Chapter 375： The insider wins the world

"The genius of the basketball fanatic is on the left (

This sentence is enough to boost the morale of the Knicks players.

Zuo Li now has such prestige in the team. This is played ball by ball, so if he says if he doesn't give a chance, he will definitely not give it!

The starters of the two teams were released at this time:

Knicks: Zuo Li, Randolph, Chandler, Larry Hughes, Dragic.

Bulls: Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Rolle Deng, Ben Gordon, Rose.

Both teams are regular starters. Nothing special has changed. The only thing that has changed is the No. 4 position. But everyone knows that the Bulls' No. 4 position is now a swing position. None of the individuals could stand up, and it was basically carried by Noah alone, and Thomas was also used because the others were beaten too hard by Zuo Li before.

But for the commentators, it doesn't matter who the starter is, what matters is who is used to defend the left standing.

The whole world now knows that Zuo Li is difficult to defend. With the regular season's defensive intensity, basically anyone can be dislocated. ESPN listed Zuo Li as a player who can really play from 1 to 5 in the season summary. Li also really played in the 1st and 4th positions in the 82 games of the regular season. Although Zuo Li has never played in the 2nd and 3rd positions, according to Zuo Li's demonstrated ability, there is no problem in making a cameo.

So this gives the opponent a very big problem, that is, how to limit the attack of the left standing on the defensive end, and at the same time avoid being restricted by the left standing on the offensive end.

There are basically no successful examples to refer to in the regular season, so now everyone is guessing what tactics the Bulls will use to limit Zuoli's play.

Now I don’t know how many NBA head coaches or team staff are staring at the big screen. They all want to get some reference. Even if they don’t use it this season, they can use it in the future.

However, as soon as the game started, everyone was disappointed, because Donovan, the head coach of the Bulls, did not make any special arrangements at all.

There is no suspense in the jump ball. Noah is basically a half-give-up routine. Anyway, he can't grab it. Noah has never won Zuo Li in a jump ball in his life. .

But Noah was neither angry nor excited nor anxious at all, and he was not the only one who couldn't jump. After searching all over the league, no one had beat Zuo Li by jumping in 82 games.

82 consecutive jump ball successes, which is a record in the NBA, and zero jump ball failures in his career. I don’t know how long this record will be maintained. Anyway, according to the current level of the league’s interior, these few seasons are considered There is no hope, unless Zuo Li doesn't want it anymore.

It is said that there are also bookmakers who specially opened a market for Zuoli when the jump ball failed...

After the Knicks got the opening ball, Zuo Li walked in as usual, and it was not Noah who followed Zuo Li, but the 208 cm power forward Thomas, which was not much different from the last time the two teams played against each other in the regular season. .

When Zuo Li received the ball with his back, Noah did not choose to help defend, which allowed Zuo Li to easily score the first goal with a wonderful turn around and "bunny jump".

"Yes! He's already very proficient in this move. It's very good." Ewing raised his eyebrows happily at Pippen. He was naturally excited when his stunt returned to the playoffs.

Pippen snorted angrily and said, "Don't worry, the game has just started, and the Bulls will have a way to prevent Zuoli."

However, the next few minutes of the game proved that the Bulls did not seem to come up with any fresh tactics to deal with Zuoli in this game.

It's Thomas alone!

Noah only assisted in defense once in 6 minutes, and the other times were in the card position, and the offensive end invested a large proportion. Basically, he pulled out to complete the pick-and-roll with Rose or Ben Gordon, and Luo Er Deng even went around him. One side goes inside to catch the ball.

The effect was quite good. In the first 8 minutes, the Bulls were only 5 points behind the Knicks by 15-20, but the price was also obvious. Zuoli made all the first 6 shots, and Thomas couldn't resist Zuoli's impact at all, no matter if it was a strong burst. Or back on the inside, Zuoli is all asking for anything.

So far, I haven't been detained because Zuo Li is relatively stable. After all, in the first playoffs, I still have to test the opponent's tactics and style of play.

Smith said worriedly: "Although the Bulls can still score like this, what about the inside line? This is completely blown up."

But Barkley expressed his understanding: "Noah's defense is definitely better than Thomas's, but it is limited, unless it is pinched, but this bull can't and can't do it without manpower."

A clever woman is hard to cook without rice. Donovan has such a deck in his hand. The Bulls can reach sixth in the Eastern Conference this season, relying on the scoring ability of the backcourt, especially Ben Gordon.

The outside world said that Ross leading the team to the playoffs this season is amazing, but in fact Ben Gordon is the first scorer and the core of the offense, averaging 20.7 points per game, tied for 17th in the league in scoring and equal to Howard. His 41.2 percent three-point percentage per game ranks second among the top 30 in scoring, behind only Durant at 41.7 percent.

Therefore, unlike the Bulls that rely on Ross on offense and teammates on defense in the future, the Bulls typically rely on offense and defense, and rely on offense to eat.

So it is doomed that he can't use a lot of manpower to defend Zuoli, especially not dare to use Noah to fight hard Noah's current role is very similar to the Warriors' Green in the future, and the peak period belongs to strengthening The version of Green, in addition to not chasing eggs, Green's capable Noah can basically do it, and the effect is very good.

When Noah was at his peak, he had defensive rebounds, steals, blocks, and offense. He relied on assists and tip-ups, but he was not good at shooting, but the Bulls didn't need him to shoot. If he is dragged on the defensive end, the Bulls offense will suffer a huge loss.

So Donovan is also betting that the Bulls can use the offense against the Knicks.

However, Donovan's idea was destined to be empty, and Zuo Li soon let him know what it means to be an insider to win the world.

In the second quarter, Zuoli returned to battle after a 4-minute rest. In the first quarter, he scored 8 points and 5 rebounds, which is equivalent to warming up. In the second quarter, he brought Ke Liu, David Lee, Novak, and Du Hong to the court. , is to output.

Going up to the top of the arc to pick and roll, Zuo Li went down, took the ball to Ke Liu, and had a chance to score a three-pointer directly, but the bullet came out, but was accepted by Zuo Li who went down, and Zuo Li immediately gave it to the one who stood at the bottom corner. Novak, Novak catches the ball and pops up again!

And Noah failed to grab the rebounding position again, Zuo Li collected another offensive rebound, and then continued to score Ke Liu.

This time, Ke Liu lived up to Zuoli's pass and hit a three-pointer!

"Zuo Li played this ball really hard! Three consecutive offensive rebounds! This is the so-called super insider's sense of security!" Yu Jiajie said.

"This is the playoffs, tough, if you can't hold me down, I'll beat you hard, and this shot is too morale, the Knicks shooters can see that I'm more confident in this shot!" Yang Yi said.

As soon as the voice fell, Ke Liu made a steal, and when he ran to the three-point line, it was a three-point chase.

Two in a row!

The bull was immediately stopped!