One Hundred and Ninety-Three: The Thrill of Attacking the Core

Back in June 2009, the Spurs and the Bucks reached a deal to acquire the physically powerful Richard Jefferson.

In the eyes of the media at the time, the addition of Jefferson, who had excellent physical fitness, was a major reinforcement for the Spurs' striker. However, Jefferson's performance with the Spurs has not lived up to expectations. In his two seasons with the Spurs, Jefferson's personal data fell from 20 points per game to the early 10s, and the downward trend continues.

With the Spurs roster aging, Jefferson is undoubtedly a big gamble for the Spurs. However, it turns out. Jefferson, who can fly well and is used to being the focus, cannot adapt to the Spurs' team style.

Compared with the previous "Wu Sheng" Stephen Jackson, Jefferson's mid-range and long-range shots are unstable, and his defense is not so stable. The Spurs' requirements for the 3 position, Jefferson did not account for one. Although Jefferson's beautiful dunks can occasionally add a touch of surprise to the game, in unpretentious San Antonio, his dunks clearly have no market.

And what makes Jefferson very unhappy is that no matter how much he pleases the Spurs fans, the fans here don't buy it. Every night, even at home, he could hear some abuse at himself.

When he joined the Spurs, Richard Jefferson was full of ambition. But right now, he only hates San Antonio. Playing basketball you don't like in a place you don't like. From a quasi-All-Star player to a role player following the old men.

The gap is so large that Jefferson is extremely sad.

Now, watching Conley hand over the ball to Randolph after halftime, Richard Jefferson breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Link doesn't attack, the Grizzlies can play whatever they want. Richard Jefferson estimates that he will be scolded by the fans at home again if that damned 0 is allowed to score...

"Zach Randolph holds the ball for the second time in a row. It seems that he still doesn't give up and wants to fight Duncan!" Steve Kerr waved his fist. happy. After all, fans and commentators like to watch lively scenes.

But Randolph wasn't that hard-headed, and maybe in Portland and New York, he did have some waves. But that stinky problem changed when he stepped into Memphis soil.

Randolph still holds the ball in the post because he needs to attract defenses. Duncan's big hat on his pegboard just now made the big black bear understand the situation.

No way, your uncle is still your uncle. It's not that there is no way to defeat Duncan, but it's really not wise to sit and fight him like this. What the Big Black Bear has to do now is create scoring opportunities for the other guy!

Randolph pretended to recoil, and Duncan's defense remained tough. This picture is as if Randolph was hit by a rock. Randolph worked extremely hard, but the "stone" was motionless.

Just when everyone thought Randolph was going to continue fighting Duncan, Link suddenly cut in!

"It's over!" Richard Jefferson cursed secretly, and when he caught up again, Link shook off half of him!

Randolph, who was sitting on Duncan, sent the ball to Link, and Link quickly hit the basket. Since Duncan was restrained by Randolph, it was too late to make up for it.

As for McDyess, another insider of the Spurs, he could score 20+12 at his peak, and McDyess, who was selected as an All-Star, has little energy to squeeze now.

The height of 2.06 meters makes him think that the frame is too short. The weakened athletic ability makes it impossible for him to use confrontation and bounce to make up for his height deficiency.

Another point is that McDyess is just too light right now. At his peak, he was more than 110 kilograms, and then his weight dropped to 100 kilograms. And now, McDyess is estimated to only have more than 90 kilograms, which makes him completely transformed into a small forward figure.

Therefore, although McDyess rushed to the basket, Link still scored the ball in the confrontation. Just got out of Perkins' penalty area defense, and now suddenly facing a weaker McDyess,

Link has to say how easy it is to be at the basket!

"It turned out to be passing, Link and Zach had a tacit understanding. We all know that Link's performance in the last round was quite brilliant. Against Durant, the league's scoring champion, he still showed an excellent defensive performance. Just not Know if Richard Jefferson, who has been criticized by Spurs fans, can stand it."

"I can't stand it anymore!" Jefferson scolded secretly. Link had just scored a goal, and fans were already looking for him in the stands.

Popovich also touched his chin. During the regular season, he was given a headache by Link. But to be honest, he hasn't had a particularly good way to limit Link until now. Richard Jefferson's defensive ability is there, no matter how smart Popovich is, he can't make up for Jefferson's lack of personal ability.

Thinking of this, Popovich hopes that this year's draft will start soon. The kid named Leonard recommended to him by his assistant coach Budenholzer should just be able to fill the gaps in the Spurs' forward line.

Now, it's impossible to count on defense. McDyess is getting old, and Richard Jefferson is drowning. To rely on, can only rely on attack. To put it bluntly, the Spurs can get 61 wins this year, relying on offense.

A team offense led by two guards, and that's what Popovich has changed this year. Before, the defensive battle between the Spurs and the Pistons was a box office poison. But now, the Spurs game is actually very good. Because their offense is gorgeous, but the scoring methods are relatively simple, so it creates the illusion that "the Spurs are very simple".

Parker had just reached halftime when the entire Spurs were running. Manu Ginobili cut in aggressively, Richard Jefferson opened up the space, and McDyess Sr. and Duncan made various screens for the three outside lines.

