NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 316 Jia Fei's Gauntlet Battle

The Philips Arena erupted in cheers...

This offensive and defensive play was entirely led by Jia Fei, showcasing his abilities. Who says he's just a regular season player? He was phenomenal in the conference playoffs and the Finals!

On both benches, Cole was dissatisfied with the team's defense. He seemed very agitated and kept emphasizing one word—"aggressiveness."

The commentary booth on the sports channel.

"Coach Zhang, Jia Fei's pass just now... his ability to break double teams has really improved a lot. What do you think?" Yu Jia asked.

Coach Zhang nodded: "We see that the Hawks' soacing is very good. The players are spreading out very quickly, and all five players on the court can shoot from long range. So when Jia Fei drives in, hey, do you double team or not? If you do, Bang will pass the ball right away."

"Coach Zhang, what adjustments do you think the Warriors should make?" Yu Jia asked.

Coach Zhang gestured carefully with his hands: "You have to play reasonably and be patient. Green's move just now was too big. If you can't make the shot from the outside, pass it to the inside. The closer you are to the basket, the higher your shooting percentage will be."

After the timeout, the game resumed.

After the timeout, the Warriors made adjustments, no longer easily double-teaming Jia Fei. Kerr himself doesn't particularly like double-teaming ball handlers; his defensive philosophy emphasizes switching rather than double-teaming. At most, he delays the play, preventing mismatches. Therefore, he prefers using swingmen, a lineup better suited for switching.

When the Warriors switched on defense, Jia Fei increased his personal offense. Not only Jia Fei, but Teague, Middleton, and Horford also made decisive attacks when facing one-on-one situations, which put considerable defensive pressure on the Warriors.

The Hawks double-teamed Curry, preventing him from scoring three points, which left some space under the basket. Bogut was able to score and became the team's top scorer.

Therefore, it's wrong for some people to only focus on scoring. When the core player is double-teamed, he passes the ball to other players, and some players are left open to score easy baskets and steal points, sometimes even outscoring the core player. Can you say that the team relies on him? Are those who steal baskets and steal points the real stars?

If you only look at the stats and not the game itself, it might seem like this guy is the star player, but the truth is that those opportunities were given to you by the opponent. Giving opportunities to some role players in order to limit the core player is a trade-off.

The Hawks were making trade-offs. To limit the Splash Brothers, they chose to double-team Curry and have their best perimeter defender, JaVale, closely guard Klay Thompson. But this meant they couldn't distribute their defense evenly, giving Barnes, Dwight Howard, and Bogdanovic more opportunities.

Jia Fei went to the bench for a rest with a little over six minutes left in the first quarter. Judging by this trend, he was expected to come back in to lead the second unit. After he left, Sefolosha came on to match up against Klay Thompson.

The Warriors also made a substitution, with Iguodala replacing Klay Thompson.

At 10:14, the Hawks lead by 4 points.

After Jia Fei left the field, Sefolosha came on.

After Jia Fei left the court, the Hawks played more like team basketball. Lacking their star player, their offensive tactics relied more on teamwork.

For the Warriors, Curry was still being double-teamed, and Iguodala's double-teaming intensified after he entered the game. Klay Thompson did manage to draw some defensive attention. Iguodala's three-point shooting was even worse than Barnes', so not leaving him completely open was already a sign of underestimating him.

The two sides entered a stalemate, and both sides continued to make changes to their lineups.

The Hawks used a nine-man rotation for this game, with five starters and four reserves: Sefolosha, Schroder, Art Mayok, and Scott.

The Warriors used a 10-man rotation, with five reserves: Ezeli, Speights, Iguodala, Livingston, and Barbosa.

Former All-Star power forward David Lee is now struggling to even get bench time on Kerr's team, which is quite a sad state of affairs. He can't even compete with Speights for playing time on the team anymore; it would be strange if he could accept that.

David Lee is certainly not out of action; he's healthy, and his offense remains versatile, capable of playing both inside and outside. The main reason he's not playing is his poor defense. Kerr emphasizes defense, and Green's rise to prominence is largely due to his exceptional defensive abilities.

Jia Fei entered the game with 3 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first quarter, when the score was 17-19, with the Hawks leading by 2 points. The Hawks have a mature and complete system, and they won't lack a core player even when their superstar is absent, which is the biggest difference between them and the Cavaliers.

At this moment, the lineups of both teams on the court were as follows: for the Hawks, Art Mayok, Scott, Sefolosha, Jia Fei, and Xiao Hei; for the Warriors, Ezeli, Speights, Iguodala, Livingston, and Curry.

Curry dribbled the ball over and passed it to Iguodala.

Curry used screens to make runs, and the black man followed him like a shadow, working very hard.

Iguodala has the ball and is facing Sefolosha.

Unable to pass the ball properly, Iguodala lobbed it to Livingston.

Livingston is two meters tall and was initially groomed to be like Magic Johnson when he entered the league. However, after suffering severe injuries to both legs, he lost his explosiveness. Now, he has found his place with the Warriors.

Livingston, as a tall point guard, possesses excellent playmaking ability, good court vision, and is very good at passing the ball. He has skillful ball handling and a reliable mid-range jump shot.

Whether facing up or backing down, Livingston's jump shot is consistently reliable. His jump shot is difficult to defend because of its high release point; it's a kind of straight-arm jump shot, released at the highest point. Since he plays point guard, most defenders are under two meters tall, so very few point guards can contest his shot. Therefore, it's almost always a mismatch.

However, the one defending him now is Jia Fei!

The Hawks had taken this into account during their pre-game setup, and they assigned a wing player to guard him in order to limit his jump shot.

Livingston receives the ball, faces Jia Fei, turns his back to the basket, can't get past him, turns and jumps...

Jia Fei also jumped to block, but the ball missed!

Art Mayork firmly controlled the rebound and passed it to Jia Fei.

Jia Fei passed the ball to Xiao Hei, who dribbled it across half-court.

Iguodala became the one defending Jia Fei.

The Warriors' strategy is clear: use a rotation strategy against Jia Fei.

Jia Fei was familiar with this strategy; in his previous life, he had seen the Cavalry vs. Warriors battle, where they used the same tactic to defend against Running Man.

If they don't easily double-team you, then you can't easily lead your teammates; a relentless, rotating attack will exhaust you.

Jia Fei certainly wouldn't underestimate Iguodala; this man was the one who stole his brother's FMVP in the previous life's Cavaliers vs. Warriors battle. Back then, this man was known as "Little AI" and also as the "poor man's version of Running Man."

Iguodala possesses all the physical gifts to become a superstar. He can handle the ball, organize the offense, has a high basketball IQ and is selfless, and is an excellent and well-rounded defender. He is practically a super glue player.