The game was about to start. After James sprinkled magnesium powder in front of the camera, he imitated Garnett by beating his chest and roaring, looking very confident.

Oh, by the way, this is the first time that James has defeated the Green Army with his team since the Celtics' Big Three formed a team in 2008.

When all these buffs are stacked together, it’s like using Rejoice, making you feel so confident (this one is 50 cents).

Amid the cheers of the home fans, Yao Ming passed the ball back to the Bulls' half, officially opening the Eastern Conference Finals.

This is the third starting lineup the Heat used against the Bulls, but it is also the most reliable one.

Although Chalmers lacks experience, his defense is much more reliable than Arroyo and Bibby, and he will not become a direct breakthrough point like Nelson of the Magic.

And with Ilgauskas on the court, the Heat will not be at a disadvantage in terms of height inside.

Of course, any lineup can find a breakthrough.

Rose asked Yao Ming to pull to the high post for a pick-and-roll, and then he broke through Ilgauskas.

This is a mismatch that Rose can easily take advantage of.

However, the Heat, or Spoelstra, showed his third tactical adjustment.

The Heat did not choose to double-team Rose who had the ball. Instead, when the pick-and-roll occurred, Wade on the weak side had already moved to the basket to assist in defense.

So the final result was that Rose failed to make the layup against Wade's defensive pull-up shot, and the Heat successfully defended the shot.

In this round, the Bulls did have ways to solve the problem. For example, Rose noticed Wade's movements in advance and then passed the ball to Xu Yong, who was supposed to be against Wade.

But Ross was unable to do so.

This is actually Rose's passing problem that has been mentioned many times.

Although the number of assists is directly linked to a player's passing ability, it cannot fully reflect a player's organizational ability.

Because organizational skills require constantly reading the defense, analyzing it in the brain, and then making a split-second decision on whether to attack or pass the ball.

Rose is obviously lacking in this aspect, otherwise he wouldn't always jump up and pass the ball in the air.

Although it looks cool, it actually leads to a lot of ineffective passes.

However, the key to this round is not Rose's pass, but Wade's timing of assisting defense.

God knows how Spoelstra, who has only been the head coach for three years, figured out how to "use Wade and James' top athleticism and help defense ability to shrink and help defend."

Perhaps it was during the four years he worked as a video analyst that he figured out the operating principles of basketball tactics from frame by frame; or perhaps it was during the ten years as an assistant coach for the Heat that he understood the development trend of basketball and how to adapt to it after repeated communications with his boss and teacher Riley.

All in all, this is the most suitable defense for the Heat and can help the Heat compete with the Bulls.

This is not just about assisting defense, because at the same time Rose's layup missed, James had already switched to defend Xu Yong.

The speed of assisting and switching defenses is extremely fast. Unless Rose can predict it in advance, it will be difficult to create a direct shooting opportunity after passing the ball.

Spoelstra, remember this slightly difficult to pronounce name, this is the guy who can compete for the league's best coach in the future.

The Bulls' first attack was unsuccessful, and Xu Yong also felt the difference of the Heat.

After one season, this is no longer the Heat team they easily defeated in the regular season.

In the transition from offense to defense, Chalmers advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Wade.

Just when the Bulls thought the ball was going to Wade, Chalmers set an off-ball pick-and-roll for James on the weak side.

The pick-and-roll from the outside to the inside is not common in the game, and the same is true for the guard to the forward.

After James was out of position against Rose, Wade passed the ball back to Chalmers, and the ball was transferred from the strong side to the weak side.

At the same time, other players on the Heat have also moved to the new weak side, leaving space for James to play one-on-one on the strong side.

Obviously, this is Spoelstra's second move, using James's ability to play one-on-one in a mismatch situation.

When it comes to the basic qualities that a qualified head coach should possess, he should at least have a good understanding of his players.

In this regard, Spoelstra is at least at an excellent level.

He knew that James' off-ball ability was average, and his one-on-one ability with the ball was based on mismatches, so he created the best and only mismatch for him on the court.

Rose saw the mismatch and knew he couldn't withstand James' breakthrough, so he tried to steal the ball, but James just happened to be dribbling forward with the ball.

