One Thousand Eight Hundred and Four. More Fierce than Ever Before!
After the eight-man core combination was completed, the Bulls finally renewed the team's veteran Hinrich, signed Nazr Muhammad, the locker room leader loved by all teams, and signed the former Wizards short center Te With Revo Booker and a two-year minimum salary, he signed a 3D swingman with good fixed-point shooting and active defense. With Wan Moore, the Bulls' 12-man rotation was complete.
There is also a backup outsider Doug McDermott on the 13-man activated list. In addition to the activated list, there is also a backup inside player Cameron Bairstow.
If we look at previous years, Sun Ce would have had a headache when he saw the Bulls' lineup. Even in the two years when they won the championship, the Bulls could still rank in the top three among the opponents the Grizzlies had played.
But looking at it now... Muhammad's condition is not as good as in previous years. Now he basically only has the leadership ability in the locker room and relies on game experience on the court to support the center position of the rotation. McDermott and Bairstow almost did not play. possibility.
From the battle report of the Bulls' three-round series in the Eastern Conference, Sun Ce learned that the Bulls basically rotated 9-10 people, which means that Hinrich and Trevor Booker can have stability outside the core 8-man group. Playing time and performance opportunities.
If we compare the lineup and performance alone, Sun Ce feels that the Bulls and Warriors are similar. After a season, the Bulls are still slightly inferior to the Lakers.
It's just that Sun Ce wants to play against opponents like the Lakers rather than the Bulls.
Young players and motivated young players can always create more possibilities. As for the three brothers on the Lakers, Kobe is old, James is at the bottom of his strength, and Leonard is not strong enough. The combination of the three is very powerful, but As long as they are stronger than them, it will be difficult for them to create miracles.
The main reason is that Kobe is old and cannot have the ability to raise the team's ceiling and create more possibilities as he did in the past few years. This is the most frustrating thing for Sun Ce. If it were James instead of Paul who partnered with Kobe at the beginning, Sun Ce would You will feel more excited.
After feeling a little regretful, Sun Ce returned his attention to the upcoming game.
Until now, it means that he cannot lose the championship. Now his first goal is to win the championship, and his higher goal is to sweep the championship!
There was little communication before the game. They just exchanged symbolic greetings before the game. At 7:58 pm, the players from both teams took the field.
After the commentators analyzed the two teams in various ways, the TV station also switched the live broadcast to the scene.
Sun Ce tightened his wristband and took the court with Klay Thompson, Paul George, Randolph and Aldridge.
Playing against the Bulls is different from playing against the Warriors and Lakers. The Warriors have a tall man like Thabeet, who needs Gobert to check and balance. The Lakers often use forward swingmen who are small forwards as the starting power forward.
As for the Bulls, every position is full of players who have changed their positions. Rose, Dunleavy, Snell, Griffin, and Noah are in the starting lineup.
Aldridge and Noah came to the center circle and jumped the ball.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, after the referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air, the ball reached its highest point and Aldridge beat Noah to win the jump ball.
Noah's static physical fitness is quite excellent, with a height of 211 cm and a wingspan of 216 cm, but his athletic ability is on par with Aldridge.
On the contrary, Aldridge's static physical fitness is much better than Noah's. The 225 cm wingspan is one of the key reasons why Aldridge is so powerful in the mid-range.
Paul George received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt. After passing the center circle, he handed the ball to Sun Ce. Snell's defense was very good. Some experts predict that if he maintains his current level, he will not make any progress on the offensive end. No, when the rookie contract expires in 2017, in the era after the salary surge, there is a high probability that he will receive a high salary of 8-10 million US dollars.
But Snell has a flaw, that is, although he has the height and athletic ability to defend from the 1st to the 4th position, he is too thin. Sun Ce suddenly exerts force after receiving the ball.
He directly drove Snell into the three-point line and rushed all the way to the left side of the three-second zone.
Noah was very motivated and had good defensive awareness. Although Snell was passed suddenly, he reacted and blocked Sun Ce on the left side of the three-second zone. But the problem was that he did not occupy the defensive space. Sun Ce successfully used his right foot to enter the left sideline of the three-second zone. When Noah came up, Sun Ce had already grabbed the ball, leaned on Noah with his right shoulder, raised the ball with his left hand, and shot with a small hook...
"The small sky hook is triggered at level 2. The host's hook will slightly reduce confrontation interference and shooting interference during this confrontation..."
Originally, Sun Ce had taken the initiative and occupied a favorable position in advance. Although Noah seemed impulsive, he was actually a very smart player on the defensive end. He looked so tough defensively and only averaged 2.9 fouls per game. With Gasol, He is on the same level and is very good. He knows very well that in this case he can only resist Sun Ce to interfere. If there is a collision, it will be a foul. Although he has made up for it, the interference it can cause is not much, and he does not have much size advantage.
Sun Ce hit a hook with the first ball in the game!
The Grizzlies don't think there is any problem with this goal. Sun Ce can seize the opportunity in his eyes, and his teammates think it is a good opportunity. Regardless of whether he scores or not, it makes sense for Sun Ce to do it, and this is not a goal. What?
