Champion, please stay!

Chapter 213, 211. Is he practicing defending against pick-and-rolls?

"Stephen Curry is furious about Brandon Jennings' provocation... Mission: A thorn in the side of the elementary school student is triggered."

Objective: With your help, Curry needs to score more points than Jennings.

Reward: Snake Heart (Fake).

Snake Heart (False): During close games and crucial moments, your focus is greatly enhanced, your ability to read defenses improves, and you are more likely to spot defensive weaknesses.

"You encounter Andrew Bogut, who is also in the top three of the blocks list. Mission: Rim protector, set off."

Objective 1: You must block or dunk on Andrew Bogut at least once.

Objective 2: Your total number of blocks and dunks against Andrew Bogut must exceed his total number of blocks and dunks against you.

Reward: For each successful dunk or block, receive a 1-hour Double Interception Training Efficiency Card.

The second task, Yi Shui remembers, Bogut played 15 of the first 18 games, averaging 2.6 blocks per game, third in the league.

Currently, Dwight Howard leads the league in blocks with 2.8 per game.

As for him, he completed 46 blocks in the first 17 games, averaging 2.7 blocks per game, which is 0.7 blocks higher than last season, and it is an improvement from 2.5 blocks per game in the first week.

Correspondingly, his steals decreased by 0.2 compared to last season, to only 1.6. With the team having a basic defensive system and his personal defensive experience having improved significantly, there were far fewer unnecessary tackles or interceptions that were common last season. Although his steals decreased, his actual interception efficiency actually improved.

However, this task requires a certain amount of luck. If he simply doesn't have the ability to block or dunk on Bodog, there's nothing that can be done.

It's hard to avoid getting blocked when attacking the basket. Skilled players who attack the rim are usually the ones who get blocked the most. Last season, he ranked second in the league in dunks, only behind Howard, and sixth in the league in blocks.

It's worth mentioning that Duncan had the most blocks last season, with 124 blocks in 75 games, averaging 1.65 blocks per game; second was Anthony, with 120 blocks in 70 games, averaging 1.71 blocks per game; and third was Randolph, with 115 blocks in 82 games, averaging 1.4 blocks per game.

The focus is on Task 1.

Yi Di: Oh ho, is this kid so protective of his older brother?
Yi Shui looked at Jennings across from him. He remembered that Jennings seemed to be a huge fan of the old blacksmith, ranking the old blacksmith first when ranking historical superstars.

In terms of playing style, aside from relying on speed and having lateral movement and starting ability similar to Iverson, he is indeed more like Kobe.

Legend has it that players with McGrady-like physical attributes and snake-like mental fortitude have a 99% chance of succeeding.

But this poor man's AI-like physical attributes, coupled with the heart of a snake-like player...

Yi Shui felt that the skill 'Pseudo-Snake Heart' really suited Jennings; he only had the right mindset, but his physical attributes and abilities were lacking.

But how do we help Curry score more points?
This season has been going on for over a month, and it's mostly Curry scoring for him and him scoring for Curry. Aside from passing back when double-teamed on a fast break, there seems to be very little else.

In particular, in the last 9 games, he has only had 32 assists in total, and only 1 game had more than 5 assists.

Curry's playing style has become exceptionally mature this season. Apart from necessary isolation plays and key shots, he is incredibly consistent at other times.

Even a kid who played for the Warriors for over a decade in his original timeline might not be as composed as Curry here.

Suddenly, Yi Shui had a flash of inspiration—the coaching staff's most pressing need.

...

The game was about to begin, and Yi Shui brought Du Hong, Curry, David Lee, and Swift onto the court.

During the winning streak, Ben Wallace played every game without rest, and even with increased playing time in the following games, he persevered. Now that the winning streak has ended, he's lost his edge, and his performance in training this morning was particularly poor. He's been placed on the inactive list and will probably not play in the last two away games of the three-game road trip.

Swift, who has only alternated with Birdman and Gibson on the active roster since the start of the season, has returned to the starting lineup.

The jump ball came at the center circle... and it was Yi Shui again.

After defeating Mohammed in the previous jump ball match, Yishui has won 17 consecutive jump balls, just two away from Swift's team record of 19 consecutive jump ball wins.

Swift isn't very smart, but like when he volunteered to help Yi Shui push the luggage cart at the start of last season's preseason, he's good at getting things done. This record may not be much, but if there's an opportunity to give it to the boss, then the boss should be given it.

During the 07-08 season, he barely got any playing time with the Grizzlies. Before Gasol was traded and the team started tanking, he didn't get a single chance to play. He only played 35 games that season. He knew very well who gave him the opportunity to continue playing for the Knicks.

