NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 377 Back-to-Back Fight with the Husky

The Timberwolves' starting lineup, playing at home, consisted of Karl-Anthony Towns, Gurgui Dieng, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, and Ricky Rubio.

The Timberwolves' head coach is Tom Thibodeau, who was Doc Rivers' defensive assistant coach when he won the championship with the Celtics in 2008.

It's fair to say that the Celtics' championship win was largely due to the Big Three, and the coaching staff wasn't exactly a magician. However, the Celtics' greatest strength back then wasn't their offense, but their defense. The core of their defense was Harden, and the defensive system was built around Thibodeau.

Many people think that Doc Rivers is the unsung hero, but in fact, even after he's been with the Clippers for so many years, the team's defense isn't actually among the league's best. In reality, this team has a defensive presence in the paint like DeAndre Jordan and a perennial All-Defensive First Team player like Anthony Davis; with defensive anchors both inside and outside, their defensive performance should be even better.

Before the game even started, former teammates Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau were exchanging pleasantries with each other. Rivers is a man with high emotional intelligence who is good at giving motivational speeches, while Thibodeau is good at defense and training players. Both of them are indeed very distinctive and individualistic coaches in the league.

On this side of the commentary booth, Barkley and Kenny Smith began to warm up the crowd for the game.

"Kenny, if you let me take on Jia Fei's match, then I'll have to talk about the timing again," Barkley said with a straight face, spouting nonsense.

“What truth are you going to tell?” Kenny Smith looked at his partner with amusement.

“You all say I’m a Jia Fei hater, a hater, but I’m really being objective. He’s definitely not a good team leader, and I’m not wrong about that!” Barkley said earnestly. “Also, he’s really just a regular season player. As soon as he’s targeted, he shows his true colors!”

“But Jia Fei has already led the Hawks to a championship! Doesn’t that count as proving himself in the playoffs?” Kenny Smith questioned.

"That's the problem. The Hawks were incredibly lucky that year. The Cavaliers were so injured that they only had LeBron left, and their Finals opponent, the Warriors, was inexperienced. That's how they won the championship. Besides, he hasn't proven himself outside the Hawks' system yet!" Barkley's explanation seemed reasonable and well-founded.

The starting players for both sides have entered the field, and the match is about to begin.

DeAndre Jordan and Karl-Anthony Towns jumped for the ball near the center circle. Jordan won the jump ball, giving the Clippers possession for the first possession.

Beverley dribbles the ball across half-court.

Jia Fei receives the ball and passes it to Harris.

Harris hits Dion and passes to Wesley Johnson in the corner.

Wesley Johnson misses his shot!

Towns grabbed the rebound and passed it to Rubio for the drive.

When Rubio participated in the 2008 Olympics, he was only 18 years old. At that time, he was known as the "Golden Boy," truly a blond-haired, blue-eyed, handsome man with an incredibly spirited playing style. Now, eight years later, he has a ponytail and a beard. His playing style is still agile, but he looks like a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties. It's said that European white men age faster and have a shorter prime. Is this true?

Rubio possesses solid ball-handling skills, excellent playmaking ability, and solid defense. As a point guard, he also boasts a good physique and is only 26 years old, which should theoretically put him in his prime. However, he seems to have made little progress over the years, and his shooting remains abysmal, especially his three-point shooting, which is comparable to Jason Kidd's early career.

But he was born in the wrong era. In this era, a point guard without a consistent shooting ability is easily targeted, and his offensive threat is naturally much smaller. For example, in a pick-and-roll, opponents won't easily switch or delay the defense; they can simply go around the screen and give you a three-pointer.

当下这个联盟，各支球队恨不得摆5个都能投3分的球员上去，都打5外阵容。当然5外阵容还是比较少，更多的是1内4外。很多没有投射能力拉不开空间的4号位都快找不到工作了，更不用说1号位了。

The reason Lu Yuanwai can still be a starter on a team is because he's not completely unable to shoot; he's just not accurate. Moreover, besides shooting, he has a lot of skill points in other areas, which somewhat compensates for his weakness.

Towns capitalized on his height advantage against Harris in the low post. The Clippers' defensive strategy involved keeping DeAndre Jordan near the basket to protect the rim, with Towns playing both defensive and offensive roles, primarily operating in the high post and rarely engaging in physical battles in the low post. Meanwhile, Dieng, lacking a consistent shot, was better suited to be matched up against Jordan, as his offense involved moving closer to the rim.

The Timberwolves started strong, finding their offensive breakthrough through isolation plays by Towns and Wiggins. The Clippers, on the other hand, struggled with their shooting, seemingly lacking energy, perhaps due to the fatigue of playing back-to-back games.

Old Li on the sidelines kept saying "Comeon" and "Let's go," but the players on the court still kept missing their shots.

The game has been going on for almost 5 minutes, and the Clippers are down by 8 points at 8:16.

The game was paused on the sidelines. Old Li held the tactics board and gestured for a long time, but I couldn't see him drawing any tactics on the board. He was just talking, not drawing anything.

"See? Without the support of a system, Jia Fei is just so-so!" Barkley said with a disdainful look.

Kenny Smith said meaningfully, "Charles, don't get slapped in the face again. I've lost count of how many times you've been slapped in the face!"

"I will stick to my own opinion instead of flattering those star players. This is our professional principle as commentators!" Barkley said seriously.

Before Jia Fei went on the court, assistant coach Cassell tugged at him and nodded.

Jia Fei understood what he meant, smiled, and nodded.

Beverley dribbled the ball over, and Jia Fei received it.

Defending Jia Fei was Zach LaVine, one of the Timberwolves' young talents.

Zach LaVine is only 21 years old and graduated from UCLA. He was selected 13th overall in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft. Notably, he is the champion of the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest for the past two years.

There's a saying in the NBA: if you have the 13th pick in the first round and don't know who to choose, pick a shooting guard; you might be pleasantly surprised in the future.

And LaVine is a shooting guard!

As for why this statement is made, we have to go back to the 1996 NBA draft, when the Hornets selected the Black Snake, who would later become the NBA's greatest bricklayer, with the 13th overall pick in the first round.

LaVine looks clean-cut and like an introverted white guard with poor athleticism, but in fact, he is incredibly athletic and can dunk as easily as drinking water.

Jia Fei and LaVine are both shooting guards and both All-Star dunk champions. Their duel is one of the highlights of this game.