured the victory!

(End of this chapter)