I'm not really a role player

Chapter 377
In the second game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Pacers began to block Li Ke with David West and pickled peppers.

Pickled Pepper, who is tall, long-armed and flexible, did cause some troubles for Li Ke.

But it is limited to troubles. In terms of defense alone, there is a big gap between him and Xiaoka, Lebang and even the first brother.

In a head-on confrontation, Pickled Pepper can withstand Li Ke's impact.

Once Li Ke turned around and pointed his butt at Pickled Pepper, there would be no suspense.

Even with the addition of David West who is not young, Li Ke only struggled a little.

Li Ke's performance is no problem, and the Bobcats can easily win.

But there are also differences. In this game, when the Pacers improved their defensive strength, Rivers decisively switched to defense.

On the offensive end, the Bobcats didn't play so much, and they took defense seriously.

The Pacers didn't have many scoring points, they played very well, or they had to play very well.

As soon as the Bobcats' defensive strength came up, the game immediately became a fight with iron.

99 to 76, at home, the Bobcats beat the Pacers by 23 points.

Next, the series moved to Indianapolis.

In G3, Frank Vogel turned David West away again, turned Granger around, and changed people to team up with Pickled Pepper to block Li Ke.

Granger is still at his peak, just with a little injury, and his flexibility and reaction are indeed better than David West.

The reason why Vogel didn't use him to defend Li Ke in the last game was mainly because Granger was still responsible for the Pacers' offense.

but now……

attack?Vogel no longer considered it.

Even so, Li Ke still played steadily like G2.

Bobcats also continue to focus on defense, just for an easy win.

At this point in the playoffs, Rivers is obviously very utilitarian.

Playing against the Knicks in the first round, the Bobcats are mainly offensive. Who made the Knicks' defense so bad?

This round against the Pacers, the first game is still an offensive battle.

In the second game, the Pacers stepped up their strength, and the Bobcats turned directly to defense, highlighting one I just don't want to fight bayonet with you.

G3, another easy victory, the Bobcats lead 3-0 in the series, only one victory away from the Eastern Conference Finals.

……

In the east, the Cavaliers really encountered the most tenacious resistance.

Sparks single-handedly blasted the inside line composed of Varejao, Przybilla, and Big Bo.

On the periphery, the chaotic battle between Xiao Heidou, Jason Richardson and Ryan Anderson also put a lot of pressure on the Cavaliers.

By the fourth game, the score was already tied 2-2, and the Magic completely entangled the Cavaliers.

Looking at the 3-0 Pacers again, just waiting for another victory for the Bobcats, the gap came out like this.

In the West, in the first four games, the Thunder beat the Lakers 3-1. Basically, there is not much suspense in this round of the series.

On the contrary, the Spurs were held back by the extremely tough Grizzlies. The score was also 2-2, and the situation was very anxious.

……

In Indianapolis, Game 4 of the Bobcats and Pacers started as scheduled.

If the Bobcats win, they will become the first team to enter the conference finals.

In the other three matchups, the Cavaliers, Magic, Spurs and Thunder are all paying attention to this game.

The main reason is that at this stage of the playoffs, the Bobcats are too unstoppable.

Perhaps there is a factor that the opponent is not very strong. From the second round of the second round, the Bobcats suddenly suspended the offensive and turned to the defense.

The seamless switching between offense and defense, this dominance is fully demonstrated.

The Cavaliers who think they can advance to the Eastern Conference Finals even though it is difficult at this moment, the Magic whose opponents are strong but the 2-2 score gives hope, and the Spurs and Thunder who have coveted the finals, have to pay attention to the Bobcats who are currently sweeping consecutively.

They don't want to see the Bobcats unstoppable now, looking at this game, they also expect the Pacers to create some trouble for the Bobcats.

At least, have to play something Bobcats, right?

Indianapolis, Conseco Arena.

This much-anticipated battle has just begun.

To be honest, Li Ke still attaches great importance to this Pacers.

He feels that if Granger is not stepped on by Lebron, he will wait until next season for Pickle's explosive improvement.

Cooperate with this mature defensive system built by Larry Bird and Frank Vogel.

Maybe, the Pacers can replace the Bulls and become the new top three in the Eastern Conference.

And there is a high probability that Granger will not be stepped up by Lebron, because he will not be able to meet Lebron in this year's playoffs.

"In that case, I saved Granger's career!"

Of course Granger didn't know, the current him only wanted to lead the team to win back a victory, at least, he also wanted to refuse to sweep away, right?

On the jump ball, Roy Hibbert lost to a violent Jordan, and the Bobcats opened the first attack.

In this game, the Bobcats' starting five are Curry, Wesley Matthews, Li Ke, Boris Diaw, and Jordan Jr.

At the beginning, it was Dior's arc top support.

