It's not that Liu Xiu underestimates Gasol, but there are too many powerful inside players these days, such as O'Neal, Duncan, Garnett , Nowitzki, Tianzun... Gasol, who is only 23 years old, is not really outstanding and is not even at the All-Star level. Jamison and Anthony Walker of the Mavericks have performed better than Gasol now when they are in teams that suit them.
Since the start of the season, Randolph has been very strong against everyone except when he was defeated by O'Neal.
Randolph didn't take Gasol's thin body seriously and knocked him down with one push.
But Gasol's size is enough to restrain Randolph!
When the Grizzlies attacked, Princeton continued to move forward. White Chocolate made a pick-and-roll and broke through. Liu Xiu, who had switched to defend Lorenzen Wright, switched to defend Gasol. Liu Xiu stuck to Gasol and tried to prevent him from receiving the ball. Gasol turned and cut in. White Chocolate made a tacit pass and Gasol received the ball and made a flying shot...
It was a beautiful combination and Gasol also showed excellent basic skills, but it was a pity that the ball didn't go in.
Tianzun protects the defensive rebound.
Liu Xiu receives the ball and advances. He will not play in transition offense unless there is a good opportunity.
Stable is the word!
Although Randolph and Gasol are in the same class, they are treated very differently. Randolph only played for 5 minutes per game in his rookie year, and less than 17 minutes per game in his sophomore year last season. Most of the time he played in garbage time in the early stage of the regular season, and a little more in the later stage, but most of his playing time was still concentrated in unimportant stages. He only broke out in the playoffs. It is hard to say whether he played against Gasol for more than 5 minutes in the two seasons combined.
Now I know I'm a natural nemesis, I'm really angry, but I can't just beat this guy up, right... Eh? Beat him up? Good idea!
In the end, Randolph did not ask for the ball out of anger, nor did he hit anyone for no reason, which would be more humiliating than being beaten. He chose to move away, maintain a rushing posture, and be ready to block for his teammates around the baseline. He did not play one-on-one, and his offensive job was very simple.
So, when Liu Xiu came to the frontcourt, he found that Randolph and Tianzun had pulled away, leaving only two pitchers, Reuben Patterson and Wesley Person.
Liu Xiu wanted to play for a long time tonight. With his temporary physical strength of 92, he could play steadily and steadily for nearly 40 minutes. After playing two games at the beginning, he was ready to integrate into the team offense, but looking at the situation... he had a lot of candied haws and boxed lunches.
White Chocolate's defense is still solid. Given Liu Xiu's current ability to break through and shoot after dribbling, it is almost impossible for him to play one-on-one from the outside.
Without hesitation, Liu Xiu waved towards Wesley Person, low post tactics!
This time White Chocolate lowered his center of gravity, guarded the middle and the baseline. When Liu Xiu received the ball, Gasol was already ready to cut off the baseline pass and move to the basket.
Liu Xiu received the ball and leaned forward, turned on the spot, and made a close-range jump shot along the left sideline of the three-second zone...and it went in!
12 to 9, Liu Xiu stabilized the situation that was about to be reversed.
He shot the ball by turning around and shooting. His movements were so smooth that Liu Xiu felt it was so smooth...
Not only is it fun, it has greatly inspired him to strengthen and improve the technical details of his low-post back-to-the-basket attack!
Liu Xiu retreated excitedly, and his excitement subsided only when White Chocolate quickly advanced across half the court.
When it comes to the Grizzlies' offense, they are expected to hit the 50-win mark. Their strength is really not to be underestimated!
The Grizzlies' lineup is capable of positional warfare and counterattacks, and it can even beat Princeton. The key is that Hubie Brown knows Princeton.
This time, Randolph came to help Liu Xiu to supplement Gasol. Gasol passed the ball from a high position, and Bonzi-Wells received the ball and dunked to get two points.
have to!
Liu Xiu looked at the opposing lineup: Lorenzen Wright ; Gasol, who has comprehensive offensive skills and top-notch supporting abilities in the league; White Chocolate, who has completed his transformation; Mike Miller, the league's top three-point shooter; and Bonzi Wells, who is playing as if it were a contract year... If it weren't for the fact that Little Flying Squirrel went to play as the sixth man, and if Randolph and Tianzun had not transitioned smoothly into the core offensive position, the Trail Blazers might not be as strong as the Grizzlies this year!
After receiving the serve and advancing to the front court continued to play from a low position.
Since there is no way to gain an advantage, then just waste time!
Liu Xiu's turnaround jump shot... hit the rim and bounced back. Liu Xiu seized the opportunity to exert force, squeezed White Chocolate aside to grab the offensive rebound, and then shot again... and it went in!
The offensive rebound that couldn't be scored during the post-up play is one of the essences of Randolph's post-up play. It wasn't very possible before, but tonight, it felt great!
14 to 11!
Liu Xiu got 9 points!
Immediately afterwards, White Chocolate missed a long two-pointer after a pick-and-roll, and Lorenzen Wright took advantage of Bonzi Wells's distraction and scored two points with a tip-in.
