Almighty Coach

In the first quarter, the game entered the first official timeout. The score on the field was 10 to 9, and the Blazers temporarily led by one point.

From the statistical point of view, the Clippers did not play well. They made 3 of 9 shots, including 1 of 4 three-pointers. In addition, they only made 2 of 4 free throws, and they made 50% of their free throws. It is indeed a bit bad. In addition, the Clippers made another mistake.

For the Blazers, they didn't play badly. On defense, they limited the Clippers to 33% shooting and had a nice steal. On offense, the Blazers also played. With his own tactical cooperation, there are several gaps that are very suitable for shooting.

It's just that the Blazers don't seem to feel very good today, and their own basket seems to be against the Blazers, and their shots are always a little bit worse.

Looking at this score, Trail Blazers coach Tris was full of dissatisfaction. His idea was to beat the Clippers to the ground at the beginning of the game. For example, a 10-0 or 20-0 would be enough in the first quarter. many advantages. However, although the Blazers also have an advantage now, this 1-point lead can only be regarded as dispensable.

However, Tris couldn't criticize his players. The performance of the players was not bad. They seriously implemented the tactics that Tris arranged before the game, playing the style characteristics of the Trail Blazers. It's just that the ball was not scored at the end.

"The game has just started, and the players' touch has not yet come. After they get used to it, their shooting percentage will naturally increase. But with a wave of play, the Clippers can be taken away." Triss thought of this, and turned to the Clippers. The team's bench looked around.

I saw Dai Li holding the water cup and handing it to the players with a smile, without any intention of planning tactics. And the players also sat on the chairs, or drank water or wiped their sweat, and did not seem to listen to the coach's instructions.

"Dai Li, this rare official suspension, didn't he say something to the athletes? Instead, he became a water dispenser administrator. But think about it, this layman has no dry goods in his stomach, and he won't be useful to the athletes. Guidance." Tris pouted disdainfully.

After the first official timeout ended and the players returned to the field, neither side made changes to the roster, continuing to keep the five starters on the field.

The Blazers' touch began to pick up and scored goals one after another. The Clippers seemed helpless in the face of the Blazers' sharp offense. On the defensive end, the Blazers forced another turnover from the Clippers.

It's just that the score still hasn't been opened. The Clippers' nerve knife Naismith made consecutive three-pointers, and then broke through with the ball and caused a foul by the Trail Blazers. He used free throws to help the Clippers stabilize the situation.

"If it weren't for Naismith's nerve knife, we would have already led by double digits." Triss looked at the scoreboard and thought indignantly.

In fact, Tris also knows that this kind of nerve knife player feels as fierce as a tiger, but not as cowardly as a dog. They "started their nerves", that is, scoring unreasonably, which is obviously not the kind of reasonable offensive opportunity, and they will be converted into points abruptly.

In a blink of an eye, the first quarter entered the last three minutes. Taking advantage of a dead ball, the referee gave the second official timeout of the first quarter.

Tris is not satisfied with the performance of the five starting players, because they have not gained enough lead, or the current lead of the Blazers is not an advantage at all. After playing more than 9 minutes in the first quarter, the Blazers did not Not behind, but the lead has never exceeded five points, most of them are hovering two or three points ahead.

This is not the result Tris wanted, what he wanted was a big win. Not only because the Clippers themselves are a weak team, but also because the head coach of the Clippers is a layman. Facing a team led by a layman, if he only wins by three to five points, Tris feels too shameless.

"It's time to come off the bench. Our bench is already stronger than the Clippers, and now the Clippers are suffering from massive injuries. If it's still counting that both sides are coming off the bench, it's a trade-off. , we must be stronger. What the starters failed to do, it depends on the substitute players."

Tris thought of this and began to replace the substitute players on the field. He expected that the substitute could bring the Trail Blazers a double-digit score advantage.

...

With a free throw opportunity, Tris changed two people in a row, and finally changed back to the entire starting lineup.

The Clippers made two free throws, and the score gap became four points again, which made Tris feel powerless.

