Reborn in 96, I started by taking charge of the Dallas Mavericks.

"This level is nothing special."

On the Rockets' bench, Coach Tomjanovich raised an eyebrow at the five Mavericks players on the court and said dismissively.

ESPN recently ranked the best coaches of the season.

Although this ranking is not an official NBA ranking, it can serve as a reference for determining the Coach of the Year this season.

On ESPN's list, Mavericks head coach Chen Fang topped the list with an absolute advantage, surpassing a host of veteran coaches.

Even Phil Jackson, who led the Bulls to three consecutive championships, and Tomjanovich, who led the Rockets to two consecutive championships, are ranked behind Chen Fang.

Although Tang Shuai did not express any opinion on the surface, he was still quite bothered by it.

Losing to a Zen master would be one thing, but losing to such a greenhorn is something he finds hard to accept.

Sure enough, when he saw Chen Fang voluntarily give up his height advantage in the paint, Tang Shuai scoffed.

"Matt, execute move number 5!"

Tommy shouted at Matt Maloney from the sidelines.

The Rockets' number 5 play is to attack the paint and get the ball to the center.

Upon hearing the coach's shout, Matt immediately nodded to indicate that he understood.

Back on the court, the Rockets had possession of the ball.

Matt dribbled the ball across half-court, and the Rockets adopted a man-to-man defensive strategy.

Matt dribbled the ball outside the three-point line, reading the Mavericks' defense, and then called for Willis to come up for a screen.

At this moment, Chen Fang waved his hands at the Mavericks players on the court.

The Mavericks players understood perfectly and switched on every pick-and-roll, rendering the Rockets' pick-and-roll ineffective.

Unlimited switching!

Chen Fang forced the Mavericks to use unlimited switching on defense!

The concept of switching on everything first appeared with the Rockets in the 18-19 season.

At that time, the Rockets' biggest rival was the Warriors.

The Warriors' greatest strength lies in providing endless screens, creating shooting opportunities for Curry and Thompson.

So the Rockets' defensive assistant coach at the time, Buchanan, came up with the idea of ​​using an infinite switching defense to counter the Warriors.

Although teams in the 1990s didn't have the same abnormal three-point shooting ability as later teams, Chen Fang must have sacrificed some of his defense since he fielded the "death lineup" of five small players.

Switching indefinitely is the best defensive system for the "Death Lineup".

After all, most offensive systems are designed to exploit mismatches, allowing the ball handler to exploit easier opponents.

However, the infinite switching defense is precisely the one that is least afraid of mismatches, and no matter how mismatched the defense is, it is difficult to achieve good offensive results.

However, infinite switching is not without its flaws and cannot be countered.

The first method is to use an extremely fast first step to break through and create damage before the infinite switching defense has a chance to occur.

Obviously, this Rockets team doesn't have that type of player, so this approach won't work.

The second method is to completely overwhelm the opponent with the height of their lineup, because switching defense is the foundation of small ball, so teams that use switching defense will not have particularly tall lineups.

The Rockets do have this, but switching on every screen is a modern basketball concept.

In this era, no one knows about it.

Even Buzdelik, the creator of the infinite switching strategy, only developed it under Chen Fang's guidance, so it's even more impossible for others to know about it.

To truly break the infinite switch defense, you need to crack its structure; simply relying on a few on-the-spot tactics is not enough.

This is why Chen Fang dared to use it in the competition, and he also had a secret weapon up his sleeve.

After the switch, Matt faced Ben Wallace's defense and originally wanted to take advantage of the mismatch to play a small-on-big game.

But Ben was fast too, and he even gave Matt a break.

This move, seemingly giving Matt an opportunity, was actually a flawless defense.

If Matt chooses to drive to the basket, there's enough distance for Ben Wallace to catch up and block the shot.

Even if Matt chooses to shoot from mid-range, Ben Wallace's height and wingspan would allow him to intercept the shot the moment Matt jumps.

Therefore, no matter what kind of attack Matt chooses, it will be difficult for him to gain an advantage in front of the main building.

Of course, he still had one last option: to pass the ball to Willis.

Kobe was guarding Willis at that moment, creating a mismatch opportunity.

Matt passed the ball to Willis without hesitation.

After receiving the ball, Willis used his weight to sit down and hit Kobe.

Even with Kobe exerting all his strength, he still couldn't stop Willis's advance.

"It's still a bit lacking in strength."

Seeing this scene, Chen Fang, standing on the sidelines, shook his head helplessly.

Switching on every move is extremely demanding on the players' physical condition, which is one of the reasons why Chen Fang didn't dare to use this tactic right away.

"Kobe, use the chair removal tool."

Willis pushed hard against Kobe and forced his way towards the basket, just as he was about to enter the paint.

Kobe, who had been holding Willis firmly, suddenly took a step back to the side.

This one step caused Willis, who was preparing to rely on Kobe to exert his strength, to suddenly lose his support and fall backward.

"Dudududu!"

Willis landed hard on his backside and was called for a traveling violation.

"Great shot! Kobe cleverly used a bench-pulling maneuver to force Willis into a turnover."

"That was really good. Kobe's move of removing the chair was very timely."

Both CCTV commentators applauded when they saw this scene.

At the same time, the Mavericks players also went up to Kobe and gave him high-fives in celebration.

Willis committed a traveling violation, and possession naturally went to the Mavericks.

Although Kobe successfully defended the shot, Chen Fang did not seem very happy.

The advantage of removing the chairs lies in its surprise; the next time Willis is prepared, it won't be so easy for him to succeed.

Moreover, this is just Willis; if the Rockets bring in Olajuwon and Barkley, the paint will be even harder to defend.

"No, I have to think of a way."

Chen Fang was thinking of a countermeasure, while the Mavericks' counterattack had already begun.

Compared to their passive defense, this lineup's offensive firepower was on full display.

Nash received the ball at the top of the key, and Kobe and Peja began to run using off-ball screens from their teammates.

Whenever an opportunity arose, Nash would immediately pass the ball to Peja.

Peja received the ball beyond the three-point line and shot, the three-pointer went in!

Turning back, the Rockets continued to attack the paint.

Willis continued to overpower Kobe, this time ending the attack with a hook shot.

"Dudududu!"

After Willis scored, Chen Fang immediately called a timeout.

"Bruce, you come down and rest. Rashid, you go up."

"Later, we'll continue with the infinite switching defense, but this time it'll be a four-man infinite switching defense."

"Rashid, you don't need to be substituted, just stay in the paint."

"For everyone else, switch players whenever there's a pick-and-roll."

5-4 infinite switching means that one position does not switch, while the other four positions switch infinitely.

This is the solution Chen Fang came up with.

This is the defensive system that many teams will use in later generations.