Chapter 501: Magic Team Paper Tiger
The other Knicks players were looking forward to Yang Mo's reaction. They also didn't know how Yang Mo would respond to Paris Hilton's tearful speech.
Amidst the anticipation of everyone, Yang Mo finally made a move. He stood up, ignoring the sobbing Paris Hilton, and walked straight to the door. "Security, come here and ask this woman who is disrupting the order in the locker room to leave. If she comes in again and disturbs the players' rest, you can resign."
Yang Mo's words were cold and direct. She didn't even say a word to Paris Hilton, let alone offer any words of comfort or sweet nothings. It seemed as if Yang Mo was completely heartless.
Soon, security arrived and dragged Paris Hilton away. As she was being carried out, Paris Hilton screamed and kept apologizing, constantly hoping to be with Yang Mo, but Yang Mo never even looked her in the eye. To Yang Mo, this woman wasn't worth fucking.
The Knicks players couldn't help but be surprised by Yang Mo's handling of the situation, yet at the same time, they felt a certain admiration. Perhaps Super Yang was the only man in the world who could treat Paris Hilton this way? Everyone else wanted to have a relationship with her, but Super Yang had simply thrown her out like a dead dog, completely ignoring her affection. If Milicic had seen all this, he'd probably be heartbroken, right?
"Yang, are you so ruthless to women?" Gallinani on the side couldn't help but ask in a low voice. As a romantic Italian, he felt that Yang Mo seemed a little too rude.
"Not all women are like Paris Hilton, so I can't be like this to all women." Yang Mo said calmly.
After saying this, he quickly turned the topic to tonight's game to avoid distracting everyone: "Let's put this little incident behind us. Our next task is to defeat our opponent. We are now two points ahead, which is not a safe score. But this proves that our courage and perseverance can defeat the opponent. As long as we unite as one, a team of the Magic's level should not be a hindrance to us."
Yang Mo walked to the center of the locker room as he spoke. He raised his voice and said proudly, "The Magic are just a paper tiger. Their tactics are too simple, nothing more than three-pointers and inside shots. So, I've decided to defeat them in the third quarter. Do you believe it?"
Almost all the Knicks players looked bewildered. They didn't believe they could defeat their opponent in a single quarter with their current lineup. Only Jeffries nodded resolutely and answered loudly, "I believe it."
Yang Mo nodded in satisfaction at Jeffreys's trust. When Yang Mo slapped him, he never thought that this guy would become his most loyal partner in the end.
"You don't believe me because you don't have a deep understanding of what kind of team the Magic are. I can tell you, they're weak. Physically, they're like a cripple walking on one leg," Yang Mo continued passionately. "Their core is a center who can't handle the ball in one-on-one situations, and they don't have a decisive player on the perimeter. Their clutch shots are always handed over to a short point guard who can't pass. Do you think such a team has any hope?"
After Yang Mo's analysis, the Knicks players slowly nodded, as if they were hypnotized.
"Do you know what our team's advantages are?" Yang Mo continued to ask.
"It's you." Tony Allen pointed his finger at Yang Mo without hesitation. No one else had any objection to this. This was an indisputable fact.
"Yes, it's me." Yang Mo nodded, then said, "Think about it, what am I best at? I'm best at key shots, assists, three-pointers, and rebounds."
"I alone have the advantage that five Knicks players possess, and my assist ability is something they don't have. With you guys, do you think we can't win?"
Yang Mo's words resonated deeply with his teammates, instantly blossoming into something profound. "Yeah, why can't we win? Are the Magic really that formidable? If they were truly that formidable, how could we have defeated them twice in a row at home? We were able to lead even without a big man and without Wilt Chandler. Are they anything but a paper tiger?"
When these thoughts formed in their minds, Yang Mo's goal was achieved. He wanted this effect, to make his teammates look down on their opponents strategically. When players can stand at an absolute height and look down on their opponents, then the issue of self-confidence is no longer a concern.
After establishing strategic contempt, Yang Mo quickly moved to the tactical board. He needed to prioritize his opponent's tactics. While drawing on the board with a marker, he explained, "The Knicks' lineup is essentially a run-and-gun lineup, and they're good at playing fast. But they can't play as fast as we do because they don't have a good point guard. Their point guards don't know how to pass the ball quickly and steadily. We can, because the Knicks have Super Yang."
