Chapter 134 Please Trust Your Teammates

After returning to the court, Quentin Richardson dribbled the ball across half court, scanning the entire court. Tony Parker wanted to imitate the first round and press forward.

But Quentin Richardson handled it calmly this time. After blocking his opponent with his butt, he suddenly turned around and rushed into the inside.

Duncan went up to help defend, but Quentin Richardson passed the ball without even looking at anyone, throwing it directly to Zheng Yang who just happened to run into an open space.

The latter made a fake move to shake off Bowen who was rushing towards him, then accelerated into the inside and made a gliding slam dunk.

2: 4!

"Good shot! Good shot!"

Barkley in the TNT studio shouted excitedly as if he had seen a buzzer-beater, and he jumped up at the same time.

The Knicks' smooth offense made him realize that the team had regained their original form. Although he didn't know why the team had changed so much in less than two minutes, as long as they got back to their original form, it would be fine.

Pippen, who knows basketball well, also noticed the difference. Although the current Knicks team still feels a little nervous, it is much smoother than before!
But why did their transformation come so quickly?
"This must be related to Zheng! I said that Zheng has a magical power. He will constantly influence the people around him and lead them to overcome various difficulties."

Barkley suddenly said again, Pippen wanted to refute, but then he found that it seemed that apart from Zheng, no one else had this magic.

During the timeout just now, what did this guy say to his teammates that made them recover from their nervousness so quickly?

Pippen's heart was filled with doubts, but then he continued.

"The Knicks finally got their form back, but their situation is still difficult because their opponents are really strong, and even if they get their form back, they are still at a disadvantage.

They need to play better and limit their turnovers so they can have a chance to win."

After hearing this, the smile on Barkley's face froze, and then he nodded.

Pippen was right. What the Knicks needed to do was not to play normally, but to play exceptionally well, so that they would have a chance of winning the game.

The game on the court was still going on. In fact, the Knicks players were still somewhat nervous at this time. After all, it was impossible to completely eliminate their nervousness with just a few words from Zheng Yang.

But now they have been able to avoid making low-level mistakes and unnecessary errors.

Zheng Yang also began to show his scoring prowess.

He knew that his teammates would not be able to perform well in this game, so he needed to take on the team's offensive banner and take more possession of the ball.

From the first quarter, Zheng Yang started to ask for the ball constantly and then played one-on-one against Bowen.

The Spurs still let Bowen defend Zheng Yang. After all, Bowen is the most suitable player to defend Zheng Yang on their side.

However, two years ago, Bowen was unable to cause much interference to Zheng Yang, and it was even more impossible two years later!
Although Zheng Yang also won the scoring title two years ago, when Bowen defended him again, he found that he had improved so much compared to two years ago!
His offensive choices, the stability of his shooting, and his ability to connect the team have all improved by one or two levels compared to two years ago.

Of course, there are some things about him that remain unchanged, such as his first step is still as fast, his core strength is still as strong, and his breakthroughs are still as sharp.

Bowen was a little annoyed and angry because he couldn't defend against Zheng Yang. He wanted to show off his most powerful skill - stepping on the ball.

But the inexplicable cool feeling in his crotch suddenly made him clear his mind.

What am I thinking?
I actually want to step on that cruel guy?
Did you know that he will really break your other egg?

By then even the alliance will be on his side.

Bruce Bowen, wake up!
After dismissing the unrealistic thoughts in his mind, Bowen said to Popovich during a timeout in the second quarter.

"Coach, maybe we have to think of another way. That guy's offense is really strong right now."

Bowen was not worried that someone would laugh at him for saying this. He would make anyone who dared to laugh at him defend him.

What's there to be ashamed of if I can't defend the youngest scoring champion and MVP in NBA history?

If I can defend against him, I will earn more than four million a year, at least ten million!

Popovich nodded. He had expected Bowen to be unable to defend against Zheng Yang, but he did not expect Bowen to say it out loud himself. The fact that the arrogant Bowen personally said that he could not defend against his "enemy" was enough to show how terrible that guy's offense was now.

"Bruce will still be the main defender of Zheng, but once the opponent receives the ball, the nearby players will immediately double-team me. We would rather give other Knicks players more open opportunities than let that guy score over our heads as he pleases."

Popovich has a clear idea. Although the Spurs are currently leading in the score thanks to their team ability, they will pay the price sooner or later if they allow a super scorer to score as he pleases without trying to limit him.

Their defense has to change.

If one person can't defend him, then use two people. And through previous video tapes, Popovich found that Zheng Yang's ability to break double-teams is still very average. If he can use this to increase the Knicks' mistakes, then this game, or even this round of the series, will be theirs.

So after the timeout, Zheng Yang started to be double-teamed.

As long as he has the ball, except for Bowen, the nearest player around him will run over to double-team him, and it is not an easy task to break through the encirclement of two people at once through personal ability.

Unless you can get past the first person before the second person comes around, and then get past the second person before the first person comes around again.

This kind of ball is difficult, and unless the opponent reveals a flaw, it is basically impossible.

So Zheng Yang could only choose to pass the ball.

The quality of Zheng Yang's passes when facing a double-team is not very high. In the past few years, he has been constantly honing his offensive skills, but he does not have much time to spend on the technique of breaking the double-team.

This is not his problem, this is the price of being young.

Fortunately, the quality of Zheng Yang's passes is not high, but it is not very low either, at least he does not make frequent mistakes.

However, the low quality of the pass meant that the Knicks were unable to quickly form a local two-on-one situation when the opponent double-teamed them.

However, it was difficult for other players to score effectively relying solely on their personal abilities, so the Knicks immediately fell into a scoring drought.

Fortunately, although the Knicks players are young, their head coach is experienced and he immediately came up with a plan.

