For Kevin McHale, who has been in the NBA for six seasons, his senior Mitchell Sampson at the University of Minnesota has always been a heart disease for him.

McHale still remembers how he was tortured by this senior who was proficient in various offensive skills when he first joined the University of Minnesota basketball team.

When Sampson left college in 1978 and entered the NBA as the No. 1 pick, McHale was not only reluctant and envious, but also a little bit of relief - he finally didn't have to be suppressed by this guy anymore.

But two years later, McHale also entered the NBA in 1980. He was selected by the Celtics in the third pick in the first round, and he had to face Mitchell Sampson again in the game against the Trail Blazers.

From his initial youth to his current skill level, McHale, who has won two championships with the team, has become the king of low posts in the NBA today. Especially since this season, after Maxwell was traded, McHale became the team's starting power forward. The standard inside data of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the first 19 games has become his usual habit.

He looks thin, but has great power in the low post. As long as he holds the ball at the low post, he will most likely score.

His outstanding arm span, flexible footsteps and delicate feel made him a Celtic killer with low positions, but this killer failed to face Mitchell Sampson tonight.

Before this game, McHale's best performance in 10 direct conversations with Mitchell Sampson was scored 21 points, his average score was 12.3 points in 10 games, while his average score was 15.2 points in his career in the first five seasons, and his highest score was 46 points in a single game. His personal performance was completely lower than the average performance, not to mention any highlights of superstar performance.

In fact, but technically speaking, whether offense or defense, McHale has surpassed Mitchell Sampson to become one of the best inside players in the NBA. He is unable to perform well in the matchup with Sampson, which is largely a psychological factor.

For McHale, the only thing he is grateful for is that he has been selected by the Eastern Conference team, and Sampson is in the Western Conference, so the two have only two chances to meet in this season.

Now, KC-Jones hopes McHale can break the psychological shadow on Sampson and carry the team's offense in the second quarter.

The reason why the Celtics traded Maxwell was not only because this guy was not very enterprising, but McHale's comprehensive growth was the most important reason. He was already the team's second tactical core.

After the second quarter began, the Celtics began to use McHale as the tactical starting point and launched a comprehensive counterattack.

"McHale took the ball at the low post, turned around and hooked up... The ball hit the basket, Jones took the rebound, and McHale was a little impatient."

Seeing that he missed his hook, McHale clenched his fists and had nowhere to vent. He was really too impatient. When facing other defensive players, no matter how tall, fat and thin the opponent was, McHale had a calm temperament, able to accurately make use of his abilities and finally put the ball into the basket.

But in front of Sampson, he always seemed to want to prove something.

"The Trail Blazers' counterattack, Corte's advancement was very fast, and he made a layup directly! He didn't make a goal, but Sampson followed up and made up the ball, 35:28, adding insult to injury."

This is the Trail Blazers' good habit in fast breaks. The inside players follow up very quickly. Once the forward guards fail to advance the ball as soon as possible, they can always keep up and make up for it.

McHale was still immersed in the chagrin of not being able to succeed in singles and ignored the sight of Sampson, which led to the Celtics easily losing two points.

"Come-on-guy.(Come on-guy)" Byrd walked past McHale and said to McHale with his lips curled.

The relationship between Bird and McHale is actually not as good as the cooperation on the field. Although both of them are talented and white, they have completely different personalities.

Bird is paranoid, competitive, and has an almost harsh attitude towards himself and his teammates; while McHale is happy by nature, basketball is not the only one in his life, and he has many other things to enjoy.

Last season, when McHale scored 56 points in a single game, setting a single-game scoring record for Celtic players, Larry Bird then scored 60 points in the next game to refresh the data.

With such a personality, it is destined that the two of them will not be friends.

But Bird also agrees with McHale's talent and basketball skills very much, and knows that although McHale is not as good as himself, he is also a tough guy player who is eager to win and has strong willpower.

During normal training, when Bird had any opinions about McHale, he would always treat Danny Angie as a small soundtrack and ask Angie to give advice to McHale. This strange way of communication continued until the two retired.

But now on the court, Bird still skipped the small soundtrack and went straight to McHale to encourage him, although there was only a simple sentence.

McHale took a deep breath, served at the bottom line, and after running through half the game, he continued to stand firmly towards the inside.

