Chapter 162 Collision with Jordan

"Alan, switch defenses!"

Zhao Dong rushed to the backcourt and ran towards Jordan.

This is not a tactical arrangement, it is his own initiative.

Houston's offense is strong and its defense is weak. It can't defend Jordan at all. Even if it relies on double-teaming, it can't lock Jordan's passing line in time. He thinks it might be better to defend Jordan himself.

"Rookie, are you so impatient to be blown away by me?"

On the right-wing three-point line, Jordan made a gesture of pulling away while dribbling the ball, spouting trash.

"Come on, Jordan, let's see how strong you are." The expressionless Zhao Dong said coldly.

At this moment, he suddenly took a step closer.

He didn't passively wait for Jordan's offense. He knew that Jordan was faster and more flexible than him, and passive defense was absolutely impossible.

As soon as Zhao Dong moved, Jordan immediately turned around to protect the ball.

He wanted to take the opportunity to turn around and break through, but at this moment Zhao Dong was sticking to his back, the huge pressure immediately pushed his center of gravity, and he couldn't turn around and break through immediately because the center of gravity was unstable.

At this moment, Zhao Dong moved to the left with small steps, and suddenly made a steal with his left hand.

And this time, Jordan got a chance. His coordination and balance abilities are super good. Through subtle adjustments, the center of gravity stabilized instantly. When Zhao Dong made a steal, he immediately turned right and broke through.

But he was fooled.

Zhao Dong's steal was only the second active defense, pretending to be a steal, and when Jordan turned right to break through, he immediately took a step back and blocked in time when Jordan turned right and broke through.

Jordan bumped his head into Zhao Dong's chest, and the ball was a little out of control, but at this time Charlie Ward's double-team came over.

"Steal the ball, Charlie Ward stole Jordan, Zhao Dong is going down..." Zhang Lili shouted excitedly in the CCTV live broadcast.

When Zhao Dong was on a fast break, Jordan began to grab Charlie Ward back. When he crossed the center line, Charlie Ward threw the ball over, and he caught the ball and went into the Bulls' paint area.

Harper returned to defend the basket from the middle, facing Zhao Dong who rushed in like a mad cow, how dare he block his edge?

"boom!"

Zhao Dong attacked from the flank,

Without even looking at Harper, he threw a tomahawk slam dunk, blowing the United Center arena into dead silence.

"yeah!"

Only then did the three thousand away fans make their voices.

"Listen to me..."

Zhao Dong roared at the teammate who was running over: "We have won the Bulls at home, and we have to beat them again. They are nothing special. We lead two to one. We will eliminate them. No one can stop us, Michael Jordan." No, tonight we are going to slaughter the bulls, on their home court, we are going to slaughter the bulls!"

"Slaughter the bull!"

Oakley started screaming loudly.

"Slaughter the bull!"

The blood of the rest of the players was aroused, and they all roared.

"Slaughter the bull!"

On the Knicks bench, 3,000 away fans roared.

"Flying dragon, come on! You are the best!"

Lindsay stood up on the sidelines, clapping his hands and shouting as hard as he could.

"Hush!"

At this time, the Bulls fans reacted and overwhelmed everything with their deafeningly intense secondary school.

"Zhao Dong is boosting morale, hoping to help the Knicks. But the Bulls are too strong at home. As the dynasty's home court, they have the confidence to face all challenges from the enemy. The Knicks must work hard!" Zhang He understood. .

2:5, the Bulls attack.

Zhao Dong stood in front of Jordan again.

Van Gundy didn't say anything, he knew that Alan Houston couldn't defend against Jordan at all, and there were advantages and disadvantages for Zhao Dong to switch defenses now.

On the plus side, Zhao Dong's top-level outside defense, although he defends the big against the small, may also produce better results than Houston. On the downside, Pippen was liberated and the Bulls' organizational ability recovered.

"Let him try it first," he said to Thibodeau.

Confidence is not very high. After all, Zhao Dong uses the big to guard against the small, and Jordan has the advantage of being more flexible and faster.

Harper moved upcourt when Pippen shrugged off Houston and cut inside to the hoop, and he immediately passed the ball in.

Pippen's inside cut immediately attracted the Knicks' defense. As the defense line compressed, the outside line got open opportunities, including Zhao Dong, who also took a step back to the paint area, leaving Jordan almost two meters open.

At this time, Pippen caught the ball on the edge of the paint, saw Jordan's small open, and immediately threw the ball over.

