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Chapter 208 Defensive pressure and importance

In this game, the Spurs featured the starting lineup of center Mohammed, power forward Duncan, small forward Stephen, shooting guard Michael Finley, point guard Tony Parker at the end of the regular season and early playoffs, while the Suns were center Boris Dior, power forward Tim Thomas, small forward Marion, shooting guard Lagabele, and point guard Nash for the two best player.

Both sides have no new ideas in the lineup. Although the Spurs' starting lineup has been changing, it changes according to the opponent. In the first game against the Suns, **Vic still believes in this lineup more, with balanced inside and outside, and both offense and defense. The reason why Mohamed instead of Nestrovic was not only the factor of enthusiasm for the game, but also Mohamed has stronger mobility.

There is no real center on the Suns. The original center Amarest Todameer is the height and skill of a power forward. Now after Amarest Todameer is injured, Boris Dior who came up is shorter than Stadameer and has stronger mobility. It is not because his scoring ability is not too high, **Vicci wants to transfer Stephen to the center position to defend him.

In the first game, both sides had the intention of testing, but relatively speaking, the Suns considered it easier. They only needed to use offense to test the opponent's defense. They did not need to consider defense. The Spurs also had to see if their defense could block the opponent's attack, and then they had to strengthen their attack.

In the first round of the Suns, they used their signature seven-second running tactics. After passing the midfield line, Nash passed to Dior. Dior gave Lagabele a cover and handed over to Lagabele. Lagabele took the ball directly. Although the ball did not hit, the Suns' offense was completed very well.

Dior's appearance solved the problem that the Suns relied on Nash's pass too much. Although he was 2.03 meters tall, he had a unique skill in passing. He and Nash cooperated with each other to pass the ball, which brought great difficulties to the defense of other teams. Otherwise, the Suns would not have lost Joe Johnson, sent Quentin Richardson away, and reimbursed Stoudemire, and were able to win the first place in the score division, with a real record ranked third in the West.

You should know that compared to the Suns last season, the Suns did not sacrifice one player, but three starters were replaced at once. Quentin Richardson averaged 15 points, six rebounds and two assists per game, Joe Johnson averaged 17 points, five rebounds and three:5 assists per game, and Stodmeier averaged 26 points and nine rebounds per game.

The three players added together have 58 points and 20 rebounds. This large-scale personnel change will cause serious damage to the team's strength, because you can't find three players the same as them, but even so, the Suns still reach the Western Conference Finals, so it is normal to award the regular season best player to Nash again, because any team will never be reborn like the Suns after such changes.

However, there is also an obvious problem with the Suns' lineup, that is, their substitute lineup is very weak. Of course, not every team has some super luxurious and luxurious substitute lineups like the Spurs, but the Suns' substitute is indeed too weak.

The Suns play in an eight-man rotation lineup. In addition to the "Brazil Lightning" Barbosa, there are also James Jones and Eddie House. These three are outside players. It can be said that the Suns basically have no real inside players. Sean Marion has a standard small forward figure, but in the Suns, they often have to play as power forwards, fight for rebounds and block defense. The center Dior is the center, but except for passing and screening and outside shooting, they rarely go to the basket. The Suns' basket is always someone else's position.

The Spurs' first offense was still initiated by Duncan. Stephen faced Marion's defense, and felt that he had reached another level compared to Josh Howard. Marion was similar in height to Josh Howard, but his wingspan was far superior to Josh Howard. At the same time, because he often fought against big inside players, Marion was much better than Josh Howard in the use of strength. Stephen felt a little irresistible when he was in a row.

What Stephen didn't know was that this was also related to Marion's attention to him. Stephen is not Stephen at the beginning of the season, nor is he Stephen in the middle of the season. This season, Stephen went from being a coolie defensive substitute player to a substitute main player with both offense and defense, and then became the main player of the team, and then became a phenomenal player.

Every other period, everyone's evaluation of Stephen has a layer of added layer, especially at the end of the season, when Stephen's best rookie is almost certain, no one dares to underestimate Stephen anymore. As Stephen and the Spurs get farther and farther away in the playoffs, Stephen is also increasingly valued by his opponents.

Although he only played for one rookie season, when all the media mentioned Stephen, they compared Stephen with James in the 2031 class, Duncan in the 1997, Iverson in the 1996, and O'Neal in the 1992. They believed that Stephen was the only one among this class rookies who could grow into a super player level. How could such an evaluation not be taken seriously?

