My days of working at the NBA

Chapter 42 A natural defensive instinct?

At this moment, the camera panned to the sidelines.

Connecticut's head coach, Jim, didn't react at all. He just walked around expressionlessly, as if he wasn't the one who had been hit twice.

Billy King chuckled. "Jim's pretty calm."

Dorut continued, "Many fans think this is the kind of composure a head coach should have, but the truth is, he was out of options. What can he do if he's not calm?"

The match had barely started for a minute, and before the tone had even been set, it was already split into three rounds.

In this situation, would yelling and shouting help?

It's completely useless and could easily demoralize the troops.

The game continues.

Price slowly pushed the ball towards him.

Billy King complained again: "While I know Connecticut's style of play is positional, I still can't accept this slow, methodical way of crossing half-court. Why can't they push forward quickly? What if a teammate creates an opportunity?"

Dorut explained, "That's the Connecticut style of play. Price does this to set the pace of the game; they need to create a slow-paced atmosphere."

"Don't underestimate this point. If a team loses its familiar rhythm, it will be disastrous; it's easy for them to get lost..."

Before he could finish speaking...

The next second, Dorut was proven wrong.

Price was slowly dragged forward under Lawrence's relentless pressure. Perhaps he himself felt it was too slow, so after a crossover dribble, he suddenly leaned on Lawrence and did a backflip.

The instant he made that move, Taylor, who was near the center circle, suddenly lunged forward without warning.

When Price turned around, he was sandwiched between the front and back like a sandwich cookie.

He frantically tried to protect the ball.

The ball was lost again.

Lawrence had a clear path in front of him, another open basket.

6:0.

A three-hit combo at the start.

Black Pearl on the sidelines was so excited she couldn't sit still and jumped up.

Dorut smacked his lips twice: "What's going on? Why isn't anyone from Connecticut coming to help? This is terrible."

Billy King added, "It seems Price wasn't intentionally slowing down the pace, but rather couldn't adapt to such high-pressure defense all at once."

Dorut's lips twitched violently: "I feel that Connecticut is completely unprepared for the match, and they're not even up to the required intensity. How could they make such a basic mistake?"

The camera cut back to the sidelines, where Jim remained unfazed.

Billy King didn't press Dorut further, but instead steered the conversation back on track: "Missouri's high-pressure counter-attacking style is too strong; they've really made the most of their fast-paced game."

Jim still didn't call a timeout.

Price still controlled the ball, and Lawrence continued to apply maximum intensity.

It's still going on and on.

However, this time Osterly came to meet them.

Taking advantage of the off-ball movement, Price received a pass back and dribbled smoothly past the center line.

Just past the center line, he suddenly slammed on the gas pedal and sped off without stopping for a moment, passing Lawrence and Carroll, and drove straight into the paint area.

Everyone was taken aback by this sudden move.

Dorut praised, "Price's offensive choice was very clever. He took advantage of the stereotypes about Connecticut and caught Missouri off guard."

This is true.

Everyone thought Connecticut would try to break down the defense step by step, but Price didn't play by the rules. He charged forward and reached the penalty area with almost no resistance.

This time, however, he didn't dare to take off directly, but instead glanced at Du Ze who was coming to meet him.

During the process, without hesitation, he raised his hand and tossed the object high into the air.

He didn't even jump...

This offensive choice was equally unexpected, leaving many bewildered.

Billy King blurted out, "What's going on? He just shot like that? This offensive choice..."

Before he could finish speaking, Thabeet on the other side of the basket had already taken off.

Dorut shouted, "That's an alley-oop!"

Thabeet over there had already leaped high, his fingertips touching the ball, a fierce expression on his face, ready to smash it into the basket.

But the next second, Du Ze suddenly sprang up from somewhere.

Rising higher and higher...

His fingertips finally touched the ball.

Thabit, suspended in mid-air, went from a fierce expression to utter astonishment in an instant.

He could clearly feel the ball slip from his fingertips to his wrist.

boom!

The loud slam dunk made the floor tremble.

Thabeet dunked on the rim with one arm, while Duze had already been knocked away and was about to crash to the floor.

Where's the ball?

It didn't even touch the rim; it had already fallen off.

That's right.

Thabeet's one-handed dunk was a complete flop.

An alley-oop attempt, but they caught a fake ball...

The ball had already been picked up by Taylor, who came over to help defend, and Missouri launched another fast break.

Lawrence once again pulled off an aerial layup with a reverse hand.

8:0.

Within the first minute, they thrashed the championship favorites Connecticut 8-0.

Who could have predicted this outcome?

Dorut was completely stunned: "Wow, how could you cover that?"

One against two.

Du Ze first covered Price, and after Price's high lob, he immediately turned around and made a last-second block on Thabeet who was coming towards the rim.

The reaction speed, the rebound speed, the rate of bounce, and the height of the jump are truly astonishing.

Billy King's voice was hoarse with excitement: "My God, it's Durant, it's Durant again! He's finally shown us what top-tier rim protection is all about."

The visual impact of that block was simply too strong.

They had just finished defending Price when they turned around and went to tackle Thabeet's alley-oop.

Facing a giant with a height of 221cm and a wingspan of 229cm, Du Ze leaped up from the ground like a celestial being and completed the ultimate block.

Jim, standing on the sidelines, finally signaled a timeout with a grim expression.

The cheers from the audience surged forth like a tidal wave.

Billy King's grin was harder to suppress than an AK-47's, as he called out to his old buddy, "How was it? Duze's rim protection didn't disappoint you, did it?"

Dorut chuckled: "It is indeed amazing. As you said, I have witnessed his incredible jumping ability and his remarkable defensive choices."

The praise was genuine, but he still didn't give Duze a direct affirmation. Instead, he said, "But to be honest, his defensive choice this time was very risky. When Price threw the ball high, he didn't even jump, but turned around and lunged at Thabeet. If Price had chosen to shoot himself, Duze wouldn't have been able to interfere at all."

Working backward from the answer is not a fair approach.

From a professional perspective, Duze's failure to jump when facing Price demonstrates a lack of defensive pressure, which is not the expected response of a rim protector.

Billy King paused for a moment, then tried to offer an explanation: "Is it possible that this is Duze's innate defensive instinct?"

The situation on the field can change in an instant, and no one can fully empathize with the players at that moment and what choices they should make in that situation.

But the results don't lie.

In just one minute, or more precisely, only 58 seconds into the game, Duze contributed two blocks and one steal, successfully turning Missouri's basket into a true no-fly zone.

Isn't that convincing enough?