Pickled Pepper stared at Li Ke, hooked his long arms, and never left.

Li Ke cut in a few steps, then turned back, seeing that his desire to attack was not strong.

It's really not strong. In this game, the Bobcats still have to defend to win.

On the offensive end, the Bobcats naturally don't have to do their best.

Even if Li Ke needs to go all out, it is not cutting without the ball.

Pickle's marking on Li Ke is too tight, there are no chances without the ball, but in singles with the ball, you can only turn your back and point your butt at Pickle, there are many opportunities.

So, at the beginning, Curry played one.

He cuts in and catches the ball, takes advantage of the momentum and rushes out two more steps, makes an emergency stop, and hits Jiao Zhixi's (George Hill) defense with a mid-range shot.

Bang-dang-!
The sound of iron striking made Li Ke frowned.

If Curry's side doesn't go well, in this game, he really can only stand up, singles, and support the Bobcats' offense.

For the time being, Li Ke didn't think too much about it.

He quickly turned around to defend, and the defense was already in front of Granger.

The second-year pickle pepper doesn't need Li Ke to mark the position. Although he occasionally explodes, Granger is more threatening to the Pacers overall.

Seeing Granger, Li Ke remembered that when he was still a rookie, he had a one-on-one fight with this guy, and then he was completely abused.

Looking back now, although it was Larry Bird who regretted it, seeing Li Ke as Granger again, there was something complicated in his heart.

"If it wasn't for him, maybe I would have gone to the cornfield and played under the big beeping bird..."

Five seasons ago, Granger could abuse Li Ke, but now, everything is completely opposite.

Granger, who moves slowly and mainly relies on jump shots after breaking through the frame, made 55 of 19 shots against Li Ke in the first three games, and his combined shooting percentage was only 34.5%, which is extremely dismal.

The same goes for this game——

In the middle, Jiao Zhixi made a strong attack, and the Bobcats' assistance defense was timely, blocking the gap.

The impenetrable defense forced Jiao Zhixi to pass the ball back and reorganize.

After such an attempt, the Pacers have already returned to G2 and G3...

"The Lynx's defense is very good. With Boris Diaw replacing PJ Tucker, their quick help defense and switch defense are still very rigorous."

San Antonio, the old thief Bobo frowned.

Beside him, Budenholzer, the chief assistant coach of the Spurs, followed suit and nodded:

"Yeah, this defense can be compared with us who have focused on defense in the past few seasons, and they still have offense."

Thinking of the regular season, the Bobcats, who were slightly inclined to defense in the second half of the season, still played the league's first offense, the old thief Popo and his assistants felt that it was outrageous.

"Both offensive and defensive, the core is at the peak, and the role players have no obvious shortcomings. This Bobcats may have no opponents."

"That's not to say, if the Cavaliers can pass the Magic, they can still cause some trouble for the Bobcats."

The old thief Bobo is very optimistic about the Cavaliers, and his optimism is justified.

This season, the Cavaliers are considered to be at the peak of their core. The role players have no obvious shortcomings, but their offensive and defensive capabilities are a little worse than the Bobcats.

Elvin Gentry led the team, and the offensive tune was close to first-rate, but the defense slipped from first-rate to near-first-rate.

Quasi-first-class offense and defense, this is the obvious gap between the Cavaliers and the Bobcats.

……

On the field, the Pacers' offense continued.

They repeatedly hit the Bobcats' defense, and after repeated failures, they could only hand the ball to Granger.

Director Lu, who is currently the chief assistant coach of the Bobcats, said later: Giving the ball to the best player in the team is the best tactic!

But the problem is that the Pacers' best player is Danny Granger, and this tactic is not good.

Facing Li Ke's defense, Granger made a sudden stop to make a mid-range shot and missed it without any suspense.

In the commentary seat, Kenny Smith and Barkley started blowing directly——

"Sheldon's defense is too tough!"

"He directly blocked all of Danny Granger's shooting angles, and the defense was airtight..."

"As expected of another outside Dpoy!"

The defense showed off, but the score was still 0-0.

On the offensive end, Li Ke pulled another wave, watching Curry rushing to the basket, facing Gao Yuanyuan's interference, and missed the layup.

Shaking his head, Li Ke knew that he would have to attack in the next attack round.

Back on the defensive end, Li Ke continued to lock Granger.

The Pacers also couldn't find a path into the Bobcats, and Jiao Zhixi hit the iron with a long two-pointer.

In the backcourt, Jordan grabbed a rebound.

Li Ke rushed over to catch the ball, turned around and sped up.

Pickled Pepper quickly pushed over. Although the defense alone was not as aggressive as Xiaoka, Pickled Pepper relied on his long arms to try his best to entangle Li Ke.

Li Ke controlled the frontcourt, and there was no possibility of counterattack.

