Chapter 51 51. How would they know?
The visiting team players have finished their appearances and it is the turn of the home team Grizzlies players to appear.

Marc Gasol with a beard and a strong build.

Mike Conley with a stern face and sharp eyes.

Tony Allen with his muscular body and ferocious expression.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Sam Young, who had forehead wrinkles all over and looked like a gangster.

Zach Randolph looks naive but has a sinister side.

When Zhang Yang saw the five starting players of the opposing team running out of the court one after another, he thought of a Tianjin dialect - these guys don’t look like good people!

Judging from their appearance alone, the Memphis Mafia got their nickname for real.

Even if the Grizzlies have a player on the bench who looks like the president, Sean Battier, it can't save the team's temperament.

After the entrance ceremony, Duncan rarely pulled his teammates aside to talk and discussed the details of defensive coordination with McDyess, Parker and Richard Jefferson.

Ginobili also pulled Zhang Yang aside to remind him of the points to pay attention to when defending in the high position and the details of the coordination between inside and outside defense.

Zhang Yang felt what a "team player" meant from Ginobili. Ginobili, who was willing to play as a substitute during his peak period, was suddenly relegated to the bench again today. He did not complain at all, but instead repeatedly gave instructions to his teammate who replaced him in the starting lineup.

After spending a long time in the Spurs, he discovered that the team was actually quite warm. The coldness he felt when he first joined was most likely due to the influence of a certain evil man.

...

The game starts at 8 pm.

Duncan beat Gasol Jr. in the jump ball and the Spurs took the first attack.

The jump ball for my younger brother was really my younger brother, and his teammates immediately retreated when they heard the whistle.

Zhang Yang received the pass from Parker and tried to sneak attack but failed. Under Tony Allen's rough defense, he protected the ball and dribbled it to the top of the arc, then passed it to Parker who ran over to meet the ball.

Thank you Mr. Na for your extremely detail-oriented ball control training guidance!
Parker started the attack with Duncan's pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, but failed to successfully tear through the opponent's defense after the breakthrough. Four of the five Grizzlies players were on the line for defense. Randolph was also very active in defense after his "return to the right path". Although he did not make any great contributions, he did not make any mistakes.

Parker failed to break through and passed the ball back to Duncan, who was followed by Sam Young. Duncan passed the ball to Richard Jefferson, who passed it again...

The Spurs' passing was very clever, but they were never able to create easy shooting opportunities. The defensive-savvy Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins built an iron wall of defense.

Parker caught the ball again and saw a big white bear standing under the basket. He passed the ball to Zhang Yang who was waiting.

Zhang Yang received the ball, but failed to get rid of Tony Allen, so he could only shoot a mid-range shot facing the defense... and missed!
Popovich on the sidelines had a solemn look on his face. As expected, the team couldn't cooperate well!

The Grizzlies' positional defense tonight was stronger than in the previous three encounters.

There are less than 10 games left in the regular season, and the referees' whistle standards are basically the same as in the playoffs, which is a huge buff for the Memphis Mafia's defense.

Let’s try that trick first. We have to guard against the black bear first.

The Grizzlies played at a very slow pace, but the Spurs still retreated early and got into a good defensive position.

The Spurs have changed a lot this year, but one thing remains the same - defensive discipline.

Conley advanced to the frontcourt and Zhang Yang defended to the top arc.

Gasol Jr. pulled to the free throw line, and he was defended by Duncan; Richard Jefferson let go of Sam Young two steps and guarded the right side of the three-second zone; McDyess was in the low post on the right side of the three-second zone and stuck to Randolph; Parker defended Tony Allen on the weak left side.

Conley passed the ball to Randolph in the low post. Richard Jefferson on the same side immediately retreated and double-teamed Randolph with McDyess, blocking Randolph's space to turn left and walk to the baseline.

At the same time, Conley went down to the right corner, and Sam Young, who was left open, pulled up and ran towards Conley who was running towards him.

Zhang Yang followed Conley closely, but when Conley and Sam Young met, he suddenly moved away and moved to the middle. Sam Young helped Conley block the air with an off-ball screen!
He looked at Zhang Yang, who was circling Gasol in front of the free throw line, with a question mark on his face, very confused, not knowing what to do.

