Chapter 493: Treat others in their own way
Yang Mo looked at his right hand in surprise. This missed shot was a surprise to him. Logically, the success rate of open shots should be 100%. Could it be that... he had temporarily lost his shooting touch?
While Yang Mo was surprised, the basketball had already been snatched away by Howard fiercely. Although Turiaf tried to fight for it, his positional disadvantage and the difference in physical fitness still prevented him from grabbing the frontcourt rebound.
Howard grabbed the rebound and quickly passed it to Nelson. Nelson dribbled forward, took advantage of Lewis's pick-and-roll, and quickly entered the restricted area. He then collided with Turiaf's body... Ding! The referee blew the whistle again, calling a foul on Turiaf and awarding him two free throws.
Stan Van Gundy watched his players play as he wanted, and he couldn't help but smile triumphantly, stroking his chin. It was clear that he felt he was finally in control of the game, and his previous depression had been swept away.
Unlike Stan Van Gundy, who was completely visibly depressed, Yang Mo's brows were furrowed. He knew exactly what the Magic were going to do: cut off his connection with his teammates on defense and use the team's constant inside attacks to cause damage on offense.
Yang Mo didn't have many options in this situation, as the Knicks were completely devoid of any capable inside players. He could only watch helplessly as they exploited his weaknesses. Offensively, he didn't seem to have much else to do. They abandoned him, using five players to defend four others, a tactical concession.
Do I really want to be beaten to death by them in this way?
Yang Mo frowned, deep in thought. Just then, Nelson had already made both free throws. Turiaf quickly served the ball. Yang Mo received it and was about to step forward when Turiaf, with a bitter face, approached. "Yang, I've already fouled three times, and it's only the second quarter. If I get hit too, we'll be completely wiped out."
Turiaf's concerns mirrored Yang Mo's, who was also troubled by the lack of depth in the paint. Substituting Turiaf would play into the Magic's hands, as they aimed to completely destroy the Knicks' interior and exploit the paint.
"You bear with it first, I'll think of a solution." This was the only answer Yang Mo could give.
Seeing that Yang Mo looked embarrassed, Turiaf stopped asking questions and ran forward with his head down.
Yang Mo took the ball to the frontcourt and found that the situation was still the same. All the Magic players were desperately defending the other four Knicks players, while Yang Mo was treated as nothing. In this situation, Yang Mo chose to jump shot three points... Bang!
The basketball missed the target again, and Yang Mo missed two shots in a row.
At this moment, Yang Mo was really a little anxious and confused. He was hit in the sore spot on the defensive end, and suddenly lost his touch on the offensive end. Isn't this just bad luck and adding insult to injury?
When the Magic brought the ball to the frontcourt, they still adopted the breakthrough tactic, but this time the person who broke through became Courtney Lee. When Courtney Lee broke through the penalty area again, he caused the assisting defense Jeffries to foul. This foul instantly brought the Knicks' team fouls to five times. In other words, as long as the Knicks commit a foul, even if it is a foul by a player without the ball, the Magic will get a free throw.
When Courtney Lee stepped onto the free throw line, Stan Van Gundy could no longer hide the smile on his face. Although his team was still trailing, the tactical effect he had hoped to achieve was finally achieved.
drop!
Yang Mo requested a timeout. He needed to go back to the bench to adjust. If the Magic continued to play like this, the Knicks would definitely lose.
When Yang Mo requested a timeout and led the Knicks players to the bench, the Orlando Arena suddenly erupted in enthusiastic cheers. They were so excited, they were so happy, they finally managed to hold the Knicks down at home.
"Haha, Super Yang is nothing special!" During the timeout, Jeff Van Gundy immediately became complacent and arrogant: "He can't even adapt to a simple Jordan rule, and he still wants to dominate the league. How naive, so young."
"It's not your turn to be proud yet. Your team is still behind. The Knicks are leading now, OK?" Charles Barkley complained unhappily. Although he was also worried about Yang Mo's struggle on the court, he still had to be tough in his words.
"The Knicks' current problems are a weak interior and Super Yang's touch issues," Collins said without losing his bias. His attitude had always been neutral; he didn't want to get involved in the two commentators' gambling. For him, this gamble was simply too big; he felt his head could never withstand the impact of the T-back.
