158 Of Course Craig

Trail Blazers coaching bench.

Nate McMillan isn't as worried and confused about Joel Przybilla's ejection as Barkley said, because the Trail Blazers have never been a team that relies on interior players to win.

This is not because the team was tight inside due to Zach Randolph during the regular season. After all, this is just a game that Joel Przybilla cannot play, and he can continue to play in the future.

Moreover, if Joel Przybilla is unable to play, Nate McMillan can also send Channing Flynn or Travis Outlaw to come on.

Monty Williams also had no concerns about Joel Przybilla being ejected, he just reminded him.

"If we bring in Travis Outlaw, it's almost the same as having Joel Przybilla in there, except we might have to consider pushing Aldridge to center."

"If we get Channing Fletcher, then Aldridge will definitely play the center position."

"Coach, this is a multiple choice question."

Nate McMillan buried his head in thought.

Travis Outlaw is shorter than Joel Przybilla. Although he used to play power forward, this season he has basically served as the Trail Blazers' backup center.

This is also to allow Zhang Jun to better break through on the court and successfully play a one-star four-shot tactic. Travis Outlaw has a passable mid-range shot and is very good on the court. Flexibility is his advantage over Joel Przybilla.

Channing Fletcher's movement speed on the court is not much different from Travis Outlaw, except that his shooting range is longer, reaching beyond the three-point line, and he is still an accurate shooter. Terrible anti-aircraft batteries.

He and James Jones are also the most formidable shooting duo in the Trail Blazers.

Nate McMillan is in trouble at this time. Should he take Channing Fletcher or Travis Outlaw.

"Oh, this kid Zhang Jun, as long as he is paired with an accurate shooter next to him, he will be invincible on the court."

Monty Williams couldn't help but lamented Zhang Jun's performance in this game.

Look at the Hornets' double-teaming of Zhang Jun, which was almost perverted to the extreme. If the Trail Blazers' outside shooters hadn't been tougher, they might have been held down by the Hornets.

Nate McMillan on the side suddenly became excited when he heard this and his eyes widened. He inexplicably recalled some of what Zhang Jun had said before.

Most teams in the league are speeding up their offense. The Celtics pushed Kevin Garnett from power forward to center at critical moments, and the Spurs used Duncan as center for almost half of the time.

Thinking of this, Nate McMillan suddenly had a bold idea.

"I want Channing to try to play with Aldridge and push Aldridge into the center position."

Monty Williams was startled, then thought about it carefully and said: "This can greatly open up the space on the court, but Channing Fletcher's defense is not as good as Travis Outlaw's. ”

"So our substitutions will probably allow the Hornets to score more points."

After all, at this time, Chan Ning Fu is going to face off against David West. Can he beat the opponent with his small body?

Nate McMillan quickly understood what Monty Williams wanted to say. He remembered a previous game on the court when Zhang Jun defended David West, a big block inside.

"David West's passing ability is not very strong. As long as the Hornets dare to let him attack with the ball, Zhang Jun can help defend him in at least half of the rounds and be in place."

"So this is a lineup and tactical play that you can definitely try."

"You have to know how terrifying Zhang Jun's offense was when Qian Ningflei was on the court. Since the Hornets dare to double-team Zhang Jun to this day, let's let them take the gamble for themselves. Defense pays the price.”

The game starts again.

The Trail Blazers took on Channing Fletcher at this time, which surprised Kenny Smith and Barkley on the commentary desk. After all, Channing Fletcher's defense was really not that good, otherwise with his excellent His three-point shooting ability doesn't mean he can only play as a substitute.

In fact, not only Barkley and Kenny Smith, but also the Trail Blazers players on the court were confused. Luo Yin and Aldridge were a little confused as to why the coach would win the team or even lose the team in such a crucial game. A lineup that has never won a training match.

Only Zhang Jun stood with his hands on his hips and the corners of his mouth raised. He knew that the Hornets were about to pay a heavy price for double-teaming him, so he applauded and signaled to his teammates.

"Focus on the game and pay attention to my passing."

Hornets offense.

