Chapter 434: Defeating the Opponent
For Knicks fans, the climax finally came. After three quarters of depression, Super Yang finally announced his perfect return in a shocking way.
Amidst the roaring cheers of the fans, Yang Mo calmly ran back. To him, now wasn't the time to celebrate. The team was still ten points behind. What was there to celebrate? Wasn't it just a three-pointer?
Yang Mo thought it was nothing special, but Tony Allen and Turiaf beside him were extremely shocked. This guy's frequency was indeed different from that of the others. They used to think that Yang Mo's strength was not stronger than those superstars, but that was true. However, this guy's IQ was too high, and he had a very clear grasp of the situation on the court. It felt like he had a God's perspective, and he could see at a glance how the opponent deployed his troops. Moreover, he even knew psychology!
As witnesses, they would never think that the three-pointer just now was a coincidence. It was definitely a carefully laid trap. First of all, this guy was able to create a fan-shaped defensive lineup. He put almost all the defensive focus on the right side, but at the same time he let Conley go. In fact, the distance between him and Conley was the shortest. When Conley was about to shoot, Yang, who seemed to have no defense, flew up at the first time. Thus, this block that covered the sky and the sun and the three-pointer were created.
"This guy should be running for president. His intelligence shouldn't even exist on the basketball court," Tony Allen muttered to himself. He finally understood why his former head coach admired Yang Mo so much. This guy's basketball IQ completely crushed other players.
In just two rounds of less than a minute, Yang Mo not only led the team to recover five points, but more importantly, he captured the hearts of the two new players. He immediately strengthened their confidence and tied them wholeheartedly to his chariot.
"Did you see that? It's brutal enough!" Stockton pointed at Yang Mo on the court and said proudly.
"Why didn't I see any brutality? He didn't even do a single celebration." Karl Malone shrugged his shoulders and said unyieldingly, "Obviously, he's still not excited enough."
"He's not full yet. When he's full, he'll celebrate." Stockton smiled faintly, "I know Yang much better than you do."
As Stockton said, he really knew Yang Mo better than Karl Malone. Yang Mo was waiting for the moment to overtake. Now, it was indeed not time to celebrate.
In the next game, the Grizzlies obviously increased their alertness, and Yang Mo also gave up the surprise attack routine. After all, this kind of thing can only be done once or twice, but not three times. If you use it too much, it will backfire.
The Grizzlies entered a steady and cautious mode, and Yang Mo directly waved his hand and announced man-to-man defense. Due to the disadvantage in the interior, after the team failed to defend the attack of the Memphis black and white bears in two rounds, Yang Mo directly replaced Gallinani with Jeffries to strengthen the perimeter defense, and he went deep into the penalty area to assist in defense against Randolph and Gasol.
The Grizzlies' rise this season is essentially due to the chemical reaction between Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, one attacking and the other defending, in the interior. Although their outside shooting is strong, it can only be icing on the cake and has no essential help in improving their performance.
Now, Yang Mo plunged into the paint, completely neutralizing the two black and white bears. Yang Mo had always been Randolph's worst enemy; the sight of him brought back memories of the concussion he'd suffered, leaving him without the courage to attack. While Marc Gasol was tougher than his brother, his offense was limited to his three main tactics. With three players against two, the inside game was naturally choked.
The Grizzlies were stifled inside, and the situation wasn't much better on the perimeter. Jeffries and Tony Allen were both defensive stalwarts, and while Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo were considered among the league's top perimeter players, without any inside support and facing a relentless defense from the perimeter, their offensive hopes rested on their shooting touch.
Unfortunately, their touch tonight was completely used up in the first three quarters, and they could only accept the dismal shooting rate of missing shots again and again.
The Knicks deployed their strongest defensive lineup, which, in turn, weakened their offensive firepower considerably. But... their core weapon was still on the court. Although the Grizzlies even resorted to a triple-team, Yang Mo wasn't foolish. He simply assigned Turiaf and Milicic to closely guard him. Once they formed a human wall to block the defense, Yang Mo would launch a three-pointer. Swish! Swish! Swish!
The hit rate broke the heart of the Grizzlies coach. It's not the way to play. How can there be such a tactic? Let two teammates form a human shield to block the defender, and hide behind to shoot. Isn't this a sniper shooting at a fixed point?