Conley went around Sam Young to the corner, but was cut off from passing to Randolph by Richard Jefferson who had expanded again.

When Zhang Yang retreated to the middle, Duncan moved to the inside and together with McDyess trapped Randolph who turned right to the middle!
One against two, his two opponents were two defensive stalwarts, McDyess and Duncan, and he had lost the passing routes to Conley and Gasol Jr. Randolph was also confused. Duncan and McDyess did not reach out randomly, waiting for the opponent's three-second attack.

Seeing that the referee's cheeks were puffed up, Randolph quickly passed the ball.

Sam Young received the ball. There were three inside players between him and the basket. Richard Jefferson and Zhang Yang struggled to get around him. He chose to shoot, a long two-point shot... missed!
Randolph pushed hard towards the basket and tried to grab the offensive rebound, but was blocked by Duncan and McDyess.

The Spurs' twin towers saw their teammates' movements and this time they were just blocking people without grabbing rebounds. Randolph couldn't squeeze in at all.

Parker came back from the left side, grabbed the defensive rebound and launched a counterattack!
Parker rushed to the frontcourt and was surrounded by Tony Allen and Sam Young who were retreating.

He rushed all the way to the right side of the three-second zone and passed the ball...

Zhang Yang received the ball on the left side of the three-second zone, pushed away Conley who was rushing back, took a step and jumped, and slammed the ball into the frame with one hand!

Popovich's tense body relaxed and he smiled crookedly.

He's good at defense. He hasn't played for a long time, but his iron-blooded Apo is still very good!
The Grizzlies continued to attack and fight a positional battle.

The Spurs used the same successful defensive strategy, and this time Tony Allen was smart enough to cut into the basket against Parker.

However, Duncan and McDyess were both taller than Randolph and had long arms. Randolph didn't even see Tony Allen cutting in from the left baseline, let alone passing the ball to the basket.

But Randolph didn't want to pass the ball to Sam Young again. Both of their forward and guard players didn't shoot, so he chose to try something fancy and took a step back and shot... Duncan stood and interfered, so the shot missed!
After Randolph shot, he immediately pressed inside... then he saw Tony Allen and Parker under the basket, and his attack on two people turned into four people, and he couldn't get in at all!
Duncan grabbed the defensive rebound over Tony Allen and passed the ball to Parker without stopping.

Parker came out quickly and advanced, counterattacking with Zhang Yang on two fronts.

This time Conley, Sam Young and Tony Allen did a better job defending fast breaks than in the last round. Just now, a bunch of people were blocking the basket, and Parker had to go around a circle before launching a fast break, and his advancement speed was also affected.

The Spurs' fast break was blocked.

Zhang Yang, who received the pass from Parker, did not force his way forward. Instead, he dribbled the ball away, waiting for his teammates to come over, get into position, and start team offense.

The Grizzlies' iron-blooded defense greatly limited the Spurs' passing efficiency, and this team offense still failed to open up. Finally, the ball came into Zhang Yang's hands again.

Although he missed the shot in the last positional battle, Zhang Yang was still not afraid this time. With the help of McDyess's screen, he made a mid-range shot after the pick-and-roll... and it went in!
Popovich stood up and clapped his hands on the sidelines. Mid-range shot! Mid-range shot!

On the other side, Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins looked stunned.

The Spurs' offensive and defensive strategies are very targeted!
Especially the defensive tactics, not only did it cut off the communication between their three core players, but it also targeted Randolph's offensive rebounding style.

This is a situation that has never been encountered in the previous three encounters!

Huo Tu felt that this was not right! Why would the other team attach so much importance to their team that was about to secure the seventh place in the Western Conference?

Our attitude towards them should be the same as against the Nuggets and the Trail Blazers, using normal offense and defense!

He probably hasn't revealed his playoff plan, has he? His plan only came out recently...

Moreover, he announced that his goal was to be fifth in the Western Conference and to surpass the Nuggets and the Trail Blazers. He claimed that even if the hope was slim, he would try his best. He also said this to his players and played the game this way. There was no way the opponent would be prepared!
……

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(End of this chapter)