The Whip of the God of Basketball

The Amway Center's wood-printed flooring is unique in the NBA. Just like the Orlando Magic, they have had many amazing talents, but they always disappear like magic. Then a new round of magic begins.

Dwight Howard is their latest Magic product. After a summer of hard training, this big man who modeled himself on Kevin Garnett when he first entered the league has turned himself into an iron-armed gorilla. , his arms are like the trunks of a fast-growing forest, growing thicker every year at a rate visible to the naked eye.

By this year, when people see Howard, they will no longer associate him with Kevin Garnett. His weight has reached 270 pounds, which has reached the weight level of the super centers in history. , and it seems that he still has room to continue to improve, if Van Gundy wants Howard to become a more dominant center.

However, 270 pounds of weight is more than enough to deal with the Phoenix Suns' interior players. If Stoudemire is here, he may be able to consume Howard on the offensive end. Now that Stoudemire is still recovering from injury in Phoenix, the Suns only have one interior player in total. And now almost the entire league knows that the Suns will play five small lineups. Any team with a strong inside line will take advantage of this advantage when facing the Suns.

Anyway, so far, the Suns' small lineup has not shown too much power. It is just that the offense is faster, but it will leave a lot of gaps for the opponent on the defensive end. It is conceivable that in this game, Howard will be overwhelmed in the paint again. It depends on what strategy Leon will use.

Because it was a back-to-back, Leon decided to relax today's rotation and increase the playing time of substitute players. Just as Hill joined the team again, the Suns' rotation became more generous. The starting lineup is still the same as in the previous games, with Turiaf starting at center, Diaw at power forward, Marion at small forward, and Raja Bell and Nash partnering on the back line.

For the Magic, starting center Dwight Howard, power forward Rashard Lewis, small forward Turkoglu, shooting guard Bogans, and point guard Jamal Nelson.

Although the Magic have a big center, they are not a traditional lineup. Although Lewis is at the power forward position, he plays like a small forward. His lack of height and strength on the defensive end will still cause problems. become a weakness that opponents can exploit.

Leon knows Van Gundy's ideas and strategies in his heart. The two of them played against each other in the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals. Van Gundy is still a relatively old-school coach, focusing on the center's ability to draw space in the interior, supplemented by an assaulter and several shooters on the outside. , using the center's containment power to attack the opponent on the offensive end. On the defensive end, the defensive system is also built with the center as the core, but compared with the Heat, O'Neal is strong in offense and weak in defense, while Howard is strong in offense and defense.

Van Gundy therefore changed his mind and relied more on Howard's superhuman physical fitness on the defensive end. On the offensive end, Turkoglu and Nelson were allowed to play more. Howard, as an offensive blue-collar, used his jumping and strength to find offensive opportunities.

Leon has been thinking about this set of things after watching the videos of the previous few Magic games. Anyway, when he was in Boston, it was very simple for him to break this routine. He would press outward to defend and cut off the inside. The contact with the outside allowed the center to score crazy points, but the team as a whole was unable to win the game.

Now in the Suns, he no longer has the super strong defensive lineup in Boston. He only has a lineup that does not even have a center. The defense is weak and short, so he must think of more ways on the offensive end, and then give the Magic a defensive end. Looking for trouble.

Leon's strategy is very simple, just to defeat Howard.

The game just started, Howard jumped to the ball easily, and Nelson got the ball to start the attack. Howard asked for the ball in the low post to hit Turiaf at the beginning. Although his offensive skills were still rough, his body was indeed very strong. Turiaf was already a strong man, but he still couldn't hit the ball in the low post. After getting the ball, Howard Sigma stepped in and took a long stride from the center.

This is the assistant coach sitting on the Magic coaching bench, Patrick Ewing's stunt when he was in New York, doing the bunny hop in the middle, but Howard doesn't have Ewing's long legs, nor does he have Ewing's coordination, so he This jump seemed a bit stiff, and it directly "knocked down" Turiaf!

Howard hit two points with an ugly and stiff front hook, but the referee's whistle did not blow. Turiaf opened his hand and said something to the referee, but the referee ignored it. It seemed that the foul was failed. After all, this is the home court of the Magic. It would be a bit unjustifiable to give their main center a foul at the beginning. Turiaf's acting skills on this ball are still not enough.

But the Suns' strategy is very clear, which is to try to defeat Howard in the first quarter. As the core of the Magic's defense, Howard is the most stable line of defense and the last line of defense. Before their last line of defense, there are Not enough buffering.

Nash and Diaw made a simple continuous cooperation in the high post. Nash went around to the three-second zone. Diaw held the ball and looked around in the high post. A lob was stuffed into the hands of Nash inside. Howard had already stepped up to defend, and his He is very fast, has a huge body, and has amazing bounce. Most players will be defeated when encountering Howard's defense.

But Nash was not afraid. He relied not on his body but on his rhythm. After catching the ball, he dribbled outwards, then continued cross-dribbles on the baseline. Then he suddenly stepped back and was about to shoot a jump shot. Howard saw the opportunity and pounced.

But Nash didn't make a jump shot at all. Instead, he put the ball away and bumped into Howard. After the collision, he shot two points. Nash was directly knocked to the ground by Howard. Although he had already recovered, the difference in physical fitness between the two was indeed too great. But this time the referee blew the whistle without hesitation. Howard committed a defensive foul and sent Nash to the free throw line. Less than a minute into the game, Howard committed a foul. He had to be extremely careful later.

Seeing that Nash successfully caused Howard's foul, Leon sat on the bench with peace of mind.

Undoubtedly, Leon's use of Nash this season has been very successful so far. He has further stimulated Nash's potential, allowing the 33-year-old veteran to further highlight his role in the game, and it is multi-faceted. It's not like before just focusing on organizing assists. D'Antoni, who was sitting next to Leon, had to admire this.

D'Antoni has always boasted that he can train point guards. Now it seems that if Nash is not affected by injuries this season and the team's record is better, he has a chance to win another regular season MVP.

After successfully causing a foul on Howard in the first quarter, Howard became much more cautious on the court. On the offensive end, he no longer wanted to force a position. He knew that Turiaf still wanted to cause him a foul, and the Magic began. An offensive routine of four shots and one steal.

Of course, the Suns are not afraid of things like three-pointers. Leon entered the NBA in 2000 and was one of the few coaches who promoted the three-point tactic in the NBA. Leon could write a book on how to make good use of three-pointers. Book.

Since the Magic wanted to throw three-pointers to each other, the Suns naturally followed suit. The two sides opened up their postures and used the transmission from the outside to frequently fire outside. Both sides felt good about the three-pointers today. They hit three-pointers one after another and the score rose quickly.

By the middle of the first quarter, Leon changed into a five-small lineup, and the rhythm of the game had been picked up. The Suns' three-pointers began to become more crazy than the Magic.

At this time, Hill entered the battle, and there was warm applause again. Hill was replaced by Turiaf. He was wearing the latest Suns No. 33 jersey and trotted onto the court with his shoulders shrugged.

He is 35 years old this year, but in terms of body and shape, he is not much different from what he was when he was 20 years old. It is enough to show that although Hill has been suffering from injuries, he has never been very demanding on his body. Not even the slightest bit of relaxation.

Opportunities always come to those who are prepared, and Hill is always prepared.