"McHale is in position again. Bird held the ball and he hung the ball to McHale. McHale dribbled and turned around, deceived Sampson, and succeeded in the back-scratch! Beautiful footsteps, McHale, a wonderful up and down step, it was really pleasing to see his singles."

Johnny Most finally saw McHale's classic up and down singles, and couldn't help but be extremely excited.

McHale's footsteps in the inside line are stable and solid, and his fake moves are very realistic. When he turns around and raises his hand, the defender's defensive center of gravity often deviates. At this time, McHale's position is changed, his center foot does not move, and his other foot is stepping upward, and his body squeezes over the defensive player, and he will get a layup space in front of him.

If it were other players, such a gap might not be enough to be a scoring opportunity, but McHale's slightly thin body and his super long arms played a role at this time. He could drill through the gap and then stretch his arm to make an easy layup.

It was with this move that McHale's singles success rate at low posts was amazingly high, which greatly enriched the Celtics' tactical system and made the Celtics extremely powerful this season.

In the subsequent offense, McHale, who found the offensive feeling, began to score continuously in front of Sampson. He used all his offensive skills, allowing Mitchell Sampson to show his old look and could not keep up with McHale's movements at all.

"McHale took the ball, turned over and jumped! The ball hit the board and entered the basket! The 10th point in the second quarter! McHale scored 10 points in a row! The score became 40:38, and the Celtics were only 2 points behind. The Trail Blazers had to call a timeout. They had no way to limit McHale. Please allow me to call McHale the king of the low post!"

He played in the second team for a short half of the quarter on the court, but the score was approached by the Celtics. Ramsey also had to ask for a timeout to make adjustments.

He replaced Mitchell Sampson, the veteran has played for a long enough time, and he was beaten a little badly by McHale in the second quarter.

"Your little brother is no longer afraid of you, Mitchell." Gan Guoyang, who was sitting on the bench, watched Sampson beating, and did not forget to make a few jokes.

"Oh shut up, Gan, be careful that you will get kicked in the butt even if you go up." Sampson didn't mind Gan Guoyang's ridicule. Anyway, Gan Guoyang has always been like this, but Sampson knew in his heart that he really couldn't defend against McHale anymore.

"Go, stop talking nonsense, prepare to play." The main lineup of the Trail Blazers is about to return to the court.

"As for orders, let me deal with McHale." Gan Guoyang didn't want to watch McHale make trouble in the Trail Blazers' inside.

"No, you have your task, don't you defend McHale, leave it to Kenny Carl; don't help defend easily, do your own thing, control fouls, control the free throw line, don't hit McHale, don't give the Celtics room to play on the outside, and more importantly, our offense, remember to keep oppressive and suppress them."

Ramsey repeatedly emphasized the strategy in defense. If the game faces other teams, Ramsey will not hesitate to adopt Bellman's defensive system, double-team the arrow characters in advance, and use fast rotation to disrupt the opponent's offensive line.

But the Celtics are different. When the players' overall defense level is not enough, the Trail Blazers will die miserably when the Celtics use this trick rashly, so Ramsey responds to changes in the same way, insists on using man-to-man defense, and does not double-team McHale.

"Gan, your defense is excellent, but I hope you understand that sometimes you have to learn to give up and do your own thing well." Ramsey seemed to be afraid that Gan Guoyang would not be able to control his legs, so he also told Gan Guoyang alone before going on stage.

Gan Guoyang nodded sensibly. He believed that he was rarely killed by his opponent because of "mediating nosy". With the individual ability of the Trail Blazers to defend in general, his backup and assisted defense are very important. He did not think that he had to give up his playing style when facing the Celtics.

But the old man's words are always right. As soon as the timeout is over, Gan Guoyang immediately received two fouls. One was when he was on the outside and defending Bird, he was called a defensive foul, and the other was when he was making up for the defense of McHale, he was called a foul.

With a foul in the first quarter, Gan Guoyang was about to be blown off by the referee as soon as he went up.

"Referee, are you trying to mess with me on purpose? Give me two fouls in a row? I'm so fucking honor!" Gan Guoyang was still thinking about putting down McHale's momentum on the field, but he didn't expect to get two fouls immediately. He was so angry that he was so angry.

Ramsey was even more indignant and yelled at the referee. He just reminded Gan Guoyang to be careful. Gan Guoyang really slapped the little prince in the face, and slapped his opponent in the face, as did his own people in the face.
Chapter completed!