"So, next we have to take the initiative to increase the amount of offense. We have to catch them off guard as soon as we come on the court, so as to establish a strategic advantage. Anthony Randolph, Jeffries, Tracy McGrady, and Gallinari, you will follow me to the court in a moment. You must run as hard as you can when you come on the court, but you can't run around like a headless fly. Jeffries, Anthony Randolph, you have to make diagonal runs into the penalty area from the left and right forty-five degrees. Tracy, you have to pay attention to supporting and screening in the central area. As soon as you have the opportunity, you have to run back in. At this time, Jeffries or Anthony Randolph, you should come out to support, and you must ensure that there are people in the central area. As for Gallinari, your task is to shoot three-pointers. As for how to run, that is your business."
Yang Mo carefully laid out the tactics, marking each person's running routes on the tactical board. Then, Yang Mo asked again, "So, do you think we have a chance of defeating our opponent in the third quarter?"
"Yes!" All Knicks players were full of confidence.
There's no doubt that Yang Mo's speech had the desired effect. The Knicks' confidence at this point was completely different from their previous, last-ditch effort. Back then, the Knicks had simply surged with energy, like a blast, but that effect typically didn't last long. But now, it had transformed them from within. Their confidence radiated from within, and it was sustainable.
Soon, the game started again.
When the Knicks' five forwards took to the court, not only the Magic but also Knicks fans were a little dumbfounded. What was this all about? Height suppression? But what about defense?
Soon, Yang Mo told them with facts how to defend.
Zone defense.
When the Magic took the lead in passing the ball to the frontcourt, the Knicks immediately deployed a zone defense, a three-two zone, with Yang Mo positioned in the restricted area and Jeffries moving up to oppressively defend the Magic's scoring front line in order to ease the defensive pressure on Gallinani.
The advantage of a zone defense is that it gathers the team's strength and greatly reduces the physical fatigue of man-to-man defense. After all, the Knicks currently have far fewer capable players than the Magic. If the game drags on , physical fatigue will become the biggest disadvantage and the main cause of failure.
The Knicks suddenly used a double team defense, and the Magic were a little uncomfortable with it. Their first attack quickly turned into a miss. Yang Mo forced Howard out of the way and used his advantage in predicting the situation to grab the rebound at an incredible speed.
As soon as he grabbed the rebound, the other four Knicks players had already run across the midfield. In fact, they were already running at full speed when Nelson took the shot.
At the same time, Yang Mo, who grabbed the rebound, also rushed quickly. Just after passing half court, he threw the ball into the air. Very quickly, the basketball fell into the high air of the penalty area. Then Jeffries jumped high, caught the basketball in mid-air and slammed it into the basket.
From grabbing the rebound to launching their offense, they surprisingly took only four seconds, far exceeding the Phoenix Suns' seven-second run-and-gun strategy. D'Antoni's death was well deserved. His most trusted run-and-gun strategy was now effortlessly executed by Yang Mo. If he wasn't fired, who would be?
At this moment, seeing the Knicks speed up, Stan Van Gundy made a decision almost instantly. He shouted loudly: "Pick up the pace, let's speed up the pace too. They don't have as much physical strength as us, let's run them to death!"
As soon as Stan Van Gundy said this , Yang Mo became happy. This way, it would be difficult for the Magic to avoid losing.
To be fair, Stan Van Gundy's idea wasn't wrong. If they were to run back and forth, the Knicks would definitely be the ones who would expend more energy. However, Yang Mo had never planned to keep running and attacking; he just wanted to keep the score within a safe distance.
The surest way for them to widen the scoring gap was for the Magic to follow suit. If the Magic played steadily, it would be difficult to widen the gap. But once they started running, the possibility of widening the gap would increase exponentially.
Very quickly, Nelson began to execute the run-and-gun tactics, but as soon as he started running, Jeffries chased him. He kept using his height and long legs to block him. He did not stop the ball and did not intercept it. He simply delayed their offensive time and reduced the amount of high-intensity exercise for veteran players like McGrady.
His delay was effective. It took Nelson nearly four seconds to run outside the three-point line, and most of the Knicks players had already taken their positions at this time, although this speed was not slow.
But for a team that can score in four seconds, it's too slow!
