Bab 196: Defeat the Spurs and the Reborn Bulls.
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The Spurs' starting lineup is exactly the same as last season's championship lineup, with point guard Parker, shooting guard Bowen, small forward Finley, power forward Duncan, and center Oberto.
The Bulls, who faced the Spurs in six games during the Finals just three months ago, have undergone a major revision of their lineup, replacing three of their five starters.
The new lineup consists of point guard Billups, shooting guard James Jones, small forward Wang Chong, power forward Garnett, and center Gasol.
Upon seeing this lineup, Spurs coach Popovich feels a headache coming on.
In last year's finals, although the Spurs won relatively easily, Popovich was already somewhat concerned. The Bulls' lineup was too young, and their future growth seemed limitless—as long as some of their young players became more powerful. With a tactical advantage, they could potentially close the gap with their superior individual skills.
But Popovich never expected the Bulls to take a more radical approach, using a five-for-one trade to bring Garnett aboard.
As a result, the entire Bulls lineup was reshuffled, adding two 31-year-old veterans, Garnett and Billups, to the team.
On paper, the Bulls have assembled a "Big Three" lineup, featuring two regular-season MVPs in their prime years, along with an All-Star point guard. However, from the perspective of the coach and general manager, Popovich sees this as forcing saplings to grow too quickly.
If the Bulls' Big Three fail to win a championship in three years, they will lose everything except Wang Chong, and the new, potential players will become overpaid veterans. As the team's salary cap is locked up, the overall strength of the team will decline as the age of the two veterans increases, thus eroding its competitiveness.
But it is undeniable that, at least for this season, the pressure posed by the Bulls' Big Three on Popovich is quite strong.
After all, whether it's Wang Chong or Garnett, their individual skills are more than enough to give the Spurs a hard time.
The two teams jump for the ball at center court, and Garnett positions himself at the center line. The Spurs completely lose interest in fighting for the ball.
Duncan has static talent comparable to Garnett in terms of height and wingspan, but he cannot compare to the "Big Ticket" when it comes to jumping ability and explosive power.
At this moment, Garnett is not in his twilight years yet; he still has excellent leaping ability and explosive power.
As soon as the referee throws the ball into the air, Garnett immediately leaps and tips it to his side.
Bulls' offense.
Billups constantly controls the ball at half court and stands at the top of the arc. Meanwhile, all the Bulls players are spaced out.
Just by looking at the positions of the five Bulls players, Popovich cannot help but raise his eyebrows.
The positions are too scattered. Billups, Wang Chong, and Jones are positioned in a triangle outside the three-point line—one at the top, one at a 45-degree angle to the left, and the other in the bottom right corner.
At the same time, Garnett stands in the corner, and even Gasol doesn't enter the paint. He is positioned at least three meters from the basket on the left corner.
In just three months, the Bulls' tactics have made Popovich feel completely unfamiliar.
Needless to say, the shooting skills of the two shooting guards are natural. Wang Chong and Garnett are also forwards who dominate mid-range and long-range shooting.
"Could it be that Pau Gasol's younger brother also dominates mid-range shooting?"
As soon as this idea crossed Popovich's mind, he chuckled at his own foolishness.
Isn't this nonsense? Among European big men who have also played in European professional leagues, how many don't know how to shoot?
But the result was that the Spurs' frontcourt defense was completely stretched.
Garnett, who was standing in the corner, took a small step forward and immediately set a pick-and-roll for Billups. Billups accelerated into the paint with the ball and made an easy layup before Duncan could step in for the defense.
Billups' primary style of play is exactly the same as last season—he continues to rely on pick-and-roll advances and three-point shots from the outside. However, the players involved in the pick-and-roll are different, and the effect is completely different.
In the past, neither Chandler nor Luol Deng had the ability to shoot, so the Spurs could set up players to sit in the paint and wait to work. But against these new Bulls, this tactic didn't work.
The Bulls' changes aren't just reflected on the offensive side but also on the defensive end.
Although Tyson Chandler won the Defensive Player of the Year award, much of the reason was the Bulls' 69-win regular season. In terms of true defensive level, Chandler is obviously far behind Garnett when compared to the best interior defenders like Duncan.
When the Spurs attack, Tony Parker does the same and chooses a pick-and-roll attack like Billups.