If he had stayed with the Grizzlies last season, he would have had virtually no chance of playing. If he were traded to another team, he would most likely have been used as a bonus to balance his salary, and it would have been difficult for him to become a starter and get a $300 million contract extension.

The Bucks' starting lineup: Jennings, Charlie Bell, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova, Andrew Bogut.

The match started at 9 p.m.

Yi Shui leaped into the air and flicked the ball to the back before Bogut could react, giving the Knicks the first possession!
After so many jump balls, Yi Shui'er's strength and directional control are still not as good as those veteran centers who have jumped balls for many years, but it is much better than at the beginning, and he no longer hits the ball out of bounds.

Du Hong judged the ball's landing point, moved into position in advance, received the ball, and quickly advanced, with all players pressing forward!

The Knicks' lineup was noticeably faster. Swift drove to the left and went straight for the basket, drawing the attention of Bogut, who had retreated.

Du Hong passes the ball to the right side, Curry receives it and passes it again.

Yi Shui stopped abruptly and sped up, quickly shaking off Bamote and rushing to the sideline of the three-second zone to receive the ball.

He intended to shoot quickly, but Bogut, who was blocking Swift's drive from the left sideline of the three-second zone, came to his rescue!

Yi Shui took a heavy step with his left foot and jumped!

Bogut had just stepped under the basket when everything went black...

Yi Shui slammed the ball into the basket over Bogut!
Before the match, the fans at the stadium didn't boo Yi Shui as much as they would have due to some off-field factors, but after the first attack, the booing started again.

Yi Shui high-fived Swift and Curry during the defensive retreat, then glanced at Mission Two... Mission 1 completed, Mission 2, 1-0!

He was really lucky tonight! He got a chance to dunk right away and jumped up to do it.

However, although he disliked Bogut and scoffed at Bogut's self-proclaimed title of "White Duncan," he didn't even bother to say a word to Bogut during their fifth encounter.

Bogut's defensive intensity does have a bit of a Duncan feel to it; he'll try to block the shot regardless of whether there's an opportunity to do so. This definitely improves defense. Some players, even with a great opportunity, might chicken out or miss their shot when they see a seven-footer charging in. It's much better than giving up on help defense when there's no opportunity to contest the shot.

Offense and defense transition, Charlie Bell receives the serve and advances the ball.

Yi Shui looked at the opponent's pressing formation and steady rhythm... After more than a month of playing, the Bucks have managed to achieve a record of 11 wins and 7 losses, ranking fifth in the East, ahead of the Hawks, Bobcats, and Celtics. Head coach Scott Skiles' ability is truly undeniable.

Last season, the Bucks were plagued by injuries, but their system was still gradually improved. It's just a pity that Skiles was really unlucky.

After building a system with the Bulls for three years, the team won 49 games and made it to the second round in the 2006-07 season. Just when they were about to go further, Kobe's words ruined everything.

In 2008, the Bucks recruited a large number of high-quality role players, even taking on a $13 million contract with Richard Jefferson, who only had 3-and-D skills. After Skiles joined, they were ready to do something big... but the team was plagued by injuries. Their star player Reed suffered a major injury last February and has not played a single game in 10 months.

However, although Reed looked like he would be out for the entire season, the rest of the team was in good health, and the Bucks made it back into the playoffs.

Milwaukee fans seem to attribute all the credit to Jennings.

Seeing Jennings hurriedly take the ball from Charlie Bell after crossing the center circle and hearing the crazy cheers of the fans, Yi Shui was a little puzzled.

He was wondering yesterday that while scoring 50+ points in a single game is impressive, and his physique and speed are indeed similar to Allen Iverson's, the Milwaukee fans' enthusiasm was a bit excessive!

He recalled that Jennings didn't receive this kind of treatment with the Bucks...

Seeing Bogut move up, Yi Shui put aside his distractions, switched defense with Swift, and followed Bogut to the outside.

The opposing small forward, Luc Mbah a Moute, has no shooting ability. In his 100 career games, he has 0-for-1 from three-point range and 28-for-100 from mid-range. He has no screen setting ability and is a pure defensive-minded forward who relies on finishing plays. Swift can handle him.

If Yi Shui can't think of a way to help Curry score more points in just a few minutes, and insists on feeding Curry the ball, it will definitely affect the team's offense.

Then let's try a different approach—limit Jennings' scoring!

Bogut came to the top of the arc and blocked Curry's right side. Jennings used the screen to break through on the left.

Yi Shui quickly switched defense... Jennings' lateral movement during the screen was incredibly fast! His initial acceleration after the lateral move was also astonishing! Yi Shui had barely finished switching defenses when Jennings was already on his right side!

