Champion, please stay!

Chapter 127, Section 125: The Strategy is Finally Successful!

These thoughts flashed through Yi Shui's mind in an instant. He stepped back from the baseline, received the ball from the referee, and passed it to his teammates, saying, "David, Stromeyer, great defense! Now it's our turn to attack, go go go!"

Upon hearing this, Du Hong, who was receiving the serve, also echoed the praise and complimented the two players.

David Lee and Swift, having received positive feedback, felt their steps lighten as they ran forward. Go for it!
Du Hong advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Curry.

When the game turned to half-court offense, Duhon's offensive organization became mediocre, much like when he partnered with Hinrich as a dual point guard for the Bulls. He was responsible for pushing the fast break, while Curry took charge of the half-court offense.

Under the basket, Zydrunas Ilgauskas was chasing LeBron James, and Ben Wallace was on the wing... Yi Shui moved to the left baseline.

After Curry and Swift initiated the offense with a pick-and-roll, Yi Shui seized the opportunity to cut along the baseline, using David Lee's off-ball screen to shake off James, and Curry passed the ball.

Yi Shui received the ball close to the right baseline, but Da Z couldn't keep up. However, Ben Wallace, who was defending the top arc pick-and-roll, rushed to the left side of Yi Shui. Yi Shui passed the ball back to Curry, James came in to help defend, and Curry passed it again to the left sideline of the three-second zone.

David Lee received the ball, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Da Z) rushed up but only managed to block David Lee's shot. David Lee then cut along the baseline to behind Da Z and went for a layup... but was disrupted by the aggressively collapsing James. Ben Wallace tightly guarded Yi Shui, and Da Z secured the defensive rebound!
Yi Shui immediately called for his teammates to retreat and defend.

He heard the gasps of the fans near the baseline, and he was just as amazed by James's mobility and defensive intensity.

With his height, weight, and explosive movement, he's truly exceptional for a forward!
Their judgment of the ball's movement is also outstanding.

Judging solely from his talent and the speed at which James has improved defensively since Ben Wallace joined the Cavaliers, he definitely has the potential to become a superb help defender like Garnett or Wallace.

However, after King left the Cavaliers, he gained weight to the point where he was even bigger than Howard. Without Ben Wallace's supervision, his defensive effort was not as high as it was in his last two and a half years with the Cavaliers. Before he was even 30 years old, a strange phenomenon appeared where his defensive efficiency was cut in half...

From a basketball perspective, Yi Shui couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Retreating to the backcourt, Yi Shui put aside his distractions and, under Du Hong's direction, took his defensive positions with David Lee and Swift.

The Cavaliers adjusted their offensive positioning, with Mo Williams moving to the right side and Delonte West moving to the left sideline.

Yi Shui remained on the right side, following Mo Williams to the 45-degree angle, while Curry continued to follow the off-ball shooter on the weak side.

With an outstanding performance on the defensive end, James needs to regain his momentum on the offensive end and continue his strong drives to the basket!
Yi Shui charged straight into the right side of the three-second zone, and after Du Hong was beaten, he also charged towards Mo Williams.
With his excellent vision, James noticed the movements of the two players, as well as the movements of David Lee and Swift ahead. How could he not see their intentions?
Play the ball out early? No!

James drove to the elbow area and stopped abruptly, taking a jump shot before being double-teamed by David Lee and Swift...missed.

Yi Shui rushed to the baseline, turned around and took two steps to stand in front of the aggressive Da Ben, and jumped together. Taking advantage of his height and wingspan, Yi Shui grabbed the rebound first.

Upon seeing this, Zydruna, who had just run to the free-throw line, immediately retreated to defend.

James immediately closed in on Curry, who was making a run down the wing.

Yi Shui landed and passed the ball to Du Hong, who charged towards the frontcourt under pressure from Ben Wallace. The entire Knicks team charged forward... and were forced into a positional game.

The Cavaliers' offensive responses were clumsy, but their defensive responses were absolutely top-notch in the league!
After Yi Shui arrived at the frontcourt, he received a pass from Du Hong and then passed it to Curry, who initiated the attack with a screen at the top of the arc.

Curry played incredibly hard, collapsing to help on defense, protecting the rim and rebounds, and leading the charge. The number one draft pick has already done all the dirty work; he has to step up on offense! A few seconds later…

Retreat! Retreat!
Delonte West's aggressive and tenacious defense made it easy for Curry to break free. Swift's pick-and-roll was very effective, and Curry only truly felt the Cavaliers' formidable half-court defense after penetrating the paint.

