A new season of sports
The Warriors defeated the Bucks by 35 points, which was unexpected, and the "50-36" penalty area score broke the old mindset of fans. The short warrior actually blew up the tall Buck Twin Towers, which is incredible, amazing!
Being able to be overwhelmed by the Warriors, who started at a height of only 1.98 meters, has a big problem with the Bucks' defense. The problem is concentrated in two aspects, one is the defensive strategy, and the other is the individual awareness of the players.
The defensive principle that the Bucks formulated today is that there is only one big Lopez on the whole team, and he is allowed to crouch in the pit when he encounters cover, while the others must change guards and must make the first save. The principle of coach Lao Li playing the Warriors is an outdated version.
In recent seasons, the Warriors have liked to see opponents switch defenses and see opponents desperate to make saves. The scramble is nothing more than to prevent the three-point shooting of the "Splash Brothers", but in the past two years, a very important part of the Warriors' tactical level is to use the "Splash Brothers" shooting as bait to lure the opponent to the bait. Payton Jr. and Curry covered without the ball on the inside, and the Bucks were like frightened birds, the two pounced out to chase Curry, and simply let Payton Jr. empty, and Payton Jr. made a simple empty cut, and immediately penetrated the Bucks' interior defense. Similar scenes are not uncommon in the whole game. In fact, in the face of the current Warriors, a relatively conservative defensive strategy is much better than an aggressive change of defense.
It's just a mistake in the formulation of defensive principles, which doesn't fully explain the loss of the Bucks' interior. The Bucks are a two-tower configuration, and the outside defense is constantly leaking and cutting, but can't you fill in the inside twin towers? Big Lopez and Brother Alphabet are giants with a height of more than 2.10 meters, can't they guard against Kuminga, who is 1.98 meters, and Peyton, who is 1.88 meters? This has to remind fans of the fact that Brother Alphabet's defensive level is far overrated.
In terms of the arrangement of defensive duties, the Bucks sent Crowder to defend Dream Green today, aiming to dismantle the "Kucha" block by changing defenses. Da Lopez countered Kuminga and directly released it to strengthen the role of the inside frame. The point is that Brother Alphabet is against Wiggins, he has to fight wits and courage with Wiggins, pinch the right time to empty Wiggins' shots, shrink the interior line for a defensive sweep, and add a weight guarantee to the interior defense. But the defensive answers handed over by Da Luo and Brother Alphabet today are all unqualified.
Big Lopez's unfavorable frame protection is not his own fault. The Warriors are very chicken thieves, and in the first scoring round of the opening game, they asked Curry to cover Kuminga and let Curry remove the frame of Big Lopez, thus freeing up the passage for Kuminga to take off and break through. What else can the big López do? He can't foul Curry, right? He could only hope that Brother Alphabet would quickly let Wiggins go and come over to help defend him. But in terms of defensive awareness, Brother Alphabet is not worthy of the trust of Da Lopez at all. How many pictures are there in the whole court, Kuminga broke through and scored, Payton Jr. completed a layup to celebrate, and Brother Alphabet was still stunned in the bottom corner, looking at the basket in confusion. This is Brother Alphabet's sense of co-defense, if there is no deliberate point from the coach, he will not improvise according to the situation and help defend to the basket.
It's hard to help Brother Alphabet defend like stealth today, and find any excuses and justifications. Could it be that Wiggins is a top scorer, and Brother Alphabet doesn't dare to let go? Obviously not, Wiggins' shooting level has taken a big dive this season, and it can be regarded as a black hole in half space. Wiggins was not there, Brother Alphabet played against Kuminga, and Kuminga's projection level was better than Wiggins', but during this time, Brother Alphabet still had no achievements on the defensive end. Let's admit the facts, although Brother Alphabet's physical condition is very good, and the co-protective frame theoretically has a very high ceiling, but in actual combat, Brother Alphabet's defense is dragged down by his awareness and skills, and the theoretical ceiling has never been reached.
Trapped by consciousness and skill, Brother Alphabet is on the defensive end, and after all, he is the object of protection by the Bucks, not the object of protecting others. In the second half, Coach Lao Li realized the problem of Brother Alphabet's co-defense, and immediately changed the alignment, allowing him to use his talent to handle Kuminga in an environment where he didn't need to think. And the defensive work that needs to be thought about is still left to Da López. Da Lopez defended Dream Green in the second half, and "Kuchai" fought with wits and courage to block and dismantle. Da López's defense is still trustworthy. After the alignment adjustment, Da Lopez defended the "Kuchai" block and dismantled four rounds in a row, and did not suffer a loss in any round, and continued to use his height advantage to prevent Dream Green's offensive frame layup. The Bucks held on to the basket, and Antetokounmpo ran on the defensive counter-attack, so their game went smoothly. In the first six minutes of the third quarter, the Bucks played a small climax of "19-5" to narrow the gap to 6 points.
Unfortunately, the game then went into rotation. There are two bad news for the Bucks during this time: one is that Da Lopez is out of the game for Portis, and the other is that the Warriors have abandoned Looney and replaced him with rookie Jackson Davis. After coming and going, the Bucks became the "five small" team, while the Warriors used a serious big center on the court.
It's a game of height and hardness on the inside. In the second half of the third quarter of the Bucks, the "true center" responsible for assisting defense and protecting the frame was Portis instead of Brother Alphabet. Again, Portis is a spatial-oriented interior player with a technical flow, not a "black and hard" defender. In the first half, Portis played against Rooney, and in the case of no scruples in defense, Portis can show a series of skills, he can shoot and throw, and Rooney is stunned. But in the second half, rookie Jackson Davis could fly in the sky and kill straight to the point, Portis immediately showed "softness", unable to block any of Davis's offensive rounds, and the Bucks lost the interior again. At this time, the Warriors also targeted Portis with the front line, and without the misalignment advantage, Portis's offense was also dumb. Portis is an offensive and defensive striker, and when the offense can't play, the game has a negative effect.
Compared with Portis's poor performance in the second half, what was even more surprising was Brother Alphabet. As a two-time MVP player and a finals MVP, Brother Alphabet couldn't play a little advantage in the face of first-year rookies! Warriors rookie Jackson Davis told fans that as long as he is big enough and has a certain IQ, he can jam Brother Alphabet's breakthrough step, expose Brother Alphabet's rough technique, and guard him from the sky. This is a game of inner hardness, and it is difficult not to lose this game by the first-year rookie three times in a row in the second half, and it is difficult not to lose the big score.
The Bucks have had a lot of problems this season. At this stage, Lilladella's collapse is already a secondary issue, and how to make the Bucks regain their size advantage and play the interior dominance that the twin towers should have, this is a topic that coach Lao Li needs to ponder.