The world of basketball

Chapter 127

The NBA has arranged a total of three opening games this season. Last season's opponents in the finals, the Celtics and Warriors, this season's finals preview the Lakers and Knicks, and the new generation of youth battles between the Lone Ranger and the Spurs.

"Hello, friends, netizens. Welcome to the NBA regular season opener against the Mavericks, which is broadcast by Penguin Sports. It's a new era of great battles. I won't see you all this summer. I miss you very much." Wang Meng showed his big white teeth. Said.

"The studio is very happy to invite Teacher Su Qun and Guoguo to watch the game with everyone. Teacher Su, this year the Spurs signed Butler, and the Lone Ranger signed Walker on the basis of keeping Jordan and Matthews. What do you think these two teams will change with the arrival of these two new aids?" Wang Meng asked.

"Kemba Walker really showed his worth last season, including scoring [-] points in a single game. Dennis Smith is a young man with very strong physical fitness, but his shooting ability is indeed a bit poor. It is true that their key training object Dennis Smith and Walker's positions are somewhat overlapping, I don't know what kind of starting lineup Coach Carlisle will put out." Su Qun said.

"Naturally, Butler needs to say that his arrival has brought a lot to the Spurs, whether it is the offensive end, the defensive end or the team culture, he got a relatively large contract, and the atmosphere of the team is very good. I think this season he should not feel dissatisfied like last season." Su Qun said.

"It's too early to say these things. They are also experimenting with lineups in the preseason. Let's watch this game first." Su Qun said.

"Okay, the game started. Mu Xiaobei and Jordan jumped the ball. As expected, Mu Xiaobei got the first offensive ball for the Spurs." Wang Meng said.

"It's really not easy for Mu Xiaobei to lose the jump ball. Last season, he seemed to only miss eleven of the 82 games, which is a very high success rate." Su Qun said.

Jeremy Lin got the ball as the starting point guard and began to direct his teammates to run.

Although the Spurs have attracted Felton, it is obvious that he will not be allowed to play for too long. A game can be played for about 10 minutes, so Jeremy Lin's playing time will be increased to more than 10 minutes, which requires him to do well. Prepare.

Mu Xiaobei made a pick-and-roll for Jeremy Lin from a high position, and then cut outside the top of the arc to receive a pass from Jeremy Lin. Kuzma ran to the top of the arc without the ball, and Mu Xiaobei handed the ball to Kuzma.

Exactly the same tactics as last season.

Powell failed to defend in time, and Kuzma made a direct shot from outside the three-point line.

Swah——

The ball went into the net hollow and Kuzma hit a three-pointer.

The Lone Ranger finally arranged for Dennis Smith to play as a substitute. The starting lineup was Walker, Matthews, Doncic, Powell and Jordan, a lineup with both offense and defense.

Walker called Jordan to pick and roll at the top of the arc. He is also a No. [-] position who likes to play pick and roll very much. On Powell, Jeremy Lin on Doncic -- very quick defensive rotations.

Walker dribbles continuously, he can be regarded as a very fancy dribbling position in the league, just like Irving.

Suddenly accelerated to the left, pulled back with his right hand, Mu Xiaobei was shaken for a while, and then lost half of his body, Walker accelerated to the right and broke through to the basket, Mu Xiaobei stretched his arm and finally interfered with Walker shot.

But it is obvious that the Spurs are struggling to rotate inside. This is the discomfort that the loss of Adelaide brought to the Spurs. They are already adapting in the preseason, but the change of habits does not happen overnight.

"Jeremy, Matthews is your man." Popovich shouted from the sidelines. It is true that Jeremy Lin's defensive effect on Walker is definitely not as good as Butler's defensive effect as a defensive vanguard.

Jeremy Lin nodded to indicate that he understood, and then slowly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt. It was still the same tactic. After Kuzma received the ball, Jordan stepped forward to press, and Mu Xiaobei quickly pulled away and made an empty cut to the basket.

At this time, Jordan Jr. and Powell, their inside positions [-] and [-] were pulled out. Mu Xiaobei received the pass from Doncic but defended it to the basket. Mu Xiaobei passed it to Guy, and Guy received the ball immediately. About to make a move, but hesitated.

As a veteran, he thought more, attracted Matthews' defense, Gay passed the ball to Butler, Butler caught the ball and accelerated to the basket, and then passed the ball to Mu Xiaobei at the basket. Mu Xiaobei scored a layup.

In fact, all of this should have ended when Mu Xiaobei received the pass, but in order for the ball to pass through Butler's hands, the Spurs made two more unnecessary and superfluous passes.

But this is very important. They must let Butler quickly integrate into the team so that they can maintain sufficient competitiveness.

Walker once again called Jordan for a pick-and-roll from outside the three-point line, but it can be seen that the tacit training of this Lone Ranger team is not enough. Walker used Jordan's pick-and-roll to go to the basket, and again failed alone. Mu Xiaobei protected the rebound.

Jeremy Lin dribbled the ball to Butler after halftime and let Butler be the starting point of the offense, but in the end Butler ended the Spurs' offense with a single Matthews step-back jumper.

It seems that the two rookies have not been able to fully adapt to the team's system and tactics. They are both a little rusty in their play, and they all use their own tough layups or shots.

After all, the preseason is not a regular season. Although it is said to be a running-in lineup, it is not as fierce as the regular season after all, and the coach has to strictly control the playing time in the preseason to avoid injuries.

In the first quarter, you come and go, and both sides are running in again. After 5 minutes of the game, the two sides entered a regular rotation. The Spurs won Kuzma and Gay and replaced them with Jeff Green and Monto.

The performance of this young man James Monto in the preseason and summer league impressed the fans. His three-pointers and mid-range, his defense awareness and rotation speed are very similar to Adelaide, and even his shooting range is better than Adelaide. Even further.

Of course, he doesn't have the ability of Adelaide's back-to-back and face-to-face singles, otherwise he would have been the number one pick.

The second brother-in-law can be called a defensive gate. His wingspan and lateral speed allow him to defend all types of perimeters.

Dong Qiqi singled Jeff Green with his back, then flicked the ball behind his head, and Dennis Smith, who cut the ball, made a dunk across Mu Xiaobei.

But the result was embarrassing, the dunk flew, and the referee signaled that it was an out-of-bounds ball and the Spurs had the ball.

Dennis Smith was a little surprised. If he said other centers, he still needs to weigh it, but for Mu Xiaobei, his take-off height and wingspan should be enough to push the ball into the basket just now. Why is he fat four?

Mu Xiaobei set a pick-and-roll for Jeremy Lin, and then received a pass from Jeremy Lin.

Dong Qiqi saw that the ball seemed to be too big, and then suddenly reacted, and hurried to the basket to defend.

But it was a bit late, Mu Xiaobei leaped into the air to receive the pass, and slammed the ball into the basket through Dong Qiqi.

But Mu Xiaobei didn't roar and celebrate like everyone else, but lowered his head and went back to defend himself.

(End of this chapter)