After Duncan stepped up to set a screen for Parker, the latter accelerated with the ball, using his speed to drive straight into the paint.
But a tall figure quickly followed him, extending his arms to completely cover Parker like the sun!
It was Garnett.
Looking at the history of the league, Garnett's speed in helping on defense is rare among the best post players. His speed and explosive power are incredibly quick for a big man (not a true center), and he can even be compared to Howard "The Big Man" from the Magic.
Seeing no space for a shot, Parker, who didn't want to be served by Garnett, could only circle out and quickly launched a cold arrow from the outside. Of course, the rushed shot missed.
Gasol, who was already positioned under the basket, kept securing the rebound.
Bulls' second offense.
Popovich stood up and walked toward the sideline, saying a few words to center Oberto while returning to defense.
Once both teams were in position, Gasol noticed that Oberto, who was guarding him, had directly retreated into the paint and was not as closely guarding him as in the previous possession.
After being momentarily stunned, Gasol immediately realized that his opponent didn't believe in his mid-range shooting ability.
But he also knew very well that when he first arrived, despite his excellent luck, the Bulls had no true primary center. As a result, they placed him at the center position, but it was impossible for him to really play as the team's primary offensive weapon.
But as he thought this, Billups' pass came directly into his hands.
Gasol was momentarily stunned after receiving the ball, then unconsciously raised his hand to shoot. Oberto, who had taken the initiative to back up to the basket, was already too late to defend.
"Aha!"
Gasol, standing in the right corner, took a firm shot nearly five meters from the basket.
Others may not know Gasol's technical characteristics, but how could Wang Chong not know them?
Although slightly inferior to his brother Pau Gasol in terms of mid-range and long-range shooting, Gasol's open mid-range shooting ability is definitely not bad, especially from the free-throw line.
In the original 2008-09 season, Gasol's best mid-range zone when he first arrived in the NBA was near the right side of the free-throw line. His shooting percentage there was 55.8%, nearly matching his percentage at the basket of 57.3%.
Gasol's primary offensive method is actually in the paint. After all, his weight of over 250 pounds makes him less flexible than Pau Gasol, making it easier to score in the post, but absolutely no one dares to challenge his mid-range shots.
Later in his career, Gasol even developed his three-point shooting ability. In the 2016-17 season, Gasol averaged 3.6 three-point attempts per game and made 1.4, with a 38.8% shooting percentage.
Of course, Gasol is definitely not as strong at this stage, and his skills are not complete, but the point is that he is not the primary offensive point for the Bulls at all. As long as he has that shooting ability, it's enough to stretch the opponent's defense.
——The
fans in the local Spurs arena felt something was off. Why are the Bulls dominating the Spurs right from the start of the game?
The various scores from the Bulls could easily shatter the Spurs' defense, but switching to the Spurs' offense, it was extremely difficult to score, including Duncan, who could only use his strength advantage to push his way inside due to Garnett's interference.
This resulted in the two teams finishing the first quarter with a score of 29:22, with the Spurs trailing by 7 points at home.
And that wasn't the worst part, because Wang Chong had obviously not exerted much effort in the first quarter. Many times, he simply stood in the lower corner or at a 45-degree position outside the three-point line, without making any significant moves.
But the more this happened, the more psychological pressure it placed on the Spurs.
Wang Chong's three-pointers last season were no joke. He averaged over 40% from deep, especially from the two corners. With the blessing of the gold-level three-point shooter badge, Wang Chong's accuracy was terrifying.
The Spurs couldn't even imagine what kind of powerful offensive firepower Wang Chong would unleash in the remaining three quarters after not exerting any pressure in the first.
They found out right away.
Wang Chong, who had only hit 2 of 3 shots in the first quarter and scored
5 points, began significantly increasing his shot attempts in the second quarter.
Wang Chong played the entire second quarter, hitting 7 of 12 shots and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 18 points in just one quarter, with 21 points by halftime!
The sudden explosion caught the Spurs off guard, and they were completely unable to defend against it.
In last season's finals, the Spurs arranged for Duncan to defend Wang Chong. At that time, Wang Chong was playing the power forward position for the Bulls, so the two were in a direct confrontation.
