Chapter 660 [Ageing of the Game, Suppression by Substitutes]

The Clippers' tactics in the first quarter were very clear. They relied on zone defense to block the penalty area so that James and Wade could not get to the basket for an easy layup. When three or four people shrunk, Wade's tracking did not work. Let him crawl in through the gaps between people.

In Yang Rui's previous life, the Heat's Big Three couldn't break through the zone defense in the 2011 Finals, and the Mavericks took advantage of their weakness and beat them to death.

The Big Three are good at fast breaks, and the Mavericks use positional battles to slow down the pace. In response to the weakness of James and Wade's unstable three-pointers, the Mavericks use zone defense to compress the breakthrough space of the two.

The Heat were actually not that strong that season. Their ability to reach the finals was mainly due to their overall defense and weak competition in the Eastern Conference. In the 11-12 season, Battier joined at a low salary and added a 3D player, and the Heat made up for their shortcomings.

Yang Rui used both of these tricks. If the Cavaliers can score outside shots, the Clippers will admit it. The disadvantage of zone defense is that it is not good at defending three-pointers, but the Cavaliers and the Heat in the previous life are not good at three-pointers.

At this time, if Mike Miller or Anthony Parker were replaced to add a three-point shooting point, the Cavaliers' offense would be better. However, Adelman did not do this, not because he felt that the defense of the two was poor, but because he did not know how to do it. Who to replace.

The Big Three of the Cavaliers have been hyped all summer. During the meeting between the boss and the management, Adelman was also asked to give full play to the strength of the Big Three, ensure their playing time, play beautiful games, and increase the commercial value of the team.

On the Internet, Adelman often sees experts and fans discussing how powerful the Big Three are and how powerful they are to crush everything.

In this case, Adelman is walking on thin ice. How can he dare to let one of the Big Three be a substitute?

If Miller and Parker are reused, it will be fine if they win, but if they lose, the fans will hate him. Maybe he will be dismissed in half a season.

On the contrary, if the Big Three were reused and they didn't play well in the early stage, when people saw the shortcomings of them playing together and said that their positions overlapped, there would be no obstacle for Adelman to adjust his tactics. People will understand that this is not the coach's fault. As long as he can improve his record, he will also show his coaching level.

Adelman is a veteran and will think about problems from the perspective of his own interests. Those who directly carry out reforms regardless of everything have touched the interests of others, and the ending is generally not very good.

The coaches were holding back, so the Big Three naturally couldn't show their dominance and couldn't break the Clippers' zone defense. They just relied on defense to make it difficult for their opponents to score.

In the first quarter, the Clippers led 15-13.

Barkley mocked: "After boasting all summer, they only scored 13 points in a single quarter. Jerry Young's team has never been defensive-oriented. What if the Cavaliers beat the Spurs, Mavericks, Celtics, and Magic?" Where’s the score?”

Kenny Smith said: "The Cavaliers players are all concentrated near the penalty area, and no one is shooting from the outside. Wade playing point guard can't solve this problem. There is still only one three-point point on the field."

Barkley said with a smile: "Jerry has long seen that the Big Three partners are not suitable, so he looked down on the Cavaliers during interviews. This is the difference between the eyes of fans and super coaches."

Yang Rui never thought about defeating his opponent in the first quarter. He only needed the starters to withstand it. The key lies in the second quarter.

Curry, Gary Neal, Tony Allen, Dunleavy, and Mahinmi appeared on the stage.

The Cavaliers sent Tony Douglas, Anthony Parker, Miller, Juwan Howard, and Ilgauskas.

The Clippers' defensive tactics changed to man-to-man, with Tony Allen marking Miller; Neal faced Parker. He was slightly shorter and did not suffer in the confrontation. He had an advantage in speed and could get close to Parker, making it difficult for Parker to catch the ball; Curry dealt with Douglas is 188cm tall.

The Clippers attacked first, Curry dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and his teammates were completely separated. Mahinmi on the right made a ball-free screen for Neal, helping him get rid of the 35-year-old veteran Parker.

The Cavaliers' second weakness has also emerged. The team is aging and has three veterans on the bench. Miller is a floor player at 30 years old and cannot run fast. The team's speed is completely at a disadvantage.