"Just wait, Charles. You'll soon see the Magic overtake and completely leave the Knicks behind. You know, the Knicks can't come up with any reliable center to fight against Howard."
Jeff Van Gundy was still arrogant, but Charles Barkley said indifferently : "Every time Kenny Smith bets with me, he will be so arrogant to you, but in the end, without exception, he always suffered a heavy blow. Tonight, you will be no exception!"
"Then we'll see!"
As Jeff Van Gundy uttered these harsh words, Yang Mo, who had been sitting on the bench for nearly a minute, finally looked up. Facing the eager gazes of his teammates, he finally came up with an idea. He quickly took the tactical board from Stein, who was also holding his breath, and said, "Our next tactic is to give them a taste of their own medicine. They used the Jordan Method on me, so we'll do the same. We'll let Nelson go and give him an easy shot. He'll definitely be tempted to shoot when he's unguarded, and once he does, our inside offense will be less likely to be aggressive."
Yang Mo paused for a moment, then continued, "Wilt Chandler, Tony Allen, you will attack the inside with me later. We are going to defeat Howard in the same way. Losing Turiaf is not a big deal for us, but losing Howard will be a real nightmare for them. Turiaf, your task on the offensive end is to set pick-and-rolls for everyone and create space for everyone to enter the paint. Do you understand?"
"I understand!" Turiaf nodded immediately, his eyes full of admiration. He never thought that Super Yang would use this method to resolve the team's crisis. It was so smart and wise!
"Also, Gallinani, you come on the court with us. I can't find my three-point touch right now, and we need you to shoot from beyond the arc. You have to run intensively and be ready to receive my breakthrough pass at any time."
"good!"
After all the tasks were arranged, the whistle sounded and the game officially began.
At this time, Yang Mo quickly put his hands in the middle: "Then... let's get rid of the magic! Fighting!"
“Fighting !”
Everyone shouted, and the originally low morale instantly became extremely high.
When Stan Van Gundy saw the Knicks players marching onto the court with such rage, he was stunned: Are these the same Knicks? Didn't we just beat them like koalas? How come they're now black bears? They didn't make any roster changes? They even substituted the defensively strong Jeffries for the more capable Gallinari. Is there some conspiracy going on?
Stan Van Gundy was worried. He always felt that Yang Mo was a guy full of conspiracy and intrigue.
Meanwhile, the game had already begun. Courtney Lee's shooting seemed to have suffered after returning from a timeout. He actually… bang! bang! He missed both free throws. This dismal shooting percentage caused the fans to sigh in relief. Their sighs reached a crescendo when Yang Mo finally leaped high to grab the rebound.
But this sigh instantly became the clarion call for the Knicks' counterattack.
After Yang Mo grabbed the basketball, he quickly initiated a fast break. As the five Knicks players sprinted, the Magic players, despite their fierce pursuit, were somewhat dispersed. Taking advantage of their scattered space, Yang Mo slid in. He had a perfectly straightforward dunk opportunity, but he took a slow three-step, then, with a contorted stance and leaning on Ryan Anderson, unleashed a grotesquely unstoppable shot... Beep! The referee blew the whistle.
Swish!
The basketball thrown by Yang Mo fell into the net accurately.
2+1!
yes!
After the ball went in, Yang Mo pumped his fist vigorously. He had been frustrated for three or four rounds, and now he finally had some dignity back. But the fans at the scene couldn't help but feel terrified: Could this ball really be the foreshadowing of that guy's counterattack?
While they were worried, Yang Mo had already made the free throw, putting a beautiful end to this 2+1.
Yang Mo was not particularly satisfied with the success of the three-pointer. He even walked up to Howard and said in frustration: "This foul means nothing to me because it was not given to me by you."
Faced with Yang Mo's frustration, Howard wanted to say something back, but thinking back to Yang Mo's previous trash talk skills, he quickly shut up. He didn't want to compete with Yang Mo in trash talk.
When Nelson brought the ball to half court, he suddenly found it strange that there was no defender around him, and all the Knicks players were double-teaming the remaining four Magic players.
What is this doing?
Nelson looked around in great surprise. He had never been treated like this before.
Meanwhile, Stan Van Gundy's mouth widened in surprise, and after a long pause, he managed to utter: "Using the Jordan Rules on Nelson?"