The moment he passed the ball, Zhao Dong returned to defend Jordan, and his reaction was very fast. Jordan's small space immediately disappeared. After receiving the ball, he immediately faced Zhao Dong's defense.

In fact, Zhao Dong has no plans to return to the penalty zone at all. Ewing and Oakley guard the penalty zone. If this can’t prevent Pippen, it’s meaningless for him to return to defense, because then Jordan will be completely emptied. Who in the world would dare to completely vacate Jordan. ah?

He just induced Pippen to pass the ball, so the return defense was very timely.

When Jordan received the ball, Zhao Dong returned to the defense, and at the same time stretched out his right hand to make a steal.

Jordan took advantage of the situation and smashed the ball to the floor, turned sideways, directly forced Zhao Dong, and reached the right wing.

Zhao Dong turned around quickly. He judged that Jordan would have a high probability of making a mid-range shot, and it was rare for him to enter the overcrowded penalty area. The mid-range shot is also Jordan's most common scoring area and method.

Sure enough, two steps forward, Jordan suddenly stopped for a jumper.

At this moment, Zhao Dong jumped up from behind and blocked the shot.

"predict!"

Jordan's shot was very high, Zhao Dong was half a beat behind in chasing the hat, and with his best efforts, he just hit the ball.

But this was actually the best result. After the two landed, Zhao Dong turned around in time to block Jordan, and caught the ball.

"Oh, Michael's pull-up jump shot, he was actually blocked by the flying dragon?" The on-site commentator was tongue-tied.

Zhao Dong passed the ball to Charlie Ward, and immediately made a quick play.

When he crossed the center line, he caught the ball back and drove the ball into the frontcourt.

Although Jordan is faster, Zhao Dong's speed of level 90 is not much faster. After rushing to the three-point line from the left wing, he passed Zhao Dong, and then turned around at the left waist of the paint area to stop Zhao Dong. East.

But Zhao Dong's flexibility and other three qualities are all good, especially his coordination has reached a super-class level. Suddenly, he made a small change to the right, with Jordan's left arm hanging on his body, and rushed into the paint area. The hoop jumped.

Jordan's strength could not stop Zhao Dong's charge at all, and he was directly brought down and fell into the paint area.

"Beep!"

The whistle sounded.

"boom!"

It was another tomahawk-style dunk, and Zhao Dong bombed the Bulls' basket again.

"Oh! Hush!"

The Bulls fans exclaimed, and then turned into boos, drowning out the cheers of the away fans.

"Jordan, are you standing there doing stakes?"

Zhao Dong spat trash talk at Jordan who just got up.

The blue-faced Jordan gritted his teeth. He was intercepted once, capped once, and fouled, which made him a little embarrassed. This was his home game.

At this time, the referee came over and signaled that the two points were valid. Jordan made a defensive foul and Zhao Dongjia made a free throw.

"God of Gamblers, do you want to bet on this free throw?"

Standing on the free throw line, Zhao Dong looked back at Jordan and said provocatively.

Jordan snorted coldly, do you think I'm stupid? Am I betting you get a penalty?

"Shua!"

Zhao Dongjia made a free throw.

5:5, the Bulls attack.

Pippen ran on the left wing again, cutting inside frequently to squeeze the Knicks' defense.

This time, he received the ball on the edge of the paint area, but there were two teams and four insiders in the penalty area, and there was no room for breakthrough. Under Oakley's supplementary defense, he made a jumper near the basket, but missed, and the rebound was blocked. Ewing grabbed it.

Zhao Dong went down again quickly. This time, Jordan and Harper quickly returned to defense. On the left line of the paint, they both blocked in front of Zhao Dong. They would rather be bumped than let him rush over.

But Zhao Dong shook his hand and gave it to Charlie Ward who rushed into the paint from the free throw line.

Charlie Ward received the ball for a two-step layup and hit a goal. It was too late for Harper to turn around and return to the defense.

At 7:5, the Bulls attacked and called a timeout.

In the TNT live broadcast seat, Bill Walton said at this time: "The Bulls have a weakness inside, that is, the ability to open the starting inside, and even the combined offensive ability of Luke Langley and Rodman is equivalent to Oakley. There is still a whole Ewing who averaged 20+ per game."

"So the Knicks' two big insiders can stay in the penalty area all year round. Pippen's inside-cut tactics want to compress the Knicks' outside defense, but the effect is not good. The dragons have no real return to the penalty area. Jordan can't get open, Pippen cuts inside The purpose of attracting the defense is not achieved, so it is better to hand the ball directly to Jordan." Matt said.

