Chapter 300 299. Bad Boy VS Little Giant

When Rondo passed the ball to Hill, Mike Miller received instructions from Zhang Yang and ran back to the backcourt.

Retreating to the three-point line, blocking Yao Ming standing on the free throw line, Mike Miller looked across and made eye contact with Du Hong who was three-quarters of the way across the court... Du Hong had just received the serve!

Mike Miller: Is this guy really going to play like this? Luckily, my third brother reminded me!
Du Hong took a quick glance at the opposite side, then regretfully withdrew his gaze and steadily advanced under Rondo's full-court pressing defense.

The idea of ​​a long pass and fast break against zero was shattered, but it didn't matter... After Du Hong got to the frontcourt, he continued to pass the ball to Yao Ming who was blocking Okafor in the low post.

Yao Ming continued to force the ball, and facing the double-team of Okafor and Hill, he made a high shot and made a layup.

After scoring the goal, Yao Ming wanted to interfere with Okafor's serve and slow down the opponent's advancement, but Okafor did not serve the ball. He bypassed Yao Ming and ran to the frontcourt. Hill picked up the ball and quickly passed it to Rondo. Rondo advanced and Hill followed up with a fast break!

Yao Ming chased to the center circle and stopped, Rondo had already passed the ball...

Okafor cut in from the middle to contain the inside, Zhang Yang took away Sefolosha from the wing, Hill followed up to the top arc to receive the ball, passed it to the left, and Mike Miller made a three-pointer from the left sideline!
20 to 16, the Bobcats lead by 4 points!
When Skiles saw Rondo's two counterattacks, he exclaimed, "What a jerk."

He really didn't think that the Bobcats would use fast breaks to deal with Yao Ming's dominance under the basket.

Many fans say it is easy to use speed to consume the giant center, but in fact there are not many teams that can do it.

Every team has fast inside players, and there are more and more outside players who can shoot, but the number of teams that play fast cannot be counted on one hand, because under the current rules, the key to playing fast does not lie in these players, but in the player who pushes the ball forward.

In the 01-02 season, Kidd joined the Brooklyn Nets and led the team to launch a two-wing fast break that made the Eastern Conference teams unable to bear it. The media described him as a magician who was 5 inches shorter.

In the 04-05 season, Nash joined the Suns and set off a run-and-gun storm that amazed people.

Counterattack and 7-second offense are two ways to win games while running. Kidd and Nash have both demonstrated them. The media, fans, and various teams have studied their tactics thoroughly, but no team has been able to successfully replicate them.

The Warriors, led by Nelson himself, have All-Star point guard Baron Davis. The Warriors have been in a bad state for many years and their lineup is good enough to field two starting lineups, but their strength in running and gunning is just at the edge of the Western Conference playoffs. The biggest winner of the Warriors' black eight last season - Nash, the two MVPs have soared in value.

The Nuggets, led by George Karl, play another version of the run-and-gun style. The lineup depth is also very good, with scoring champion Allen Iverson as the point guard. The strength they have shown... is competing with the Warriors for the seventh and eighth positions in the Western Conference.

It doesn't mean that a fast ball-handler can lead the team to a good fast break.

TJ Ford of the Raptors is known as a sprinter-level athlete and is recognized as the fastest player in the NBA.

But when Ford launches a fast break, the defense only needs to block him. He runs at full speed and doesn't care about the wings, teammates and opponents behind him. Unless his teammates rush to the frontcourt faster than him, his fast break will just be a one-man counterattack. He has the fastest speed in the NBA. In a game, there may not be a single time when he plays a fast break and his teammates rush to the frontcourt before him.

On the contrary, players like Kidd and Andre Miller, who are not that fast, are very good at fast breaks.

With the current basketball rules, the key to promoting a fast break is to find teammates during long-distance full-speed movements, predict teammates' movements, determine the timing of passing the ball, and be able to pass the ball to the right place.

There are not many players like this in the entire NBA, and most of the players who are good at passing the ball in positional battles cannot pass the ball well when they are running.

Bobcats...Don't mention it, in Skiles' eyes there is really a player with such talent and ability - Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang's talent in advancing counterattacks has been praised by Nash and Kidd, but Zhang Yang did not take the route of a ball-handling core. At most, he could make a defensive counterattack after grabbing a rebound.

Tonight, Zhang Yang took a shot once every minute in the first half of the quarter. If he continued to push the fast break, he would definitely not be able to push the game forward.

Rondo entered Skiles' vision in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Pistons and Spurs both have good defenses. Rondo showed his positional passing ability, positional sneak scoring ability, and Ford-like counterattack scoring ability in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Finals. When leading the team to play defense and counterattack, he did not play as well as Zhang Yang.

So when the official timeout came, Skiles never thought that the opponent would play fast.

Skiles didn't expect that Rondo's fast break had improved so much in just a few months. There is definitely a gap compared to the top players, but it is enough to use it unexpectedly.

'Little Kidd' really has the look of Kidd!

Rondo: I am not very talented. I learned a little bit of martial arts from Mr. Nadal during the offseason.

Skiles resisted the urge to call a timeout, and his stubborn temper came out - let's see whether your little Kidd can make a fast break mid-range or long-range shot, or our little giant can make a low-post single shot! When Rondo passed the ball to Hill, Zhang Yang immediately turned around and ran to the backcourt to prevent the opponent from making a long pass to Yao Ming.

In the offense-defense transition, Yao Ming continued to play singles in the low post, one against two, stepped on the right sideline of the three-second zone, turned flexibly, and made a hook shot facing the baseline.