Chris Paul very keenly noticed the natural advantage of David West and Channing Fletcher in the matchup, so without thinking, he directly raised his hand to signal his teammates to pull away, and then dropped the ball.

His IQ on the court is really not for nothing.

David West took the ball with his elbow and butt to open the way, and he hit a deep position in the penalty area with a few moves. Channing Fletcher's defense was really not good.

But just when David West was about to score, he suddenly saw Zhang Jun appearing in front of him.

"Made, this bastard is here again."

This time David West learned the lesson wisely. When he found that Zhang Jun was on the line and Qian Ningfu was on the line, and the two of them cooperated very well defensively, he decisively passed the ball to find the position of his teammates.

Zhang Jun raised his hands high to block David West's passing vision, not to mention that these long arms really made David West unable to see the position of his teammates.

He's not the passing type.

"David, give me the ball."

Paul's timely shouting reminder allowed David West to finally find the opportunity to pass the ball.

call!

After receiving the ball, Paul immediately looked towards the open Peja Stojakovic, only to find that Zhang Jun was already rushing there, and was only about one meter away from Peja Stojakovic.

The ball will not be broken when passed from this distance, but Zhang Jun's defense will definitely be able to catch up. It is almost no different from Peja Stojakovic's singles against Zhang Jun.

Paul doesn't think Peja Stojakovic can beat Zhang Jun in isolation.

"We can only attack by ourselves."

A good singles matchup advantage turned into Paul's singles on the court, which made him very annoyed.

Obviously the lineup the Trail Blazers got was full of holes, but it was difficult for the Hornets to seize such opportunities. Chris Paul always felt that in the series against the Trail Blazers, there was a person with a basketball IQ not weaker than him in control of the overall situation. .

Paul has seen quite a few people who have this kind of understanding of basketball, but almost all of them are point guards, such as Nash of the Suns and Kidd of the Mavericks. The few exceptions are his good friend LeBron James.

"But this Trail Blazers team doesn't have a player who can control the entire game like this. They are really annoying."

Paul wanted to pick and roll from the outside, and then used a textbook teaching method of playing big and small, teasing Aldridge and then shooting from mid-range.

Although he just received a punch on the court, it did not prevent Paul from continuing to use his cool skills to complete the offense.

I just feel sorry for Aldridge. Previously, teammate Joel Przybilla was frequently trained by Paul, and now it's his turn.

Trail Blazers offense.

Zhang Jun once again held the ball on the outside, and the Hornets' double-team attacked again without any surprise. They seemed not to be affected by Channing Fulai's arrival on the court.

Zhang Jun quickly passed the ball to Luo Yin on the other side.

Because Zhang Jun attracted the defense of two players, the Hornets were at an external disadvantage and missed people at this time.

Defending Luo Yin was David West. Luo Yin also used a small hit to teach a big lesson, using sharp footsteps to directly hit the penalty area.

At this time, Tyson Chandler also had to go over to help defend, so Channing Fletcher had no one to defend.

"Luo Yin!"

Zhang Jun shouted a reminder, and Luo Yin did not hesitate to find Qian Ning Fulai who was ambushing in the corner.

One pass, one shot, this time the offensive coordination was very smooth and natural.

The basketball sailed steadily across the sky and then hit the basket, making some waves.

"This player Fulai is really accurate!"

Buckley couldn't help but admire and said.

It's just that he hasn't realized that this is the beginning of an explosion after the Trail Blazers realign their lineup, and what will follow will be a series of bombardments by this team.

"Luo Yin breaks through and passes the ball to Qian Ningfu."

"The latter takes action!"

"Hey, come in again."

"This time, Zhang Jun directly found Qian Ning Fulai, who was open, and took action again."

"besides!"

"Channing Fletcher hit three consecutive three-pointers as soon as he came up."

The Trail Blazers bench has gone crazy.

James Jones was so excited that he wanted to rush onto the court, Steve Blake was yelling and waving a towel, Travis Outlaw imitated Channing Flynn's shooting moves and then raised his head with his hair in his mouth, like These three three-pointers were all shot by him. Francis opened his hands to stop everyone, indicating that these were small scenes, and then he was so nervous that he quickly sat down.

