"Ervin, are the Spurs playing a triangle offense right now? How do I feel that the Spurs players on the court have a similar running position to the Lakers? With more than 10 minutes of play in the first quarter, Michaels asked his partner, Magic Johnson. From the beginning of this game, Michaels felt that the Spurs were a little different, but it was not clear what was different, so he could only turn to his partner for help.

"It should be, but compared with the Lakers, the cooperation between the Spurs players is a little more rusty, although the running position of the players on the court seems to be in line with the tactical framework of the triangle offense, but they still haven't understood the essence of the triangle offense, according to the Spurs' existing lineup, the Spurs' triangle on the court should be Avery Johnson, Meng Xu and Tim Duncan 3 people, but Avery Johnson is obviously not as thorough as Ron Haber's understanding of the triangle offense, take the Spurs' offense just now as an example, After Avery Johnson and Meng Xu completed their cooperation, they should cut into the bottom corner of the left side from the outside, and Duncan moved from the right side of the penalty area to the left side, so that the Spurs' offensive triangle was formed, but because Avery Johnson's outside shooting was too poor, there was no threat after going to the bottom corner, so Avery Johnson did not cut into the bottom corner, but ran to the area near the free throw line, although this can also be called an offensive triangle, but his offensive deterrence has been greatly reduced, At the same time, the area that should have been on the weak side after the formation of the offensive triangle has now gathered 3 people, Avery Johnson, Mario Ely and Sean Elliott, which greatly reduces the difficulty of the Pacers' defense, so the Spurs' current triangle offense cannot be called a real triangle offense. Although he said so, Magic Johnson still admires Popovich very much in his heart, even Phil Jackson, it is only after having the old Winter and Jim Clemens two tactical masters that he can perfectly copy the triangle offense to his own team, and Popovich is estimated to have watched a few books and some videos on the triangle offense, and he dared to implement this tactic in his own team, and this kind of courage and tactical understanding is no one.

"So the Spurs are still missing a Ron Haber?" As a professional basketball commentator, Michaels is still familiar with various tactical terms, but he is a little confused when it comes to the court, but this is normal, if he is not confused on the court, Michaels can change his career to become a coach.

"It's not just a Ron Haber, there's a Jim Clemens or a Winter missing." If there is a player who is familiar with the triangle offense, and an assistant coach who is familiar with the triangle offense tactics, then with the talent of these players of the Spurs, they will be able to master the triangle offense for a maximum of half a season.

"Jim Clemens just left the Lakers this season, and I thought Mr. Popovich could give it a try." Hearing Magic Johnson say that the Spurs needed an assistant coach who was familiar with the triangle offense, Michaels immediately remembered Jim Clemens, who had resigned from the Lakers.

And now the situation on the court is just as expected by the magic, when Meng Xu moved the ball along the 3-point line to the left, at the same time Duncan also began to move from one side of the penalty area to the other, Avery Johnson, who was supposed to get rid of Travis Best and appeared in front of him, is still entangled with Travis Best behind him, in this case, Meng Xu can only choose to play alone or pass to Duncan, and his single is obviously not in line with the tactical requirements, So after Meng Xu hesitated a little, he passed the basketball to Duncan on the left side of the penalty area, and after Duncan received the ball, he turned on the spot very easily, and then after dribbling, he got rid of O'Neal Jr.'s defense and threw a shot. In the end, relying on Duncan's excellent play in the first quarter, the Spurs led the Pacers by four points at 24-20, and if it wasn't for Reggie Miller's final buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the difference between the two teams would have been even greater.

"Looks like we're going to have to think of something else." After the pause, assistant coach Mike Budenholzer took the tactics board to explain the tactics to the players who were going to play, while Popovich was still standing on the sidelines, with the Spurs' current cooperation on the court, wanting to defeat the Lakers with the triangular offensive grandfather Old Winter, it is tantamount to a fool's dream, but if you don't do this, you can't play the effect of 1+1>2, too many ingredients for cooking is not a good thing, Popovich shook his head and looked at Magic Johnson on the commentator's bench, I don't know how he and Abdul-Jabbar fused the two different systems together.

