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Chapter 513 - 222. Shoot shoot shoot, it’s still freaking shooting!_2

Chapter 513: 222. Shoot shoot shoot, it’s still freaking shooting!_2

But Jordan said there was no need for him to play, which confused Carlisle. Who else on the team had more clout than the God of Basketball?

As Carlisle reached the door of the meeting room, he understood why.

Felton stood at the center, leading his teammates in chanting, "Kick Duncan’s ass," with no trace of frustration or defeat on their faces.

The leadership ability of Felton reminded Carlisle of his former protégé Ben Wallace. Of course, the two were completely different; Ben Wallace was tough and taciturn, leading his teammates by example, while Felton was extremely vocal, using his infectious words to drive his teammates.

What was similar about both was their willingness to do the gritty and grinding work that many stars would avoid...

Carlisle reflected on the two teams he had previously coached, then looked at his current team.

In fact, he believed that the 04-05 Pacers team that had Reggie Miller, Artest, Jermaine O’Neal, Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Tinsley, Fred Jones, Croshere, James Jones... among others, was the best team he had coached in terms of talent, roster structure, game experience, and synergy. That team was also his biggest regret since the Auburn Hills incident, two and a half years ago.

However, now he felt that even if that team hadn’t brawled, they would possibly struggle against the team he was about to coach now in the playoffs.

That team’s cohesiveness was just too poor, nothing compared to the ones with Ben Wallace and Felton!

...

The day of rest quickly passed, and on the evening of June 13th at 9 PM, the Bobcats and the Spurs began the second game of the finals at the ATT Arena!

The Bobcats’ starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Millsap, Okafor.

The Spurs’ starting lineup: Parker, Finley, Bowen, Oberto, Duncan.

Tonight, Duncan won the jump ball, and the Spurs had the first possession!

Parker pushed forward into the frontcourt, lobbing the ball to Duncan, who was posting up Okafor.

Duncan took a right low post play against Okafor, turned right to face the basket for a high shot, but Okafor blocked it; he then stepped back, turned left, and went baseline... Millsap was right there to double-team!

Duncan raised his shot arc to avoid Millsap’s block, but his bank layup missed!

Zhang Yang collected the defensive rebound from the wing.

Bickerstaff’s starting lineup adjustment was effective!

Okafor’s pick defense was better than Muhammad’s, and Millsap was quicker to double-team Duncan, making the trap more efficient!

The reason G1 didn’t use this starting lineup was mainly for the sake of offense...

Zhang Yang protected the ball from Parker’s rush and advanced to the frontcourt. He didn’t pass to Felton as Millsap, now in the starting lineup, didn’t have the conditions to create mismatch opportunities with off-ball movement.

While Millsap’s talent was definitely far superior to Muhammad’s, he was still a rookie with a free-throw percentage barely at 70%, not dragging the team down, and without a solid mid-range or long-distance shot—his scoring was all done near the basket. In contrast, the veteran Muhammad maintained a consistent 40% shooting performance from medium-close range.

With Millsap on the court, Zhang Yang’s off-ball baseline cuts were easily blocked by Oberto who could just sag into the paint and stop him from curling around screens.

But there was more than one way to create mismatches. Zhang Yang activated goat mode, calling for a pick and roll with Felton, focusing on Parker... but it failed!

Parker quickly switched defense, stopping Zhang Yang’s penetration route, and Finley got around Felton to double-team Zhang Yang. Felton rolled off the screen to the left wing outside the three-point line while Finley got around the screen to cover the passing lane to Felton.

Zhang Yang made a quick decision and broke through on the right!

Parker couldn’t hold him off, but he was quick to follow closely beside Zhang Yang, ready to stick to him and prevent a jump shot.

Zhang Yang charged in close range and attempted a floater... which Duncan disrupted, and Oberto secured the defensive rebound.

Zhang Yang quickly fell back on defense. The focused strategy did not work!

Now, although high-post defense couldn’t be as physical, the rules concerning the defense cylinder had not changed yet, and a defender could still directly confront the ball-handler below the free-throw line. Another player could help by cutting off the passing lane to the roll man for a long shot after a pick.

With Duncan down low, good at protecting the rim, even if Felton cut in to receive the ball, it would be in vain...

