The Whip of the God of Basketball

Billups didn't expect Arenas to say this. He couldn't help but glance at Fox-Leon standing on the sidelines. This deep and cold man didn't know what tricks he would use against him tonight.

In past games with the Celtics, Billups has always performed well. Every time he dealt with Arenas, he was very good at it, not only because of his experience and skills, but also in terms of playing style. Billups is calm. , The neat style of play makes it easy for the impetuous Arenas to suffer.

However, during the Carlisle era, although Billups was reused and made qualitative progress in the playoffs, overall Billups was only an indispensable part of the Pistons' offense. But in Larry Brown's team, Billups is already the absolute core in the offense. In Larry Brown's relatively poor offensive routine, Billups' organization and personal performance are very important. .

The Pistons served from the backcourt, and Billups once again began to organize the offense unhurriedly. His mind was spinning very fast. It was precisely because the Pistons did not have many offensive routines that he needed to use his brain more to find the opponent's defense. flaw.

One of the most commonly used offensive tactics by the Pistons is to intersperse the bottom line. Rasheed Wallace is at a high position of 45 degrees, Ben Wallace is covering from the bottom, and Prince and Hamilton are intersecting from the bottom line. This set of things is better than Lu's. Puss has long been familiar with it. He observed Hamilton's movement, and at the same time he was optimistic about Rasheed's position, which was very outside. He was creating opportunities for Prince to cut inside.

However, before Billups found the opportunity to pass the ball, he found that Arenas and Michael Reid had already pounced on him. Arenas began to press the defense, and Reid gave up marking Hamilton, but he He didn't directly step forward to double-team, but stood in a perfect position - blocking between Billups and the area on the left side of the center.

"Damn, what's going on..." This sentence flashed through Billups's mind. As a result, Arenas rushed forward and squeezed Billups with his body. Billups had to Holding the ball with both hands, stop the ball!

There was a problem with the Pistons' offense at the first point. Rasheed Wallace stepped forward to respond, but Garnett pressed hard. At this time, PJ Brown also came up and he let go of Ben Wallace. , standing at the free throw line. Reid left his original position and continued to follow Hamilton.

Billups handed the ball to Rasheed Wallace, and Garnett kept using his long arms to interfere with Rasheed, preventing him from returning the ball easily. Almost ten seconds had been wasted, and the Pistons organized themselves little by little. There is no appearance of attack.

Rasheed Wallace wanted to pass the ball back to Billups, but at this time Pierce pressed from the right side and tried to cut off the connection between Rasheed and Billups. As for Prince - he The run went to the left corner. Rasheed Wallace didn't think his pass could penetrate half the court and P.J. Brown accurately reached Prince's hands.

In the end, Rasheed passed the ball to Billups' hands - at the expense of Billups taking three steps back to reach near the midline, while Pierce circled outside the three-point line and then returned to Prince's Around him, Billups no longer has the chance to pass the ball to Prince.

"Billups forced a breakthrough, stepped up, and took a three-point shot. The ball missed and PJ got the backcourt rebound. The Detroiters had no way of doing anything in this offense. They had to force a three-point shot to end it." Offense... Let's look at the Celtics' counterattack. Arenas is very fast. Pierce feinted with the ball, cut into the paint, and passed the ball. Garnett dunked with one hand! Beautiful third-line fast break!"

Dick Stockton's commentary was as precise and concise as ever, as was the Celtics' quick counterattack. Arenas passed the ball to Pierce in the corner, and Pierce passed Prince and rushed to near the three-second zone, and then cleverly The ball was passed to Garnett in the middle, and Garnett scored a one-handed dunk.

"Play simpler, be decisive, be decisive!" Larry Brown couldn't help shouting on the sidelines. He had a serious face and folded his arms. The two opening attacks gave him a very bad feeling.

Although the Pistons are not good at offense, it is very rare for the defense to have no chance at all. Brown is wondering if the players are not in good condition. If there is no improvement in the next offense, he will consider calling a timeout. .

