NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 455 Scorer and Commander

76ers head coach Brown on the sidelines was also helpless. Embiid is indeed a major offensive weapon in the league right now, and a rim protector. However, as a center, Embiid is neither good at nor fond of guarding the perimeter. So when facing an opponent with a stretch big man, he often assigns Saric to guard Embiid, letting him stay under the basket to protect the rim and secure the defensive rebounds.

The problem is that the Clippers are a team with five outside players. Both of their big men have excellent three-point shooting ability and often stand outside the three-point line mid-game. How do you defend against that?

Their previous strategy was to have Embiid guard the basket, giving Olynyk some three-point opportunities, and the opponent performed quite well, going 0-for-5. But then he made his sixth shot, and now they have to make a choice again.

Strictly speaking, a team with five foreign players, including Jia Fei, is unstoppable once their shooters are in form. Not to mention they now have Paul George as their second star.

The Clippers' offensive ceiling is higher than Jia Fei's previous championship season with the Hawks, because they have two star players.

Simmons brought the ball over, and Embiid stuck out his back, asking for it.

Olynyk opted to go around the front, but Simmons' passing was superb; he lobbed the ball over Olynyk's interference to the far post, and it ended up in Simmons' hands.

Embiid received the ball, faked out Paul George who was helping on defense, and dunked it with both hands!

Jia Fei dribbled the ball over, and the opposing team immediately double-teamed him.

Jia Fei didn't hold onto the ball and immediately passed it to Olynyk at the top of the arc.

The Emperor remained huddled under the basket, while Olynyk, still warm from a three-pointer, immediately unleashed another three-pointer...

In progress!

The score was 64:53, a difference of 11 points.

"It's not a good idea for Embiid to keep letting Olynyk shoot like this, he can really make those shots!" Wang Meng exclaimed.

"That's how Embiid is—he doesn't defend the perimeter. If you can make the shot, that's your skill. If you can't, hehe, then the rebound is mine, and nobody can take it away from me," Yang Yi said, smacking his lips.

Simmons tried to pass the ball to Embiid again, but Paul George swatted it away during the help defense. Beverley got the ball and passed it to Jia Fei without holding onto it for more than a second.

Jia Fei launched a counter-attack, drawing a large number of opposing defenders. He then passed the ball to Olynyk, who was following up on the other side.

Olynyk then unleashed a three-pointer... the ball was still over a meter from the three-point line! But it went in, a solid, powerful shot. Sometimes when you're in a hot hand, you can shoot anything. He could go 0-for-5, but he could also make three in a row. It's a bit of a mystery, but that's how it is with your shooting touch; when it comes, you can't stop it. Of course, there's a prerequisite for such a streak: he must possess a decent three-point shooting ability. If it were DeAndre Jordan, making three consecutive free throws would be a rare feat, let alone consecutive three-pointers? Do I even have that skill?

Interestingly, when Olynyk hit the three-pointer, Embiid was still gesturing to Simmons in the backcourt!

What the Emperor meant was, "How did you pass the ball?" What Simmons meant was, "If you want the ball, I'll give it to you!"

Coach Brown couldn't stand it anymore and promptly called a timeout.

The Vachovia Center has stalled again. 76ers fans can accept Jia Fei scoring, because he genuinely has the ability. But they can't accept Olynyk scoring repeatedly. If neither the core players nor the role players can stop him, what's the point?

67:53, a 14-point difference in an instant! Three-pointers are indeed easy to widen the gap. In today's small-ball era, NBA teams are taking a lot of three-pointers. If they make a series of three-pointers, it is easy to be swept in one go.

The Clippers' bench players were waving towels enthusiastically, the team atmosphere was getting better and better during the winning streak, and the whole team was moving in the right direction.

"Kelly, if you're not guarding someone at the three-point line, just shoot, even if you miss!" Jia Fei instructed Olynyk.

“Okay!” Olynyk nodded. He was also very happy; his 0-for-5 shooting performance was indeed hard to watch, but Jia Fei’s encouragement helped him regain his touch.

"Olynyk hit three three-pointers in a row! Embiid of the 76ers paid the price for collapsing under the basket. Mr. Yang, this Clippers team is really hard to defend!" Wang Meng said.

"They're really hard to defend, especially against teams with five players outside the arc. Players like Olynyk can create space, which is a secret weapon against big centers. If you have a three-point shot, just poke him out from beyond the arc, and hey, if the opponent doesn't come out, that's an opportunity," Yang Yi said.

The 76ers are now in a dilemma. In the first half, they didn't double-team Jia Fei, and he scored 29 points in the first half, which they simply couldn't stop. In the second half, they double-teamed him, and wow, Olynyk went on a scoring spree, hitting three-pointers one after another.

How exactly should we defend against it?

Jia Fei also found the 76ers amusing. Did they think they could get Olynyk guarded beyond the three-point line if they didn't double-team him? Embiid was just holed up inside the paint the whole time. His defense was like DeAndre Jordan's last season with the Clippers—limited to the paint, never switching or delaying on pick-and-rolls, just camping out. All he ever talked about was protecting the rim and the rebounds.

But the truth is, they don't even enter the paint; they keep shooting from outside. Why would they attack the rim? Besides, if they're already making shots, where do the rebounds come from?

This was Jia Fei's main purpose in agreeing to bring in Olynyk: to strategically punish opponents who had a dominant center.

More importantly, as long as Olynyk is outside the three-point line, the Clippers can have all five players outside the three-point line, providing ample offensive space whether they are inbounding the ball from the top of the key or running a pick-and-roll.

It goes without saying how important offensive spacing is, especially in the playoffs. Not to mention perimeter players, even inside players without shooting ability will be targeted by opponents from time to time.

Many teams play small-ball lineups not because they genuinely want to give up their height advantage, but to pursue a faster pace of play and better offensive spacing. Having more big men on the court often leads to spacing issues. And smaller players who can't shoot are, after all, a minority.

So if Simmons doesn't want to be easily targeted by opponents, he needs to develop his shooting ability; otherwise, the only option left is to play center.

Paul George is increasingly impressed with Jia Fei. Jia Fei isn't just an unbeatable individual scorer; he's also a player who can read the opponent's defense very well and accurately find teammates who are on fire. Such a player is more than just a scorer; he's an on-court commander.

If a scorer also has the ability to be a playmaker, then such a person is really too difficult to defend. Fortunately, such a strong person is my teammate, which is really a blessing.