During the substitute-to-substitute period, the Blazers did not complete Tris' goal, and the score did not reach double digits. Instead, it continued to hover within five points.

A feeling of anger gradually sprouted in Tris's heart. Facing the underdog Clippers and an amateur head coach who made his NBA debut for the first time, the Blazers were still unable to open the score.

Tris couldn't help looking at the Clippers' bench, and happened to see Li Dai looking very relaxed, chatting and laughing with assistant coach Cassell.

Dai Li is really relaxed now. After he used the title of "evenly matched", the outcome of the game cannot be decided by him, so Li Dai simply put on a mentality of watching a show, and listened to Kassel next to him from time to time. To explain the tactics, it can be regarded as grinding the gun in front of the battle.

The assistant coach of the Clippers, Cassell, felt more and more confused. From the perspective of his professional basketball coach, the Clippers did not play well today, and the Trail Blazers did not play badly either, but the score between the two sides has never been opened, and he kept looking at the sidelines The latest technical statistics, I want to find some clues on it.

Finally, the first half of the game was over, and Naismith made a quasi-buzzer two-pointer at the end, allowing the Clippers to temporarily fall behind the Trail Blazers by two points, 49 to 52.

The opponent is the Trail Blazers, a strong team in the Western Conference, and the Clippers only lost two points in the half, which is a very satisfactory answer.

For the Blazers, they always maintained the score lead in the first half and were never surpassed by their opponents. This seems to be an acceptable result.

...

In the Trail Blazers player locker room, head coach Trice looked at his players and roared angrily.

"What the hell are you doing? The opponent is the Clippers, the second-to-last team in the Western Conference, but you are playing like this. Are you sleepwalking!"

The players of the Trail Blazers looked at each other in blank dismay. They didn't understand why the head coach lost his temper so much.

"Coach, we have been implementing the tactics you arranged very seriously, and the score has always been leading. On the whole, we have been suppressing the Clippers in the first half of the game." A player defended.

"Then why are we only leading by three points?" Tris snorted coldly, and then said: "There are several balls, and it is obvious that the open shots can be made by middle school students, but you can't make them. There are also some There is no need for low-level mistakes, such as stepping on the line at the beginning of the second quarter!"

Tris began to count the performance of the Trail Blazers in the first half, and almost every ball he was dissatisfied with would say the last paragraph. At this time, he was like a stingy businessman, paying every penny.

...

Perhaps it was during the halftime break that Trice's madness at the players in the locker room had an effect. At the beginning of the second half, the Trail Blazers played a small climax of 11 to 2, widening the score gap to two. number.

"Coach, we should call a timeout." Assistant coach Cassell suggested.

Under normal circumstances, if the opponent hits an offensive climax, the head coach of the losing team will immediately call a timeout. The first is to adjust the tactics, the second is to let your players stabilize their mentality, and the third is to interrupt the opponent's good touch.

So when the Clippers were beaten 11-2 by the Trail Blazers, Cassel immediately suggested that Dai Li call a timeout.

Dai Li looked at the timer, then shook his head: "It's almost time for the official timeout, so hold on."

In Dai Li's view, it really doesn't matter if a timeout is called or not. Anyway, the two sides are now "evenly matched". As long as the game is not over, the lagging points can always be recovered.

Cassell looked anxious: "Coach, I'm afraid they won't be able to last the official timeout. The Blazers' players have already got their hands on it. If we don't call a timeout in time, maybe the point difference will be widened quickly. "

"No, don't worry, our players will catch up with the score." Dai Li said with a smile.

...

"The Trail Blazers played an 11-2 spurt, and now they have a 12-point lead. The Clippers should call a timeout." The commentator said, and then looked at the referee expectantly.

The referee subconsciously looked at the Clippers' bench and Dai Li, but found that Dai Li had no intention of calling a timeout.

The Clippers players also looked at their bench and saw that Dai Li did not call a timeout, so they sent the ball out. While dribbling the ball across the court, the defender looked at Li Dai, as if asking him if he wanted to pause.