When the Trail Blazers attacked, Liu Xiu received the ball and turned around directly. Without any back-to-the-basket contact, he rushed forward and pressed White Chocolate who was trying to move the chair to make a layup... but missed!
But this was because White Chocolate grabbed Liu Xiu's arm in a panic, which was a foul!
After playing a few more rounds, Liu Xiu realized that Hubie Brown's transformation of White Chocolate was towards Stockton's direction. Unfortunately, White Chocolate, although he looked bad, could not play basketball well.
Hubie Brown calls timeout again!
Liu Xiu scored in 4 singles! He already had 9 points, and he had two free throws after the timeout! That meant he had already scored 10 points in less than half a quarter!
I didn’t expect Liu Xiu’s back-to-the-basket skills to be so good. It seems an understatement to say that he is Randolph at the point guard position.
As for the back-to-the-basket skills that Randolph demonstrated tonight, they are really not as strong as Liu Xiu's.
However, Hubie Brown is not without a solution.
These days, when you are in doubt...be defensive!
The guy named Brown curses at different people for different reasons and has a different attitude toward young players...but whenever something happens, the train of thought is the same.
The Grizzlies sent out Jason Williams, James Posey, Shane Battier, Bonzi Wells and Gasol.
This lineup, with one big and four small players, Gasol protecting the rim, and endless rotation from shooting guard to power forward... Hubie Brown has extremely high expectations.
Then, Hubie Brown saw the opponent sent out the combination of Damon Stoudemire, Liu Xiu, Travis Outlaw, Dale Davis, and Rasheed Wallace...Grass is still a plant.
…
After the timeout, Liu Xiu made both free throws, making the score 16 to 13, and his personal score also increased to 11 points.
When it was the Grizzlies' turn to attack, White Chocolate and Bonzi-Wells started the attack with a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc.
The blue fat man with more comprehensive skills - Bonzi Wells.
Randolph himself admitted that the person he imitated the most since entering the NBA was his former teammate Bonzi Wells.
Of course, Randolph did not learn everything, he just learned what he thought was useful, and he easily surpassed Bonzi-Wells. The talent gap was obvious.
White Chocolate and Stick's pick-and-roll pushed Dale Davis to the right side of the three-second zone. However, Bonzi Wells basically knew all the skills from shooting guard to power forward, and was proficient in some of them, but he was not proficient in the pick-and-roll.
The Trail Blazers were forced to switch defense with a pick-and-roll, but Bonzi Wells did not help Gasol with the pick-and-roll and chose to cut in. However, the Flying Squirrel and Dale Davis surrounded White Chocolate, and the risk of passing the ball when Bonzi Wells cut in was too great, so White Chocolate did not pass.
White Chocolate can make difficult passes, but now there is a 90% chance that Bonzi-Wells will not be able to catch the pass even if he is prepared, so White Chocolate will not pass it.
Gasol went around to the high position on the right side of the free throw line and had a chance to receive the ball, and White Chocolate immediately passed the ball to Gasol.
Tianzun immediately defended after Gasol received the ball, which means that the pick-and-roll just now was in vain.
Gasol received the ball, with only 8 seconds left, he was the one-on-one master!
Facing Tianzun's extremely aggressive defensive moves, Gasol missed the shot with a half-turn in one step!
Dale Davis blocked the player and Liu Xiu came back to grab the defensive rebound.
Tianzun, who was defending, let out a strange cry and almost got T-ed.
Gasol, who was yelled at, seemed to think that the man was so vulgar. He did not respond, but turned around with a sullen face and went back to defense like a punching bag.
Hubie Brown got a headache when he saw this scene - there was no one on the team who looked like he could be a leader.
Liu Xiu received the serve and advanced across half court, and the one defending him was James Posey.
Liu Xiu immediately passed the ball to the Flying Squirrel, then took James Posey and cut through the middle, around the baseline, disrupting the inside defense, while the Flying Squirrel played one-on-one from the outside.
Hubie Brown saw the Trail Blazers' rotation and knew this would happen.
Facing White Chocolate who was several centimeters taller than him, the Little Flying Squirrel broke through in a singles match and made a long two-point shot with a step back!
18 to 13, the Trail Blazers' lead reached 5 points!
When the Grizzlies attacked, Hubie Brown yelled on the sidelines to change tactics.
The way he roared, the fans on the sidelines were really worried that the old man would suffocate from roaring like that.
Gasol received the ball directly in the high post, White Chocolate passed the ball and cut in, Bonzi Wells directed the wing to make a pick-and-roll for Battier without the ball and cut in, Gasol passed the ball, Bonzi Wells received the ball and attracted double teaming and passed the ball to the bottom corner, Battier shot a three-pointer in the bottom corner...
Hit!
The Grizzlies' offensive adjustments had an immediate effect.
When it was the Trail Blazers' turn to attack, the Flying Squirrel continued to play one-on-one. Battier on the wing chose to double-team him, and the Flying Squirrel saw this and rushed to the inside.
