Sexton vs “Big Three”, Irving embarrassed

The “Big Three” together for the first game, let the knight’s small guard Sexton to stir the game, 4 sections up to 14 points behind, so easy to catch up into overtime, leading five or six points, and was caught up in the second overtime, and then, the Bucks were only 185 tall Sexton shot dead.

Now everyone is embarrassed, especially Irving.

Did the “Big Three” show what they can do? Irving contributed 99%, Durant about 79%, and Harden actually only contributed 49%.

Putting three All-Stars or even MVPs together is the equivalent of doing a deep math problem to prove that 1+1+1>3. Even if the result is 1+1+1=3, it will be questionable, not to mention that their debut was 1+1+1❤.

The question now is whether the ideal first inequality can be proven.

I think, at least offensively, the “Big Three” can indeed prove 1+1+1>3, even though Harden scored 21 points, the three still scored 96 points together. But the height, defense and depth of the bench that comes with superstar aggregation can’t be solved overnight. At this point, the pressure is on head coach Nash.

The “Big Three” first game failure, can be distilled out of several reasons.

First, the three first hand in hand, not properly practiced, too many singles with too little.

Second, the lack of understanding, too many mistakes, mistakes lost 21 points.

Third, Harden sacrificed offense in exchange for passing the ball for everyone, too late.

Fourth, the height is not as high, the rebounds have no advantage.

Fifth, Nash’s poor dispatch at key moments.

All in all, the basic feature of the Nets’ loss is “lack of understanding”, covering several major problems in turnovers, less cooperation and Harden’s self-sacrifice too much, Nash’s command is also in it. Only the small lineup is not high enough, not related to tacit understanding, is a natural hard wound.

Irving embarrassed, once again the target, I do think we can wait a little longer.

The problem of offensive ball distribution, need time to adjust, first of all, from the attitude, Irving has no problem. He just came back to the first game, 15 of 28, still maintain a fairly high hand and state, three-point shooting also 3 of 8. The number of shots a little more, which requires Nash to intervene.

Irving disappeared for 7 games and came back to fight at full capacity, playing 48 minutes and not seeing the slightest difference, which I think is the biggest plus for the Bucks. Some might think he played bad defense because Sexton scored 42 points against him and scored five 3-pointers in overtime, but that requires a ball-by-ball analysis, not a stream of impressions.

In fact, the ball Irving has three caps, especially in the first overtime began shortly, cover Sexton this rebound, directly to Durant to create the opportunity to convert the offense 2 + 1.

The first few minutes of overtime were probably the best phase of the game for the Bucks, and there was even some of the expected “Big Three” cooperation, with Durant organizing and coordinating, and Harden and Green double-covering for Irving, blocking the opportunity to hit a 3-pointer. The Nets once led by 5 points and had the momentum to end the battle.

But Irving does have a natural shortcomings, that is, the height is only 188, or even less, and Sexton almost. Sexton wore Irving’s №2 jersey to face Irving without any timidity, just because the height is not a disadvantage.

Nash thought of some ways to compensate, that is to know the other side to find the block, with Harris, Green or even Durant to change. But if Sexton played out of shape, even Durant is not afraid of, it is necessary to think of other ways.

The first 4 sections 5 shots all miss, but overtime Sexton in the Bucks almost everyone head into the three, but also sent the game into the second overtime, such examples are very rare, but never did not happen, indicating that he played crazy. At this point, Nash should properly arrange some clamping down and let him hand the ball over.

But clamping down was clearly not in the preplanned plan Nash had prepared. Later, Sexton simply did not cover and attacked Irving directly, exposing his shortcomings. At this point, Nash should arrange another person to defend, such as directly on Durant, let Irving to stare at Osman who does not hold the ball, Harden to defend Allen, and Green to defend Nance.

Sexton’s craziness sent Irving into an obsession with mid-range shooting as well, and at this point the Bucks had no chance of winning.

I believe the result of this game can make the Bucks think about the problem more actively earlier, if it is a loss to the Bucks, Lakers, but not such a good effect.

How do the “Big Three” distribute the ball? How to cooperate with each other? How much of the offense should each account for? This is by no means something that Irving alone needs to reflect on.

I think the starting point for change is in Harden, who plays the role of the core guard, he is the executive director on the court, deciding who will attack this time. The first two games with Durant, Harden has been overthinking, always in the first quarter not much shot, a into a three-point, a two-point, 30 + are the last three sections of the gain.

When the “Big Three” combined, Harden thought more, especially coaxing Owen, became his theme after the opening game. The first half Owen took 17 points, Harden only two shots, relying on free throws scored two points. You let the scoring king, the triple-double king only 2 points at half time, is a waste.

What’s more, Harden is still in a high turnover stage, 9 times in the first game, 6 times in two quarters in the second game, and 5 times against the knights. We compare his turnovers in the key moments of overtime, nothing like the first quarter. This is because the Cavaliers do not have particularly good defensive players, Bickerstaff let his men use joint defense for a long time, which is where Harden does not adapt.

At the same time, Nash should also increase Durant’s ball handling, using his height and passing ability to crack the joint defense or some special defensive formations. In critical moments, the ball should be in his hands more often to play his “death” power.

The Bucks obviously don’t have a good solution to the joint defense, like this Durant gets excellent mismatch opportunities, and can’t afford to give him the ball.

In times of bad luck, some key shots are called against them. There were two key moments against the Cavaliers where there were unfavorable calls against the Bucks, one when Irving created a foul free throw opportunity from three outside the line and Green ate the cover foul, and the other when Green’s beautiful cover was blown into a foul.

The Bucks should not rush to use a lot of three people on the same court, but should increase the number of two people on the same court, such as Harden and Durant, Irving and Durant, Harden and Irving, and gradually increase the number of three people on the same court.

In short, the integration between the Bucks “Big Three” can never be completed overnight, it will take some time. In this process, there will be a lot of embarrassing scenes, such as losing to the knight.