The Blazers players on the opposite side also had the same idea. They thought that the Clippers would definitely call a timeout, so they ran back to their own half and waited for the referee to blow the timeout whistle.

The coaching staff of the Trail Blazers even picked up the tactical board and waited for the timeout to arrange tactics for the players.

It wasn't until the Clippers guard dribbled the ball for half court and still didn't hear the timeout that he confirmed that Dai Li would not call a timeout.

The expected timeout did not come, which made the Clippers players seem a little overwhelmed. In this attack, they were defended by the Trail Blazers for 24 seconds, which hurt morale.

"Why don't the Clippers call a timeout? Their current timeout should be sufficient. Or they want to try their hand on a ball?" Trail Blazers coach Trice frowned.

Next, in the Blazers' offensive round, they made another three-pointer to extend the score to 15 points.

"The difference is 15 points. You should call a timeout this time!" Tris looked at Dai Li.

...

"Coach, let's call a timeout! In this situation, if we wait until the official timeout, we may be more than 20 points behind." Cassel said anxiously.

"Don't be impatient, this is only the third quarter, and the game is still going on." Dai Li waved his hand. He still firmly believes that the effect of "even strength" can narrow the point difference between the two teams as soon as possible.

At this time, both the players and the referee turned their attention to Dai Li again, waiting for Dai Li to call a timeout.

However, Dai Li remained indifferent.

The Clippers only need to hand the ball to Ronnie, the core of the team, and he will organize the offense.

Ronnie and his teammates made a block breakthrough, and then made a pull-up jumper and hit two points, narrowing the point difference to 13 points. This goal was a loophole in the Clippers' defense. The players who made up the defense were not in place in time, which gave the Clippers room for mid-range shots.

Obviously, the previous 14-2 scoring climax also made the Blazers players relax.

In the next offensive round of the Blazers, the player relied on his good touch, dribbled the ball near the three-point line and shot a three-pointer directly. As a result, the basketball missed the basket.

The Clippers grabbed the rebound and quickly began to switch offense and defense. Taking advantage of the Trail Blazers' defensive players' unstable foothold, they played a two plus one. The difference between the two sides became 10 points again.

Immediately after the Trail Blazers player was sentenced to walk when he broke through, the ball returned to the Clippers. The Clippers missed a three-pointer, but the inside player grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled by the opponent when making a tip-up. After scoring two points, the gap narrowed to 8 points.

In the next two rounds, neither side scored a goal until the third round. The Blazers' layup was interfered by the Clippers. The Clippers used the offensive and defensive transition to get two free throws again, reducing the score to 6. point.

Immediately afterwards, the Blazers finally fought back and shot a two-pointer stepping on the three-point line, which turned the point difference into 8 points, and the Clippers immediately responded with a real three-pointer, which narrowed the score to 8 points. 5 points.

"Beep..." The referee's whistle sounded, and it was Trail Blazers coach Tris called a timeout.

The 15-point lead was chased to 5 points, and it was still when the opponent coach didn't call a timeout at all, and didn't make any substitutions or tactical adjustments. This can only show that there is a problem with the Blazers' own players. Tris finally couldn't bear it anymore, and he signaled a timeout to the referee.

The Trail Blazers players walked to the bench, looking a little frustrated. The Clippers players seemed very excited. They recovered the 10-point difference, but even they didn't know how they managed to recover the 10-point difference in a few rounds in the blink of an eye.

Kassel looked at Li Dai, and couldn't help but muttered in his heart: "We didn't call a timeout, didn't change players, and didn't adjust tactics, just let the players continue to play, and managed to recover the score. Coach Li is really lucky! "

...

The game came to the last quarter, and the score became the same as the previous two quarters. The Blazers always took the lead, but the lead was always only three or four points.

As the game drew closer, the Blazers players felt the pressure, too.

A difference of three or four points is not an insurance advantage. Four points is good, and it takes two rounds for the opponent to catch up. With three points, the opponent only needs a three-pointer to tie the score.