The Bobcats continue to play fast!
That is Okafor. Even though the opponent scored three goals over his head, he was still able to remain calm and launch a fast break as soon as possible.

Seeing Okafor bypass him and rush to the other side, Yao Ming simply stopped chasing and stayed in the front court, spreading his hands. Well... In this situation, what should you do if you want to pull the little giant? You can only enjoy it.

This time the Bulls retreated to 4 to defend 5... and they really defended!
Under the heavy pressure, the Bulls players responded very calmly, blocking the fast Rondo, closing the basket, and giving the Bobcats mid-range and long-range shooting opportunities.

Mike Miller took his second consecutive three-point shot, but missed... But!
Zhang Yang grabbed the offensive rebound at close range, took a step into the three-second zone, and made a layup on the second attack!

22 to 18, the Bobcats continue to maintain a 4-point lead!
Since Zhang Yang was only holding the team on the wing in the past two rounds and even retreated directly in the last round, when the ball was in the hands of Rondo, Hill and Mike Miller, the Bulls players completely ignored Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang adjusted his movement choices according to the opponent's defense. Joe Smith and Nocioni were squatting under the basket, and Okafor could not rush in and could not guarantee an offensive rebound. Zhang Yang naturally chose to sneak in quietly.

After Zhang Yang scored, Du Hong looked at the opposite side to see if Yao Ming was open, and saw that Okafor had retreated to the center line!

This tacit understanding, this positive awareness of doing the dirty and tiring work... Du Hong was as amazed as Hinrich at this moment.

Okafor and Zhang Yang are the strongest players inside and outside the Bobcats, the championship duo!
Seconds ago, the pressure was on the Bobcats players who were fighting back.

The pressure did not disappear, it only shifted. Now the pressure shifted to Yao Ming who was attacking in positional warfare.

Yao Ming continued to take on two opponents at once, and he turned around and hooked the ball along the right sideline of the three-second zone... but it missed!
Rondo overpowers Joe Smith to secure the defensive rebound!

However, this time Rondo was unable to start a fast break immediately as he was interfered by Joe Smith. When he changed direction to pass Joe Smith, Yao Ming had already run out of the free throw line. The Bulls' retreat and defense were well coordinated this time. Rondo's quick advance to create an offense-defense transition and the mismatched offense failed, and he fell into a positional battle.

Rondo directed his teammates to move and suddenly started a breakthrough!
Du Hong was caught off guard and was passed!

Du Hong: I am no longer the fastest guy in the field...

Yao Ming took a step up, Joe Smith moved to the elbow area, covering Rondo's attack on the basket, Okafor's wing receiving the ball and cutting in. Rondo passed the ball... Hill went around to the left side of the free throw line to receive the ball, and shot a mid-range shot before Duhon could defend and top his lower body...

Missed!

Rondo passed well and Hill shot well, but Hill's touch was seriously depleted when he was fighting Yao Ming!
Yao Ming turned around and pushed away Zhang Yang who was rushing to steal the ball, and took the defensive rebound.

During the offense-defense transition, Yao Ming felt very tired, but he still took the initiative to go to the low post and leaned on Okafor to ask for the ball.

They have played four rounds in a row and now is the fifth round... Not to mention a center like Yao Ming, it would be uncomfortable for a small guard like Zhang Yang to play singles for four or five rounds in a row. He has to slow down for at least one or two rounds in between to ensure his accuracy.

At this moment, Yao Ming missed the time before he lost weight. Last season, he weighed 145 kg at his heaviest. Facing most centers, he often had a weight advantage of 25+ kg. From the perspective of playing alone, it was still easier than it is now.

But it was only a momentary distraction. After receiving the ball, Yao Ming continued to focus on attacking!
The score difference is currently 4 points. The Bobcats want to widen the gap to 6 points, and the Bulls want to narrow it to 5 points. At the very least, they cannot allow the opponent to widen the gap to more than points. They are competing with each other.

As the 'newly appointed' star player, Yao Ming feels that this is his responsibility.

Hill double-teamed him again, leaving Okafor alone under the basket. Regardless of whether he could be defended or not, he looked so pitiful as there was a height difference of more than 20 centimeters between them.

After 5 attacks, Yao Ming was getting further and further away from the basket. This time he failed to score, but he was ready. When Hill stuck to him, he raised the ball and flicked it with his fingertips, and the ball flew accurately into Joe Smith's hands.

Joe Smith shot from the right side of the paint…

This ball was the key ball at the end of the first quarter. Joe Smith's psychological quality was still a little poor!

The direction of the throw was quite straight, but the force was too great!

The ball hit the inside of the basket and bounced out. Yao Ming had the advantage of taking on two people at once and was about to grab the rebound. Rondo jumped to the side of the three people, stretched out his long arms, and grabbed the ball first!
After Joe Smith missed the shot, he didn't bother to regret missing the open shot. He immediately blocked Rondo. But this time Rondo had help. He got the rebound and passed the ball immediately... Zhang Yang received the ball on the left side of the three-second zone, turned around, and counterattacked!
After resting for a few minutes, Zhang Yang recovered his strength and rushed all the way to the opposite inside. He used the European step, avoiding Du Hong's grab with the first step, and with the second step, he stepped in front of Sefrosa, stepped up on her face, and made a layup!
8投6中加上2中2的罚球，张杨单节得分提升到14分，帮助山猫队取得6分领先优势！
(End of this chapter)