Boston's North Shore Garden Arena.
Celtics center Fred wiped the sweat from his head. He looked at the man named Gray in front of him, with a hint of fear in his helpless expression.
Fred couldn't help but think of that night a few years ago. It was the NCAA finals. The University of Florida led by Fred faced the University of Kansas led by Gray. The University of Florida won that game, but Fred was completely defeated by Gray.
Fred still remembered how invincible Gray was that day, when Gray easily defeated Fred and his other inside partner with one against two.
This was Fred's lifelong psychological shadow.
Now, Fred is an All-Star center, and the inside partner who was beaten with Fred that day has also become an All-Star, and both of them have also entered the NBA's best defensive player first team, which can be said to be a success. The talented center who defeated them in the NCAA finals fell due to injuries.
After so many years, Fred had even forgotten the opponent that embarrassed him that day. However, in today's game, Fred saw him again, and it was Gray who was in excellent condition.
Fred seemed to have seen the Gray who had completely destroyed himself with one hand.
The All-Star and first-team defensive center is no ordinary player. Even when he was young, he was the most talented player. Gray was able to fight one against two. It can only be described as "terrifying".
On the field, the Celtics played a pick-and-roll tactic. After the pick-and-roll, Gray switched to guard the Celtics defender.
The Celtics guard suddenly accelerated, rushed to the penalty area next to Gray, and then got up to attack the basket. As soon as the ball left his hand, Gray's big slap suddenly came over and slapped the ball down.
What a beautiful hat!
It's a pity that this is Boston's home court. One of our players got a big hat, and the fans at the scene couldn't cheer.
On the bench, Celtics head coach Arnold frowned. He obviously did not expect that the ball would be missed by Gray.
Arnold's record in coaching the NBA is very good, but his basketball coaching career started in the NCAA. He served as the head coach at Butler University for more than ten years. Coaching the Celtics was his first stop in the NBA, so he There has never been an era when super centers dominated the NBA.
It is precisely because of this that when facing Gray, Arnold couldn't find any good way to deal with it.
"Is the league going to have another super center?" Arnold licked his lips.
There has been no new super center in the NBA for more than ten years. People have even forgotten how abnormal a super center is. And a young coach like him doesn't even know how to deal with a super center because he has never played with a super center. Centers have played against each other.
"So what if he is a super center? Today's NBA is no longer the NBA more than ten years ago! Today's NBA has entered the small ball era, and the era of a super center destroying a team has passed!" Arnold snorted coldly. A sound.
At this moment, I saw a Clippers player receiving the ball outside the three-point line. He suddenly started to face the defensive player and broke through with the ball.
The Celtics defender immediately retreated, trying to block his path, and a defender on the other side was also preparing to come up to help defend.
But he suddenly stopped suddenly, then took off, and his body began to lean back.
The sudden stop and fadeaway jumper, the posture is very elegant, really like a textbook.
The ball was shot, turned into a perfect arc in the air, and then hit the basket hollowly.
The perfect pull-up fadeaway jumper, simply picturesque!
"Nathan Hall!" The on-site commentator said the scorer's name in a deep voice.
Celtics head coach Arnold subconsciously looked at the player data. At this time, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten someone.
The feared "Yellow Mamba" Hall!
The Mamba is a highly venomous snake, and the black shooting guard who dominated the NBA back then had the nickname "Black Mamba." Hall's nickname "Yellow Mamba" is also because his skin color is slightly lighter than that of the legendary "Black Mamba". In addition, he and the "Black Mamba" have many similarities. Height, same weight, solid basic skills, stable shooting, excellent physical fitness, all abilities are well balanced, almost no weaknesses, and a picturesque mid-range pull-up jumper.
For the past thirty years, mid-range pull-up jumpers have been the most common scoring method for guards and small forwards.
When a guard or small forward breaks through with the ball, the defender cannot be too close, which creates space for the emergency stop jumper. If you add a little bit of backwards, the defender will directly become a decoration. Anyway, It can't interfere with shooting, it just depends on whether the player can make the ball.
In today's NBA, three-point shooting tactics have become the mainstream, and there are far fewer players using mid-range pull-up jumpers. Even if many players have this skill, they prefer to stay outside the three-point line to look for opportunities to take shots.
In today's game, when Hall once again used his best mid-range pull-up jump shot, many old fans immediately felt like they were in another world, as if they had returned to a few years ago.
Celtics coach Arnold looked happy. He had realized that the Clippers had activated another terrifying entity.
"Wood, Gray, and now Hall, a super center and a super guard, the Clippers' lineup should not be underestimated! Fortunately, the Clippers are a team in the Western Conference. Unless they reach the finals in the playoffs, We will never meet each other. Let those Western Conference teams have a headache!"
On the bench at the other end, Dai Li was also looking at Hall's statistics.
"Hall has scored more than 15 points in the last few games. Although he doesn't take many shots, his shooting percentage has been very stable." Assistant coach Cassel said from the side.
"His offensive methods are very diverse, especially his best pull-up jump shot, which is very stable. I think we can try to give him more ball rights. Although his shooting percentage is very good, I don't want to Let him become a pure pitcher." Li Dai said.
"Does Wood need to reduce the number of shots?" Cassel asked.
After Dai Li pondered for a few seconds, he nodded: "Although Wood's assist data is not high, his assist ability is also very good. I remember he had better get 17 assists in a single game, right? As a point guard, He has the ability to connect the entire team.”
