Chapter 519 Dave Jogel (Second Update!)

Tang Tian was not too surprised by the result of the MVP selection.

Just like what some fans said on social media, he has enough statistics this season and enough core roles, but his record is indeed a little bit worse.

He was able to get a higher vote rate than James in the end, thanks to the documentary made by the Pelicans for him.

And it's really nothing to care about, this is his first year with the Pelicans, and he didn't even think about winning the MVP.

In the end, being able to rank second in the number of votes has exceeded his expectations.

But going a long way, this season's offseason should be strengthened, the Pelicans' record has improved, and he can really compete next year.

The Pelicans beat the Clippers and advanced to the second round. At this time, the first round of the game has all ended, and the Eastern and Western semifinals have also been released.

In the East, the Heat will face the Nets, who eliminated the Wizards in the first round of the tiebreaker.

The other group of semifinals is the Bulls and Pacers. The first game of the series between the two sides has been played, and the Pacers won 89 to 86.

In the West, the first game of the semifinals between the Spurs and the Lakers has also been played, and the result is surprising.

The Lakers beat the Spurs 116-106 on the road, grabbing home court advantage from the Spurs.

The Spurs' problems were exposed. They couldn't restrain Harden in the first round, and they couldn't suppress Kobe in the second round. The latter scored 37 points in the first game.

In another group match in the West, after the Pelicans advance, they will compete with the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are the most amazing team in the league. Since the formation of the black and white duo, the black eight beat the Spurs, and the black seven beat the Thunder. They are an absolute powerhouse in the playoffs.

And their confrontation in the regular season is very strong, and in the playoffs, it will only be stronger.

This is also the capital for them to complete black seven black eight, and their defense is definitely ranked first or second in the league.

And when playing against them, the performance of the inside will be very important.

The Thunder failed in the first round. In addition to Durant and Westbrook not performing as expected, the sluggish performance of Ibaka and Perkins is also a very important factor.

It's really not a shame that Griffin played abnormally against the black and white duo. For the Pelicans, the combination of Davis and Evans doesn't take much advantage.

The Pelicans can beat the Clippers, but it's really difficult to beat the Grizzlies.

After two days of rest, the first game between the Pelicans and the Grizzlies kicked off at the New Orleans Arena.

The Grizzlies eliminated the Thunder 4-2 and got nearly a week of rest, while the Pelicans played non-stop after the tiebreaker.

After the game started, the Grizzlies also showed the Pelicans how they eliminated the Thunder in the first round.

The interior defensive intensity has been raised to a whole level, especially Gasol Jr.

Compared with his elder brother Gasol, Gasol Jr. is equally good offensively, but his defense is too strong to be worth a stop.

He was selected to the defensive first team last year, and was second only to Tang Tian in the selection of the best defensive player.

During the regular season, he obviously kept playing, and in the playoffs, his overall performance directly improved by one level.

He averaged 20.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 2.2 blocks per game against the Thunder in the first round, which is the key to the Grizzlies' advancement.

It's the same when it comes to playing against the Pelicans, with a sense of presence on both ends of the offense and defense.

Davis was entangled by Randolph in the middle distance, and was even blocked by Gasol Jr. in the inside. The young man finally realized Griffin's pain at the beginning.

Without enough offensive skills, it is not easy to get cheap from the black and white duo.

To put it bluntly, in the playoffs, the black and white duo is the touchstone to test whether an inside player is really a super giant.

Not only Davis, Tang Tian was also completely targeted in the game.

During the regular season, the Grizzlies basically used Tony Allen to defend alone. In the playoffs, this defensive strategy has completely changed.

It was still a single defense, but Allen started to lead the defense from the whole court, using physical confrontation to consume Tang Tian from the very beginning.

When it came to the positional battle, the Grizzlies also targeted Tang Tian to the free throw line.

Don't underestimate this change. Tang Tian's offensive skills are relatively simple now, and he is facing Allen. He can't sway Allen like he can sway Barnes.

So he basically uses the breakthrough after changing directions to escape, but Allen still chases and defends and will not easily give him a chance to pull out.

He was forced to go to the basket, and the basket was black and white.

This is equivalent to driving him in front of the two walls.

He can use explosive kits to create shooting space for himself, but his efficiency against black and white duo is mediocre.

And more importantly, with such an offensive method, his physical strength is really exhausted.

Just creating shots, the physical exertion is several times that of playing the Clippers.

The Grizzlies changed coaches this season and replaced the young Dave Jogel. Because he was in Memphis and the Grizzlies' style of play was problematic, he didn't attract much attention.

But in fact, he is the head coach who is worthy of being a young coach in the league. He has won the best coach of the month three times this season.

In the selection of the best head coach of the season, he was also second only to Popovich and Timon Williams.

In addition to the configuration of the Grizzlies themselves, his targeted defense is really impressive.

87 to 75, the Grizzlies relied on their impregnable defense to beat the Pelicans away to gain home court advantage.

Tang Tian scored 27 points, but his shooting percentage was only in his early 40s, and Davis only scored 11 points and 7 rebounds.

The configuration of the Pelicans is built around the Gemini, and the Gemini is not performing well, and it is difficult for them to play.

The second match was exactly the same as the first.

The Pelicans are like being stuck in a quagmire. They have no fighting spirit and hard work, but they just can't play out.

After two games, they also lost two home games in a row, trailing the Grizzlies 0-2 by a big score.

Although he knew it would be difficult to play against the Grizzlies, no one expected such a situation.

Including Tang Tian.

The Clippers are a bit of a paper tiger, but the Grizzlies are real tigers.

After these two games, many problems have been exposed. He needs to enrich his offensive methods, Davis also needs to enrich his offensive methods, the team needs experience, etc...

But that's all about the offseason and next season. The question now is how to play this series well.

Losing to the Grizzlies is not unacceptable, but the problem is that we can no longer continue to play like this. If we lose both home games, we will be swept away if we continue to play like this.

The Pelicans gained confidence by defeating the Clippers. If they are swept in the second round, it will affect the morale of the team next season.

So change is a must.

Tang Tian didn't wait for Williams to come to him this time, he took the initiative to contact Williams, and then the two met in the coach's office.

"We need to change."

He held several tactical maps in his hand.

The Pelicans' lineup, experience, offense and defense are all at a disadvantage, and tactics are the only weight that can affect the balance of victory.

ps: Special thanks to Ruyi Golden Hoop Popsicle for the reward! !

Thanks to Xi_Ren, Zhuchuancan, luka89, ChoiZhae, Renzhimian 2020 for their rewards.