Chapter 139 The playoffs, the first round against the Lakers
At 6:30, the Suns team's bus also arrived at the American West Arena.
At this time, it was still very bright, and there were all fans outside the arena. The crowds were crowded and the voices were loud, black and white.
Comrade Lao Wang took a look and found that there were quite a few fans wearing jersey No. 33. He looked at their feet and saw that many of them were wearing the K1 that had just been released in the morning.
"Look, they are wearing my K1." Pointing out the car window, he proudly shouted to his teammates.
"Old K, how much did you sell for?" Buckley asked.
"I guess it's ten thousand or twenty thousand?" he said without hesitation.
"What?"
Including Buckley, everyone in the bus looked at him in surprise.
"You think you're Michael Jordan?"
Seeing the smile on his face, Barkley reacted and smiled angrily: "If you can really sell 10,000 to 20,000 a day, I guarantee that Nike and Adidas will fire a group of executives."
"At 12 o'clock at noon, more than 1,800 pairs were sold. They estimate that 3,000 or 4,000 pairs will be fine today." Lao Wang said seriously.
"Three or four thousand?"
Barkley said in surprise: "Three or four thousand is not bad. Centers don't sell shoes, not even the three super centers. Among all the centers now, O'Neal's shoes are selling well. You are not much different from him. He
We sold more than 8,000 yuan on the first day, and you are almost half of him."
Kevin Johnson said: "Old K's style of play is very violent and very attractive. I don't think it's surprising that sneakers are selling like hotcakes."
Dan Marley said: "Just with the baskets he collected and smashed several basket racks, he can gain a lot of loyal fans."
Coming up from the underground parking lot, some waiting media followed and asked some questions.
"Charles, how many games do you think it will take to defeat the Lakers?" a reporter from a local TV station asked.
"Hello."
Barkley waved to the TV cameras and said with a smile: "I'm sure it won't drag on to the G5 game."
"Old K, congratulations. Mammoth just announced that your K1 sales exceeded 4,000 pairs today." A reporter shouted loudly.
"Oh, that's great, old K. Congratulations, your sneakers are selling like hotcakes."
"Old K, I also bought two pairs of K1."
Everyone, including the media and Suns management, sent their own congratulations.
"Thank you, thank you fans for your support..." Lao Wang quickly thanked the fans through the lens of a local TV station.
At the American West Arena, Zhang Lili was sitting in the stands, row 16, and it cost him more than a hundred dollars.
He doesn't want to give up money during the regular season, but he doesn't want to miss out on the playoffs.
He was holding a CD video recorder in his hand, planning to record the game and take it back to Liu Yumin back home to let her see Wang Tiejun's strength.
A few days ago, he contacted Sun Zhenping and asked if there was a possibility of CCTV coming over for an interview. Unfortunately, there was no chance.
However, Sun Zhenping told him that the last live broadcast of the All-Stars was quite effective. The station is planning to continue broadcasting the All-Stars next season, but there is currently no plan to broadcast the regular season. Instead, it is considering broadcasting the finals.
There have been discussions, but no decision has been made yet.
The atmosphere in the home team's locker room was okay and not too tense.
The Suns have reached the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. They reached the second round last year and most of the players have playoff experience.
There are also rookies, but what Comrade Lao Wang wants most is to make money. The sneakers are selling well today. I am very excited and nervous. What is that?
Moreover, he is not like Barkley and the others. He has just entered the league and has no pursuit of the championship at all. He does not have the mentality of worrying about gains and losses, and he is not nervous.
But there is another rookie who is very nervous, so nervous that his eyes are red and his voice is hoarse when he speaks, that is Suns coach Paul Westphal.
In order to prepare for the playoffs, he didn't sleep well for several days. He was ready for everything, but he always felt uneasy.
"Someone is very nervous. This is not good news." Buckley said with a frown.
"I'm not nervous." Lao Wang shouted immediately.
"I didn't say anything about you. You don't even have nerves, how could you be nervous?" Buckley said angrily.
"Then who are you talking about? Oh, I understand, Oliver Miller, are you nervous?" Lao Wang asked loudly.
"I, oh, yes, I'm a little nervous, yes, sorry, I have to go to the bathroom." Miller said awkwardly.