Parker was unable to catch up, and the 35-year-old Ilgauskas changed defense even more slowly. Neal received the ball at 70 degrees on the right side and got an open space.

Jumper three-pointer, hollow into the net. 18 to 13.

Zhang Liyi shouted: "Gary Neal, just play! He is a player who joined the NBA in the non-draft field. Just now we were talking about why Yang Rui sent him to the field. He rarely had the opportunity to play in the preseason, but he has unique skills. Then Just shooting, he really dared to shoot when he ran out of position, and he really scored!"

Yu Jia said: "The substitute with the best performance in the preseason is Curry. I hope he can perform well today."

The Cavaliers attacked, Douglas and Big Z played a pick-and-roll, but was blocked by Dunleavy after taking one step. Dunleavy's lateral speed is slower when he plays small forward, but his speed is advantageous when playing power forward. He can defend pick-and-rolls better than ordinary inside players.

Douglas failed to break through and passed the ball to Parker on the baseline. Parker couldn't get past Neal and passed the ball to Miller.

Neal lacks the athletic ability to defend a point guard, so he was undrafted in the 2007 draft. However, he is very strong and weighs 95 kilograms. He is not afraid of Parker's type.

Miller's best playing style is as a point forward, the type of Turkoglu who has height, strength and can shoot.

Last season, Miller averaged 11 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game with the Wizards, shooting 50.1% from the field and 48% from the three-point range. His strength is fully worthy of a mid-level job, and he can start in a weak team.

However, the person Miller is facing now is Tony Allen, a super blue-collar player who can make super scorers such as Kobe, Wade, and Durant suffer.

As soon as Miller caught the ball, he got close to Tony Allen. No matter how he swayed left or right, he couldn't get rid of it. Finally, he was nearly slapped away by Tony Allen while holding the ball in front of the frame. He protected the basketball and lost his shooting rhythm, so he could only continue. Find teammates.

With 24 seconds almost gone, Douglas forced a stop and missed a jumper under Curry's interference, and the rebound was grabbed by Mahinmi.

The Clippers attacked, and Curry passed to Neal again. This time, the 37-year-old veteran Howard was responsible for changing the defense and did not let Neal take a direct shot.

Neal took the ball one step forward and passed it to Dunleavy in the right corner, which was misplaced.

Dunleavy was also the famous successor to "Big Bird" at the time, and Big Z rushed to defend the three-pointer.

In order to keep up with the pace of the game, Big Z worked very hard. He is 221cm tall and his weight has dropped to 108kg, which will make him move faster. It's a pity that Dunleavy can't only catch and shoot, otherwise he wouldn't receive tens of millions of annual salary.

At his peak, Dunleavy played 36 minutes and scored 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Dunleavy feinted a shot, changed direction with the ball, broke through the baseline and passed Big Z, went to the basket and dunked the basketball with one hand. Juwan Howard was criticized for his defense when he was at his peak, and he is even less likely to be able to defend well as he gets older. 20 to 13.

The Cavaliers attacked, and Miller was stared at by Tony Allen in the middle. He passed the ball to Douglas. The latter played a pick-and-roll with Big Z from the side, but failed to get past Dunleavy and passed the ball to Big Z.

Big Z didn't even shoot when Curry was close to him, so he gave it to Howard on the bottom line.

If Howard were still young, the ball would be misplaced when hitting Mahinmi, and he would definitely score easily. But now he is not as fast as Mahinmi. He took the ball and took two steps to the middle and couldn't get rid of it, so he looked for his teammates.

As 24 seconds approached, Miller made a bad choice. Facing Tony Allen, he relied on his height advantage to make a strong shot. It missed due to interference, and Mahinmi grabbed another rebound.

Curry received a long pass from the backcourt to Tony Allen, and the Clippers fought back.

Tony Allen can become a good defensive player not only by skills, but also his physical fitness is at the dunk contest level, and his speed is extremely fast. He sprinted straight down the middle to get rid of Miller, caught the ball and dunked the basketball with one hand. 22 to 13.

The Cavaliers' bench was clearly no match, and the score gradually widened.