Rose was broken through on defense, and James quickly rushed to the basket and smashed the ball into the basket before Yao Ming returned to defense.

After the dunk, James' confidence swelled to the extreme. He looked up to the sky, pounded his chest and roared.

The United Center was in a state of commotion.

In the opening offense and defense, the Heat swept away the sluggishness when facing the Bulls, and instead seemed to be suppressing the Bulls.

"Kenny, what did I say? You have to trust Sir Barkley's professional judgment." Barkley said with a laugh in the commentary booth.

For him, after making this bet, he is already in a sure win situation, either winning word of mouth or earning traffic.

In comparison, he still prefers the former. After all, no normal person really likes to drink horse urine.

"Charles, the game has just begun." Smith could only remind him.

Barkley pouted and shook his head, as if he had successfully predicted the outcome of the game.

"Derrick, don't let him break through. Put pressure on the ball. It's best to force him to back you up." Xu Yong said to Rose while serving.

Rose took the ball, but his face was full of confusion. It was not easy for him as James back-hit him with such force.

"His dribbling and shooting are terrible. He can't beat you with strength alone," Xu Yong continued.

One thing I have to say here is that low-post back-to-the-basket and high-post back-to-the-basket are two related but actually very different techniques.

Because the low-post back-to-the-basket is close to the basket, it tests the player's close-range scoring ability, such as hook shots and rebounds.

In this, strength is a very important factor. O'Neal can dominate the basket, and his top strength is the most critical factor.

When posting up in the high post, strength is not that decisive, because even if you push the defender away with the first push, the defender can still make up for it with the second push.

Forget about back-to-the-basket shooting from the three-point line all the way to the basket. That also requires certain control techniques, otherwise you will lose the ball while playing.

Not to mention that your opponent is not stupid and will not let you get in easily from behind.

So it's more of a test of a player's footwork and shooting.

If you don't have these two skills, your opponent will not look good if he catches you and tries to break through you.

Ross nodded. Although he didn't think what Xu Yong said would definitely work, it was at least worth a try.

After all, Xu Yong is an expert in defending James.

Moreover, Xu Yong achieved this despite his physical disadvantage, so there must be some reason for this.

The Bulls' offense, Xu Yong ran the pindown tactic.

Yao Ming had a good timing on this shot and blocked Wade.

Xu Yong went around and received the pass from Rose, then shot directly.

“Swish!”

Come in after you shoot.

This kind of tactical passing is what we practice in normal training. Rose is very good at passing in this aspect, otherwise his average assists per game would not be so high this season.

Of course, the key is Xu Yong's control of mid-range.

Putting aside Xu Yong's passing vision problem, no matter how fast James's assisting defense is, it still takes time, and this kind of catching and shooting after a pick-and-roll is very difficult to catch.

Otherwise, why do people say that the mid-range shot is a deadly weapon in the playoffs? This title cannot be earned by just holding the ball and playing one-on-one.

And this goal was very crucial. If it hadn't been scored, the momentum at the beginning would have been taken away by the Heat.

However, the Heat team was not in a hurry. After all, Yao Ming couldn't block Wade on every ball, and Xu Yong couldn't score every ball.

What's more, the mismatch on the offensive end is still there. As long as James can take advantage of the mismatch, even if he can't score directly and force the Bulls to assist in defense, then James' system will start to operate directly, which will be more beneficial to the Heat.

Chalmers continued to screen for James, and although Artest squeezed through, James blocked one for Chalmers in return, and he still successfully faced Rose's mismatch.

The ball was passed to James, who continued to face the basket.

But at this time, his breakthrough did not come.

Because Rose put a lot of pressure on him with the ball.

Rose is an MVP guard after all. Although he is not good at defense, his speed and reaction are much faster than James.

Under high pressure, James almost dribbled the ball directly into Rose's arms.

Finally, he saw that the situation was not right and chose to make a quick stop and pull-up jump shot.

Regardless, he has the advantage of height.

James' choice is very correct, otherwise why is height said to be the first talent in basketball.

Rose is 1.88 meters tall, so there is no way he can reach James who is 2.03 meters tall.

Not to mention that James' wingspan is still at an excellent level.