In the CCTV live broadcast seat, Zhang Lili shouted excitedly: "Zhao Dong strengthened his defense, switched to Jordan very successfully, played three fast breaks, led the Knicks to score 7 points in a row, and defended Jordan alone very successfully."

"He made 2 of 2 shots and made free throws. Feilong scored 5 points, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. His performance was very good." Sun Zhenping laughed.

On the Bulls' bench, Phil Jackson said: "Be careful of Dragon's outside fast break, his speed is very fast and his impact is terrifying, none of us can block his impact.

Michael, you must slow him down when he is transitioning from offense to defense, when he starts to fast break, and you must not let him rush.

Also, you have to be careful on the offensive end, that kid's good perimeter defense, just ask Scottie. "

"damn it!"

Pippen cursed secretly, he hates Phil Jackson more and more now.

Next, Phil Jackson made a substitution, replacing starting center Luke Langley.

In fact, Luke Langley has always been just a meat shield in his hands. The first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals have proved that Langley cannot defend Ewing alone. If the Knicks did not strengthen their low-post offense, Langley would have been blown away by Ewing.

You must know that in the first two games, the Bulls' defense was used to double-team Zhao Dong, and they had no strength to double-team Ewing, but the Knicks did not seize this opportunity.

He replaced Tony Kukchi as a substitute forward. This is a 208 cm, 87 kg forward. He weighs a little less than Jordan, but he has mid-range and long-range shots. Ball skills, good assist ability, is the sixth man of the Bulls.

"Tony, use your shot and pull Oakley out."

"Scottie, after Oakley goes out, use your cut inside to compress the Knicks' defense and create open opportunities for teammates."

After several reminders, the timeout ended and the game resumed.

Sure enough, Kukchi pulled Oakley out, and he pulled directly to the right-wing three-point line, wandering between the bottom corner and forty-five degrees.

At this time, Pippen began to cut inside, Rodman clung to Ewing tightly, Oakley could only choose to leave Kukci behind and return to the penalty area.

Then, Pippen passed the ball to...Jordan.

"Shet!"

No matter how calm Phil Jackson was, he couldn't help cursing at this moment.

The vacant Kukchi won't give it, but you will give it to Michael?

When Pippen cut inside, Jordan ran to the top of the arc. He only thought that Pippen would pass to Kukoc, but he didn't expect Pippen to pass to him.

When the ball came over, he was a little unprepared, he didn't hold it firmly, the ball jumped in his hands, just in time for Zhao Dong to follow up, he stretched out his hand, and the ball was broken.

"Bang bang bang..."

Dribbling the ball with his left hand, Zhao Dong made another quick move.

Jordan kept pestering on the right side, preventing Zhao Dong from rushing up.

But Zhao Dong's impact force was too terrifying. Jordan was only 88 kilograms, and he couldn't stop it at all. He had to pass first.

At this time, the two had rushed to the left-wing three-point line. Zhao Dong saw Jordan running in front, suddenly slowed down + bad luck, and then changed direction and rushed to Jordan.

Just as Jordan turned around, he saw Zhao Dong rushing past him, so he could only resort to foul play and hugged Zhao Dong from behind.

Just like that, Zhao Dong dragged Jordan forward for two steps, and directly dragged Jordan to the floor.

"Beep!"

The referee whistled, Jordan fouled, and the number of fouls did not count, and the Knicks served in the frontcourt.

"This foul is very bad for the Bulls. Jordan made less than two fouls in half a quarter. This should be one of the consequences of the dragon's matchup with Jordan, right?

In the TNT live broadcast, Bill Walton said in surprise.

"Then Jordan's defensive strength against the Dragons will definitely weaken next. Of course, Phil Jackson will not replace him, otherwise the Bulls will stop fighting and just admit defeat." Matt explained.

"Should switch defenses, or let Pippen defend the Dragons." Bill Walton laughed.

"Scotty, Toni Kukoc has a seat, you should give it to him." Jordan got up and ran to Pippen and asked.

"I don't trust him," Pippen said bluntly.

Jordan shook his head and said, "That won't work. We have to trust our teammates, especially the ones who get open. Scotty, if you play like this, we can't beat the Knicks. Do you want to be laughed at by that rookie?"

Pippen gritted his teeth, glanced at Zhao Dong who was not far away, and then at Kukoc who had snatched his last attack. After comparing, he still felt that Zhao Dong was more annoying, so he nodded and said coldly : "I know how to do it, don't worry."