But now the situation had changed significantly after Garnett's arrival, Wang Chong seamlessly shifted from the power forward position to the small forward position, and Duncan couldn't follow Wang Chong to the small forward position, while the Bulls also had Garnett inside to keep an eye on.
Don't underestimate Garnett's scoring ability. Although Garnett's primary offensive method is jump shots, his scoring explosiveness and upper limit are not high enough, Duncan has averaged over 20 points per game for nine consecutive seasons.
When Duncan faced Garnett, the Spurs had difficulty finding a player who could match Wang Chong.
Is it Bruce Bowen, who was selected as the best perimeter defender last season?
Bowen's actual height is 2.01 meters, which means there is a huge height difference between him and Wang Chong. This significant size disparity makes any defensive skills irrelevant. The only way Bowen can limit Wang Chong's scoring is to step on Wang Chong's foot. With a jump shot, there's still a chance to injure him with malicious steps.
But the problem is that Bowen is famous, so how could Wang Chong not take precautions?
Whenever facing Bowen's defense, Wang Chong was always careful after a jump shot, paying close attention to whether there would be a sinister black foot in his landing position.
Both are top-tier perimeter defenders at 2.01 meters tall. There is still a significant difference between Bowen and the future Leonard. Although Leonard is only 2.01 meters tall, he has a wingspan of 2.21 meters and a pair of exaggeratedly large hands, making it difficult for the defender to disrupt his game.
Bowen doesn't have Leonard's exaggerated wingspan, and his strength and confrontation ability are far inferior to Leonard's.
Even for Leonard, there are few situations in which he can completely limit Durant's scoring when facing him directly.
To be precise, if Durant holds the ball on the outside and the two face off one-on-one, Leonard's deadly entanglements will confuse Durant. After all, Durant's height limits his ability to handle the ball. It's not as smooth as a defender's, and this is one of the reasons he's afraid of double-teaming.
But if it's in the low or mid-post, once Durant receives the ball, Leonard can only watch the opponent's jump shot and score without help.
The topic has drifted a bit, so let's return to the court.
The Spurs couldn't find a suitable player to face Wang Chong and didn't even try to target him.
In fact, they knew they couldn't restrict Wang Chong. When Duncan personally defended Wang Chong in last season's finals, Wang Chong scored 50 points in a single game.
But the problem is that the Bulls are no longer the same Bulls from the Finals.
At the end of the second quarter, after halftime, the third quarter began. Wang Chong rested off the court, but the Bulls kept pace with the Spurs, led by Ginóbili.
At this point, the Bulls' lineup consisted of Billups at point guard, Ramon Sessions at shooting guard, Michael Sweetney at small forward, Paul Millsap at power forward, and Garnett at center.
During the second quarter, when Wang Chong was mainly attacking, Billups and Garnett had a lot of time to rest, so they were able to contribute when Wang Chong was resting in the third quarter.
Although this lineup includes second-round pick Sessions and Sweetney, a minimum-salary free-agent signing, the Bulls could only rely on the pick-and-roll cooperation between Billups and Garnett to compete with the Spurs.
Additionally, Millsap's skills as a backup are clearly more mature than last season.
Millsap's primary offensive method is simple post-ups, and his scoring primarily comes from the paint.
Originally, with his quiet personality and playing style, Thibodeau wouldn't have noticed him at all, but Wang Chong knew Millsap's abilities very well and naturally wouldn't let them go to waste.
Before the start of the new season, the Bulls had Millsap's inside game on their tactical board. Wang Chong positioned Millsap as the sixth man for the Bulls, sharing time in the paint with Gasol.
According to Wang Chong's plan, Gasol and Millsap were expected to play more than 30 minutes each this season. When Garnett was resting, both could appear on the court together, disguised as the Grizzlies' white-and-black duo. In preseason, the effect of this combination didn't seem so bad.
——The
Spurs were unable to take advantage in the third quarter. In the final quarter, Wang Chong returned with full force after a good rest, and the game had no suspense.
With a final score of 106-94, the Bulls defeated the Spurs on the road, achieving a strong start to the season and avenging their loss in the finals.
Of course, the new season had just begun, and the battle between the two teams would continue into the playoffs and possibly even the finals.
But no matter what, the Bulls in this new season had already taken the lead at the starting line.
End of this chapter
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