Curry couldn't pass the ball out against the help defense of James and Ben Wallace, and was forced to take a strong floater... which missed!
James grabbed the rebound right in front of the basket, shoved Curry aside as if he were not facing any obstacles, and led the charge!

James rushed straight to the other side at close range, jumped up to face Yi Shui who was jumping from the spot, held off the opponent, and forced a layup that went in!
In the first few rounds, the Cavaliers showed some defensive effort, but their level of seriousness was actually average. Before the game, they were all smiles and relaxed, genuinely believing they could easily defeat the Knicks.

It wasn't until James's drives to the basket were thwarted for several consecutive possessions that they truly got serious and showed their real defensive capabilities.

This season, four teams in the league have an exceptionally strong defense, and the Cavaliers are one of them!

The other three teams are the Celtics, Spurs, and Magic.

The Jazz and Rockets are a step below each other. Both teams excel in defense, but are significantly weaker overall.

When the Lakers are focused, their defense is on par with the other four teams. However, they have played most games with ease since the start of the season. Their defense falters as soon as their substitutes come on, allowing nearly 100 points per game. Their defensive efficiency is only in the upper-middle range of the league.

The Cavaliers are not only strong in pushing their opponents into half-court sets and in defending those sets, but they are also incredibly formidable when they manage to stop the opponent's charge!

Even with Yi Shui positioned to block James when he was fully charged, there was nothing he could do.

However, he, D'Antoni, and Cheeks had anticipated this, and they began implementing their strategy in the very first round. Now, his attitude is even more resolute.

Once again, the game turned into a positional battle. This time, Yi Shui received the ball at the right 45-degree angle. Facing James who was closing in, he used a rhythm difference to get past his opponent and broke into the paint!
With Ben's blockade in place, Yi Shui was forced to stop in the elbow area when he forcefully turned around and leaned against Ben. Ben lowered his center of gravity and steadily withstood the impact.

But that's exactly what Yi Shui wanted! After using Ben Wallace's contact to dissipate the momentum of his sprint, he smoothly turned around, dodging James's double-team, and came close to the right side of the basket. He grabbed the ball, took a step into the paint, jumped towards the onrushing Zydrunas Ilgauskas, stretched his arm straight up, and pushed towards the backboard...

The ball hit the top of the small rectangle in the middle of the backboard, grazed it, bounced onto the rim, bounced twice, and landed in the basket! 7 to 4!

Thank you, South Coast second overall pick!
Beasley's inside game against bigger players primarily revolves around two moves. One is to crouch close to the opponent's waist, leaning out to shoot from the other side with a low hand, usually used to draw a foul. The other is to use his spring speed to avoid a block and shoot a high-arcing shot off the backboard before the opponent gets close enough to close the gap, which requires a good sense of rhythm. Yi Shui learned Beasley's mismatch isolation plays, prioritizing practicing inside mismatches, and he used them this time!

After scoring, Yi Shui immediately turned and retreated to defend.

Du Hong, who had received instructions from Yi Shui when receiving the ball, had already called for his teammates to retreat on defense when Yi Shui took the shot. With Da Z, Da Ben, and James there, if Yi Shui missed the shot, none of the other players on the court had a chance to grab the offensive rebound, except for Yi Shui himself.

Quick throw, quick retreat, quick attack... Faster! Faster! Faster! Pick up the pace, get Big Z running!
That's right, they've resorted to their old trick of "playing the shark" again!

However, in the following rounds, the Knicks were clearly at a disadvantage.

With his wide shooting range and ability to shoot from long two-point distances, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is much harder to beat than Shaquille O'Neal, who is nearly 37 years old.

Whenever James starts an attack, Zydrunas Ilgauskas immediately moves up to the high post. If he receives the ball and shoots, he immediately retreats to defense; if he doesn't receive the ball, he retreats to defense immediately.

James had already figured out the opponent's defensive intentions. After scoring a fast break against Yi Shui, he had also calmed down his anger from that dunk. The opponent retreated quickly, and he didn't have many opportunities to launch a fast break. He decisively chose to pass more and faster, concentrate his energy, and work with Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to push the opponent into a positional game.

