Chapter 515 The Best Off-Ball Defense

Can't lose, the SuperSonics can't lose...

He kept praying.

At this time, fans across the United States were already extremely excited.

Although they were 8 points behind, the momentum displayed by the Lakers was not inferior to that of the Sonics. This was the first time that I saw a team that could compete with the 100% SuperSonics on the court.

too strong!

——The Lakers must win!

——Come on, Lakers! Come on, Kobe and Yao, kill that Asian!

Fans in front of countless TV sets across the United States are cheering for the Lakers, while in Asia and Europe, they are all shouting: Hold on, SuperSonics! Don't lose at home!

At this time in God Arena, the cheers for the SuperSonics were about to lift the roof, and there was a short 5-minute break.

On the benches on both sides, the two head coaches were spitting.

On the Lakers side...

"Although Lin Dong has been restricted by double teams in the past three quarters, he has not exerted his full strength. He still has plenty of physical strength and willpower! Don't think that double teams with two people will definitely be able to restrict him. If it is that simple , he won’t get the title of Mojiedong!”

"Be alert! Be alert! Be alert again! Don't be afraid to give the SuperSonics perimeter a chance. SuperSonics' Lin Dong has taken over too many games in the fourth quarter. The huge pressure in the fourth quarter has never been given to the Sonics' perimeter. As long as the players lock up Lin Dong and force the Sonics to give the ball to the outside, they will definitely not be able to withstand the pressure and will definitely make mistakes and miss shots!”

"The inside line must also pay attention to assisting in defense. We must not let Lin Dong gain momentum. In the fourth quarter, he was more terrifying than the entire team!"

"We must lock up Lin Dong! We must hold him back! If we hold him, we will definitely win!"

And the supersonic speed at this time...

The unprecedented challenger obviously made the SuperSonics generals see the threat. Although having Lin Dong to rely on in the fourth quarter was their greatest confidence, facing the double-teaming of Kobe and Nash, both of them were damn fast. It's up to Lin Dong. You're four against three and you still have to rely on Lin Dong to save the game. Is it appropriate?

What's more, even if there is no problem on the offensive end, what about the defense?

Leading by 8 points, but the ball is in the hands of the Lakers. If the Lakers' offense cannot be prevented, or cannot be effectively restricted, then there must be variables, and this variable is the greatest pressure on the Sonics, unless it does not appear. Once it appears, it will be overwhelming.

"I'm not worried about the offensive end. Our trouble is defense! We must limit the Lakers' offense, even if it's only once or twice!"

"Lin, Nash must not let go. Even if he has been out of the offense due to your suppression in the third quarter, as long as we let him go, the Lakers will be unstoppable! Their other four people will become the end point!"

"While Lin locks up Nash, it's up to you to restrict those two people."

"Chandler, your task is Yao Ming. I know you are not his opponent, and no one expects you to be able to guard him alone, but at least, drag him down with two balls for me! Don't let him do that under the basket again. Score easily! You have to make him feel threatened, you have to be aggressive!"

Chandler's eyes were red, but his heart was bleeding.

In the first half, Yao Ming was pulled to the outside, allowing him to play half of the game comfortably. But in the third quarter, when Yao Ming returned to the inside, it felt so good... The boxing champion was really beaten by Yao Ming. From the score From defense to rebounding to support...it was so fierce, so tall and strong that Chandler even felt that he was not facing a person at all, but an Optimus Prime holding a cube in his forehand!

It was a state where you couldn't hit or win, you couldn't win even if you jumped, you couldn't stop or block, and you were simply ignored by the opponent.

Oh, Almighty God! For the sake of me praying every Sunday, send this horrible Autobot back to Cybertron!

Speaking of which, Chandler and Yao Ming have known each other for a long time...as early as the Nike training camp in 1998, he experienced the terror of being dominated by this Eastern giant.

For a long time, Chandler trained with the goal of defeating Yao.

But I didn't expect that 7 years later, in such a crucial game, I would feel that sense of dominance again... and the gap was even bigger than last time!

Maybe it's because he lost weight after being injured, so his confrontational ability is not as good as before, and his positioning has shifted from a traditional center to a power forward position. Maybe it's because Yao Ming has improved so fast, maybe it's because...

Chandler shook his head hard.

I can't think about that anymore. The more I think about it, the less I can fight.

He was worried.

... Just like the coach said, Yao will be pulled down by one or two! I can no longer let him get whatever he wants, unless I commit five fouls and leave the field!

While Chandler was thinking about his thoughts, McMillan's firepower had been removed from him.

The reminder just now is just to do your best and obey fate. Yao Ming has made great progress in the past few seasons. If this guy had been born a few years earlier and hadn't encountered the SuperSonics led by Lin Dong, I'm afraid he would already have a championship ring by now.

Now Yao Ming's threat at the basket is as close as O'Neal's, and he is absolutely unstoppable in the league. Even before this battle, many outsiders said that if the Lakers win the SuperSonics and join the Cavaliers in the finals, then it will be the best. What all fans are looking forward to is not Kobe VS LeBron, but Yao Ming VS O'Neal. I hope they can determine the true number one center in the league.

Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect Chandler, a quasi-all-star blue-collar player, to guard Yao Ming.

In comparison, Sakuragi Hanamichi can really look forward to it.

