Champion, please stay!

Chapter 214, Section 212: He really defended against it!

Jennings spent a year in Europe, where he developed an excellent ball-handling and screen-based penetration technique, making excellent use of his top-notch lateral movement and starting ability.

Danilo Bargnac, head coach of the Italian men's basketball team Roma, once said that if Jennings could improve his shooting and rim attack like Gasol did before going to the NBA, he would become a top draft pick like Gasol and Bargnani.

But Jennings didn't listen. After playing in Europe for a year, he was eligible to enter the draft and went straight in.

D'Antoni felt that such an opponent, who was extremely good at handling the ball and setting screens but had poor finishing ability in most games, was indeed a good fit for Yi Shui to practice defense.

only……

D'Antoni: "Is Brook trying to defend Jennings' pick-and-roll by himself?"

Cheeks: "It seems so. It's difficult, but it makes it easier for the players on the wings and under the basket to defend..."

D'Antoni felt this was too difficult.

Yi Shui's mobility is indeed excellent. Just as Iverson said, when he plays inside, opponents defend him as if in slow motion, and can only double-team him in advance.

Jennings, however, is one of the fastest point guards, and he simply couldn't match up with him!

D'Antoni could understand why Yi Shui defended like that—their twin towers in the paint were too weak defensively.

He was prepared for the possibility of being unable to defend and planned to start from the offensive end.

However, as the game progressed, D'Antoni found that Jennings' options of driving to the basket or pulling up for a jump shot after using screens were getting worse and worse!
He can't coach defense, but he understands defense.

He noticed that Yi Shui's defense had shifted from initially targeting Jennings to blocking the shooting area Jennings wanted to reach!

Jennings used screens to drive into the paint from the left elbow area and both sides of the free-throw line, and Yi Shui blocked him in those three areas.

Jennings moved towards the basket, Swift blocked Jennings's direct attack on the rim, while Yi Shui rushed to the other side of the basket in advance!

The rest of the area was completely empty. Jennings had a chance to shoot, and he did, but he couldn't make the shot!

Most importantly, Jennings would pass the ball at first when he drove and dished, but as the game progressed and he missed more shots, he stopped passing!

In the early rounds, the Knicks were at a disadvantage due to the poor defense of their twin towers in the paint, David Lee's mid-range jumpers, and Duhon's three-pointers. They trailed by as many as 4 points, 7-11.

But as the game went on, the score difference was tied... and then they took the lead!
...

With 5 minutes and 56 seconds left in the first quarter, David Lee missed a long two-pointer. Swift drove into the paint and tipped the ball out. Yi Shui received the ball head-on, took a step, raised his hand, and Bogut didn't jump. Yi Shui jumped up and made a high-arcing shot off the backboard.

Bogut was at a loss. Defending against a striker with top-tier speed and excellent jumping ability, was it wrong not to jump? Of course not, but this guy was the same height as him! And his arms were a head longer than his!
The Knicks have taken a 17-15 lead!
After starting with a 7-11 lead, they launched a 10-4 comeback!
When it was the Bucks' turn to attack, Jennings went from 3-for-4 shooting and 1-for-1 free throws for 7 points to 3-for-8 shooting. His initial smugness turned into gritted teeth. He knew Yi Shui had found a way to stop him, but this didn't calm him down; instead, it made him even more eager to shoot!

He just wanted to score a point on the Yi River!

Continue to use cover!
Seeing Yi Shui, who had followed Bogut out to the top arc, retreat to the free-throw line, Curry was ready to circle around the top line to defend the three-pointer, and Jennings continued to drive!
He didn't stop at the left side of the free throw line, nor did he stop abruptly in the elbow area. He drove straight to the basket, bypassed Swift's blocking defense, and slid along the baseline!
Seeing Yi Shui rushing straight towards the right side of the basket, Jennings grabbed the ball, took two powerful steps to the right side of the basket, and jumped with all his might...

Yi Shui, who had been brought in, also jumped up. What Jennings found incredible was that after blocking one side of the free throw line, then the elbow area, and then bringing Yi Shui into the basket, he still jumped so high after a series of sudden stops and starts!
Jennings pulls back in mid-air... throws... "thud"... "thump"...

Yi Shui made the right judgment this time, and slapped the ball that Jennings threw onto the backboard!

A spiked hat! A combination of cap and gun!
Yi Shui caught the ball as it landed, turned around, and launched a counterattack!

Jennings was very aggressive on defense, his mentality was even more explosive, but he still rushed up to block Yi Shui at the first moment... but it didn't work, he was knocked half a circle to the left and almost fell on his butt.

Bogut retreated one step from the free-throw line to defend, and together with Mbah a Moute, they retreated to the basket. Duhon and David Lee made a fast break on the wings, and the two of them ignored everything and blocked the shot at the rim. The two previous possessions in which the Knicks scored on fast breaks were both shots at the rim.

Yi Shui charged straight to the basket without looking back, but was double-teamed just outside the restricted area. He passed the ball back...

Curry, unguarded and unstoppable, received the ball, pulled up for a three-pointer... and it went in!
The Knicks finally made their first three-pointer of the night!
The Bucks called a timeout, and the game entered an official pause.

20比15，尼克斯队在不到4分钟时间里，打出了疯狂的13比4的高潮！
Skiles, sitting on the Bucks' bench, looked completely dejected.

When he saw Jennings make two consecutive misses in an area he wasn't good at hitting, and then show that "never give up" look on his face, he knew he was in trouble.

But unexpectedly, Jennings missed five shots in a row!
In the past 7 possessions, only Ilyasova scored a long two-pointer and Bogut followed up with a putback, with no other points scored!

On the other side, they scored 7 points on 3 fast breaks, and made 3 of 5 shots in 4 half-court plays. Curry made a long two-pointer, David Lee made a layup, and Yi Shui made a second-chance shot!
However, Skiles couldn't stop Jennings from shooting like that. There were over 18,000 fans in attendance, all wanting to see Jennings shoot. This rookie was also an unruly and highly arrogant player... Skiles felt incredibly unlucky; every time he coached, something unfortunate always seemed to happen...

...

Skiles was cursing under his breath, while D'Antoni...

What's a surprise? This is a surprise!

He witnessed firsthand how well and effectively Yi Shui defended Jennings' pick-and-roll!

Not only in individual defense, Yi Shui also did a great job directing his teammates' defensive movements on the field.

Yi Shui retreated to the free-throw line to defend the key area, which gave him the opportunity to block Bogut's roll to the basket, allowing Curry, who had a height advantage, to defend Jennings and shoot directly using a screen.
At the same time, Yi Shui's position at the free-throw line is enough to cover the opposing team's Mbah a Moute, who has no shooting ability and attacks the rim directly, allowing Swift to focus on blocking Jennings' direct attacks on the rim, forcing Jennings to slip along the baseline and over the line!
Curry was equally excited, shooting 3-for-7, including 1-for-2 from three-point range. At the start, Jennings was attacking the basket like it was empty, and Curry was almost exasperated at first. Now, he has caught up with his opponent in scoring!
(End of this chapter)