Volume 1: A rookie who breaks into the basketball world Chapter 22: Sense of Luxury
Kevin Pritchard quickly explained to Liu Xiu what needed to be done. After listening, Liu Xiu said he understood, and the tactical explanation was over.
Based on what Kevin Pritchard has learned about Liu Xiu's tactical understanding in recent days, he believes that there may be no need to tell Liu Xiu what to do.
The tactical meeting was not held behind anyone's back, and the tactics built around Quintel Woods' impact were extremely simple. It was just emphasized out of professionalism.
Tita Carter was now angry, but helpless.
He could not influence what decision the coaching staff would make, and Liu Xiu was telling the truth.
This is the reason why many teammates feel powerless. Liu Xiu has a bad mouth, but he often speaks the truth to hurt others... hurts other people's hearts.
Dita Carter, he does have certain abilities when it comes to dribbling the ball and scoring in singles, and he is also okay at organizing the offense, but he is not good at the most basic things like organizing the offense and distributing the ball.
When he stepped onto the court, Liu Xiu quickly recalled the playing styles of his teammates, including Quintl Woods, Desmond Ferguson, and Tom Shenoff, with whom he had basically never played together in the past few days.
Desmond Ferguson is a 201 cm shooting guard who has been trying to make it to the NBA since he was not drafted in 2001. His playing style is similar to Matt Carroll, mainly catching the ball and shooting, but there is a clear gap between him and Matt Carroll. His shooting is similar, but Desmond Ferguson has almost no passing ability and is just a pure spot shooter.
Tom Shenoff, who was not drafted in 2002, played in various low-level leagues in the United States for a year. He is a 211 cm, 110 kg, agile inside player.
Quinter Woods has excellent physical fitness, is aggressive in cutting, has the ability to attack with the ball, and does a good job of distributing the ball to the wings. His overall ability evaluation in the summer league was not high, but he is a specialty player and his performance was extremely outstanding.
Combining his understanding of his teammates and tactics, Liu Xiu thought quickly and reconfirmed what he should do when he came on the court.
…
The second quarter began with the Trail Blazers attacking first.
Liu Xiu received the serve and pushed forward, looking at the opposite side, where the two high school players James and Diop continued to play. The Development League player Luke Taiwei was sent to the power forward position, and the forward and guard line were the 188 cm tall undrafted player JR Bremer from the 2002 class and the 201 cm tall white small forward Camby Russell who came from Europe to impact the NBA.
When Liu Xiu approached the top arc, the Trail Blazers' offensive run began, and Quinter Woods was moving towards the offensive position. Randolph did not immediately engage in personal offense after being substituted in. Unlike the inside and outside lines, the main attacking point is still Quinter Woods.
The Cavaliers had anticipated that the Trail Blazers would still be led by Quintl Woods, so their strategy was simple: they would lean their defense toward Quintl Woods and be ready to double-team him at any time. From the last four minutes of the first quarter, the ball would always go to Quintl Woods.
But Liu Xiu just passed the ball right after the tactic started and before the chance to pass the ball came!
The players on the Cavaliers thought that Liu Xiu should have pressed down JR Bremer and made a strong breakthrough, as the two were of similar height but 10 kilograms different in weight. However, Liu Xiu did not do that and directly passed the ball to Randolph on the left side of the free throw line.
As soon as Randolph received the ball, he saw Quintl Woods' opportunity and made a straight pass. Quintl Woods received the ball on the right and threw it high...and scored!
This ball is obviously part of the tactics, but it is obviously different.
As an opponent, you need to have a certain level of tactical literacy to feel the difference, but as a teammate, as the first end point in the tactics, Quinter Woods feels it very clearly.
When retreating, Quinter Woods thought about the attack just now, and then thought about the attack in the previous quarter. He felt that now was the time to play tactical coordination. In the previous quarter, he just followed the tactics and scored by personal ability...
The offense and defense switched, and the Cavaliers attacked.
Without Boozer, James went into full-force attack mode.
Quintel Woods couldn't hold on, so James rushed to the basket and made a layup over Tom Shenoff.
Although James is still an 18-year-old rookie, he weighs more than center Tom Shenoff, and is impossible to stop when he rushes.
"Damn Top..."
After James scored, Liu Xiu immediately stopped his teammates who were about to switch offense and defense and said a few words.
Randolph had no objection since no one was stronger than him anyway. Quinter Woods did not argue this time and the other two teammates chose to follow his instructions.
When it was the Trail Blazers' turn to attack, Liu Xiu chose to press JR Bremer to the right side of the free throw line, took a step open and made a jump shot... There was no problem with this choice of ball. The Cavaliers' defense chose to press down the line. Liu Xiu had a good chance to play one-on-one on the line, but unfortunately he missed it.
Maurice Cheeks and Kevin Prittach on the sidelines started chatting and were quite satisfied with Liu Xiu's abilities in this area.
After chatting for a while, I felt a little depressed - this kid is really incredibly lazy.
On the court, James guarded the defensive rebound and advanced the ball.
In the frontcourt, James continued to score singles.