This time, Billups dribbled the ball quickly through half court. After half court, he immediately handed the ball to Rasheed Wallace at the top of the arc. Then he ran to the right baseline, looking for a low post to attack Arenas. Chance.

But Arenas seemed to see through this, and he actually started to go forward to defend. At the same time, PJ Brown on the other side came to block the bottom line channel.

The Detroit Pistons' starting five, Ben Wallace, has almost no independent offensive ability. This is a big problem for the Pistons on the offensive end, and the Celtics seem to have seen through several passing routes to Ben - With reverse hooks in the middle, alley-oops from the baseline, and insertions after breaking through to score the ball, the Celtics relied on defense and blocking to eliminate all of their chances of receiving the ball.

Rasheed Wallace hesitated and handed the ball to Hamilton, who was cutting around from the left. Ben made a block for Hamilton, but Reid did not go around, but chose to squeeze through, leaving the center open. Coming out gave Hamilton a chance to break through.

This is indeed a good opportunity to attack. The premise is that PJ Brown follows Ben. After the pick-and-roll, the inside will be free for Hamilton to break through. The problem is that PJ does not follow Ben. His attention is on Billups. , at this time he was standing in the three-second zone waiting for Hamilton!

Hamilton had no choice. He knew this was a good opportunity and chose to force a breakthrough.

"Hamilton's breakthrough layup was interfered by Brown, and the ball was blocked! But Billups got the rebound... Arenas stole the ball, and he took the ball away from Billups' hands!" The offensive rebound Billups originally got was taken away by Arenas.

When the Celtics counterattacked again and Michael Reid hit a three-pointer from beyond the three-point line, Larry Brown decisively called a timeout. The game was unplayable and there were no points at all!

"The Celtics' defense at the beginning was amazing. I haven't seen such a smart defense in a long time. It didn't rely on unlimited physical confrontation or unlimited rotation to block the opponent. Instead, it was very smart, almost proactively guessing. The opponent's offensive routine can predict the opponent's offensive opportunities in advance, and then defend." Bill Russell couldn't help but praise the Celtics' defense. In fact, the waves in his heart were far more than that.

The timeout ended quickly, and after returning, the Pistons finally scored - relying on Ben Wallace's open space after the pick-and-roll, he went inside and dunked directly.

But Ben Wallace scored, and Leon was not afraid at all.

"You see, the Detroiters' offensive routine is simple and boring. Maybe their defense is good enough, but if they can't score points, they can't win the game." Leon sat on the sidelines and said to Li K-Carlisle said.

Carlisle also nodded. Tonight was different from what many people expected to be a spear versus shield game. From the pre-game preparation meeting, Leon set the tone for this game - this would be A defensive battle.

The first goal Leon set for his players was not to let Billups score easily in the first quarter. He even said "Billups can only score one goal" because he knew that Billups was the only one who could score. He is the soul of the Pistons' offense. Without this soul, the Pistons' offense would be at the mid-to-lower level in the league.

The second goal Leon set for the players was not to allow the Pistons to score more than 30 points in the first half.

Sure enough, when the Celtics' hinge became tighter and tighter, and the Pistons' offensive feeling became worse and worse, at the end of the first quarter, the Celtics led the Pistons by 12 points and 9 points, 21:9. That's the Pistons' score in the first quarter. If this situation continues, whether the Pistons can score more than 20 points in the first half is a question.

At the beginning of the second quarter, after the two sides replaced their substitute lineups, especially after Kevin Garnett came off the court, the Celtics' defense became a lot looser. The Pistons also seized the opportunity to score 6 points in a row, and the score was It improved to 15 points, still half way to 30 points.

A team that is willing to keep its opponents' scoring below 70 points should enjoy such a defensive battle, but only if they can score more than 70 points. Now, the Pistons' goal may be to exceed 50 points.

In the second quarter of the game, faced with the instability of the substitute's defense, Leon was not in a hurry. He asked the substitute point guard Alston to delay the attack time as much as possible and delay every attack until the last five seconds. This can effectively reduce the number of offensive rounds of the bench lineup on the court, compress the scoring of both sides, and prevent the Pistons' bench lineup from finding the offensive feeling.