No wonder Parker didn’t cooperate with Bowen to target James in Games 3 and 4 of the ’07 Finals. Bowen cutting in posed no threat, and naming James with Parker and Bowen was like voluntarily asking to be trapped.

Both teams missed a shot, and then it was the Spurs’ turn to attack, with Duncan continuing to carve out a position down low.

Duncan’s performance has been consistent for a decade, and so has the Spurs’ playing style. They start by leveraging a superstar to create an advantage, then grind it out slowly.

Duncan posts up Okafor, turns with a fake, takes one step closer for a 45-degree turnaround jumper... it’s good!

Duncan’s one-on-one play looked smooth and uncomplicated, free of any superfluous movement.

During the transition between offense and defense, Felton pushed up to the frontcourt and passed to Zhang Yang who was posting up Finley at the right side of the free-throw line.

Finley was ready for a post-up defense. With a slight height advantage and significantly stronger, he was suitable to guard the much younger Zhang Yang’s back down, which is why Popovich entrusted him with the starting lineup to defend against Zhang Yang, despite Barry’s more frequent starts during the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs.

But Zhang Yang didn’t post up. After receiving the ball, he turned to face Finley and assumed the triple-threat stance... then suddenly let it fly!

Finley was a beat late to react, pressing forward but unable to contest the shot... "Clang"...

When Finley saw the ball hit the rim and bounce out to be grabbed by Duncan, he breathed a sigh of relief.

This bad boy, not only are his words infuriating, but his playing style makes people even angrier! At least Carmelo would do a few probes with his foot before shooting. This bad boy just threw it without warning.

It was the Spurs’ turn to attack, and Duncan continued his one-on-one, looking to capitalize on Zhang Yang’s consecutive misses to secure a lead. If that worked, the game would be steady.

This time the Bobcats defended more aggressively. Apart from Okafor guarding the high post, Millsap shrank from the baseline to help, with Gerald Wallace and Finley pulling in after their scuffles as well.

Duncan moved out of the three-second zone, squeezed by Millsap and Gerald Wallace, with Okafor stepping back to block Oberto cutting in. Duncan passed the ball to Finley who was at the right baseline, Finley took the mid-range shot... missed!

Okafor blocked Oberto and securely claimed the rebound, passing it to Felton.

On the offensive transition, Zhang Yang continued to receive the ball against Finley at the right side of the free-throw line, turning to face the basket for a one-on-one.

Although Zhang Yang hadn’t scored last possession, Finley was sticking closer this time, ready for Zhang Yang to shoot directly.

After all, this was the terrifying new generation player who scored 40+ in two games of the Eastern Conference Finals!

Zhang Yang didn’t back off but instead pressed forward, leaning against Finley, then turned and drove in!

Finley’s footwork was slow, and he couldn’t move laterally in time, getting beaten by Zhang Yang!

Zhang Yang drove to the right elbow, facing up to Duncan’s help defense, went up for the shot... and it went in!

After three possessions, Zhang Yang and Duncan each made a basket, the two teams now tied at 2-2.

Every time Zhang Yang scored, Popovich clenched his heart on the sidelines.

Shoot, shoot, shoot, always shooting. Has this bad boy’s pass button broken or what? He gets the ball and just shoots?

This time, Popovich was right on the money.

Zhang Yang now disregarded everything else.

Organizing the offense was Felton, Gerald Wallace, and Rondo’s job.

As for defense, he was one step ahead of James!

In the original timeline of the ’07 Finals, James got fancy-dressed by Parker for two games, then in Game 3, Mike Brown stubbornly sent James to the corner to guard Bowen, letting rookie Daniel Gibson start to defend Parker. This adjustment proved very effective. After Parker went 13 for 20 and scored 30 points in Game 2, his offensive performance fell to 7 for 17 in Game 3... Then, because James often shrank in without meaning, Bowen got numerous open three-point opportunities, hitting 4 out of 5...

Overall, Mike Brown’s defensive adjustment was a good move. The Cavaliers managed to keep the Spurs’ scoring under 80 points. Although they lost by just 3 points, switching the person guarding Parker indeed gave the Cavaliers a faint hope of winning.

Here, Zhang San started defending Bowen right from Game 1.

His job was to score first!