Chapter 63: The two evil spirits of Utah are proud of being black! In this game, Jackson changed his starting lineup again! Rodman, Kukoc, Pippen, Jordan and Hubble started together!
"Let's see, the Bulls came up with their ninth starting lineup this season! Against a strong enemy like the Jazz, at the critical moment when they were aiming for a 9-game winning streak, Phil Jackson actually used such a brand-new lineup. ! This is really unexpected!”
In the CBS studio, Marcus was a little surprised and said: "Should we say that Jackson is a talented artist and bold, or should we say that he has become another 'mad scientist' in the league? By the way, when it comes to 'mad scientist' Coach Don Nelson, he got fired just a few hours ago!”
"No one would have thought that New York, third in the Eastern Conference, would suddenly experience such a change at this time, but maybe this ending was already doomed when Nelson came to New York! After all, the first thing he did when he came to New York was , just want to trade the team leader Ewing in exchange for O'Neal!"
"From the moment the management refused to trade Ewing, and Old Nelson offended the entire New York gang, it was already a matter of time before Nelson was fired. However, no one could have imagined that it would come so quickly and so early! This year, it was already a matter of time. The Bulls have one less opponent in the Eastern Conference!"
Marcus' partner Smith said with a smile: "So, talking about our game tonight, the Jazz's starting lineup has also been announced. Their starting lineup is still the five-man group they are best at! Big center Phil Sabins, team leader Karl Malone and John Stockton.”
"Coupled with the team's No. 2 scorer, former All-Star players Jeff Hornacek and David Benoit, this starting lineup has been used by the Jazz for 72 consecutive games since last season! The tacit understanding and energy between the five of them cannot be underestimated!”
Following the introductions of the two commentators, the players from both sides have all entered the stadium, just waiting for the game to officially start! The referee glanced at his watch, then walked to the midfield and threw the ball up! The Bulls are now playing a small lineup. Even if Rodman can steal the ball, he can't do anything when facing the 213-centimeter Felton Sabins on the jump ball.
Therefore, Rodman didn't take off at all, and he didn't even pose for a jump ball. As soon as the referee tossed the ball, he turned around and walked towards his own basket.
Rodman's personality is clearly demonstrated at this moment!
The Jazz's offense must start with a pick-and-roll between Stockton and Malone. The two men cross the screen in the high post. Hubble originally wanted to squeeze through the screen, but as soon as he turned around, he saw that Malone's huge elbow had already Lying in front of him! If Hubble hadn't reacted quickly enough and braked in time to fall back, he would have suffered a concussion and gone straight off the field to rest in the first round of the game!
Stockton gained space with a pick-and-roll, rushed inside for two steps and immediately gave the ball to Malone on the other side. Malone got the basketball and pulled it up to make a signature catch-and-shoot jump shot!
"Shh!"
After a crisp sound, Malone opened the scoring for the Jazz!
In just one round, you can see Malone's fierce playing style!His elbows open the way during pick-and-rolls, but his offensive method has nothing to do with his tendons!If you haven't watched Malone's game and only looked at his figure, you must have thought that he is a violent insider like Barkley or O'Neal.
But only after watching Malone's game will you know that this guy is a handsome mid-range guy!
If we talk about the skill of mid-range shooting alone, he is the most accurate and best shooting among all the inside players before Nowitzki! Even extending to the entire 90s, except for Jordan and the "mid-range shooting king" Alan Houston, no third person dared to say that his mid-range shooting was more accurate than Malone!
The next round of the two sides also surprised many people. Neither team chose to focus on defense, but unanimously focused on offense! The Jazz's offensive system has endless pick-and-roll cooperation and off-ball screens. Everyone is constantly covering, picking and rolling, blocking each other, and running with their teammates. Their offensive system is rigorous and boring, almost completely following tactics. Come and fight, there are rarely exciting scenes that make the audience’s blood boil!Boring, but powerful!
As for the Bulls, with Kukoc becoming the starter, the team's offensive space has become extremely huge!No coach dares to leave Kukoc behind the three-point line!Sabins can only choose to come to the outside to face off against Kukoc.
In this case, Jordan's personal offensive threat was completely revealed! The Jazz's inside line has completely turned into a back garden for him. He is only 191 centimeters tall and has mediocre physical fitness. Let alone guarding Jordan, the intimidation of Hornacek standing in front of Jordan is really impressive. Not as good as his grandma!
After all, Jordan had to worry about whether he would knock Hornacek's grandmother out of trouble with his shoulder, so he didn't dare to go all out and had to hold back.
But for Hornacek?Jordan didn't show any mercy at all, and the fight was so casual! Jazz coach Sloan actually had nothing to do about Jordan's easy defeat of Hornacek.
What can he do?Send the 185cm Stockton to die?Or should we replace David Benoit, who is also not good at defending, to take a beating?
Not only will Jordan definitely continue to explode, but when Pippen sees Hornacek, who is only 191 centimeters tall and looks like a chicken, he will definitely accept this gift happily and start a wave of crazy singles practice matches. !
The inherent disadvantage in the lineup is something that no matter how strong the head coach is, there is no way to solve it.
Sloan could only gamble. He chose to let the Jazz player closest to him double-team Jordan when he was playing alone, and chose to miss Hubble or Kukoc.
At the beginning, the Jazz's two sudden double-teams were effective.
The somewhat scrambling Bulls failed to score twice.
Then, Jackson quickly adjusted his strategy. He asked Kukoc and Jordan, who are the most accurate three-pointers, to come to the same side, allowing Kukoc to use his range and passing ability to break the Jazz's double-team defense.
When Jordan and Kukoc stood on the same side, the Jazz's double-team defense was immediately cracked!
Jordan's top-notch ability to play the ball and predict defense, and Kukoc's overall view and shooting range directly penetrated the Jazz's entire defense line! Kukoc first seized the open opportunity and hit two three-pointers in a row!
Then he cooperated with Jordan on air cuts and hit the inside for a layup! After the Jazz's defensive focus began to shift to Kukoc, he continued to pass the ball, completely revitalizing the Bulls' offense! (End of this chapter)