Quintel Woods changed his defensive strategy and no longer went forward. Instead, he blocked James's direct breakthrough to the right, leaving the middle empty.
The left side was empty, Randolph moved inside in the middle, and James did not choose to break through from the left side, but went straight to the middle!
James broke through to close range and was double-teamed by Randolph and Quintl Woods. Randolph held off James!
Really didn't go to the left! Although Randolph and Quintl-Woods chose to defend according to Liu Xiu's method, they didn't expect the effect to be so good.
James did not force a shot against the defense. Randolph moved in advance and expanded to the position between the free throw line and the arc of the reasonable collision zone, which was beyond the distance for James to force a shot. He chose to pass the ball... to Diop who was in an open space at the left baseline of the three-second zone!
James doesn't think it's a big deal when his breakthrough routes are blocked, he is double-teamed, or he is tactically targeted. As long as he is double-teamed, there will definitely be opportunities to pass the ball.
But Liu Xiu followed JR Bremer closely, Desmond Ferguson stuck to Camby Russell, Tom Shenoff and Luke Taiwei were fighting...only Diop was left alone.
When James chose to pass the ball, he wanted to vomit blood.
Diop stood outside the three-second zone like a wooden stake, with no intention of moving to his offensive position!
After receiving the ball outside the three-second zone, Diop was a little confused. He held the ball up to pass it, while Randolph and Quintl Woods fought around James.
Diop only had his sight forward, and when he saw that James had no chance to catch the ball, he chose to take one dribble and make a layup... The ball went down and didn't bounce back!
Diop looked down and saw that the handsome guy from his opponent had slipped up to his side and snatched the ball that he had shot!
Fight back!
Liu Xiu passed Quintl Woods, who was followed closely by James. Quintl Woods broke into the inside and passed the ball behind him. Randolph followed up and received the ball, squeezed out James who turned around and tried to defend two people alone, and easily made a layup.
In this ball, Quintl Woods and Randolph had the feeling of a real NBA game!
The tactics were well executed, and the timing of the defensive counterattack was well coordinated...
Maurice Cheeks and Kevin Pritech on the sidelines were even more surprised!
This handsome face still deserves a beating, and that feeling of "everything is under control" really deserves a beating.
But the two coaches felt that this was as it should be! This defensive counterattack just now was such a surprise!
His ability to organize offense is average but not bad, and he is good at organizing offense in tactics. Liu Xiu showed this advantage in this game, and the coaching staff is very satisfied. The defensive adjustments and counterattacks that Liu Xiu just instigated were definitely a surprise!
In terms of offensive ability with the ball and leading the team to organize offense, Dita Carter may be better than Liu Xiu, and Dajuan Wagner who played tonight is definitely better than Liu Xiu.
For a long time in this game, Liu Xiu had nothing to do with Yao Yan.
But at this moment, in the eyes of professionals, Liu Xiu's presence was too strong!
The feeling of playing basketball with your brain is so advanced!
…
Liu Xiu's adjustments on the defensive end took advantage of two points.
Tonight, James broke through 75% to the right, and Diop had zero offensive awareness.
Reuben Bontjie has poor strength and only relies on his height and weight to make a living because Reuben Bontjie has poor athletic ability, but he has a good brain and good position movement, so he can become a threat on the offensive end.
Diop doesn't have it. Diop has truly zero offensive awareness and zero offensive ability... Of course, he has advantages. His athletic ability is excellent. His height, wingspan and weight are all top-notch. His defensive awareness is also okay, but his offensive awareness is zero.
Not only does he lack the awareness of finding his own position, he also has no awareness of off-ball pick-and-rolls.
Ben Wallace, who also has no offensive ability, is very good at off-ball pick-and-rolls at the baseline and weak side.
James is good at breaking through on the right side, but not so good at breaking through on the left side. The success rate of breaking through on the left side is not as good as that of facing the defense in the middle.
There is no way for James and Diop to avoid these two points at this stage.
The Trail Blazers didn't make good use of the defense before, and Liu Xiu discovered this and made good use of it.
Liu Xiu's defensive strategy was effective, all thanks to Kobe... No, it was thanks to O'Neal. The OK combination was invincible in the 2001 playoffs. In order to limit O'Neal, the NBA allowed early double-teaming and zone double-teaming.
As the game progressed, the Trail Blazers players became more and more excited.
Before, James' ridiculously strong body and incredible athletic ability made it impossible for the two athletic geniuses, Quintl Woods and Travis Outlaw, to defend him from the outside, let alone leave him open for a chance to completely charge... Anyway, they couldn't defend him one-on-one, and often because they didn't provide enough obstacles, the inside players had to suffer more.
But now, by adjusting a little bit of details on the defensive end, James has been given quite clear restrictions!
Quinter Woods actively showed himself, and when he found a method on the defensive end, he tried hard to cooperate with Randolph; on the offensive end, Liu Xiu could distribute the ball better, and Quinter Woods benefited, played harder, and was more willing to cooperate with Liu Xiu on the defensive and tactical ends.