Li Dai's words set a tone, which is to let Wood score less and pass more, while Hall will increase his chances of shooting.
…
On the court, Hall got the ball and started to break through with a fake move. The opponent immediately rushed forward, but unexpectedly Hall suddenly stopped and changed direction and rushed into the three-point line.
The defensive player was shaken away by Hall and suddenly felt very humiliated. He rushed forward as fast as possible to stop Hall.
Hall braked suddenly and then took off directly. However, because the defender was sprinting too fast, he was already one and a half meters away in front of Hall when he stopped. Even if he took off at this time, Couldn't stop Hall's shot.
This was equivalent to an unmarked mid-range shot. Hall's soft touch steadily made the ball and scored two points.
From fake moves, to singles breakthroughs, to changes of direction and sudden start, and then emergency stop jump shots, Hall's set of technical movements are extremely smooth. If you slow down and watch frame by frame, you can use it as a basketball player. A textbook for pull-up jump shots.
Hall did not celebrate after scoring, but subconsciously looked at his knees.
My knee feels great, no issues at all.
Hall felt much more at peace.
The shaking of fake movements, continuous speed changes, emergency stops and starts, and jumps after emergency stops. These technical movements are all so-called "knee finishers". Hall's menisci in both knees are GG, and it is because of these. Given by technical actions.
After retiring and returning to the game, Hall initially restrained himself and did not dare to do technical moves that could damage his knees, and played relatively conservatively. But this is the NBA after all. Each opponent is more powerful than the other, and each one is more desperate than the other. If you want to play healthy basketball, you must attack without attacking, defend without defending, and be completely overwhelmed on both ends of the offense and defense.
A top player like Hall naturally wants to lose face. If he is completely beaten every game, he will lose face too much. Therefore, as the games go by, Hall's technical moves become more and more extensive. Big, gradually began to try those "knee finisher" technical moves again.
Hall, who dares to use difficult technical moves, also means that the feared "Yellow Mamba" of the past is resurrected!
…
In the next game, the Clippers face the Lakers at home.
It is said to be a home game, but it is actually held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which is also the home court of the Lakers.
The Lakers are one of the teams with the deepest heritage in the NBA and are the well-deserved leaders in the Los Angeles sports world. The Lakers have many more fans than the Clippers, so whenever the Clippers encounter the Lakers, even the Clippers At home, the Lakers will have many more fans than the Clippers.
This is actually quite unfair to the Clippers. The two teams play against each other four times a year, and each has two home courts. However, the Lakers’ home court is the Lakers’ home court, and the Clippers’ home court is also the Lakers’ home court. The Clippers’ home court is also the Lakers’ home court. The ship is missing two home games for no reason.
In recent seasons, the Lakers have entered a rebuilding period, their performance has deteriorated a lot, and fans' attention has also declined. However, the Clippers have recruited a large number of veteran stars this season, which has attracted a lot of fans' attention, and The Clippers' record this season is also very good. They are currently ranked second in the Pacific Division. They have also been ranked in the top eight in the Western Conference and have a chance to enter the playoffs. Therefore, the situation at the Clippers' home court this year is much better. Clippers and Lakers fans are probably a 50-50 split.
The Clippers' pre-game arrangements increased Hall's shooting rights, and Wood, as the point guard, also strictly implemented the coaching staff's arrangements. In fact, for a point guard, activating the team's offense is more important than scoring one's own. If his teammates can be more powerful, Wood doesn't want to blow up a bunker, rush to the basket with the ball, and have close combat with those strong inside players.
Hall did not disappoint his coaches and teammates. He continuously changed speeds and directions to break through, and combined with mid-range emergency stop jumpers, the Lakers' defense was completely defeated.
"Whoosh!"
Another pull-up jump shot, and as the basketball went hollow into the frame, the fans at the scene also burst into deafening cheers.
Not only the Clippers fans, but also the Lakers fans also started cheering because they saw the long-lost no-stop jumper, the picturesque pull-up jumper.
The former number one player in the league, the "Black Mamba," used this picturesque pull-up jumper to lead the Lakers into the playoffs time and time again and win championships one after another. Since his retirement, Lakers fans even thought that they would never see such a picturesque pull-up jumper again.
Now, the "Yellow Mamba" has been resurrected, with the same picturesque pull-up jump shot, which has triggered memories and ignited the fans' feelings.
The city of Los Angeles has a long sports history. There are too many people who grew up and grew old with the Lakers. There are too many senior fans here, and for these senior fans, the feelings are really the same. Something that can easily trigger emotions.
In the small ball era, the rapid transition between offense and defense is indeed very entertaining, and the unreasonable three-pointers are enough to make people marvel again and again. However, in Los Angeles and in the hearts of this generation of fans, these are not as beautiful as this picturesque rush. Stop the jump shot. Because this represents the youth of a generation and the memories of a generation!
No matter how bad the memories are, they are always wonderful.
Those beautiful memories are like first love, always so beautiful in my mind, like honey that is hard to let go of. In fact, when you take out the photos from back then, you may find that the girl you liked back then was actually quite ugly.
…
In this game, Hall had a great touch and scored 35 points. The Clippers defeated the Lakers with this.
The next day, the NBA sections of major media were also occupied by such a headline:
"Yellow Mamba" is resurrected! 》