Chapter 309 The Physical Body Clears the Way

Utah Jazz VS Chicago Bulls, the lineups on both sides are very different from the lineups in last season's finals.

The Bulls are still the same Bulls as they used to be. There are no big deals and the natural lineup remains unchanged. However, the Jazz are no longer the original Jazz. Because Stockton has not yet returned to the rematch, Bond will still take his place. This is about to start for the Jazz. The playoffs are not pretty.

The significance of Stockton's existence is not as simple as lubricating the team and sending crazy assists. After all, Stockton's outside defense is also excellent.

Last season, the reason why the Jazz were able to defeat the Bulls was that Li Shengli and Malone teamed up to dominate the inside line, but Stockton's blockade of the Bulls' outside line was also an important reason, and this game... without Stockton, Bond, who replaced him in the battle, was difficult to reuse, and his role in offense, defense, and organization was quite embarrassing.

You know, in the triangle offensive system, the three iron triangles of Jordan, Pippen, and Grant are located far apart, making it difficult to double-team. More often, the defender's single defense ability is still required.

Crotty was assigned to defend Jordan, I believe this point will not be too explosive, but Bond will have a hard time defending Armstrong, and it is obviously impossible to support Crotty.

The once unsolvable triangle offense was abruptly solved by Jazz Lee Mas. In the final analysis, Jerry Sloan relied on the blockade of Stockton and Crotty to implement the driving tactic, driving all the people to the inside and using Li Shengli. and Malone as the ultimate defensive wall.

However, a perfect tactic only needs a small change to explode. Without Stockton, the Jazz against the Bulls will definitely be a tough battle where they can only attack but cannot defend?

…

The game begins.

Naturally, Li Shengli had the upper hand in the opening jump ball. The Jazz launched the first-round attack. Since both sides were old rivals, they naturally knew what to do.

Li Shengli positioned himself on the edge of the penalty area, and Malone asked for the ball in the high post. Although Bond was not as good as Stockton, it was quite easy to give the ball to Malone in the high post. In fact, this job...it would be the same for anyone.

"What are you doing?" Malone got the ball and was immediately confused.

Originally, he wanted to single out Grant, but what the hell is that Cartwright was hanging behind Grant, and as long as he squeezed into the inside, he would inevitably run into Cartwright.

Suicide defense?

It stands to reason that Cartwright's defensive position is tantamount to suicide, because letting go of Li Shengli's position is more dangerous, but everyone knows that the outcome of this game is not that important, the competition for the scoring champion is the most critical, obviously Cartwright and Grant was going to pave the way for Jordan.

Although the two did not form a double-team, Cartwright wanted to support Grant while also keeping an eye on Li Shengli's position. But for Malone...as long as he is determined to play singles, the scoring efficiency of rushing into the paint will be much lower. The only way The only choice is the unstable, touch-hungry mid-range shot.

"Shit, are you just trying to cheat? Just die!" Malone stopped entering the paint. He hit the ball twice and turned around to shoot.

boom!

Malone strikes!

The ball crashed directly to the outside and was picked up by Pippen. Li Shengli had no choice but to run into the backcourt and quickly return to defense.

…

In the Bulls' offensive system, Jordan is the all-around guard.

After holding the ball at the top of the arc, Pippen immediately ran up for a pick-and-roll. Crotty was blocked. Tyrone wanted to cover the defense in a misplaced position, but Grant also rushed up for a second pick-and-roll. After blocking Tyrone, Jordan made a fadeaway jumper.

In normal times, when the Bulls are attacking, everyone has to run and look for open opportunities to take shots, but it is different now. They all have to be shot by Jordan anyway, and it doesn't matter whether they find opportunities or not.

Jordan's iconic fadeaway jumper shot, and the Bulls scored the first goal of the game.

…

First quarter of the game.

The Bulls' game was too big. The offensive end was all around Jordan, and the defensive end was all about Malone. This simply exceeded Li Shengli's expectations before the game. After the first quarter... although the score between the two sides increased slowly, Jordan had already He scored 12 points. On the other hand, Malone's several strong attacks on Grant were not ideal. Even if Li Shengli handily fed the offensive rebounds, he only scored 8 points with low efficiency.

The game was midway through the second quarter.

Malone turned blue, and Li Shengli couldn't hold it in any longer. The Bulls attacked, and after getting into position in the penalty area, they yelled at Jordan and Pippen, "You guys are going too far."

Judging from the rhythm of the first quarter, not to mention others, at least Cartwright and Grant did not intend to have fun at all...On the offensive end, Grant pulled out to protect Jordan and completely gave up on inside shots; on the defensive end , Cartwright is always hanging behind Grant, ready to fight Malone at any time, half-emptying Li Shengli.

"It's nothing too much. If you want, you can double-team me!" Jordan held the ball with his back and responded to Li Shengli in the penalty area. In this unusual game, there is always something unusual. Only a cool operation will do.

