Chapter 688: Chapter 688

He started playing volleyball in the air!

A gentle tap of the ball, it went directly to the other side of the hoop into TT’s hands.

By the time TT got the ball, Pachulia hadn’t even turned around.

The pass caused the audience to gasp in amazement.

Green, watching from the bench, was practically drooling.

As they say, no comparison, no harm. Compared to the pass James gave that almost hit his foot, Jokic’s pass was pure art.

TT didn’t need to adjust, and before Pachulia could turn, he had already slammed it in with both hands.

Today’s top five plays settled.

When Hansen saw this, he couldn’t help nodding in approval.

As Jokic continues to grow, when he can crush Green the same way in the low post, it will be the end of the Warriors’ Deathly Five Small lineup.

Cole also realized that James couldn’t defend against Jokic at all, and Pachulia couldn’t avoid TT’s screen, so he turned and called David West to get up.

West is an interesting character. He previously took a pay cut with the Pacers to win a championship, but he didn’t choose to join the reigning champions, the Warriors; after failing with the Heat, he joined the Warriors, also not opting for the reigning champions, the Cavaliers.

But this is perhaps typical of old-school players’ style: although I want a championship, I don’t want to join a championship team.

West’s effect on the court was immediate.

Although he isn’t a tall interior player, his strength was superior to James, and he has rich low post defensive experience.

Jokic felt powerless against him.

Which is normal, even with Hansen’s help, a sophomore Jokic couldn’t instantly become an All-Star caliber player.

O’Neal said Jokic is becoming the next Hansen, "becoming" and "already" are two different words.

Malone’s reaction was quick, too. After Jokic failed in a low post play, he immediately employed the Hansen and Jokic pick-and-roll as a countermeasure.

In the first round of Jokic’s pick-and-roll, Hansen broke into the paint past Pachulia for a two-handed slam dunk.

The next round, when Pachulia backed off, Hansen stepped back to the three-point line and easily made the shot.

Malone had been training Hansen and Jokic’s pick-and-roll in the preseason. After two months, it’s finally showing its lethality.

At around 8 minutes into the first quarter, the score on the court was 23 to 28, with the Cavaliers leading by 5 points.

Neither side had a good way to restrain each other’s pick-and-roll, because whether it was Curry and James or Hansen and Jokic, their ball-handling ability was too strong to be simply countered by collapsing the defense.

Moreover, the Cavaliers had Irving, and the Warriors had Klay Thompson, whose strong off-ball threat on the weak side deterred the opponent from easily collapsing their defense.

However, the absence of Green had an obvious impact on the Warriors. David West could be effective defensively in the low post, but his age was evident.

Hansen, after another pick-and-roll, broke through and drew a defensive foul from Pachulia.

With Hansen’s free throw opportunity, Green, seeing Irving standing at the three-point line close to the Warriors’ side, immediately scampered over like a fly, buzzing over to Irving.

"Kyrie, I apologize for what I said earlier."

Seeing Green approach, Irving, recalling Hansen’s earlier attitude, initially wanted to walk away, but Green’s words made him stop.

"Actually, letting Han be the second star isn’t a big deal. After all, Scottie Pippen successfully played second to Michael back in the day."

Listening to Green’s words, Irving turned his head, puzzled.

He didn’t know what Green was trying to express.

But he quickly found out.

"It’s just that now you seem to be the third star, while that Serbian kid is the second."

After dropping that line, Green quickly retreated back to the bench.

Irving was left standing there in a daze.

With the Warriors on offense, James started handling the ball.

The consecutive James-Curry pick-and-rolls consumed too much energy.

He’s orchestrating from the top of the arc, with Curry coming off Pachulia’s screen for a three.

However, this intention was too clear, Curry’s final three-pointer was off after Hansen’s help defense.

Returning to the other end, Hansen broke through again, drawing another defensive foul from Pachulia, sidelining the Georgian.

Cole made substitutions, putting in McGee and Iguodala this time.

The Warriors reverted back to a four-small one-big lineup, only with McGee as the center.

This summer, the Warriors not only let Bo Gote go, but they didn’t keep Azeli either.

A team can’t have all five positions maxed out unless someone wants to take revenge on society.

This season, the Warriors’ weakness is clearly the inside game.

Seeing James playing the four spot again, Malone unhesitatingly called for Jokic’s low post play once more.

Except, Irving didn’t execute this tactic; he called Jokic for a pick-and-roll as soon as he got to the frontcourt.

After the pick-and-roll created a mismatch, he directly drove past McGee and headed straight for the basket.

He quickly shook off McGee and completed a quick layup before James could help.

But what he didn’t expect was that shortly after the ball left his hand, it was smacked onto the backboard by someone.

This was a chase-down block.

Not from James, but McGee!

McGee, notorious for his erratic play, turned his million-dollar salary into a minimum.

But purely on physical talent, he’s much stronger than Pachulia.

Just don’t keep him on the court for long periods, and in a short stint, his rim protection ability surpasses Pachulia by a wide margin.

After blocking, McGee smoothly grabbed the defensive rebound. James quickly asked for the ball from him, and the Warriors rapidly launched a fast break.

James and Curry executed a spectacular fast break play, with Curry assisting James for an alley-oop slam dunk.

Malone called for a timeout.

And after calling the timeout, he was visibly furious. Google seaʀᴄh 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝕟𝕖𝕥

As a head coach, the last thing you want to see is players not executing on the court.

Once the players were off, Malone signaled Deron to step in and picked up the clipboard to diagram Jokic’s low post play.

Irving was staring blankly at the court, lost in thought.

As the timeout ended and players prepared to check in, Hansen noticed the still-dazed Irving, went over and patted his shoulder, urging him to relax.

After Irving made that goodbye gesture to Green, he knew Irving was different from the "history".

Coming back from the timeout, Deron fed Jokic inside, and even though James chose to front him again, he still successfully lobbed the ball in.

Back in his Jazz days with Bozer, this kind of pass was a piece of cake for him.

However, McGee’s rim protection ability in the key was indeed strong, as he could guard Jokic’s immediate attack and then rotate to TT’s drive.

As long as he keeps his head in the game, he is like "Olazhuki".

TT, blocked in his drive and unsure what to do, was relieved to see Hansen cutting down the middle.

A straightforward pass, Hansen stopped and lofted a floater, scoring confidently.

Though he hasn’t yet mastered [The tear-drop], Hansen easily executed such a simple floater.

With more time, Jokic and Hansen displayed an outstanding inside-out connection.

Jokic’s low post presence pulled the Warriors’ defense, allowing Hansen to score frequently on passes from Jokic off the ball.

For Hansen, when he’s intensely focused, scoring 40+ in a game comes easy.

Jokic’s presence, aligned with Malone’s initial intent to prioritize Jokic in the system, facilitates Hansen’s ability to score.

Hence, you can see Malone’s strategy evolving, yet the underlying thought remains unchanged.

Whether it’s Irving or Jokic, prioritizing them in tactics is to allow Hansen to perform better.

Hansen is why Malone chose to return to Cleveland; Hansen is this era’s Jordan; Hansen is everything.