832: The flaws beneath the gorgeous façade of the Triumvirate
Link used an unreasonable pull-up three-pointer to completely shatter all the good fantasies of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And Link's action of celebrating the three-point goal in advance made the fans at the scene crazy.
When it comes to the most well-known early celebration in NBA history, it has to be Arenas. But Link's calmness, chic and confidence when he just celebrated were no worse than the high-spirited Arenas back then.
The temperament part, Link is very good. Behind Link's early celebration, James's shocked expression became the best backdrop.
"This shot is incredible, when it is still so far from the three-point line, Link actually chose to make an emergency stop! The most important thing is that Link actually predicted in advance that the basketball could hit! I don't think there's a more confident player in the league than Link! ”
Hubi. Brown applauded vigorously, what kind of opening match between the Cavaliers and Grizzlies is this, it's completely Link's solo show!
With an average price of nearly $800 in tickets, this Finals-level attention is all about setting off Link!
The newcomer David. Blatter stood on the sidelines in astonishment, almost forgetting to call a timeout. If it weren't for assistant coach Tyron. Lue promptly reminded that the Cavaliers may have to continue the game with a 10-point margin and an extremely shocked mentality.
"Pause? Oh, yes, yes...... Pause, pause! "Blatter was taken by Taryn. Lu reminded and yelled at the referee, and the game was interrupted, but the Cavaliers players were finally "rescued".
Blatter has worked in European and international basketball for most of his life, but he has never seen such an unreasonable player!
When playing a fast break, he makes a three-point stop when he is still one step away from the three-point line, and a player who does this will be scolded to death by the coach wherever he puts it. As we all know, the closer you get to the basket, the easier it is to hit the shot, and the biggest advantage of the fast break is that you can easily break to the closest position to the basket.
But if this kind of unreasonable goal can be scored, it will be a different matter.
As long as you can put the ball in, it's reasonable for you to shoot even from the halfway line. Link, on the other hand, undoubtedly made this unreasonable thing reasonable.
Blatter looked at Link, who was hugging his teammates, and suddenly felt that his basketball philosophy of the past few decades seemed to have become a piece of waste paper. He thought LeBron. James is already the most incredible basketball player in the world, but today, Blatter has seen what the real magic is.
Link told Blatter, the rookie coach, with a three-point shot, "Welcome to the NBA!" ”
"Steady, 10 points behind is not the end of the world! Now we have to play more cautiously and aggressively! I know they've got momentum. If we back down at this point, they will gain an inch! For the next few minutes we had to withstand the heavy fire of the grizzlies and let them know that we weren't afraid! ”
See David. Blatter stood dumbfounded, and James shook his head and began to cheer himself up.
Blatter met a player like Link on his first day in charge of the NBA, and it was a bit hard for him to digest.
But the fight won't be put on hold, and whether Blatter is ready or not, he's already here. Now that he's put on his suit and picked up the tactical board, Blatter must hold on until the end of the game.
If Blatter can't hold on, then James will do it himself!
James also knows that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a team led by players, by themselves.
So, let's take the initiative to stand up and encourage everyone, and hopefully the Cavaliers can survive this most difficult time.
As an experienced veteran, James knows very well that if the Cavaliers can't hold out in this period, this game will be very dangerous!
But as long as the Cavaliers can survive this time, the game will still be in suspense when the Grizzlies' momentum is not so intimidating.
Whether the opening game can be won depends on whether the knights can hold it up in the second few minutes!
Blatter came to his senses and laid out a few painless offensive tactics, and then said some nonsense like "pay attention to the rebound", and let the players play again.
Taryn behind Blatter. Lew shook his head, thinking that Blatter had complicated things. Wouldn't it be nice to coach this Cavaliers and give the ball to James......
The game restarted, and the Grizzlies began to make substitutions. Joggle replaced Randolph, who had a pay cut this summer, with Harris, for a clear purpose, which was to strengthen the offense and open up the gap in one fell swoop.
James' eyes lit up, and he thought it was a chance for the Knights! Harris played just as well in the preseason, but the brilliance was limited to offense. If Lefu can sit on the inside and go head-to-head with Harris, he will have a big advantage!
Love also understood this, so in the subsequent offense, Love did not continue to fly kites outside the three-point line, but took the initiative to sit in the low post and lean on Harris like a real No. 4 to ask for the ball!
James easily chose the angle to send the ball in, and Love was about to exert his power, only to find Link raised his arms high and clamped up!
"Double bag, Link did a very decisive job, they must have planned everything a long time ago!"
It was true that everything was planned, and Joggle is a defensive-minded coach, and it's impossible for him not to consider Harris' weaknesses on the defensive end.