But for the Bulls, Sun Ce's enthusiasm made it difficult for them to adapt.
Catch the ball from the outside and force a breakout to the inside with a hook shot from the center? And you need to occupy the space inside one step ahead of Noah who is under the basket. This seems to be a simple thing, just two steps, breakthrough and hook shot, but it is not easy to do. Ability is one aspect, and this style of play consumes a lot of energy!
Because of Noah's defensive ability, if Sun Ce is a beat slower, the offensive space will be greatly compressed. If Sun Ce chooses a relatively less stable close-range jump shot, it will be fine. Sun Ce went to a half-step position inside the three-second zone to fight against the hook shot!
From the beginning of the game, the Bulls felt that Sun Ce wanted to beat them to death.
It was just the first ball, and Rose was shocked. If Sun Ce maintained this impact throughout the game, plus Sun Ce's strong recovery ability, would they still have a chance to play?
But after all, it was only the first ball, and the Bulls also had a way to strengthen the confrontation with excellent athletic ability! Consume the feel of the Grizzlies players!
What matters now is the offense. Rose received the serve and advanced to the frontcourt. Facing Paul George's defense, Rose did not choose to do it himself. Although his overall strength surpassed Evans after his mid-range and long-range shooting reached the first-class level, and he was fully confident in single-handedly playing against Paul George, he chose a more relaxed way and looked for Griffin to pick and roll.
Griffin is the best pick and roll inside the league today. He was originally good at pick and roll, and became even stronger under the command of Sloan and Malone. The right time to block people and solid pick and roll basic skills created a perfect space for Rose to accelerate and break through. Paul George quickly bypassed and double-teamed Aldridge who was retreating in panic.
Griffin cut in after the pick and roll, and Rose passed the ball when Griffin cut in. When the ball arrived, Griffin just received the ball when he entered the close-range area from the left side of the free throw line.
But at this time, Sun Ce came up to make up for the defense!
Sun Ce's make-up defense is the strongest in the league. When he landed, he was directly knocked back by Griffin one step. It was a reasonable collision! Neither of them committed a foul! But Griffin had to stop his impact. If he bumped into him again, it would be his offensive foul.
It was not a prepared emergency stop but a forced emergency stop. Griffin's rhythm was disrupted. He temporarily looked for a pass target and found Snell, who was left open by Sun Ce in the left corner. Snell had just received the pass when Klay Thompson's help defense was in place. Snell had no passing ability and it was difficult for him to break through the bottom corner. He forced a three-pointer...
Missed!
Randolph blocked Noah, and Sun Ce took the defensive rebound with Griffin!
After grabbing the defensive rebound, Sun Ce turned around and bypassed Griffin to counterattack. Griffin reacted quickly and committed a tactical foul!
Griffin is not a player who commits many fouls. It is not a big problem to consume a foul number and commit a tactical foul.
However, the Grizzlies' successful defense just now, although Paul George did a good job of double-teaming Rose in the first time, Klay Thompson did a good job of predicting the help defense in advance, and Randolph blocked Noah's chance to eat the cake on the left side, but the key is Sun Ce's brave confrontation and excellent awareness.
There was no time to be surprised. Tonight, Sun Ce seemed to defend more fiercely than ever before, and he was completely desperate to defend. He blocked Sun Ce's fast break without committing a foul. The Bulls quickly retreated, but the Grizzlies' lineup was capable of fast breaks. Randolph could keep up with the speed, and Aldridge could follow up with a mid-range shot.
Paul George advanced to the frontcourt, and Sun Ce pulled to the right corner of the weak side to hook the three-point area. Klay Thompson went to the left 45-degree angle of the strong side. Aldridge stood at the free throw line, and Paul George passed the ball to Randolph who was blocking Griffin in the low post.
Randolph received the ball and turned left flexibly to the upper limit of the reasonable collision zone. Griffin's defense was okay, and mainly his help defense was okay. Although he was very strong, he was not as good as Love in the low post. He was too active on the defensive end.
However, Noah shrank in time, covered Randolph's shooting space, and gave active confrontation. Randolph also played tricks, turned his back to the top arc and passed the ball to the left rear. Aldridge came to the left side of the free throw line tacitly. At this time, Griffin's enthusiasm showed the effect. He defended Aldridge faster than Dunleavy who went to defend Aldridge from the top arc!
At this time, Randolph pulled away to the left side of the three-second zone, Paul George ran to the right side of the free throw line, and Noah chose to defend Paul George. Griffin had enough opportunities to close in and defend Randolph's catch or layup. The Bulls' defensive coordination was excellent!
However, at this time, Sun Ce forced to cut in from the baseline, and Snell was bullied again! He was directly turned and pushed away by Sun Ce!
Aldridge made an excellent high-low pass, Sun Ce cut in from the baseline to receive the ball, and there was no one under the basket. "Performance" level 2 was triggered! After receiving the ball, he entered the three-second zone and jumped, and turned 180 degrees to slam the ball into the basket!