No matter how heartbroken the Grizzlies coach is, it won't help because the rules make sense.
Tony Allen from the Celtics found this tactic extremely funny, because a netizen once gave Doc Rivers the same trick, which was to let Glen Davis, Perkins, and Kevin Garnett hold hands and form a circle to protect Ray Allen inside, creating an empty shooting environment for him.
This tactic is really too shameless, and it gives up all rebounds and second-chance offense. Doc Rivers doesn't dare to play it this way.
However, Yang Mo dared to do so. He dared not to take the frontcourt rebounds and he dared not to consider the second attack.
This is based on the premise that he also destroyed the Grizzlies' offense. If they don't score, he can win three points by scoring one goal. Why not do it?
This is a brutal close combat method, simple and crude.
However, the Grizzlies were unable to stop this kind of physical attack. They could only watch as the team was dragged into the quagmire step by step by this simple and crude tactic, and gradually fell behind from the original lead.
The Grizzlies tried four lineup changes in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately, their lineup changes failed to bring any substantial results. The Knicks always firmly controlled their offensive lifeline, making it a luxury for them to score a single shot.
This was a defensive battle, but Yang Mo used a new method that was almost cheating to score points. Although his hit rate was not very high, it was enough to beat the Grizzlies.
Ultimately, the Grizzlies were tragically defeated by Yang Mo's unskilled tactics. After the game, the Grizzlies' head coach angrily complained to the cameras, "Stein is a scoundrel. He actually used that tactic, which seriously violated the rules. I think the league needs to make a rule prohibiting offensive players from using two or more help defenders. Otherwise, it's a violation."
"Their tactics in the fourth quarter were so bad and so egregious that the league must respond." OJ Mayo said the same thing.
Obviously, the Grizzlies attributed their defeat to Yang Mo's unique offensive style. But in fact, this tactic can be used by everyone. If they have a good enough shooter, they can also use this rogue tactic. In fact, they lost to the Knicks' airtight defense. In the fourth quarter, the five players of the Knicks almost played a suffocating defense. They almost turned all areas within the three-point line into a no-fly zone, and it was the basketball that was prohibited from flying, not people.
How could the Grizzlies win against this level of defensive intensity?
After the game, Stein emphasized the team's defense at the press conference: "The new players have given us a very good chemistry, especially on the defensive end. I think our defense is good enough to fight with opponents in the playoffs. In the entire fourth quarter, we only allowed the opponent to take 12 shots. Through video playback, there was only one shot that was unguarded, and they only made three shots. This is the key to our victory. Regarding Super Yang's use of double pick-and-roll screens on the court, if the league feels it is inappropriate, we can promise not to be the first to use this destructive weapon."
Since Yang Mo deliberately avoided contact with reporters, the player who attended the post-match press conference became Tony Allen, who scored 11 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block in the game.
"I am very happy to join the Knicks. I love New York, the fans here, and everything here." When asked by reporters about his feelings about joining the Knicks, Tony Allen gave a very official answer.
"There will be no problem between me and Super Yang. As for what you said about Super Yang being a very arrogant player, I think this should be an incomplete description. In fact, in my impression, he is a very good player who can drive his opponents crazy. Tonight's victory was planned by him." Tony Allen answered like this when asked by reporters how he got along with the arrogant Yang Mo, and his tone was full of admiration for Yang Mo.
When the reporter asked how Super Yang planned this victory, he answered: "In fact, I don't know how he planned it. I only know that before the start of the fourth quarter, he said to us, 'Come on, guys, let's get serious. I will lead you to victory,' and then we won. To be honest, I thought this guy was crazy at the time. We were already 15 points behind, and we played as bad as shit in the first three quarters, but... he did it so easily, this is his magic. You can never tell where he is strong, but he can defeat one seemingly invincible opponent after another."
There is no doubt that Tony Allen has been completely conquered by Yang Mo. When the reporter consciously tried to create the illusion that Yang Mo was not welcomed by his teammates, he said no very firmly and told the reporter with admiration how great Super Yang was.
As a result, the second half of the press conference turned into a 'how to properly praise Super Yang' mode, with the speaker being Tony Allen.
