Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA

Chapter 119: 3 Rounds of Finals (5000-word chapter begging for subscriptions and monthly votes!) _2


This is precisely the defensive technique that Qin Yue learned from Marion.

Namely, not to focus on shutting down the opponent, but to disrupt the opponent's overall offensive rhythm by restricting their comfortable scoring on the court.

On the court, in four low-post encounters with Qin Yue, Boozer managed to earn two free throws, delivered two blocks to Qin Yue, and missed one shot under Qin Yue's strong interference.

Under Qin Yue's defense, Boozer's performance in the first quarter was not only uncomfortable, but after his most skilled offensive moves were repeatedly neutralized by Qin Yue, Boozer's high-post shoulder-push shot also inevitably suffered.

In basketball games, every player has their most adept scoring method.

Throughout his career, Boozer's long two-pointer shooting accuracy was roughly around 41%.

Given Boozer's long two-pointer yield, if he couldn't use his more skilled and principal scoring method to maintain steady scoring in a game, relying solely on long two-pointers wouldn't be enough to defeat the Warriors.

Of course, the fact that Qin Yue could devote so much energy to the defensive end tonight also had to do with Davis beating Chris Paul into a miserable state.

In the game, Paul, trained in Stockton's subtle moves, found them ineffective against Davis's explosive breakthroughs, leaving him at a loss.

With sheer power overcoming finesse, Davis would pulverize all of Paul's tricks once he found a breakthrough space with Qin Yue's screen.

Just like in martial arts novels, no matter how many tricks Huang Yaoshi has, he must summon all his True Qi to compete against Hong Qigong's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.

As long as Paul lacks this True Qi, he will inevitably be overwhelmed by Davis.

Moreover, one must clarify for Paul...

Historically, even in the series where the Jazz eliminated the Golden State Gang with a 4-1 victory, Deron Williams also had to endure beatings from the violent machine that was Davis.

At that time, facing Davis, who could score 25 points per game for the Warriors at nearly 50% shooting accuracy, Deron Williams, with his overall shooting percentage only at 38.7%, could only rely on his teammates to scrape by.

If Qin Yue remembers correctly, the reason the Warriors lost to the Jazz in that run-and-gun battle was mainly due to Stephen Jackson's overall shooting percentage being less than 30%.

Due to the Jazz's overly transparent presence and his own low profile, Andrei Kirilenko, who only made the Best Defensive Team three times in his career, was the true key to victory in that series for the Jazz.

In that series, Kirilenko averaged 3.2 blocks per game and not only defended the renowned "Martial Saint" into a waste that anyone would want to kick to death...

But he even had extra energy to assist Boozer and Okur in their less adept sweeping tasks.

However...

Compared to the wretched Stephen Jackson.

Due to Qin Yue's presence, Kirilenko couldn't use his usual defensive support to aid his teammates.

Thus...

Tonight's Chris Paul...

Is there a word dreadful enough to describe it?

At the end of the first quarter, the scoreboard read, 24 to 32.

Paul, going 1 for 4, accumulated a total of 2 points and 3 assists.

In contrast, Davis, who matched against him, scored 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists.

It is well-known in the NBA that, even when players are in the same position on the court, during actual games, players in the same position on opposing teams don't necessarily match up.

As many teams employ switching defenses...

to ensure that their core players can avoid the opposing team's offensive core.

But most of the time, certain matchups are destined to be immutable through switching.

Take this game as an example; even without Qin Yue, the Jazz could only use Paul to match against Davis.

Because the Jazz's strongest defensive player, Kirilenko, has a height of 206 cm in shoes.

His one-on-one defensive capability is strong but only against players in his same position on the wing, not guards like Davis who come at you without exchange of words.

In regular Jazz games, except when facing a few stars, Paul is already the most reliable perimeter defender for the Jazz.

So Paul couldn't avoid this confrontation against Davis.

Originally, Paul, who was being one-sidedly beaten by Davis, could turn the tables through offensive coordination, just like Deron relying on teammates.

But...

On the premise that Davis could carry the Warriors' offense, Qin Yue had already tortured Kirilenko and Boozer on both offense and defense tonight...

Historically, when Deron didn't perform well, it was Kirilenko who limited Jackson and Boozer and Okur's excellent performance that allowed the Jazz to defeat the Warriors 4-1.

But in the subsequent Western Conference Finals where they suffered a 1-4 defeat to the Spurs, Deron, averaging 25.8 points and 7.8 assists for the Jazz, could only accept the fate of defeat with the team.

Why?

Because with Duncan leading the Spurs' interior, they had already revealed the Jazz's weak point— a team lacking hard solution capability through numerous offensive and defensive possessions.

In the matches, whenever Boozer faced a capable power forward, the Jazz would expose their weakness of lacking hard solution ability in crucial moments.

Under normal circumstances, Paul could use his rhythm pull-up to provide this hard solution capability to the Jazz in certain possessions.

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