"You said it yourself!" Li Shengli gritted his teeth and roared at his teammates: "Crottey locks him up, Bond, go help, Brother Carl, go out too, keep an eye on him, don't worry about other people, the restricted area is closed I!"

Tactical arrangements are the responsibility of the head coach, but in many cases, on-the-spot response needs to be decided by the players themselves. No one objected to Li Shengli's command, not even the dark-faced Malone.

For a time, the Jazz's defense was in chaos.

Crotty and Bond teamed up to suppress Jordan, and Malone hung behind, preparing to defend after the Bulls pick-and-roll. When the defensive pressure was all on Jordan, Jordan also scolded him because his field of vision was full of people.

There were teammates and opponents. Jordan wanted to make a sudden advance, but was driven outside the three-point line. When the attack time was approaching, he reluctantly took a shot. The rebound after the iron was grabbed by Li Shengli.

…

What kind of weird situation is this?

Jordan has been deliberately targeted not once or twice in past games, but this game is really different, because teammates who want to help him pick and roll, and opponents who are flanking him, have become obstacles to his movement.

"Stop playing, stop playing like this, play hard!" Jordan shouted loudly, speaking to both his teammates and Li Shengli.

"It's late. You've all been playing for a quarter and a half. It's our turn now!" Li Shengli refused.

You do the first grade of junior high school, and I do the fifteenth grade.

There is no reason why you should not fight back after playing for a while!

…

Back to the Jazz's offense again, everyone looked at each other. Li Shengli took the lead, Malone followed closely, and Bond held the ball at the end. When he was in the frontcourt, Bond passed the ball to Malone.

Li Shengli did not enter the paint, but directly set a high pick-and-roll for Malone to stop Grant.

Generally speaking, a mismatched defense will form after the pick-and-roll. Whether Malone has a chance to take action depends on whether Cartwright's defense is not timely. Obviously Cartwright's steps are too slow, and his short-distance movement in the penalty area cannot reach Malone. He was scored. One goal.

It was just a goal, so Jordan didn't care too much, but the rhythm that followed in the second quarter really made it impossible for him to calm down.

Li Shengli physically cleared the way, and King Ma Long and Qin walked around the pillar!

Li Dajou and Ma Dajou started to fight from a high position.

You know, the key to restricting Malone's scoring is the targeted double-teaming of Cartwright and Grant, but Li Shengli's pick-and-roll created a short one-on-one opportunity for Malone. Even if he couldn't score, Li Shengli still had a rebound, and he threw it to the outside and found it. Opportunity to start all over again from the top.

Although the pick-and-roll usually involves the cooperation of one big and one small, with a big body making it easy to block, and a small one flying quickly and looking for opportunities to take action, the purpose of Li Shengli's pick-and-roll is too simple, just to beat Malone one by one, which is not the case. Not too particular.

…

On Jordan's side, the Jazz still suppressed him, forcing Jordan to give up some of his shots, and the Bulls' score slowly improved. On the other hand, Malone, Li Shengli carried him almost crazy to attack, and he digested all the offensive rebounds.

In the first quarter and a half, Jordan scored 16 points and Malone scored 10 points. By the end of the second quarter, both of them scored 20 points, which means... Malone scored 10 points in half a quarter. .

But there is no point in scoring a tie.

Malone must score more than 10 points more than Jordan to have a chance to catch up with the scoring average. However, if the momentum continues in the second half of the second quarter, Jordan will no longer have the scoring title.

"Shit, why does this kid always have trouble with me!" During the halftime break, Jordan looked extremely ugly.

There was nothing he could do about losing the championship, but he didn't want to lose the scoring title, because this was his eighth consecutive championship, which was of great significance, but when he met Li Shengli... he was in a really bad mood, but there was nothing he could do.

"Don't worry, let him enjoy the last warmth of the Jazz this season, wait for next season..." Pippen said with a smirk: "Next season, how many people are waiting to teach him a lesson, I can't even count them. We will also work harder at that time..."

"Why, you and those Ewing guys got together?" Jordan suddenly asked.

"No, no, that's what I'm saying." Pippen scratched his head, "Anyway, he won't end well next season. So many people stepped on him, so we can beat him. Tsk, think about it this way, this guy Li It’s really pathetic!”

"Is he pitiful? You see, next season will be the most terrifying time for this guy. Hunger and hardship will not only make people die, but also make people... go crazy!" Jordan said with a cold face: "Forget it, I'm too lazy to say it. That’s it, now write down all these accounts, if he steals my scoring title, no matter which team he goes to, I will beat him severely next season.”

"What, are we going to side with Ewing?"

"No, I'm just avenging myself!"

"Oh, I hope this guy won't starve to death next season. It's best to hold on and wait for us to beat him!"