The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 424 - 219 He Really, I’m Crying to Death

A vast number of fans stood up, waving the yellow towels in their hands.

Generally speaking, teams concoct stunts to enhance the home court atmosphere during the playoffs.

For example, once Washington’s crossed-arms gesture caught on, the Mavericks placed a cushion on every seat at their home court, printed with the image of Washington’s pose, which was quite imposing.

The towels distributed by the Grizzlies were related to Sacre.

Even though he didn’t get much time on the court, his passion on the bench was so intense that his popularity with the Grizzlies outshone many rotation players.

The Grizzlies hadn’t faced too much trouble in the first two rounds, but meeting the rival San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, they pulled out the big guns tonight by giving everyone a yellow towel emblazoned with the words "Whoop that trick."

The scene of thousands waving their towels was quite spectacular.

No matter how firmly seated Popovich was, he couldn’t remain seated now, and he stood up to signal the players on the court.

After Parker and Duncan executed a pick-and-roll with Leonard in the corner, Leonard’s three-point shot, under Guy’s defense, did not succeed.

The Spurs had strong defense, but their offense was relatively weak.

As Duncan aged, his post threat consistently diminished, and since the Spurs hadn’t developed the Hammer Strategy at this time, their starting play was basically initiated with Parker and Duncan’s pick-and-roll.

The key to the Spurs winning was their defense; the key to the Grizzlies defeating the Spurs was whether they could break through that defense.

When Hansen moved to the frontcourt again, he found his defender had switched to Leonard.

This was the defensive strategy Popovich had in mind from before: if Green couldn’t handle it, put Leonard on Hansen.

Hansen received the ball and tried to back down Leonard, but it wasn’t effective.

Leonard’s frame was bigger than Green’s, and more importantly, his wingspan and large hands exerted significant pressure on the ball.

Hansen passed the ball back to Conley, then asked for it again. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

After receiving the ball once more, he turned around, transitioning from back-to-the-basket to face-to-basket.

Leonard’s static Talent was good, but his dynamic Talent was lacking, which was a major reason he fell out of the lottery back in the draft.

Back-to-basket play is a static offense – it’s tough to play against someone with static Talent like Leonard; face-to-basket, however, is a dynamic offense.

Hansen’s adjustment immediately paid off.

Knowing that Leonard’s "Death Entanglement" lacked a frontal breakthrough, he took the right path to widen the gap with Leonard, and his subsequent pull-up jumper, which Leonard only minimally contested, was effective.

Regrettably, the ball didn’t go in, having been disturbed by Duncan’s help defense in the end.

Face-to-basket offense, being dynamic, requires more space, and jump shots are more vulnerable to help defense.

Leonard, cutting from the weak side, received Duncan’s pass for a layup and, despite Guy’s chase-down block attempt, squeezed the ball into the basket, breaking the Spurs’ scoring drought.

True Talent shines anywhere, and Leonard’s was plainly visible.

Hansen persisted with the ball in the frontcourt, still opting for face-to-basket offense.

This time, he shortened the drive, taking a direct shot after creating some distance from Leonard near the free-throw line.

Duncan couldn’t get there in time for help defense, and although Leonard leapt to contest with his long arms, Hansen’s fadeaway shot was out of his reach.

"Swish!"

The ball went through the net once more.

The cheer in the venue erupted again, with even more fans beginning to wave their towels.

Some fans held up their towels, displaying the printed phrase for all to see.

Han seemed more inspiring than if he had actually leapt onto the commentary desk.

And he deserved it, having accounted for all of the Grizzlies’ first ten points!

to 10.

The Grizzlies had also established a lead at the start of the game.

"Defense! Defense!"

After the shift from offense to defense, the Grizzlies fans’ rallying cry resounded throughout the venue.

Because many fans were still standing, the noise came from all around, high to low, enveloping the arena in stereophonic sound.

Duncan made a beautiful pass, but Green’s open shot faltered, resulting in a miss.

The Grizzlies fans’ momentum applied pressure to the "younger" Spurs team.

Conley pushed the ball up front, and Han maintained possession for a one-on-one!

This was his seventh individual play since the start of the game.

Zhao Zilong fought through seven entrances and exits; this was no less intense.

At this point, Popovich was somewhat stunned.

This way of playing by Han didn’t just challenge their momentum; it completely disregarded stamina.

So what exactly did the Grizzlies want to do?

Amid Popovich’s confusion, Han once again took Leonard one-on-one, this time with a more targeted attack.

After a fake driving move, he went for a pull-up fake.

Since Han had just scored a shot, Leonard bit on the fake this time.

Then Leonard paid the price for his youth, as Han drew a shooting foul from him and earned two free throws.

Han went to the free-throw line, adjusting his breath.

The one-on-one opening was a tactic he had devised with Coach Joerger after reviewing the game tapes.

Popovich thought he had plenty of cards to play, making his defensive options plentiful.

But with this approach, the Grizzlies told the Spurs that all those supposed cards were useless against Han.

Once this was proven, the Spurs would have to honestly resort back to zone defense.

As long as the game entered that mode, the Grizzlies would tactically seize the initiative.

Of course, this was also about striking at the Achilles’ heel of the Spurs team.