Thunder Five Young: The Lineup Was Too Strong!

Thunder Five Young: The Lineup Was Too Strong! Before long.

The timeout ended.

The Knicks followed the coach's instructions.

They had Chandler continue battling Cousins in the restricted area, while George did not wait until Cousins received the ball to double-team him.

Instead, the moment he sensed Cousins calling for the ball and the Thunder were about to pass it to him, he appeared in front of Cousins.

He raised both hands high and even kept jumping to disrupt the Thunder's passes to him.

First, it made it difficult for Cousins to catch the ball.

Second, once the Thunder forcibly fed the ball to Cousins, George would not double-team him.

Instead, he ran directly behind him, leaving Cousins one-on-one with Chandler.

Meanwhile, he kept reaching in from behind Cousins to harass him, trying to steal the basketball from his hands.

And you know what?

It actually worked pretty well.

Whenever Cousins thought about someone constantly swiping at the ball from behind him, about the risk of losing the basketball in his hands, he would inexplicably feel a little panicked.

After all, he was only a second-year player.

He knew how strong his talent was and how he could use it to overpower opponents.

But he also knew that ball handling was not one of his strengths, especially as a center.

If he was backing someone down, he could completely use his body to shield the basketball.

But if someone kept harassing him for steals at his side or even in front of him, it made him feel inexplicably uneasy.

His ball handling became awkward, and his offense became hesitant.

No.

Defending him like this immediately made it difficult for Cousins to attack, putting him in a very passive position.

Fortunately, he had just gone on a tremendous run and was