Four minutes into the second quarter, the score between the two sides was 27:18. The Pistons seemed to be slowly picking up, especially when Prince hit a crucial three-pointer, giving the Pistons a chance. Injection of cardiotonic drug, at this time Leon immediately called for a short pause of 20 seconds.

"Everyone, listen to me. From now on, don't let those sons of bitches score anymore. Recently, many people have said how the Detroit people are and what kind of trouble the Pistons will cause us. Now, use practical actions. Tell them, tell everyone, this is all bullshit. Three minutes, I give you three minutes to prove, prove that we are the best defensive team on the planet!"

After Leon finished speaking, the timeout ended, and the Celtics' defensive lineup came on - P.J. Brown, Kevin Garnett, James Posey, Michael Reid, and Raja Bell.

When the five Celtics players stood on the court, everyone could feel that an iron curtain slowly enveloped the Celtics basket, making it impenetrable.

"The Celtics fielded a lineup that looked very defensive, but I don't know how their offense was going - Kevin Garnett caught the ball and made a 20-foot jump shot, and the ball missed... It looks like this The shooting was a little sloppy. I don’t know if they were eager to show off their defense.”

When Billups returned to the court and dribbled across half court, he could feel that threats were everywhere.

Ragnarok Bale, in a good defensive position, seemed to be guiding him to the left.

Michael Reed, he was chasing Hamilton, but his movement was very clever. Billups knew that he was not chasing Hamilton's people, but the opportunities that appeared as Hamilton ran - now he has no chance.

Posey stood at 45 degrees to the left. The area behind was Prince's favorite spot, where he had just hit a three-pointer. But he felt that it would be difficult for Prince to get rid of Posey.

Brown went around Rasheed in three quarters, and the matchup changed. Where is Kevin? Where is Kevin?

Just as Billups was thinking about it, Kevin Garnett, who was originally standing inside the three-point line, suddenly surrounded him from the left! Ben was dropped again, but Billups had no chance to pass to him because Posey cut off the route.

Prince tried to respond, but it was over. Garnett tied Billups up like a cruel spider with silk thread. His attention was not as concentrated as it was at the beginning. He was intimidated by the Celtics' impeccable position. Lost his mind, Garnett steals the ball!

An unstoppable one-stop, Kevin Garnett succeeded in a fast break dunk.

"I'm sorry, Chauncey, you have no chance, not at all." After Garnett dunked successfully, he said to his good friend Billups who passed by.

This felt different from the first quarter. Billups was not angry when he heard Garnett's words, but was confused.

Facing the Celtics' defense in the first quarter, Billups felt a little anxious. They were taking the lead step by step, but the attackers still had the upper hand after all. Billups knew that as the game progressed, he could Slowly find the trick to cracking and the feeling of attack.

But now, it's different, that deep sense of threat, as if an inexplicable hand will appear in the darkness at any time and steal the ball from his hand - just like what happened just now, Garnett lifted the ball He was so quick and decisive, and the teammates behind him cooperated so well, because at that time Hamilton ran to the left, and Reed and Posey defended two against three. This was much easier than Posey's one against two.

Billups began to feel a little shaken and confused. Garnett's words echoed in his ears repeatedly, "You have no chance, not at all."

What a point guard and a shooter fear most is the wavering of confidence. Confidence and calmness are the basis for their normal or even extraordinary performance.

Billups, the core figure and engine of the Pistons' offense, had his confidence shaken at this moment, facing the Celtics' fan-like tough defense.

"The Celtics seem to be starting to show off their incredible defense...It's really incredible, I can feel the aggression and creativity in it, let's see how the Pistons respond. Billups, he passed the ball to Pullin Si, Prince tried to beat Posey alone, Posey took a step back and walked, and Prince walked!"

Leon looked at Prince who looked annoyed and Billups who looked confused. He knew that the third goal he had set was about to be achieved. He wanted to destroy the Detroit Pistons' confidence in the playoffs!

"I think I saw the ultimate defense," Bill Russell added.