Although the Spurs tried the triangle offense in the playoffs against the Trail Blazers last season, the effect of those attempts was not very good, whether there was an objective reason Meng Xu didn't know, but Meng Xu is now very clear that the match between himself and the triangle offense in the system is only 36%. Although because of the skill of the king of running, Meng Xu has no problem running without the ball under the triangle offensive system, but the more important point is that whether he is the finisher or the planner in the triangle offense, Meng Xu is much worse, and the offensive means are insufficient, resulting in Meng Xu's actual finishing ability is far inferior to O'Neal Kobe Duncan. Similarly, although Meng Xu's passing is already very good, it is based on the bonus of the breakthrough tactical system and the serpentine breakthrough, and after leaving the bonus of the system and skills, Meng Xu's ability to respond is actually very average. With Meng Xu's current ability, it may be no problem to take on the role of Ron Haber, but it is still much worse to take on the role of Pippen and Jordan in the triangle offense. It's a little worse here, it's a little worse there, and it adds up to a lot of difference.

After the start of the game in the second quarter, both teams sent bench lineups, compared with the Spurs' sideline of David Robinson and Derrick Anderson, the Pacers' bench lineup was a little worse, and before the official timeout, the Pacers replaced all the main forces, the aging David Robinson could still play on par with O'Neal Jr., but Derrick Anderson was blown up by Reggie Miller, and he slipped around like a monkey, barely holding on until the official timeout, 32-32. The Pacers have already equalized the score, and during this period, Reggie Miller also shot 3-of-5 and 1-of-2 from 3-pointers, and the score in this game has risen to 16 points.

During the pause, Popovich not only asked the main players to continue to adhere to the tactics of the first quarter, but also asked Meng Xu and Mario Eli to switch defenses, and Meng Xu defended Reggie Miller. In the first half of this season, Popovich's task for the Spurs is to achieve the integration of the system between Meng Xu and Duncan, and then wait until the second half of the season to make a big splash, as long as it can ensure the top three in the West.

"Meng, you're finally coming to defend me, I'm already impatient. I've scored 16 points now, and I'm only a couple of miles away from Houston to San Antonio with 30 points. After the game restarted, seeing Meng Xu, who was standing beside him as soon as he came up, Reggie Miller said provocatively with a smile on his face.

"Reggie, are you shaking M? If I don't defend you for a moment, you'll be uncomfortable. And you can't get 30 points in this game. Leaning towards Reggie Miller's side, Meng Xu crossed his hands on his waist, if you only look at it from behind, Meng Xu and Reggie Miller are really very similar except for their jerseys and skin color. After learning Reggie Miller's strongest skills, Meng Xu is very clear about Miller's details, and now there is no Miller moment for you to use.

"Because I'm really enjoying the thrill of shooting in your head." After Reggie Miller finished speaking, he directly pushed away Meng Xu, who was dragging the corners of his clothes, and began to make irregular runs along the sideline. Meng Xu is not Derek Anderson, no matter how Reggie Miller runs, Meng Xu can always follow his footsteps, and even when Reggie Miller wants to change direction, Meng Xu can block his inevitable path in advance.

After walking along the sideline and the bottom line, Reggie Miller couldn't get rid of Meng Xu's defense, at this time Reggie Miller directly reached out and signaled O'Neal Jr. to cover for himself, but when O'Neal Jr. pulled out from the inside, Reggie Miller did not do an ordinary block with him, but turned around O'Neal Jr. directly, and finally threw off the distance of Meng Xu's body.

Just when Reggie Miller just appeared vacant, Austin Crohill's pass went to Reggie Miller's hand, and Reggie Miller did not pause at all after receiving the ball, and jumped directly out of his hand, but before the basketball in Miller's hand was taken off, Meng Xu pounced directly, blocking the possible trajectory of the basketball with his big hand, and Meng Xu's body collided with Reggie Miller in the air, and Reggie Miller, who was seriously disturbed, inevitably threw the ball crookedly.