Tianzun screened for Liu Xiu on the wing, Liu Xiu moved to a 45-degree angle, Xiao Feishu passed the ball to Tianzun, Tianzun responded from the wing, Liu Xiu received the ball and shot a three-pointer...missed! But Travis Outlaw rushed to grab the ball and slapped it out, Xiao Feishu grabbed the ball and passed it to Liu Xiu who rushed in towards the slapped ball.
Liu Xiu received the ball and went into close range, jumped, and shot before Gasol could get in position to defend...and it hit the backboard!
20 to 16, the Trail Blazers led by 4 points again, and Liu Xiu's personal score increased to 13 points!
This rookie is still scoring!
This rookie still has a chance!
Hubie Brown shouted adjustments on the sidelines - keep a close eye on Liu Xiu.
Not only the Grizzlies players heard this, but Liu Xiu and the Trail Blazers players also heard it!
When it was the Grizzlies' turn to attack, Gasol's high-post assist and Bonzi-Wells' off-ball pick-and-roll followed by cutting in to attract double-teaming were effective, so they naturally had to continue playing this style.
The Trail Blazers did a good job of defending their interior. The frontcourt trio of Travis O'Neal, Dale Davis, and Tianzun had an absolute advantage in height, but their perimeter defense was really poor. White Chocolate, Battier, and James Posey coordinated and cut into the interior to pass the ball, so they had a lot of opportunities and they seized them well.
However, Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown is very worried. This style of play is just a forced way to consume the energy of the Trail Blazers!
With the way they played, he didn't dare to replace Gasol.
But wasting time does not necessarily mean losing, so in this situation, Hubie Brown decisively chose to hurt each other.
On the other side, the Trail Blazers' defense was not good, but the Grizzlies also did not defend their offense well.
Liu Xiu decisively reduced the ball possession. When the Little Flying Squirrel just came on the court, he let the Little Flying Squirrel roam around, either passing or shooting.
Liu Xiu took James Posey away to contain him, which reduced the Grizzlies' three-man unlimited rotation from shooting guard to power forward to two people, and their power dropped significantly!
The scores of both teams are rising. At this time, it depends on which side has more energy and can last longer.
And also...how can we seize those fleeting opportunities?
At 8 minutes and 55 seconds into the game, Tianzun's wing long shot missed. The Grizzlies were about to launch a defensive counterattack, which would tie the score... However, just as Bonzi Wells struggled to protect the defensive rebound from Travis Outlaw's charge, the ball was snatched away by someone who rushed in from the side!
Liu Xiu!
Liu Xiu knocked the ball away and grabbed the ball himself. Bonzi Wells, who had stolen the ball, pressed forward to steal the ball. Liu Xiu flicked the ball, turned flexibly, grabbed the ball, took a step forward, and made a layup!
24 to 20, the difference is 4 points again!
At 10 minutes and 41 seconds into the game, Tianzun received the ball in a high position and was closely followed by Gasol. At this time, Liu Xiu made a counter-run to the inside, Tianzun passed the ball, and Liu Xiu forced a layup under Battier's backup defense, once again helping the Trail Blazers overcome the crisis of being tied, 32 to 27, widening the gap to 5 points!
After all, the Grizzlies were still very strong. Then James Posey made a three-pointer after receiving the ball and Battier missed a mid-range shot but Gasol made a tip-in. With 7 seconds left, the Grizzlies made a 5-0 run and finally tied the score!
Now that the score is tied, the Grizzlies players on the field want to give it a try!
Hubie Brown on the sidelines also made a gesture to pressure the entire court defense.
This time, it was the Flying Squirrel who received the serve from the Trail Blazers. With his agility, he successfully received the ball from Tianzun. The Grizzlies players immediately pressed forward, intending to form a siege.
However, when the little flying squirrel received the ball, he had already found the target and made a long pass to the front court...Liu Xiu!
It's Liu Xiu again!
In the second half of the first quarter, Liu Xiu turned into a fish in the regular offense and gave the ball to the Flying Squirrel as soon as he advanced across half court, which led to those two chances.
Now, the opportunity comes again!
James Posey chased after him immediately, and caught up with Liu Xiu when he received the ball! Liu Xiu made a fake shot, and James Posey, who rushed back, was shot away!
Liu Xiu jumped up and collided with James Posey who rushed in. In the instant before the collision, he threw the ball out...
The referee whistles!
With 0.8 seconds left in the first quarter, James Posey committed a defensive foul.
Moreover, when the whistle sounded, the ball thrown by Liu Xiu fell into the basket!
The scene was immediately filled with boos!
Some players on the field may not know it yet, but the fans can see it clearly - before this ball, Liu Xiu already had 17 points.
The ball went in and the referee signaled it was valid, which means it’s 19 points, and there is one free throw left!
Amid the boos of the fans, Liu Xiu and his teammates who rushed over gave him high fives and butt bumps...
Liu Xiu walked to the free throw line amid the increasingly frantic boos from the fans, received the ball from the referee, and made the free throw!
Immediately afterwards, Battier received the ball and took a long three-pointer which went into timeout. At the end of the first quarter, thanks to Liu Xiu's 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a single quarter, the Trail Blazers led the Grizzlies by 3 points, 35 to 32, and entered the intermission!