So, just after the timeout, Jogger told Link, "Try to wrap up with Harris." ”
Seeing that Link was caught up, Love did not relent, but immediately returned the ball to James.
But Link wasn't slow either, and the moment Love passed the ball, he reflexively chased after James.
As long as you are fast enough and your defensive awareness is good enough, even the bag will not release any gaps!
James received the ball and shot straight three-pointers, but Link's timely interference made James full of crosshairs.
Joggle dared to let Link go to the trap of Lefou, and there was also the factor of James' instability in three-point play.
As a superstar, James' shortcomings in this regard are indeed too obvious.
James had just returned his own morale off the court, but when he came back, he missed his own shot on the first offense, which backfired his words just now.
Now the Cavaliers are thinking, "Even our leaders can't score, do we still have a chance?" ”
The morale of the Cavaliers took a further hit!
Gasol took the rebound, and in the face of the Grizzlies who pressed up again, the Cavaliers players were already a little weak.
After a few rounds in a row, Link seemed to have subsided this time. After the Grizzlies were all in place, people found out that the Grizzlies were playing a singles tactic.
But not for Linclakai, but for Harris, who just came out!
Just now, Love failed to play Harris, but Harris will not be polite.
Outside the three-point line, Harris holds the ball and prepares to play Loafou alone. Lefou's arms were as open as he could, and he put on a posture that he would try his best to defend. But everyone knows that Lefu doesn't have much of an advantage on the perimeter.
Harris made a few triple threat steps with the ball, shook Lefou's center of gravity, and then accelerated to break through!
Harris's Breakout and Jimmy. Butler is similar, and there are no flashy tricks. But Harris is faster than the traditional No. 4 position like Love, and Harris is extremely strong at the core and can carry the No. 4 position forward, which is why he can survive on the inside.
Catching, stepping, lowering the center of gravity, breaking, throwing, the ball goes in, and Harris's offense is all in one go.
Harris' throw near the box was a good thing in the scouting report. He always found a good sense of the ball around the box and threw the ball in a variety of positions.
Although the "ball sense" thing is a bit ethereal, Harris can score goals, that's the truth.
Lefu was eaten to death by Harris, and in the face of Harris, the No. 4 position who launched an attack from outside the three-point line, Lefu had no choice!
On the Grizzlies' side, Link can go to the Leopard Lefou. But when it comes to the Cavaliers, James can't help Love to wrap up Harris.
If Link is leaked, the punishment for the Cavaliers will be even greater!
The 12-point difference was reflected on the big screen at the scene, and the giant Love has now become a burden to the Cavaliers.
He couldn't get an advantage on the offensive end, and he couldn't limit Harris on the defensive end. Hubi. Brown felt sad for the Cavaliers when he saw this scene, "The Grizzlies are so cold-blooded, in the first game of the regular season, they unveiled the gorgeous appearance of the Cleveland Dream Triumvirate and pointed out their flaws. From now on, everyone knows how to deal with the Knight Triumvirate. ”
David. Blatter watched the team struggle, feeling powerless on the sidelines for the first time.
He's got hundreds of tactics in his head, and he's dealt with all sorts of situations. But the Grizzlies have five players on the court who can now attack with the ball, which is truly unprecedented!
At this point, the Cavaliers' defense was completely stretched, and James had to fall into a one-on-one situation with Link.
And that's exactly what Georger wants to see.
After the second quarter, Link showed a true all-around skill on James' head.
Pullup jump shot, three-pointer on drop-back, breakaway ...... Link's offense has few shortcomings. Defensive players as strong as James are helpless against Link.
And James's state today is diametrically opposed to Link, on the offensive end, James is playing iron in addition to mistakes, and his performance is very worrying.
After the half, with Link's 12-point performance in a single quarter, the Grizzlies widened the gap to 21 points in one fell swoop!
Before the start of the game, it was said that the defending champions, who had no big moves this summer, were destined to fall. It is said that the Knights, who make up the younger Big Three, are destined to upend the Grizzlies' rule.
But it only took one half for the Grizzlies to tell everyone, "The championship pennant is floating over the Federal Express Arena!" ”
At halftime, everyone on the Cavaliers, from James to head coach Blatter, walked into the tunnel dejectedly.
As a result, reporters could only find Link and ask him to evaluate the half.
Link faced the camera and waved at the equipment manager sitting behind the bench.
The equipment manager stepped up with a small box and handed it to Link.
Link opened the box in front of the camera, took out the championship ring inside, and proudly wore it on his hand, "I said it, a champion is always a champion until it falls." Whether you admit it or not, we are still the strongest. ”
Looking at Link's appearance of showing off in front of the camera, many fans were angry.
But looking at the huge margin of 21 points at halftime......
What else can be done besides forbearance?
Link's "tyrannical" rule may continue for a long time.