But the Spurs' ball was conducted for a long time, but it did not achieve results. The reason is that the Grizzlies players' individual defense ability is too strong!

Conley, Tony Allen and Link, these three are not defenders that Spurs players can easily beat. It's just too hard to get rid of them with passing and off-the-ball offense.

Ginobili looked up at the attacking time after receiving the basketball on the right side of the three-point line. With only 12 seconds left, he had to make a decision.

So, the Argentine beckoned to call McDyess pick-and-roll, Ginobili accelerated the breakthrough!

Tony Allen quickly got rid of McDyess, who was not huge, and stood in front of Ginobili again. Ginobili repeated his old tricks and wanted to use the Eurostep to evade Tony Allen's defense.

But just after Manu Ginobili took two steps to take off, Link came over and was about to dig the ball!

"When did you come here!?" Manu Ginobili was taken aback, he didn't expect to have help!

It is definitely not safe to attack the frame against the defense of two people, so Ginobili passed the ball to Richard Jefferson who was vacated by Link!

Jefferson stood in the bottom corner to make soy sauce, but when a pot fell from the sky, he was not ready to shoot at all!

So, from catching the ball to adjusting the shooting rhythm, Jefferson is too slow.

When he finally adjusted and shot, Link's block came in time! At that moment, Jefferson had the heart to eat the ball. Well, now I have to be scolded again!

"Boom!"

"Richard Jefferson missed a shot, he missed a great opportunity! Link's defense is very smart, and he deserves to be the Memphis iron guard who has guarded the scoring champion to doubt himself!" Steve Kerr just finished , I heard that the fans around were a little uneasy.

"Go to hell, you useless old thing!"

"God, why do the Spurs pay you so much every year?"

"Leave San Antonio, go anywhere, but don't come to San Antonio!"

Jefferson gritted his teeth, he really wanted to show his middle finger to this group of fans! Just two rounds against Link, Jefferson's mentality exploded.

It stands to reason that veterans should play a role in limiting newcomers in the playoffs. But when it comes to Jefferson, it's the other way around. Link overwhelmed him, a player with 10 years of NBA experience.

Jefferson's shot just hit the iron when Conley put the ball in Link's hands. This time, Link was no longer covering up, he directly attacked with the ball!

Jefferson's back defense was half a step slower, causing Duncan to have to come back and limit Link.

However, Link's pass button was not deducted. He was not bluffed by Duncan's supplementary defense, but threw the basketball gently into the air!

Randolph jumped up behind Duncan and caught the basketball with an easy alley-oop layup. 4-0, Link scored 2 points and 1 assist, completely opening up the Grizzlies' offensive channel!

"The Spurs' defense wasn't very responsive. When the Grizzlies changed the offense from Randolph to Link, their offense was instantly revitalized. In the last round of the series, Link put more energy into it. On the defensive end. This round, when he becomes the core of the offense, I'm looking forward to seeing his performance."

After scoring the goal, Randolph stuck his tongue out excitedly. Sure enough, as long as he was not obsessed with individual singles, it was not difficult to score a goal on Duncan's head.

Link and Randolph touched their arms again, and this combination of strikers made the No. 1 in the West shiver at home.

After the game, the Spurs were completely suppressed. Link scored 6 points and 3 assists personally in the first quarter. Jefferson was helpless with Link, and Link was already responsible for the core of the offense. You know, the Spurs, which focus on team offense, only had 2 more assists than Link in the first quarter.

If it wasn't for Ginobili's ultra-long-range three-pointer at the last minute, the Spurs would have trailed the Grizzlies by 8 points at the end of the first quarter!

"27 to 22, even though Ginobili made a magical three-pointer at the end, the Grizzlies still led by 5 points! It's incredible, the Grizzlies really have a black end this year! And Link is under less defensive pressure. , he played very well on offense! Popovich has to do something, if the Grizzlies are allowed to play like this, they may be behind by double digits in the half!"

Steve Kerr shook his head. The Spurs have been really embarrassed in recent years. In 2009, the third place in the West was defeated by the sixth-placed Mavericks 4-1 in the first round.

In 2010, the Spurs met the Mavericks again in the first round of the playoffs, but that year the Spurs were seventh in the West, and the Mavericks became the second in the West. Although the Spurs advanced to the second round that year, successfully avenged the Mavericks. But in the Western Conference semifinals, the Spurs were beaten 4-0 by the Suns.

This year, the Spurs finally won the long-lost Western Conference regular season first. But once again, at the hurdle of the Western Conference semifinals, I ran into big trouble.

Popovich held the tactical board angrily, but had no way of blaming his own players.

On the defensive end, the Spurs tried their best, but with so much ability, they can only defend to this extent. He made his players pay attention to help defense, but the consequence of help defense was Link 3 assists and no turnovers in a single quarter.

Offensively, Manu Ginobili and Parker are still good, but the Grizzlies' defensive ability is unlikely to suddenly decline.

It's frustrating to be a manager when your players are doing well but you still can't do anything about the opponent.

Popovich could only stand in front of Duncan, staring at the funny guy who pretended he couldn't swim.

"I need you on offense, Tim."

"Yeah." Duncan nodded lightly, and between him and Popovich, there was no need to say more.

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