At this time, Li Ke no longer hesitated, turned around in a high position, pointed his butt at Pickled Pepper, and followed by an unstoppable back push...

"High post, Shelton's back push, Paul George can't stand him at all!"

Soon, Granger had no choice but to let Matthews go, and came to help defend.

Matthews was on the weak side, the Pacers' rotation defense made up for the gap visible to the naked eye, and Li Ke couldn't find a gap to pass the ball.

Of course, he didn't consider the option of passing the ball either.

At the moment Granger rushed over, he, who was already in the middle distance, jumped up...

"In the middle distance, Sheldon pulled out suddenly!"

"Fallback jumper shot..."

Swish-!
There is no doubt that the sound of basketball scrambling the net sounded, and the Bobcats' bench was immediately boiling.

Rivers clapped his hands: "Sure enough, Sheldon is the most reliable!"

Although Li Ke's performance always reminded him of the 08 playoffs from time to time, it made him feel uncomfortable.

But when he thinks that Li Ke is his player now, his mood will immediately become better again.

"Participating in the Bobcats head coach interview is the most successful decision I have ever made!"

In the Pacers' offense, Jiao Zhixi broke through and was assigned to the outside, and was given Pickle.

Pickled pepper made a three-point shot, and with a bang, it was also a strike.

The Bobcats made another counterattack, and Li Ke scored another singles goal, and the gap in the score was thus widened.

……

Cleveland, watching for five or six minutes, Gentry shook his head.

"Don't watch it, it's boring. There is no suspense in this game."

On the TV, the Bobcats are already 14 to 7, leading by 7 points.

It is no different from G2 and G3, both are defensive battles.

Perhaps the slight difference is that Curry's state in this game is very average.

Compared with last season, the Bobcats with Jamison leaving and Captain Jack slumping, no matter how bad Curry is, the Bobcats' offensive burden will all be on Li Ke.

This may be a hidden danger, but Gentry shook his head: This is a hidden danger of a hammer.

Others don't know Li Ke, but he still does.

Li Ke's current offense, as long as he puts aside the organization and pass, it is the existence of BUG.

Alone defense will definitely not be able to prevent him, and there may be a chance with assisted defense, but it is only a chance.

Touching his thinning hair, Gentry clapped his hands——

"Okay, don't look at it, think about how to easily solve the current Magic, I don't want to play a tie-break with the Magic!"

……

Orlando, where the Magic's current head coach, Jacque Vaughn, only saw half of it.

At the end of halftime, the Bobcats had already led by 17 points. There was no suspense, really no suspense.

He also turned off the TV: "The Eastern Conference Finals is our limit. Of course, we have to find a way to kill the Cavaliers first, and kill the Cavaliers of the Big Three!"

In Oklahoma City, looking at Li Ke who is killing everyone, Xiao Du thought about competing. He thought of tomorrow's G5.

In the conference room, Scott Brooks stroked his chin, thinking: Can the Thunder's configuration copy the Bobcats' style of play?

Then, he thought of the last few games.

Playing against the Lakers, with Xiao Du providing endless firepower on offense, and Tony Allen on defense to withstand Kobe, there should be no problem.

The problem is, the guard combination of Rondo + Tony Allen, the Bobcats in the regular season has already proved: the offensive end is sending.

So, how to change has become the biggest problem now.

He scratched his head, very clear: if the problem is not solved, let alone the bobcats, they may not even touch the bobcats, and they will fall under the hands of the Spurs or the Grizzlies.

……

In Indianapolis, before the end of the three quarters, the game has lost its suspense.

Rivers didn't care what Vogel thought, anyway, he directly replaced all the main players.

In this way, Li Ke rested off the court for a quarter and a half, watching the Bobcats win the game without any surprises.

After the game, he got up and walked to the technical stage.

First, he hugged Granger who was waiting here: "See you next season, Danny..."

"You guy... But you are right, we will see you next season."

Granger rolled his eyes, he knew that Li Ke was not mocking him, but these words were mocking no matter how they sounded.

"Don't think too much, by the way, where is your little brother Paul George, call him."

Granger called Pickled Pepper, emmm, Granger didn't find it strange, because he knew that Pickled Pepper and Li Ke had trained together.

Since the beginning of this season, Paojiao has been talking about how hard he trained this summer.

He joined Sheldon's training camp, where he trained with Sheldon and was mentored by God's trainer Tim Graver.

Pickle rushed over and gave Li Ke the same hug.

"Pretty good defense, kid, I look forward to playing against you next season..."

Li Ke expects the Pacers to become the third strongest in the Eastern Conference next season, so the life of the Cavaliers will be difficult.

"What about summer training?"

Pickled Pepper's eyes widened, and Li Ke smiled: "Of course we will continue!"

(End of this chapter)