Chapter 101

Section three of the game started quickly, and surprisingly, the Suns did not bring Steve Nash onto the court.
“Steve Nash is already sitting on the bench resting. After all, in the first half, he was one of the players who hardly got any rest among the two teams. Under the constant pressure from several Pistons players, especially Zhou Yi’s defense, Nash’s stamina was completely exhausted. Could this be a sign that the Suns are giving up?” Yu Jia wondered.
Zhang Lihe shook his head and said, “That’s unlikely. At this point in the game, if the head coach gives up easily, he probably won’t be able to defend himself after the game. Besides, the score gap between the two teams is only 9 points, so the Suns still have a chance to turn the game around. Looking at the players on the court for the Suns, there might be two unfamiliar faces for fans watching on TV—they are the team’s rookies this year, but their strength shouldn’t be underestimated.”
“The five players on the court now, except for Goran Dragic, are all very good at defense. If I’m guessing correctly, Ervin Gentry is likely focusing on defense rather than offense, trying not to let the Pistons widen the score before Nash comes in. But this means even more pressure on Michael Petrus, as he is currently the only reliable scorer for the Suns.”
As an experienced basketball commentator, Zhang Lihe immediately saw Ervin Gentry’s role. He could tell, and so could John Kuster, that this tactical approach was undoubtedly correct for the current Suns. Without Steve Nash, the Suns’ offense would suffer greatly. Instead of that, it’s better to focus mainly on defense. For players like Channing Frye, what they have is stamina, and they can hold their own against their opponents.
John Kuster, however, didn’t think the Suns’ tactics would be very effective against his team. Even the Celtics’ well-organized defense struggled against the Pistons’ offense, let alone the currently disorganized defense of the Suns!

But John Kuester forgot one thing: team morale. The Suns’ morale soared toward the end of the first half, allowing them to play smoothly. Now, with Steve Nash exhausted and the other four key players having to carry the team’s offense and defense alone, the Suns’ morale was successfully boosted. On the court, they had only one goal: to slow down the Pistons’ offense as long as possible while waiting for Steve Nash to return.

There are many things coaches cannot predict. It was the Pistons’ players who first felt the Suns’ high morale. Previously, the Suns had adopted zone defense throughout the half, but after the start of the third quarter, they resorted to man-to-man pressure defense at the cost of their energy. From the moment Zhou Yi received the ball, Goran Dragic kept interfering with his control.

Given Zhou Yi’s ability to handle the ball, he wasn’t worried about it being taken away so easily. However, Dragic’s constant interruptions were troublesome. When Ervin Johnson decided on the defensive strategy, he opted for man-to-man pressure defense. The Suns were best at fast breaks, and a prerequisite for those breaks was getting the ball across half-court quickly and handing it to an eligible player right away. An attack could be completed in about ten seconds, and the longer it took, the lower the chances of success for the Suns.

Dragic’s interference was deliberate. His aim wasn’t to steal the ball from Zhou Yi. With Zhou Yi’s steady control, even Steve Nash couldn’t easily take it from him. Dragic always kept a two-step distance, preventing Zhou Yi from having enough time to get moving.

It took Zhou Yi about six seconds just to get the ball across half-court. Around him, there were always Suns players standing by the Pistons’ players.

Zhou Yi sighed inwardly. He hadn’t expected that after Steve Nash left the court, the Suns’ defense would become even more troublesome. With Nash on the team, their lineup focused more on offense than defense, resulting in many defensive gaps. The Pistons were experts at exploiting these gaps. Now, with the Suns emphasizing defense over offense and unable to quickly launch attacks, they had to immediately take control of the pace and switch to half-court play.