Chapter 280: Break 0

O'Brien must admit that Fox Leon learned a lot from this kid when he was an assistant coach for the Celtics. His eclectic tactical concept combined with meticulous training design has brought a lot of touch to O'Brien. Although from the bottom of my heart, I feel a little bit of hatred for the guy who eventually robbed him of his job, but in the future basketball career, he The coaching of Fawkes is more or less engraved with the shadow of Fox Leon. This has to be said that it is strange that the head coach was eventually influenced and assimilated by the assistant coach.
After leaving the NBA and returning to Kentucky with Vogel for a year, they used the Kentucky Wildcats to conduct a lot of tactical experiments, including improving Leon’s secondary rapid offensive system to enhance the attacking position of the inside and make it. It can be better combined with positional offense. With the strong support of data and video, Frank Vogel began to vigorously develop tactics for the first and fourth minors. Vogel believes that Pitino’s full-court press for three-pointer tactics did not work in the NBA. It is because he adopted the university tactical system, but still uses the traditional NBA lineup.
In recent years, there have been fewer and fewer outstanding NCAA top centers. In the 2003 draft picks, except for the foreigner Milicic, there was no center in the top five. The only American center in the top ten was Ke Reese Kaman, this player is destined to be a super insider like O'Neal and Olajuwon. In fact, since the 21st century, except for the Sharks League, there are no real super centers anymore. Those excellent power forwards have begun to dominate the inside. In the near future, Vogel feels that the league will move towards speed and miniaturization. .
It took a whole year for Vogel and O'Brien to complete their tactical vision and find Larry Bird through a series of relationships. Byrd, who was originally distressed about recruiting Carlisle, after an interview, thought that their ideas might be promising, he gave up Carlisle and decided to appoint O'Brien as the head coach and Vogel as the assistant coach.
In addition, Bird also hired defensive coach Mike Brown from the Spurs and signed Jackson. It can be said that in the entire Eastern Conference, apart from the big-moving Celtics, the Indiana Pacers are the team that quietly strengthened the most. .
In this game, until the beginning of the third quarter, everything is still under O'Brien's control. He first used a large and four small lineup to take the lead in the opening, and then quickly resumed the regular lineup. After Brown's training in the summer, the Pacers' defense has made great progress, too. Thomas, who only had individual defense and lacked team cooperation, began to learn to unite their muscles and strength to torture opponents.
In the second half, the two sides were anxious and the scores on both sides were very low. At this time, O'Brien decided to release the strongest lineup in his mind, the most ideal one in his heart. He wanted to pull in the third quarter. Open the score, as long as the score is 10 points, the Celtics want to make a comeback in the Conseco Arena is difficult.
10 points may not be a big gap for other teams, but facing the Pacers, you must know that they suppressed the opponent's score at 60 points against Denver on November 4. In the previous game against the 76ers, Iverson’s team was controlled below 80 points. So far, the Pacers have not allowed their opponents to score more than 100 points, including an overtime game.
This is how O'Brien learned Leon’s idea, but he went in two different directions from Leon. Leon’s rapid pace was to exchange for strong offensive firepower, but O’Brien started from defense. The pressing defensive strategy brought about by miniaturization can quickly counterattack, which not only suppresses the opponent's offense, but also opens the gap in a short period of time to form an advantage. In the end, relying on iron-like defense to obliterate the opponent's hope of comeback.
This kind of thinking can be called the 1:0 doctrine of basketball.
But everything did not develop in the direction that O'Brien envisioned. Leon sent a strange combination of insiders, Wang Zhizhi and Dior. After the two played in the third quarter, the Celtics began to attack the Pacers.
Wang Zhizhi really can't guard against O'Neal, but he won't be killed by O'Neal, and O'Neal does not have the ability to kill opponents. Therefore, on the defensive end, the Celtics are determined not to double-team, never shrink, and never Let the walkers get up quickly. On the offensive end, the Celtics suddenly showed a dazzling tactical coordination. The Pacers who were unprepared for this before the game were a little overwhelmed by this European tactic.
Of course, the Celtics did not take the lead in the third quarter. Although they played well offensively, they missed Garnett and Brown on the inside. They lost several rebounds and none offensive rebounds. At the end of the third quarter, they were 67:68, 1 point behind the Pacers.
However, O'Brien's intentions were destroyed. The Pacers failed to play a suffocating press defense with one large and four small lineups, and built an advantage through quick counterattacks; instead, the rhythm was brought into offensive mode by the Celtics , The two sides fought together to attack, both sides have a good attack success rate, changed the first half of the first half of melee, scoring difficult situation.
In this way, Leon's goal was achieved.
An important game point in the matchup between an attacking team and a defensive team is how to bring the game into a rhythm, which will have an important impact on the entire game process and the final result. The status of a player is often highlighted or buried in the process, and O'Brien's two and a half quarters were lost in the crucial third quarter. This means that in the fourth quarter, it is very likely to enter the moment of competing for superstar singles ability, which O'Brien does not want to see.
Sure enough, after the start of the fourth quarter, Leon first replaced Kevin Garnett, and then paired with Chris Anderson. This light-weight inside combination created a lot of opportunities for Garnett. He took the fifth position. Participated in the offense as his identity and relied on his own backward jumper to score 6 points. The Celtics surpassed the score and forced the Pacers to invest more troops in the offense.
Offense and defense are a dynamic balance. When you have an excellent offense, the defensive end will be more relaxed. Similarly, if the defense is tight, then the inefficient positional attack that has to be performed will consume the player's physical strength and offensive feeling.
The Pacers do not have an excellent single player like Pierce. Once they fall behind and the opponent's offense feels good, the team that wants to rely on the defense to kill the opponent will often kill itself first.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Paul Pierce took over the game. After a pick-and-roll with Garnett, he stepped back, tilted his body, avoided Artest’s defense, hit a three-pointer at 45 degrees on the right, and rewritten the score to 88:81. Pulled to 7 points. There are less than three minutes left until the end of the game. O'Brien is still trying to find some tactical solutions, or make substitutions. In the final stage, he once again used a major and four minors to fight for his life, this time he used Reggie Miller. He pinned his hopes on Reggie Miller’s magical three-pointer ~EbookFREE.me~ But the magic is not for no reason. If a good shooter does not have a whole game of debugging, unless luck is against the sky, Then he won't hit a key goal at a critical moment. Reggie Miller had very few offensive opportunities tonight. O'Brien’s tactical arrangement was on the one hand, and on the other hand, Reid’s tireless defense made Miller feel completely devoid of touch. He only made one goal. Three pointers.
How can you expect him to perform a magical performance at the last moment in such a state?
, With only 41 points in the first half, the Celtics successfully unlocked the offense in the second half, especially in the third quarter. Relying on the sudden force in the fourth quarter, the Pacers lost more than 100 points for the first time this season and won. This is a very crucial game.
After the game ended, Leon shook hands with O'Brien and Vogel, and his former partners and colleagues became rivals in the same district. Leon knows that tonight's victory has a little bit of luck, but it also relies on the team's strong talent and star strength. And he can feel that O'Brien's lineup has not really found a way to operate. Once they find the right path, the Pacers will be the biggest obstacle for the Celtics to win the championship.
Leon was convinced of this and decided to study their weaknesses. (To be continued.)