Trail Blazers coach Trice's face is getting worse and worse. He didn't expect that an underdog like the Clippers would be so troublesome.

After the last official timeout, the game entered the final decisive moment. At this time, the gap between the two sides was only two points, and every attack was extremely important.

The game had just entered the last two minutes, and the core player of the Trail Blazers made a key three-pointer, which extended the score to 5 points.

"Coach, call a timeout?" Cassel continued to persuade.

"No!" Dai Li shook his head.

As soon as Dai Li finished speaking, Naismith, the Clippers' crazy knife, showed his power again and returned a three-pointer.

With more than a minute left in the game, the Blazers still have a two-point lead and the ball is in their hands.

The Blazers point guard began to press the rhythm, and he wanted to exhaust the 24 seconds of attack time as much as possible.

He didn't start this attack until there were five seconds left on the timer. As a result, when the player took the shot, the 24-second attack time was up. It can be said that the Blazers wasted the opportunity of this attack.

However, the Blazers also successfully consumed 24 seconds, with more than 50 seconds left in the game.

"Coach, call a timeout to arrange the next round of offense." Cassel persuaded again.

In more than fifty seconds, the Clippers trailed by two points. In theory, the Clippers still had two chances to attack, while the Trail Blazers still had one chance to attack. If the Clippers score the next goal and prevent the Trail Blazers from attacking again, the Clippers will have the initiative.

Dai Li thought for a while, then shook his head: "Let the players play by themselves."

The ball was handed over to Ronnie. Ronnie looked at the Blazers' defense and felt that he was not very sure about attacking. He thought for a while that his score today had reached 23 points, which exceeded his usual average per game. Completed the task, so the ball was passed to Naismith.

Naismith's "nerve knife" doesn't care about that. He attacks when he gets the ball, and directly breaks through with the ball. This is a completely unreasonable style of play.

But Naismith also earned two free throws and made both to tie the game.

Now the Trail Blazers couldn't sit still, and Tris immediately called a timeout.

Tris set up a rushing tactic, and it worked. After serving the ball at midfield, the Trail Blazers quickly rushed to the basket and made a throw. It only took 7 seconds to attack the Blazers this time, and there were 32 seconds left.

Calculated in this way, the two teams each have an offensive opportunity, and the final attack will fall in the hands of the Blazers.

"Coach, call a timeout. This is our last attack." Cassel immediately persuaded. In Kassel's view, the Clippers should call a timeout for the last attack.

"No pause." Dai Li shook his head.

"Coach, it's really time to call timeout this time." Cassel continued to persuade.

"No need." Dai Li shook his head again, as if killing him would not call a timeout.

The referee looked at Dai Li again, and the players on the field also looked at Dai Li, even the camera gave Li Dai a close-up, trying to capture the scene of him calling a timeout, the coaching staff of the Blazers on the other side also took Out of the tactical board.

Dai Li was still sitting there, indifferent.

"Why didn't the Clippers call a timeout?"

"Is there no timeout? No, the Clippers never seemed to call a timeout throughout the second half, right?"

"What is the head coach of the Clippers thinking? It's the last attack, don't you want to arrange tactics? And if you can't score, you will foul immediately. Who will foul and how to foul? Arranged first."

The audience was full of doubts, and the professional narrators on the scene couldn't understand what Dai Li was going to do.

The Clippers players didn't hear the timeout whistle, so they could only serve the ball, then dribbled the ball across the frontcourt, and then started to run. The ball passed twice and came to Naismith's hands. Twenty-one, took the ball and dribbled for two steps, and directly pulled up a jumper, and the ball really went in.

The score was tied again, leaving the Blazers with 13 seconds to play.

The Trail Blazers used up the last timeout and arranged the tactics of the last attack. However, on the last layup, the ball slid to the basket, and the Clippers protected the rebound. The game time is also running out at this time.

The commentator at the scene breathed a sigh of relief: "105 to 105, in the regular 48-minute game time, the two sides were tied, and it was time to play overtime. I didn't expect that the strong western team Blazers and the underdog Clippers Team, actually contributed to us a close match."