NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 61 The "pigeon-pointing" tactic failed, and Cole's strategy prevailed!

In most cases, the defensive matchups in a game are fixed.

Position 1 defends position 1, and position 5 defends position 5; each fulfills their respective roles.

However, both sides will basically engage in a game of "misaligned defense".

Sometimes, the offensive team will use pick-and-roll to force the opponent to switch, achieving the so-called "point-and-roll," which is to put it bluntly, creating a "mismatch" one-on-one opportunity.

A mismatch between a larger player and a smaller player creates a size advantage in the paint; while a mismatch between a smaller player and a larger player creates a speed advantage on the perimeter. Both of these situations increase the success rate of finishing plays.

Sometimes the defending team will also actively switch defensive matchups, usually between forwards and guards, mainly to allow their perimeter defensive stalwarts to limit the opponent's offensive spearheads.

For example, the Warriors sometimes had Wiggins mismatch guard Mitchell, which was basically the idea behind it.

Of course, this defensive approach would obviously put the Warriors' defensive players at a size disadvantage in other positions, so Kerr wouldn't always use this mismatch defense. He would only use this tactic when Mitchell was on a hot streak or in certain specific possessions.

Since Li Xingchen became a starter, Kerr no longer needs to use this tactic, because Li Xingchen is a shooting guard and he is the most effective at limiting Mitchell, so there is no need to sacrifice the size of other positions.

But today, Kerr didn't use the usual defensive matchups, or even the zone defense formation commonly seen in the league.

He actually set up a different mismatch defense, with Bazemore chasing Conley and Curry switching to guard Royce O'Neal!

The Jazz assigned Royce O'Neale to defend Curry in order to limit the opponent's offensive spearhead with their defensive stalwart.

But what's the point of the Warriors having Curry guard Royce O'Neal? They're actively creating mismatch defense, surely not just for the sake of symmetry?

In Tencent's live broadcast room, because today's game could very well witness the birth of an upset by the eighth seed, it is definitely going to be a battle for viewership. Therefore, Tencent has once again sent out their strongest commentary team - Yang Yi, Wang Meng, and Xiao Qi, a female streamer who is a fan of the Warriors. They have also invited Wang Shipeng as a special guest commentator.

Wang Meng was the first to notice the Warriors' unusual matchup: "Hey, look, the Warriors are actually using Curry to guard Royce O'Neal at the three position! What kind of move is that? Coach Yang, Coach Wang, what do you think?"

Yang Yi, who usually just rambles on, naturally couldn't answer such a professional question: "I don't know. Could it be that the Warriors switched positions incorrectly when they retreated on defense? Given their defensive discipline, they shouldn't have made such a mistake."

In contrast, it is former professional players like Wang Shipeng who are able to see through the tricks of the trade.

"I reckon it's still to protect Curry's defensive weakness."

……

The scene of the game.

When Conley, who had the ball with the Jazz, realized that his opponent was not Curry but Bazemore, he was also surprised for a moment.

He and Mitchell exchanged a glance, unable to grasp Cole's intentions for a moment, and could only continue to execute their tactics according to the original plan.

Their tactics are simple: use pick-and-roll to force the opponent to switch, allowing Mitchell or other offensive players to switch in front of Curry and attack him.

Aside from Curry, the Warriors have four players with very high defensive abilities. Green, as the defensive anchor, goes without saying. Wiggins and Li Xingchen are both swingmen who are extremely good at perimeter defense. As for Bazemore, although he is slightly inferior, he is still a 3-and-D player with certain defensive attributes in the team.

For the team as a whole, Curry is indeed a relatively weak defensive link; on the other hand, targeting Curry specifically can also wear him down on the defensive end, thereby affecting his efficiency on the offensive end.

This isn't a situation Curry faces alone; most of the league's top offensive guards will face similar challenges.

The tactics often jokingly referred to by fans as "dove-pointing tactics" and "lighting-up tactics" are basically based on the same logic.

In the past, if someone wanted to single out Curry, Mitchell would run a pick-and-roll with Conley.

Both players are very good at ball handling. Conley has better passing and ball control, while Mitchell has a higher finishing accuracy. Their cross-screen between the two guards often creates good offensive opportunities.

However, with this change in matchup, if Mitchell still wants to single out Curry, he'll have to run a pick-and-roll with Royce O'Neal.

Mitchell didn't think much of it and took the ball from Conley, then called for Royce O'Neal to set a screen.

However, the Warriors' expected switch did not occur. Curry opted to force a defensive delay against Mitchell, giving Li Xingchen time to squeeze through the screen.

Once Li Xingchen returned to his defensive position, Curry quickly caught up with Royce O'Neal again.

Instead of switching defenses, they forcefully delay and then return to their positions!

Logically speaking, this defensive approach shouldn't be difficult to break.

Because Curry needs to delay and help defend Mitchell, he will inevitably leave his matchup open for a short while.

That is, his delay—the brief moment he took to get back to his position.

Therefore, as long as Mitchell seizes the opportunity to quickly pass the ball to Royce O'Neal, the latter will have a brief open shot opportunity.

In fact, that's exactly what Mitchell did.

But here's the problem: Royce O'Neal was a typical one-trick pony, strong on defense but weak on offense, averaging only seven points per game in the regular season.

It wouldn't be a problem to let him take some wide-open three-pointers; his overall three-point shooting percentage this season is close to 40%.

But expecting him to seize such fleeting opportunities within a second is a bit of a stretch.

Moreover, he wasn't big enough, so the cover wasn't particularly solid. Li Xingchen didn't have much trouble squeezing through the cover, and it didn't take much time.

This means that Curry's delay also won't take long, allowing him to quickly return to his defensive position after a strong delay, and that short time is simply not enough for Royce O'Neal to complete his shot!

So when Mitchell passed the ball to Royce O'Neal, the ball stopped awkwardly in the latter's hands.

He also knew that, tactically speaking, he was now the open shot spot that had to be taken.

But with such a short window of opportunity, he really wasn't confident.

After a moment's hesitation, Curry had already returned to his defensive position.

The Jazz's offensive tactics thus failed, and they had to reorganize.

This was the Warriors' first defensive possession of the game.

After such a confrontation, Kerr's new defensive matchup strategy, which he presented this morning, has clearly gained the upper hand.

It was only at this point that everyone belatedly realized that Kerr's exchange of positions seemed to have extraordinary strategic value.

If the Jazz don't find a good way to break through, their offense today could very well fall into the same predicament as in Game 4, struggling to make any progress!

----------

The reading statistics for Tuesday's PK day came out yesterday, and it did break the record high since the book's launch. Unfortunately, it still couldn't win the revival round!

However, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all my godfathers for their great help.

There have been so many new books in the sports section lately, including some by very talented veteran authors.

Among all these esteemed figures, I am deeply grateful that you, my godfathers, chose to read Douzi's books.

Many godfathers have voted recently. Although the recommendation list is basically useless now, I still want to thank the godfathers for their support. It is all a precious sentiment.

Next, we will begin the plan to add more chapters, gradually increasing the number of chapters for those who donate, submit monthly tickets, and recommend the book. I have already revised the rules last night and pinned them to the top of the book review section. If any of you are interested, please take a look.

Douzi is considered a veteran author, but this is indeed his first time writing a book on Qidian.

So no matter what, I will finish writing this book seriously and without regrets.