He told other players that after receiving the ball, if there was no suitable opportunity, they should not attack rashly, but wait until Zheng Yang created an opportunity by running without the ball before passing the ball to him.

He still couldn't believe it. The Spurs' attack always came so timely!

Although doing so may consume a lot of attacking time, it is better to consume it than not being able to score. However, there is a biggest problem with doing so, which is Zheng Yang's physical consumption.

The previous sentence mentioned that after doing this, the Knicks' single offensive round may be longer, so where does this time go?

It was consumed by Zheng Yang's off-ball running.

The Knicks need to wait until Zheng Yang has an opportunity to run before they can pass the ball to him. The constant running without the ball, singles with the ball, and defense are a considerable challenge to Zheng Yang's physical strength.

It is no exaggeration to say that if the game continues like this, this series will be the most tiring one Zheng Yang has ever played since he entered the league.

So when he proposed this idea to the players, Larry Brown turned his attention to Zheng Yang.

"Zheng, can you hold on?"

"Don't worry, coach. I can play for a hundred minutes at a time with this intensity."

Zheng Yang, like he had done countless times before, patted his chest and made the promise without any hesitation.

Although he just said that as a joke, his teammates all felt sad for some reason when he said it.

This guy really carried the game by himself.

He is different from other people who only know how to brag verbally. When the team encounters trouble, he never shifts the blame to his teammates. Even if his teammates perform badly, he will encourage them.

I tried my best to carry the team and provide the greatest help to the team on both offense and defense.

After playing professionally for so many years, it’s worth it to meet such a competent boss!

"By the way, coach, if I don't signal you, please don't replace me. I want to stay up there for a while."

Zheng Yang added that Larry Brown took a deep breath and nodded, his heart full of respect.

He has fully understood why old Nelson liked this player so much before. It is not only because of his strength, but also because of the sense of responsibility in his heart.

It is an honor for him to coach such players.

……

Larry Brown is indeed a capable head coach. Facing the experienced Spurs team, he did not get tired of defending. Instead, he began to seize the opponent's loopholes and attack.

He asked Quentin Richardson to guard Tony Parker tightly, and asked Big Ben and Eddy Curry to surround Duncan in the interior, forcing the Spurs to pass the ball to Bowen and Michael Finley.

There is no need to say much about Bowen, who only averaged 6.2 points per game. He was able to start purely because of his defense.

Although Michael Finley averaged 22.6 points per game in his peak period, with his age, decline in physical fitness and change in team positioning, he is no longer able to handle too much ball possession.

Larry Brown's idea was very clear, which was to keep the Spurs' ball in the hands of the wrong people and make them fall into the quagmire of offense.

He is not good enough. Apart from the GDP trio, who else can stand up and take up the banner of attack?

With Larry Brown's change in team tactics, the Knicks' situation on the court improved. They were originally behind in the second quarter, but by the end of the third quarter, they were already in the lead.

66: 63!

Although they were only leading by 3 points, as long as they were ahead, they would win the final victory.

When the third quarter break ended and Zheng Yang was about to go on the court, Larry Brown held down his shoulder.

"Zheng, you must continue to rest here for at least three minutes."

Larry Brown said seriously that he knew that no matter how hard or tiring it was, Zheng Yang would insist on playing and finishing the game.

But for the team, what they need is a Zheng Yang with physical strength!
As his physical strength was depleted, Zheng Yang's shooting percentage on the offensive end was not high in the third quarter. The reason why the team was able to take the lead was that the Spurs were unable to break through their defense and fell into an offensive quagmire.

But the opponent is the GDP trio, and the three of them may stand up at any time in the fourth quarter, tear apart the Knicks' defense and snatch away their victory.

Therefore, Larry Brown must let Zheng Yang rest for a while longer and recover more strength. In this way, if the Spurs break through their defense, they still have Zheng Yang to bring hope.

"Don't worry, Zheng. Trust your teammates. They will help you hold on for three minutes."

Larry Brown looked at him and said, Zheng Yang hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

It is impossible for Zheng Yang to win this game alone, he needs his teammates to step up.

If the Spurs had equalized or even widened the score during the three minutes that Zheng Yang was resting, the Knicks would have been in great danger of this game.

But if the Knicks can hold on to the score, then there is still hope for this game!
"The players on the court for the Knicks right now are Mike James, Francis, Quentin Richardson, Ben Wallace, and Eddy Curry.

Zheng Yang was still resting downstairs. It was obvious that Larry Brown wanted to get more rest time for Zheng Yang. After all, if Zheng Yang had one more second of rest time, they would have one more chance of winning.

But the Spurs obviously won't let the Knicks have their way. They will definitely use the time when Zheng Yang is resting to launch a counterattack. This is their chance.

So at this time we have to look at the players on the field. Zheng Yang can be said to have really carried the entire team on his shoulders in this game. He has already scored 32 points, almost half of the team's points.

Although his hit rate is not high, but this is understandable, because he is the only defensive focus of the Spurs. We see that when he runs without the ball, Bowen follows him closely, and when he receives the ball, he will be immediately double-teamed by two people.

He was met with fierce physical confrontation on every attack to the basket, but he only took 6 free throws.

No one can maintain a very high shooting percentage in this situation, not even Michael Jordan.

Now it's time for his teammates to step up and give him a few minutes of rest! That's what we all want to see!"

In the CCTV studio, Mr. Yu Jia said this in a serious tone, and then he added another sentence.

"Although the game has not yet ended, we must admit that no matter what the final result of the game is, Zheng Yang deserves our respect.

This was a moving game. What we saw in this game was not only the strength displayed by a talented young man, but also the kind of responsibility that is rarely seen in people of his age!

Maybe before this, some people still doubted whether he was a competent leader, but after this game, I think such doubts can disappear."

(End of this chapter)