"Remember, we must win this game, and we have no retreat." Nodding, Jordan said in a deep voice.

"Michael, switch defenses with Scotty." At this time, Phil Jackson shouted from the sidelines.

Jordan nodded. He definitely couldn't defend Zhao Dong on the defensive end. He was too disadvantaged when facing Zhao Dong's fast break on the defensive end, and he couldn't limit that rookie at all.

At this time, the Knicks served from the sideline of the frontcourt. Zhao Dong received the ball in a high position. Pippen, Jordan, and Rodman were double-teamed.

This is his height advantage on the perimeter. Whether it is Rodman, Jordan or Pippen, he has a height advantage. His vision is no problem, and he can see open teammates in time.

At the same time, with his wingspan and height, as well as a pair of big hands, as long as he lifts the ball up, he can also ensure that the ball will not be intercepted quickly.

The ball was passed out, which symbolized the failure of the double-team, and Rodman could only return to the basket immediately.

At this moment, Zhao Dong followed Rodman into the paint.

Houston received the ball and entered the paint area, and at the same time encountered the supplementary defense of Rodman and Kukchi, and if he went one step further, he would crash into a double-team.

At this time, he also chose to pass the ball to Ewing who was open below.

When Ewing received the ball, Kukoc returned to the defense, and Rodman also rushed over, and the double-team for him would be formed immediately, but at this time he saw Zhao Dong rushing to the basket, so he pushed with both hands and put The ball goes to the basket.

"boom!"

The unguarded Zhao Dongfei rose up, caught the ball with both hands in the air, and faced the basket with a ferocious dunk with both hands, which smashed the Bulls' basket.

"Leaking people, the Knicks tore through our defense through continuous passing, and we missed the flying dragon that should not be missed..."

The on-site commentator explained helplessly.

"Beautiful! Feilong and Ewing played an alley-oop dunk, and now it is 9:5. Zhao Dong led the team with a strong defense and fast break, and also played a wave of 9-0 attacks."

Zhang rationally explained excitedly.

"This offense played well. The continuous passing made the Bulls' double-teaming useless. Instead, it created a lot of open positions, and the Knicks caught the opportunity." Sun Zhenping laughed.

"This kind of three-person double-team, once broken, will have serious consequences. Just now, Houston didn't give Ewing, but Zhao Dong directly. Then Zhao Dong would definitely block Rodman and block it."

Zhang Li laughed.

In the TNT live broadcast, Matt asked, "Bill, what do you think of this ball?"

Bill Walton said: "The Pistons used Jordan's rules to deal with the Bulls, and the effect was good. They eliminated Jordan's Bulls three times in the playoffs. This extreme tactic is useful.

But when Jordan entered his peak period, this tactic could no longer limit him, which also shows that this tactic is not omnipotent.

The Bulls used this tactic in the last game, which really limited the offense of the dragon, because the offense of the dragon did not reach Jordan's omnipotence. But looking at it today, what the Bulls still need to limit is the passing of the Dragon.

As the Knicks' ball controller, as long as the Flying Dragon's pass is restricted, the Knicks can be defeated, that's for sure.

In the last game, Feilong also passed a lot of balls in double-teams, but his teammates felt too bad, which means that this tactic cannot freeze his passing ability.

So I think the use of this tactic is also flawed. It can limit the offense of the dragon, but it cannot limit his passing. "

Matt went on to say: "The Bulls play this defensive tactic, and I also think there are some weaknesses. First, the Bulls are not the Pistons, and they don't have the dirty defense of the Pistons. When using this tactic, the effect is not so good.

Chuck Daly told his players back then that the Bulls would never be able to play this kind of defense if they wanted to see Jordan's blood.

Of course, if this kind of defense is really played, then the Knicks will immediately have a fight with the Bulls. In terms of combat effectiveness, even the original bad boy army will not be the opponent of this Knicks, haha! "

At this point, the two laughed a few times, and Bill Walton said with a smile: "Yes, if the Knicks hadn't shot too low in the last game, the Bulls could not have won so many points. I don't think that is a reflection of the true strength of the score. "

Matt continued: "Second, Flying Dragon is not Jordan, he and Jordan are two types of players, his organization and assist ability are stronger.

Facing this weakened version of Jordan's Law, whether it is from the performance of the last game or from the ball just now, the Dragons have not lost their ability to pass the ball. his purpose.

And this is a self-destructive defensive tactic. If the goal is not achieved, as long as the Knicks' open players seize the opportunity, then I believe that the pass of the Dragon will greatly kill the Bulls. "