At the start of the game, the fans in the stadium were very excited, but as the game progressed, they were shocked to find that their team was falling behind!

打到首节官方暂停，尼克斯队以12比15落后骑士队3分了！过去几分钟骑士队打了尼克斯队一个11比5！

However, more than a month into the new season, the Knicks played most of their home games in the first month, winning more games than they lost... Unlike in previous years, New York fans did not turn against their team as soon as they fell behind, but instead cheered and encouraged their players with all their might!
The fact that they can't stop this kind of thing won't affect the Knicks players' 'defensive confidence', because that thing doesn't exist...

Encouraged by the team leader and locker room leaders, and with the cheers of the fans in the arena... after the timeout, Duhon, Curry, Yi Shui, Birdman who came off the bench, and Harrington continued to charge!

On the other side, Mike Brown did not make any substitutions and continued with the starting lineup.

He didn't understand offense, but his defensive instincts were incredibly sharp. He figured out the opponent's strategy long ago: the Knicks were a run-and-gun team and liked to play their cards right.

He wanted to use a frontcourt combination of James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Ben Wallace to withstand the opponent's attacks, break down their momentum, and make things easier later on.

Mike Brown's strategy was sound, but he didn't consider the players' needs.

Big Z is already 33 years old! He's getting old! Compared to Shaquille O'Neal, who is 37, his stamina is a notch below!
He was able to retreat on defense only when he was almost at the top of the key on offense, not because he had better stamina or was faster than O'Neal!
After the official timeout, the Cavaliers continued to dominate the Knicks for another 3 minutes, going on a 9-6 run to extend their lead to 6 points, making the score 24-18.

But this time, facing the Knicks' strong counterattack, the Cavaliers failed to set up a good defensive formation. When the Knicks pushed all their players up the court, Big Z was only running to the free-throw line!

Harrington, receiving the ball at the top of the arc, saw that Yi Shui had attracted a double team, so he passed the ball to the left side. Curry drove into the paint, slipped along the baseline, dodged James's charge, and made a floater.

Mike Brown reacted quickly on defense, immediately calling a 20-second timeout and replacing Zydrunas Ilgauskas with Varejao to prevent the opponent from launching another strong counterattack in the next possession.

But this created a hole for James' offense. He drove in only to find that Harrington was blocking him even faster, completely ignoring Varejao who was moving up!

After being forced to stop by Harrington and Birdman, James couldn't get the ball into the basket, and Yi Shui, who had moved in, completely covered Ben Wallace... He had no choice but to pass to Varejao.

Varejao received the ball and had no chance to shoot. This season, he averaged less than 1 point per game outside the paint and took 1.7 shots per game. Unless there was no time left to take the blame, he would not shoot at all. Facing Harrington who had spread out, he quickly passed the ball to Delonte West.

Delonte West missed a pull-up jumper under Duhon's defense!

Yi Shui blocked Ben Wallace, and Birdman held off James's charge to secure the defensive rebound.

Varejao's aggressive defensive transition, coupled with James and Ben Wallace's delaying tactics, once again forced the Knicks into a half-court game.

This time, however, the Knicks players didn't feel the anxiety they had when they were pushed back into half-court offense; instead, they were incredibly excited.

The center is off the court, let's go!

Harrington receives the ball at the top of the arc, uses Yi Shui's screen, and drives hard against James' defense!

After blocking the big man, Yi Shui continued to move to the right, blocking Mo Williams between the top arc and the right 45-degree angle.

Harrington passed the ball to Curry, who was moving up from the left baseline, and Ben Wallace quickly lunged at Duhon, who was running towards the top arc.

But after Curry received the ball and was marked closely by Delonte West, he didn't pass it to Duhon, but instead passed it to the middle!
After Yi Shui completed a series of pick-and-rolls, he started at full speed, and Mo Bu Chuan didn't even have time to pull up!

Yi Shui received a pass from Curry in front of the basket. Seeing Varejao back on the arc of the restricted area, he took a step and jumped. Well, not exactly, Varejao just brushed against Yi Shui's trouser leg before falling backward.

Yi Shui slammed the ball into the basket with one hand, and with the momentum, it flew directly over Varejao's head as he fell, landing on the baseline.

The referee whistle blows!

But it wasn't an offensive foul called on Yi Shui for his dunk; the referee made a blocking foul gesture!

(End of this chapter)