So basically, Rose made a save, but his interference with James' shot was very limited.

James shot the ball over Rose's head and flew towards the basket.

"when!"

There wasn't much suspense and it went straight to iron.

You can always trust James' shooting before 3.0, the only thing that stands out is his instability.

Yao Ming protected the defensive rebound under the basket, and the Bulls directly launched a defensive counterattack.

The other players on the Heat team were slow to react. They couldn't expect that James, who played so easily in the previous round, would suddenly fail in this round.

Moreover, shooting gives the defense far less reaction time than a layup.

Not to mention that the Bulls have Rose as a counterattack weapon.

Almost in an instant, Rose broke through the Heat's defense and fast-forwarded to the frontcourt, where he made a flying dunk to give the Bulls another goal.

The suppressed mood at the opening of the game at the United Center instantly turned into loud cheers.

Right, this is how the Bulls should play against the Heat!

"Charles, what did I say just now?" Smith looked at Barkley with a smile.

Barkley shrugged at this time, he would not lose anyway.

The Heat's offense still uses the same tactics.

This time, the Bulls did not stop James from catching the ball.

It's a rough truth. If James couldn't score, the Bulls would counterattack even faster.

After James found that his dribbling skills were not enough against Rose, he directly switched to back-to-the-basket position this time.

He wants to use his own strength to defeat Ross.

In the first attack, Rose was pushed back a big step.

Obviously, although strength is not an absolute factor, it does give James an advantage in post-ups.

However, this advantage was not directly converted into points, because James at that time did not have the technique to post up and then turn around and jump shot.

And just after he missed this opportunity, Rose's defense had already returned to its position.

So the effect of his move was that he moved one step forward and encountered Artest's quick double-team.

What Xu Yong said was not wrong, but the whole game was not a one-on-one duel, and the Bulls' lineup of one big and four small players had a very fast double-team speed on the defensive end.

At this time, another flaw of James's lack of back-to-the-basket skills was also revealed, that is, when he was back-to-the-basket, almost all of his attention was on defending Rose's cutting and dribbling, and he was unable to observe the positions of his teammates like he did when facing the basket.

Therefore, when he was double-teamed with his back to the basket, he couldn't pass the ball as quickly as when he was facing the basket, and instead looked very flustered.

He turned around in a panic, trying to get rid of the double attack, but he stumbled and lost his balance first, falling directly to one knee.gif.

It was at this moment that he completely lost control of the ball and was directly intercepted by Rose.

The Bulls once again launched a defensive counterattack.

Although Wade showed top-notch defensive ability and blocked Rose's layup while retreating, Xu Yong followed up and made a tip-in.

2 to 6.

When the rhythm of the game came to the Bulls' familiar defensive counterattack mode, the initiative was already in the hands of the Bulls.

"Fuck!" James cursed in the backcourt.

Consecutive failures in mismatched singles have made all the confidence he had accumulated before the game disappear, and he is now full of anger.

Wade came over and said a few words of comfort. As the leader of the team, he had to do this.

James spit out the braces and shook his head, not sure if he heard it or not.

The camera turned to the Heat's head coach Spoelstra.

Spoelstra did not call a timeout, but his expression looked somewhat helpless.

Are you saying it's a tactical problem for the Heat?

Obviously not, otherwise the Heat would not have been able to shake off their regular season slump and gain the upper hand right from the start.

If I have to say something, it is that Spoelstra still doesn't understand his players thoroughly enough.

I'm afraid no one expected that James would beat Rose like this.

Spoelstra did not call a timeout or make tactical adjustments. The Heat advanced to the frontcourt and gave the ball to James.

James was obviously angry at this time. When he was facing opposition with his back to the ball, he just swung his elbow.gif.

This blow caused Ross's chin to tilt back and he almost fell down.

The referee's whistle sounded immediately, giving James, who had not had a whistle this season, an offensive foul.

Spoelstra was finally forced to call a timeout.

James put the ball down and walked straight to the bench without even raising his hands.

The scene was filled with whistles and cheers.

James really can't beat Rose!

Especially the last two back-to-the-basket plays, which made Rose look like a mountain in Chicago!