"Sakuragi, the trick to defending off-ball defense is to stare at the ball instead of just the person. At the same time, strong-side defense and weak-side defense against off-ball people are different. When defending on the strong side, you must face the person and turn your back to the ball. Weak-side defense can be appropriately open. You have strong defensive ability and can move closer to the ball! You are too tense and only chase people. No matter how fast you are, you can't defend off-ball! Your defensive ability is definitely competent for this. If there is anyone in the world who can defend Kobe Bryant off-ball, it must be you!"

In fact, McMillan doesn't need to say much about the concept of off-ball defense. Sakuragi Hanamichi obviously understands it. After all, he is a defensive expert. Even if he has not used this trick much, he has not understood the concept.

The difficulty lies in adaptation and habit. There are too many defenses against the inside line, and it is easy to confuse the habit of strong-side defense and weak-side defense without the ball. McMillan is just strengthening his cognition of this point.

Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded, but frankly speaking, he is not very confident.

He is no longer the boy who could get excited just by a few tricks from Coach Anxi and a few sips of chicken soup.

His son is almost one year old now, and his understanding of basketball and defense has already risen to a level that ordinary people cannot reach. Now even McMillan and Payton can no longer instruct him on defense. During team training, his teammates often ask him about defense. It is not groundless that Lin Dong said he is the best defender in the world.

But... it is precisely because he understands defense the best that Sakuragi knows how difficult it is to defend Kobe's off-ball defense.

McMillan is right. The most important thing about defending off-ball defense is not only to defend people, but also to defend the 'ball'.

So at the same level, off-ball defense is too difficult for defenders, but it is a natural advantage for attackers.

Because when the strength of each other is equal, you face your opponent, then you can't observe the position of the ball as clearly as he does. No matter what zone, no matter what prediction, how can he see it more clearly and faster?

And if you turn your back to your opponent... will an opponent of the same level be defended by you with your back to him?

Let alone turning your back, if you just turn your head to look behind you, your opponent may have disappeared when you turn back.

While he agreed to McMillan, he kept thinking about more effective defensive strategies in his mind.

Prediction? The ball is not in Kobe's hands. He can change his actions and intentions countless times in a second. Many of his intentions are completely illogical. They are just random attempts to get rid of you.

How do you predict this? Can you predict it right every time?

Speed, strength, reaction... In these aspects, Kobe is better than you in terms of strength, but his speed is better. They are tied, but Kobe has the advantage of facing the ball and always has the upper hand...

Facing him, you can't be faster than him, and with your back to him, you will definitely be thrown away by him.

This is a contradictory proposition, an unsolvable paradox!

McMillan is still explaining, but Sakuragi basically can't listen.

He could hear his own heartbeat. What should he do? What should he do? !

He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Lin Dong.

Ever since Lin Dong said that sentence a few years ago, 'Your defensive awareness is already better than mine', Sakuragi has rarely asked Lin Dong for similar answers.

But when he was already confused to the extreme and entangled, the idea of ​​'Brother Gao can do everything' in his heart still affected him.

Lin Dong didn't refuse this time. Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi's inquiring eyes, he frowned and thought about it, then hooked Sakuragi Hanamichi's neck and said in his ear: "I don't know how to defend Kobe's off-ball, but I know... If I'm playing off-ball, then what I fear most is that the ball can't be passed to me in time, wasting the opportunity I finally ran out!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi was slightly stunned.

Beep!

The referee blew the whistle for the fourth quarter.

The Lakers have the ball.

There seems to be no change in the formation and play on both sides.

After Lin Dong stared at Nash, Iguodala defended Odom alone, and Rukawa stood by not far from Iguodala.

If Odom had the ball, he would double-team him. If it was back to Christie, he would stop Christie from advancing.

Chandler and Yao Ming were in fixed positions under the basket, and Sakuragi Hanamichi followed Kobe closely.

Previously, Sakuragi's defensive strategy against Kobe was to block the back road, and the position behind Kobe did not prevent him from receiving the ball.

The reason for choosing the defense behind was that it could better observe the ball, observe the strong and weak side defense, and observe the situation on the court, and it would also make it difficult for Kobe to get rid of him; secondly, it was because Sakuragi was not afraid of Kobe holding the ball.

If Kobe really held the ball without losing his defensive position, it would actually become an ordinary one-on-one defense, which was what he was best at, and he was not afraid at all.

This was also the most effective way to deal with the ballless.

But the problem is that this move was very ineffective in the third quarter. Kobe would not receive the ball in a position where he was required to hold the ball. He would often receive an alley-oop when he was required to finish directly, or a shot after a pick-and-roll, or even an open cut after a pick-and-roll.

In the off-ball state, the two sides' ability to get rid of and entangle is completely equal, and in the disordered and random off-ball escape, the ability to predict can be almost ignored, because perhaps even Kobe himself does not know what his next move will be. Everything is adjusted in time according to each other's reactions, and it may even be arbitrary. How can it be predicted?

When the two sides are compared to this level, they are completely equal, but this returns to the most original old problem, that is, the offensive side always seizes the initiative to take the initiative.

But when both sides have tried their best, the other side still has this advantage, and the result will be very different, making Sakuragi Hanamichi feel that his defense always hits the empty cotton after a punch, and he can't exert any force at all.

And the reminder just now by Brother Gaoren made him feel that he had entered a misunderstanding.

——What I fear most is that the ball cannot be passed to me in time.

Brother Gaoren's offensive ability is undoubtedly better than Kobe Bryant. Even he is afraid that the ball cannot be passed to him in time. Isn't Kobe afraid?

No matter where you are, no matter who the opponent is.

Do what your opponent is afraid of, that’s the best defense!