Chapter 1490 Give up Your Illusions, Jefferson Is Not the Spurs’ Savior

The first quarter was so easy that Ji Feng felt it was a bit fake. When he came off the court, Ji Feng turned his head and looked at Popovich's expression. He wanted to see if this game was about Popovich. Qi is playing them!

Ji Feng scored 10 points and 5 assists in the first quarter, and he only played 6 minutes and 45 seconds. Regardless of the data, the most different thing is actually the feeling on the court.

I still remember Ji Feng's first time facing the Spurs on the court. Bowen's black elbow, Ginobili's snake step, and Oberto's fouls impressed him deeply. Although the Lakers were already very strong at that time, they were still After a fierce battle with the Spurs for 48 minutes, he finally won thanks to his clever tip-in at the last moment. ,

At that time, Ji Feng felt that the Spurs were indeed worthy of their reputation, and their defensive ability and tyrannical strength were indeed the Lakers' biggest opponent in 10 years.

But tonight, everything has changed. Although the GDP is still there, Bonner is still the same Bonner, but the Spurs always make him feel that they no longer have the flavor of the Spurs.

Apart from anything else, Ji Feng was fouled zero times in the first quarter, which was unimaginable in the past. Could it be that the Spurs have decided to transform this season?

"The Spurs allowed the Lakers to score 36 points in the first quarter, but I only scored 20 points. To be honest, this is not the Spurs team I am familiar with. They did not have the same fighting spirit on the court as they did back then, and their defense regressed too much. They have almost no way to cause defensive trouble for the Lakers. The defensive system built by Popovich is completely gone." Barkley pointed out the Spurs' problem in a concise and comprehensive manner.

Defend!

No matter how many wonderful performances the Spurs GDP has put on on the court, whether you like Duncan's high rebound, Parker's spinning top, or Ginobili's snake step, you can't deny one thing, That is, the Spurs rely on defense. If there is no defense, there will be no honors for the Spurs.

Think about how the Spurs defeated the Pistons and won the championship in 2005, and you will understand. If they didn't rely on a defense that was even more abnormal than the iron-blooded Pistons, they would not have won the championship. Similarly, they would not have won the championship without defense. The Suns, who may have repeatedly defeated the extremely gorgeous offensive team, have not yet tasted the taste of the Western Conference championship.

Since Popovich took over the team in 1997, the Spurs' defensive capabilities have been among the best in the league. Relying on Duncan's deterrent ability in the interior and defensive heroes such as Bowen on the outside, they have been in the forefront in recent years. Taking defense to the extreme to win championships.

It can be said that in terms of defensive ability alone, the Spurs have definitely been the best in the league in the past 10 years, and it is undisputed.

Under the premise of giving full play to personal strength, the team emphasizes absolute unity and absolute obedience. Everyone operates like a machine when defending. There are very few loopholes in positional warfare, and even if there is one, it can be made up with great speed.

This is the secret recipe of the Spurs' alliance.

However, with the Spurs on the field today, you can no longer see the shadow of the iron-blooded defensive Spurs of the past. The field is full of loopholes from the inside to the outside, the movement speed is very slow, there is almost no defense, and the flanking attack is also very artistic. In short, the Spurs' defensive ability has almost been reduced by half this season.

"Indeed, it is an indisputable fact that the Spurs' defensive ability has declined, but you also have to be considerate of Popovich. After all, they have changed three players in the starting lineup. Only one summer has passed, and even Popovich cannot quickly replace him. The team is tight and they need more time." Smith still said something fair for the Spurs.

This is indeed an indisputable fact. The Spurs' lineup has indeed completed a major overhaul in the past two years. Bowen, Horry, and Finley, the three Spurs veterans, have retired. Through trades, the two interior substitutes Oberto and Thomas have also left. , except for GDP, the Spurs are no longer the same team as they were two years ago.

Large-scale personnel changes will indeed make the Spurs run less smoothly and cause some problems, but this is not the most critical, because the core GDP of the Spurs' team building is still there. No matter how the role players change, if the core remains unchanged, the system will not change. Change, so there are other more critical reasons why the Spurs are playing like this.

The answer is actually at the beginning of the second quarter. The Spurs replaced Ginobili with Mason, and rookie Blair replaced Duncan, leaving only Parker and Jefferson as the two main players.

As soon as this team came out, Barkley was ready to leave and get off work. He was 16 points behind and replaced the main team. Popovich clearly didn't want to win.

Although the Lakers also played Ji Feng and Kobe, they are 16 points ahead. How can they be the same as you?

The camera also focused directly on Popovich, and the old coach was still calm, just pulling Jefferson and talking constantly.

"Popovich is putting all the pressure on Jefferson." Director Zhang said.

It seems like this, but Popovich knows in his heart that he has never placed his treasure on anyone, except maybe Duncan, so it is really a helpless move for him to make such a substitution.

He really wanted to replace Duncan, but it really couldn't be done because Duncan, the "Stone Buddha" who has been like this for twelve years, is really old. Although this responsible player chose to gain weight this summer to maintain his competitiveness. , but undoubtedly, the effect is not significant. On the contrary, facing the impact of young insiders from other teams, Duncan cannot keep up with them. On defense, Shifo's deterrent power is greatly reduced.

Similarly, on the offensive end, although Duncan's strength can still compete with those young muscular sticks, it is already quite difficult. As a 32-year-old veteran, Duncan's body can no longer keep up with his consciousness. In the game, we often It can be seen that when the outside player handed the ball to Duncan, Shi Fo struggled to catch the ball, but due to the interference of the defensive player and his own inability, the ball touched the ball out of bounds.

Although many people are still teasing the No. 23 pick, as a core player, Duncan is indeed not as powerful as before, and gaining weight may be the worst decision this summer. Not only did Duncan not have an advantage in the interior, but he also consumed his physical energy faster. , which forced him to take longer breaks to ensure his condition in the second half.

So he could only place his hopes on Jefferson. He hoped that Jefferson could resist and maintain this point difference.

However, after Master Zen saw that you had no intention of sleeping with Duncan, he replaced Ji Feng after another round. This not only directly caused Jefferson to explode again, but also ruined Duncan's rest plan.

Because Ji Feng already dunked two on Bonner. If the fight continues like this, the Spurs will be completely beaten inside!

As for Jefferson, his ability is not worth mentioning in front of Ji Feng, and the Lakers sent Ji Feng and Artest to take turns defending, which directly caused his mentality to explode. Before halftime, he even received a technical foul for insulting the referee...

65-40 at halftime, the Lakers confirmed their victory.