Chapter 801: 341. Tonight is a scoring night_2
Transition from offense to defense, Wade pushes the ball forward, and the Western Team players all think he will go one-on-one, Garnett and Duncan are ready to close in.
But Wade lobbed the ball to Yao Ming, who was leaning on Duncan in the low post.
Yao Ming takes on Duncan, bumps him into the restricted area, spins, and scores with a layup!
It’s the Western Team’s turn to attack again, Iverson continues to break through, Wade gives up blocking the breakthrough, chooses to follow, and with Jas pinching in from the wing, they trap Iverson at the free-throw line.
Iverson dishes the ball… the Double Guns connect, Anthony catches the ball at the right 45-degree angle and sinks a long two-pointer!
Transition from offense to defense, Yao Ming continues to call for the ball in the low post, Garnett sinks down, Wade doesn’t lob the ball again, instead he bursts with speed, directly breaking through the defense, Iverson keeps up but is bumped off by Wade.
But under the basket, against the two 21-numbered players, even Wade finds it hard to break through; he gets blocked just a step outside the restricted area, leaving no space even for a Euro step.
Just when the two 21s are about to form a three-man encirclent with the chasing Iverson, Wade throws a high pass, Yao Ming pulls out to the left side of the three-second zone to receive the ball, Garnett predicts correctly, moves in front of Yao Ming imdiately, giving no chance for Yao Ming to catch and shoot.
But Yao Ming is prepared, he doesn’t make a shooting motion, grabs the ball with one hand, waits calmly after Garnett sticks to him, then pushes the ball towards the top of the arc.
Zhang Yang, moving from the left 45-degree angle using an Okafor screen to shake off Kobe, arrives at the top arc, catches the ball, backs out beyond the three-point line, shoots a three as Kobe chases around Okafor trying to catch up… it’s good!
5 to 4, the Eastern Team leads by 1 point!
This play, Kobe feels sothing is off with the opponents, but thinks it might just be a coincidence.
But after a few more possessions, Kobe exclaims holy shit—the opponents truly are running tactics!
The Western Team also discussed how to revolve around the two number 3s for offense, how to cooperate, but they approached it from a follow-up perspective, not a tactical angle, very simply.
Because the way Iverson is best at organizing offense is through drive-and-kick assists; Paul, too, is a high-possession, ball-dominant type of point guard. The Western Team’s agreed approach for tonight is to have Iverson and Paul take turns on the court and to take turns dominating; the entire ga is just 48 minutes, so having each play half ans they can stay in peak condition throughout.
But this approach has obvious shortcomings. In these opening minutes, Iverson is playing comfortably and freely, but this style makes his teammates’ roles very limited; Kobe, Anthony, Garnett, Duncan, all beco catch-and-shoot players or dump-off finishers.
With Yao Ming guarding the basket, the Western Team’s conditions for cuts to attack the basket are poor in set plays, mostly relying on outside shooting.
When the Eastern Team double-teams on Iverson’s drive, they always let Jas co in to double-team, leaving Anthony open. He receives the ball to shoot directly; his first is good, but the consistency wanes later, which doesn’t fit his play style, and taking ti to find a rhythm with post-ups doesn’t help. His efficiency when catching and shooting is quite average… After making two consecutive shots at the start, the Western Team’s scoring pace slowed down, scoring only 11 points in 4 minutes and 11 seconds.
As for the Eastern Team, the strategy initially brought up by Jas was the sa mindset as the Western side, letting the two number 3 players take turns attacking, with the others focusing on defense and supporting coordination.
But Zhang Yang rejected this approach, saying his isolation and passing weren’t as good as Wade’s, and he proactively handed the main offensive role to Wade.
Wade was surprised but didn’t refuse; naturally, he wanted more ball possession.
After actively giving up the control, Zhang Yang’s subsequent proposed detailed variations were also recognized—first, let Yao Ming make a strong attack inside to create threats and compress the opponent’s defense, then Wade would have better conditions for driving and dishing; upon Wade’s drive and dish, Yao Ming, according to the situation, could move to either elbow to assist; with Yao Ming’s speed, it’s impossible to shake off Garnett extending out to help defend, so let Yao Ming, based on real-ti scenarios, pass to Jas for simple inside cuts or to Zhang San for outside movent.
This approach, in essence, is still Wade driving and dishing, not complicated to coordinate, a few practice setups and they beca proficient.
After the ga started, Zhang Yang’s offensive plan was executed smoothly, and their starting lineup structure was excellent.
Yao Ming is currently the strongest isolation offensive point in the league, no contest, with shooting threat and the ability to both shoot and pass.
Wade is the Eastern Conference’s best drive-and-dish point guard, always has been even before the Heat’s Three Giants ford.
Jas’s capability for simple plays ranks top in the league.
Okafor screens well, is good at positioning, calm, and steady.
Zhang Yang himself is also one of the league’s best off-ball players.
The four players around Wade’s offense are all willing to sacrifice so of their style, coordinating very well, even spontaneously extending Zhang Yang’s idea by adding inside-out passes during Jas’s cut plays to set up a mid-range assist back to Yao Ming.
In 4 minutes and 11 seconds, Wade had 2 points and 2 assists, Zhang Yang 7 points, Yao Ming 4 points and 1 assist, Jas 2 points and 1 assist, Okafor 2 points, and the Eastern Team opened with a 17 to 11 lead, forcing the Western Team to call a tiout!
During the tiout, Kobe told his teammates, “I didn’t expect the opponents to actually run tactics.”
Iverson said, “Yeah, Jack’s personal charm is really incredible.”
Standing nearby, called by the Zen Master to substitute in soon, Gasol quietly chid in, “I heard from Gerald, Jack’s tactical ideas are always brilliant, his ga analysis and prediction ability are strong, and easily earn his teammates’ trust.”
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