After all, as long as the Trail Blazers win tonight's game, they will advance to the Western Conference Finals.

That was the Western Conference Finals, a floor Francis had never touched in his life.

The scene of the camera once again turned to Byron Scott in the Hornets coaching bench. The latter had his arms folded and his face was expressionless. He had no intention of calling a timeout or signaling the players on the field to change their playing style.

It seems that he will continue to stick to the tactic of double-teaming Zhang Jun to the end.

In the next round, maybe Channing Fletcher's three-pointer was so accurate that the Hornets began to have players to defend him, but this would inevitably leave other Blazers players empty.

"What, there's no one in front of Luo Yin?"

"What did the Hornets think that they dared to let Braden Loyin go?"

Even Luo Yin was a little surprised that such a big space was available. After all, he also made the Western Conference All-Star this year. Is this defensive treatment?

Luo Yin received a pass from Zhang Jun from the outside and made a three-point shot without hesitation.

Uh-huh!

Three more points!

Luo Yin bent over and rubbed his hands on the floor, then ran forward wildly. Next to him were his teammates from the Trail Blazers. They slapped Luo Yin on the back one by one, and their atmosphere was all aroused. It seems that punching Chris Paul made sense.

The Trail Blazers hit 4 three-pointers in just a few minutes, directly extending their lead to 14 points.

Originally, everyone was still expecting that after the Trail Blazers lost Joel Przybilla, this incident would directly lead to the loss of the game tonight, and the Hornets would completely blow the horn of counterattack.

"Good man, this Trail Blazers team actually played more fiercely than before."

Kenny Smith couldn't help but say.

Barkley sighed. In his opinion, the Hornets were already in a big trend. They might really lose this game, and the consequence of losing this game would be that they would completely end the 2007-08 season.

Byron Scott called a timeout at this time, but did not rearrange the defensive tactics, but strengthened the offensive tactics and Chris Paul's personal offense.

Paul, who had almost no rest in this game tonight, walked onto the court again like a chicken blood, and before he could help the team score a goal, he was bombarded by the Trail Blazers again.

Zhang Jun suddenly passed the ball to Aldridge who was open in the interior, and the latter directly faced the empty basket and dunked.

The Hornets' defense was in a mess. In order to double-team Zhang Jun, guard Channing Fry, and not miss Brayden Royne, they had no extra players to defend Aldridge.

Taking advantage of this chaotic defense, Zhang Jun, who had not exerted any strength throughout the game, suddenly broke into the basket against the defense of Julian White and Bonzi Wells, and made a tomahawk dunk.

Julian White and Bonzi Wells did not react. Why did Zhang Jun suddenly start to attack while passing the ball?

Then Zhang Jun made another sassy move by passing two people, and went straight to the basket to face Tyson Chandler and made a layup, which also caused a free throw.

Zhang Jun, who made the free throw, completely killed the game tonight, because the difference between the two teams had been widened to a full 20 points.

"The game has completely lost suspense."

In the last minute, the Hornets surrendered, and Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, and David West were replaced one after another.

The game was over.

The Trail Blazers won the game 121:105.

"We've made it to the Western Conference Finals!"

At the moment the final whistle sounded, all the Trail Blazers players rushed into the court. They roared wildly at the sky above the stadium, and then swooped down to glide on the court.

The New Orleans fans at the scene burst into tears. They found it hard to accept the team's defeat, and it was even harder to accept that the team was defeated by the young Trail Blazers.

What kind of team is this? They haven't made the playoffs for so many years, and now they've eliminated us right away?

Reporter Craig Sager found Zhang Jun, who was besieged by his teammates, in the celebrating crowd and said, "Hey Zhang Jun, can you accept my interview? This is my first interview with you."

Craig Sager is already a famous NBA reporter. Zhang Jun calmed down his excited teammates, slapped Aldridge's butt, pushed away Luo Yin who jumped over, and Channing Fry wanted to hug Zhang Jun but was flicked on his brother by his finger.

"Of course Craig." Craig Sager showed his signature smile and said, "Congratulations on reaching the Western Conference Finals. You are the first team in the league to advance in this series. Can you tell us how you feel now and how you beat the Hornets in this series?"