Yi Shui pressed forward but failed to provide any resistance, so he quickly turned around and chased after her.

Swift blocked Jennings' elbow in the paint, but Jennings bent down and changed direction to avoid him, then went along the baseline, circled around the basket, and made a reverse layup!
At this moment, Yi Shui missed Ben Wallace a little. Swift was very active, but while he could get back to block shots, his elbow interceptions were terrible and didn't live up to his mobility.

However, the main problem is that Jennings is too fast; his lateral movement is like Parker's, and his start is like Wade's!

No wonder he was able to drive in and make more than a dozen shots after his outside shooting caught up with him on the day against the Warriors.

When the Knicks were on offense, Yi Shui chose to draw attention off the ball and focus on attacking during regulation time, leaving the ball to his teammates.

Yesterday morning, while having breakfast together, the 08 graduating class and coaching staff analyzed their situation and concluded that their biggest problem recently was that they had become too accustomed to their good form and to a shooting style where they could make every shot. However, they had actually been shooting inaccurately in many games, but they kept winning, and not many players on the team realized this.

During the final stages of the winning streak, some media outlets pointed out this problem, and trainer consultant Clark had also mentioned it earlier, but no one cared at the time.

This morning during training, Yi Shui asked Vice Captain Du Hong to emphasize this issue to his teammates. It might not be easy to correct in a short time, and some teammates might not take it seriously at the moment. However, with repeated emphasis and more games, it will eventually be corrected over time.

Of course, the timing of corrections must be chosen carefully. If the opponent is too weak, you won't even realize that you're shooting poorly if you win; if the opponent is too strong, there's no opportunity to correct problems through games... The Bucks, with an 11-7 record, are mid-tier in the league, which is just right.

Facing Jennings' highly aggressive yet flawed defense, Curry had excellent opportunities to drive, but instead of driving directly, he beckoned Swift to set a screen.

After using a screen, Curry faced Bogut, who had switched onto him, and used a change in his driving rhythm to get past him and close to him.

Ilyasova didn't immediately go to help Curry after cutting in, and Curry quickly made a floater!
Seeing that the elementary school student was angry but remained calm and made such good offensive choices, Yi Shui was able to focus his energy on the defensive end with peace of mind.

During the offensive and defensive transition, Jennings continued to run pick-and-rolls with Bogut.

Bogut lacks a jump shot and can only force his way into the low post or play high up the court, but his height advantage is not obvious. However, he executes pick-and-rolls solidly and has outstanding ability to roll to the basket.

Curry isn't a great defender, but he's smart. He knows he can't try to do too much on defense. When he gets blocked, he immediately moves between Bogut and the basket, holding off Bogut's lower body to prevent him from turning and starting.

On the Yi River side, Jennings accelerated and moved laterally in advance when he used a screen.

But Jennings, halfway through the screen, suddenly stopped, slapped the ball down hard with his left hand, changed direction, and drove to the right!

Yi Shui tried to block him back, but it was too late. Curry's center of gravity had already dropped, and even when he rushed forward, he couldn't block him properly.

Fortunately, Jennings messed up himself; his floater after driving to the basket slipped, and David Lee grabbed the rebound.

Yi Shui felt that all these left-handed people had some kind of bug!

For a right-handed player like him, without deliberate training, his use of his non-dominant hand is almost always very poor.

He quickly improved his left-hand passing and control to 60 using the "Ambidextrous" growth card. It has been almost 8 months since he reached 60. He also deliberately practices his left hand when practicing passing and control. Now his left-hand ball control is only 69 and his passing is only 67, which is not even good. It can only be said that it can be used to assist in breakthroughs.

However, left-handed players, even without specifically training their non-dominant hand, often utilize their dominant hand better than right-handed players who have diligently practiced their non-dominant hand.

When the Knicks went on offense, Yi Shui continued to play off-ball.

Curry and Swift initiated the offense with a pick-and-roll.

The Bucks opted for the same defense as the Bobcats: Bogut was pulled out to protect the rim and couldn't, and Ilyasova's positioning on pick-and-rolls was poor, so they collapsed to block the paint!

Du Hong's three-point attempt after receiving a pass from Yi Shui... also missed.

Back in the backcourt, Yi Shui continued to follow Bogut to defend the pick-and-roll.

He refused to believe it; he had to stop Jennings tonight!
On the sidelines, D'Antoni saw Yi Shui immediately guarding Bogut and wondered, "What is Brook doing? Doesn't Bogut need him to defend him?"

Cheeks: "It looks like he's using Jennings to practice his pick-and-roll defense?"

(End of this chapter)