McConnell admitted: The player who is in one, the most difficult player to defend is Irving!

"You are like being trapped in an isolated island, watching the tide flood the last reef. "This is not a record of survival in the wilderness, but the real feeling of NBA defense expert TJ McConnell when facing Kyrie Irving. The Pacers guard admitted in the "The Old Man&The Three" podcast that the Nets point guard's dribble allowed him to experience "unprecedented despair". What kind of technology can make professional players feel this psychological shock?

1. Magician-like ball-handling art

McConnell used "man-ball integration" to describe Irving's dribble: "The basketball seems to be an extension of his body, and every time he changes direction, it seems to challenge gravity. "Data shows that Irving averaged 15.7 times per game last season, with a success rate of 52.3%. His signature "gyroturning" can shift the defender's center of gravity by 28 cm - equivalent to suddenly having an extra position advantage. Former Cavaliers assistant coach Phil Handy once revealed that Irving would blindfold his eyes and complete a full set of dribbling movements during training, and this muscle memory has penetrated into the bone marrow.

What's even more terrifying is his rhythm control. McConnell specifically mentioned: "You thought he was blocked from the right, but the next second he drilled through your armpit." This coincides with the report of NBA scouts: when Irving broke through, the pace frequency changed to 7 types per second, far exceeding the league's average of 4.2 types. Warriors Green once joked: "Defense is like solving a calculus problem, and you only have the level of elementary school arithmetic. "

2. Psychological dimensionality reduction strike

" Fighting him for 48 minutes, mental loss is comparable to playing overtime. " McConnell said a deeper dilemma. Psychologists analyzed that Irving's "hesitting step + reverse acceleration" combination will trigger a 37% increase in the defense's stress response error rate. In the 2021 playoffs, after Bucks guard Ju Holiday was shaken by Irving's continuous fake moves, his defensive efficiency immediately dropped by 14.5 percentage points.

This sense of oppression comes from Irving's unique offensive philosophy. He once revealed in an interview that he would study his opponent's blinking and breathing frequency: "When they start blinking frequently, it is the best time to break through. "Celtic coach Uduka commented: "This is not basketball skills, but mind reading skills. "No wonder McConnell said helplessly: "You can never guess which step he will really start. "

III. The technical code of contemporary offensive masters

In-depth analysis of Irving's killer weapon, 61% of his scores came from the penalty area, but the method was completely different from that of traditional point guards. Sports scientists found that his body inclination angle can reach 45 degrees when he made a layup (the league average of 28 degrees), and combined with a 0.3-second shot delay, the famous "reverse gravity" pull rod was created. McConnell recalled: "Once I clearly blocked it, but he could fold the ball twice in the air and send it in. "

Behind it is an almost paranoid training - 500 non-usual layups a day and 200 negative angle throws. Nets trainers revealed that Irving will deliberately wear out the grip of the sneakers to simulate actual combat imbalance. This ultimate pursuit has made his shooting percentage as high as 47.3% at critical moments in his career, second only to Durant in active service. As McConnell concluded: "Defending other stars is to do their best, and defending Irving is to pray that he will show mercy. "

Conclusion:

When modern basketball increasingly emphasizes efficiency first, Irving uses gorgeous Renaissance technology to prove that aesthetics itself is lethality. Perhaps as netizens joked: "When Irving is extraordinary, you should buy tickets. Only by being extraordinary can I be considered defense." Dear fans, do you have a point guard who is more difficult to defend than Irving?