Quintel Woods wants to take advantage of Liu Xiu's benefits, play better, and prove himself to his coach...
Unfortunately, Maurice Cheeks and Kevin Pritchard on the sidelines only saw some handsome guy...
Six minutes into the second quarter, at the second timeout, the Trail Blazers were leading the Cavaliers by 9 points, 45 to 36.
At this time, Liu Xiu and Randolph were replaced, and Tita Carter, Matt Carroll, Quintel Woods, Travis Otero and Reuben Bontjie came on the court. The two forwards fought against the Cavaliers and scored 7 to 10 in the next 4 minutes. At the end of the first half, the Trail Blazers led the Cavaliers by 6 points 52 to 46 and entered the halftime break.
During the 8-minute halftime break, Kevin Pritchard had already arranged the starting lineup for the second half - Liu Xiu, Matt Carroll, Quintel Woods, Randolph, and Reuben Bontjie.
Travis Outlaw, Desmond Ferguson and Tom Shenoff are ready to play at any time.
After arranging the roster for the second half and explaining the tactical framework, the coaching staff left it alone.
This is an opportunity for Liu Xiu!
Liu Xiu did not miss the opportunity and called together the teammates who were about to play. Based on the playing style of the Cavaliers when they replaced James and Boozer together in the second half of the second quarter, he directed his teammates to make defensive adjustments.
In the summer league, the tactics are not very complicated, the opponents' cooperation and tacit understanding are not very high, and the strength of most players is not high... These conditions gave Liu Xiu the opportunity to show his brains.
If you don’t have enough strength, just lay a good foundation. For more, use your brain!
…
Liu Xiu made sufficient preparations, but at the beginning of the second half, James, who played the entire 20 minutes of the first half, did not play...
DaJuan Wagner and Boozer played together.
This was beyond the Trail Blazers' expectations, and the defensive preparations seemed to be in vain. However, Liu Xiu distributed the ball steadily on the offensive end. Randolph and Quintl Woods took turns to attack, and soon stabilized... and widened the score!
Without James, the Trail Blazers have a clear advantage!
After a 13-8 run in more than 4 minutes, the Trail Blazers widened the score to 65-44, and the difference came to 11 points. The Cavaliers called a 30-second timeout and sent James back.
Liu Xiu and others want to win, and of course James wants to win too!
As an athlete, who doesn’t want to win when standing on the court?
However, Randolph is stronger than Boozer. James may have the best overall strength, but at present, he has just graduated from high school and has not yet entered his first summer training period after being selected. His versatility is needless to say, but in terms of single function, that is, scoring, on the stage of the summer league, he is not as good as Quintl Woods and Travis Outlaw in seizing scoring opportunities... After all, James' playing style is a starting point style, his receiving ability is poor, and his ball possession rate is high.
With James and Boozer on the court together, Liu Xiu's strategy is very simple... protect the low post area of the three-second zone, follow Boozer closely in the high post, and leave the wing shooter open if necessary!
This strategy has nothing to do with being thorough, but for the summer league, this is enough!
The purpose is simple - to prevent James from organizing the offense and make it difficult for James to break through and score.
Even if the wing shooter makes the shot, it doesn’t matter. He can’t make it all the time anyway. If he could make it all the time, how could he not make it to the NBA?
There is one more point - Diop.
The Cavaliers coach didn't know whether to replace Diop. If he replaced him, the offense would be worse. If he didn't, there would be many problems on the defense...
As the game went on, the Trail Blazers' advantage became more and more obvious!
When the strength of the players is not much different, if one side can make clear and effective adjustments based on the actual situation on the field, the advantage will be huge!
At 3 minutes and 11 seconds in the fourth quarter, Liu Xiu received a pass from Matt Carroll on the right side of the three-second zone and made a close-range jump shot, making the score 93 to 69 and the difference reached 24 points!
The referee blew the whistle and the game was forced to enter the second to last official timeout of the game.
James looked at the goal, looked at the score, and then looked at Liu Xiu who stretched after the whistle... He, LeBron, was abused for the first time since entering the NBA!
James felt that the match against the Magic didn't count, even though they lost by nearly 20 points, but that group of people were all veterans who had played in various levels of leagues in the United States, such as the CBA and Development League, for many years.
The Trail Blazers' peers, aged 18 to 23, are their true rivals of the same generation.
He Lebang wanted to conquer Liu Xiu, but tonight, he felt what "basketball IQ" was.
James rarely has this kind of emotion. He wanted to turn around and walk out of the court, but he held back. He took the initiative to walk forward and wanted to congratulate Liu Xiu on winning the game.
Liu Xiu raised his head and spoke first: "Little brother, I had a lot of fun playing tonight... Don't be discouraged, you are still young and your brain doesn't seem to be very smart, but if you listen more, learn more, and experience more, you will be as smart as your brother slowly!"
James heard a heart-breaking voice - "I should have just turned around and walked away!"
Just when he had finally calmed down, he was stabbed to pieces by Liu Xiu!
But every word Liu Xiu said can be said to be the truth!