If Stephen is still an unknown person, or just an ordinary starting player, Marion would never come to defend him. The Suns' player in the power forward position is Tim Thomas. He has similar characteristics to Robert Horry and likes to take action from the outside, which is also the main reason why the Suns transferred him to the starting player. In this case, Marion should usually defend a star former player like Duncan. However, in the tactical arrangement before the game, D'Antoni told Marion that his task in this game is to focus on the defense of Stephen. As for Duncan, he had to let it go. D'Antoni still believes that outside players like Stephen pose a greater threat to the Suns.

In fact, Lagabe is also a good defensive player. If Lagabe is allowed to defend Stephen and Marion defend Duncan, this is also a better choice. However, Lagabe is okay to deal with technical players like Kobe. D'Antoni believes that it is better to defend against Stephen's powerful players.

Lagabele is almost as tall as Stephen, not to mention strength and bounce, so if D'Antoni is worried that if he doesn't do this, neither of them will be able to defend himself and let the Spurs open both inside and outside. That's not something the Suns can handle.

D'Anthony also watched the sixth game between the Spurs and the Mavericks. He still remembered the performance of Duncan and Stephen, so he would rather lock one and let the other play than let both of them play.

If Marion defends Duncan and Lagaber defends Stephen, both of them will suffer physically. Although Duncan has a bigger reputation and richer experience, it is precisely because of this that D'Antoni feels that Duncan is not so easy to defend, especially his passing and support ability cannot be limited through defense.

No matter how powerful Stephen is, he is just a rookie. At this time, no one has ever talked about Stephen's second round pick. As the dust of the best rookie was settled, everyone treated Stephen as the No. 1 pick, so D'Antoni felt that it would be better to let Marion defend Stephen well, limit this point, and then win more points through offense.

He has never considered the defense of the whole team, which is impossible. At least Nash's point is a huge loophole. Instead of trying to make up for the weakness, it is better to use offense to get more points than the opponent to win the game. This is D'Antoni's basketball philosophy.

Feeling that the pressure on defense is very huge, Stephen did not force Marion to play, but passed the ball back to Duncan. According to tactics, Duncan is still the first tactics execution and attacker. Even if he does not follow tactics, the defense in front of Duncan is basically equal to nothing, and Duncan should take action.

Stephen had learned the relationship between team and victory at the University of Southern California. When he was at the Spurs, he had always accepted the style of team basketball. Although the signs of personal heroism appear in Stephen's heart from time to time, Stephen still suppressed this idea very well.

Because Stephen knew this was a wrong idea, it was not impossible to have personal heroism, but to be within a suitable control range, the game could not be won by one's own performance. With the strength and omnipotence of the "Little Emperor" James, Stephen believed that he was still not as good as James, and Stephen did not imagine that he would play so hard as James.

Of course, when the team is behind, or when someone needs to stand up and break the deadlock in a stalemate, Stephen will stand up without hesitation, not to take advantage of this time and when to perform, fans will see their idols alone to save the team or save the team from danger.

Duncan easily bypassed Tim Thomas' defense and then played a board in front of Dior. Although the ball did not go in, Duncan grabbed the rebound again, then jumped and put the ball into the basket. The ten-centimeter height gap was not so easy to make up.

The Suns' offense was still so fast and fluent. After only two passes, Tim Thomas took action. This time it was not disappointed. Both sides scored two points. The game continued. Under Marion's defense, Stephen still had no good chance to make a phone call, but Stephen was running and created an opportunity for Tony Parker, blocking Nash behind him, and then Tony Parker made a throw shot.

This is not a tactical scope, but a small cooperation between players. Stephen is very clear about Tony Parker's ability. Without anyone to cover him, Tony Parker will find it difficult to find a suitable opportunity to make a phone shot, because he is very fast and direct in shooting and throwing, but lacks certain changes and requires a certain amount of shooting space. If there is a defender, Tony Parker's shooting percentage will be seriously affected.

However, Stephen's cover was not in vain. After the Suns' offense hit again, he came back and Tony Parker suddenly passed the ball to Stephen when Stephen sneaked into the basket. At this time, Duncan retreated back and blocked Marion for Stephen. Stephen stood up without hesitation and made a dunk.

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Tomorrow is Monday. I hope everyone can support the red ticket tomorrow morning and let Xuanzhong continue to stay on the list. Although it is just a classified list, it is still useful.
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