"I looked at the time. It's been twenty minutes. You've been there three times. This is the fourth time. My child, you need to replenish your kidneys," Lao Wang shouted.
"Haha..." The locker room burst into laughter.
"call!"
In the noisy environment, Paul Westphal let out a sigh of relief, feeling better as the pressure was released.
"I did some calculations, and it seems that this year's wages have been paid, but that's not right. The playoffs have just started, so there will be no wages later?"
Wang Tiejun suddenly shouted.
"Old K, don't you know there is no salary in the playoffs?"
"Old K, you won't spend all your money, will you? Then I congratulate you. In the next few months, you will have to borrow money to live."
Everyone started joking.
Comrade Lao Wang looked surprised and said: "The playoffs are in vain, so what's the point of playing in the playoffs?"
But Barkley became anxious and said quickly: "Old K, you can't be lazy. The playoffs are when everyone works hard."
"It's boring, Charles, you can fight it yourself." Lao Wang leaned against the closet and shook his head like a rattle.
Buckley said anxiously: "Don't worry, we will get a share of the ticket revenue. As long as we reach the finals, it is safe for each person to share two hundred thousand US dollars."
"Haha, look at Charles looking so anxious that he is about to cry. If we fail to win the championship this year, will he really cry?" Lao Wang laughed.
"Haha..." The locker room burst into laughter.
"Damn old K, are you kidding me?"
Buckley reacted, dumbfounded.
At eight o'clock, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Lakers: Divac, Elden Campbell, AC Green, Byron Scott, Sedara Slater
Suns: Wang Tiejun, Barkley, Ceballos, Dan Maley, Kevin Johnson
This game was broadcast live across the United States by TNT, and the commentators were Letem and Dortmund.
"Divac is 216 centimeters and 110 kilograms, Campbell is 211 centimeters and 100 kilograms, and Green is 206 centimeters and 100 kilograms. The Lakers have arranged two centers today. Are they going to use a twin-tower tactic? But at the average altitude, the Lakers have an absolute advantage.
Because among the five starters of the Suns, only Old K is above two meters tall." Dort laughed.
"So the Suns need to be careful about rebounding, interior defense, pick-and-roll tactics, etc." Letem said.
"The other two teams have one thing in common. The only ones who can shoot three-pointers are their shooting guards." Dort laughed.
"Also, Lao K suffered a loss at the hands of Divac last time and was punished. Later I heard that Divac signed up for an acting training class in Hollywood and his acting skills are now even more superb. So in this series, Lao K wants to
Be more careful.”
Letem said with a smile.
"Haha..." The two laughed.
At a quarter past eight, the starting lineup begins.
"boom!"
The first appearance was particularly enthusiastic, with countless fans cheering and the atmosphere in the playoffs surpassed that of the regular season.
At half past eight, the game officially started.
Wang Tiejun was very excited when he stepped onto the court for the playoffs for the first time.
Divac's bounce was average, so he took the ball away first and the Suns attacked.
Reaching the low post on the left wing, Divac used a winding defense, which is a defensive method he is very good at.
The defensive method of diving was actually unintentional last time, but after tasting the benefits, it is now being developed and the progress is good.
Today, the Lakers' defensive requirements for him are to use entanglement defense to interfere with Wang Tiejun, supplemented by diving. Once the ball comes down, they must create conditions for double teams.
With balanced strength, Wang Tiejun stood firm, holding Divac on his left elbow, and opened his right hand to ask for the ball. Kevin Johnson passed the ball down.
As soon as the ball was passed, he saw a double-team coming from the Lakers. It wasn't the weak side to help defend. Campbell didn't dare to let Barkley go, but the 206cm 100kg AC Green.
Green was very close to him, on the right wing, only two meters away from him. He could turn around and step down and be in position. It is estimated that as soon as the ball is in hand, the double team would be in place.
Gu Hao
"Crack!"
After receiving the ball, AC Green double-teamed him and hit his hand hard with one hand.
But his hand was too big. When he caught the ball, he pinched it with five fingers and then pulled it down. Green missed the ball.
The next moment, his feet didn't move, and he continued to fight from left to right. With two bangs, Divac and Green were knocked away a little bit. He had a short space to shoot, and then he immediately got up and hit a frontal hook.
Divac's center of gravity was knocked, and he took a small step back with his back foot. When he saw his opponent taking off, he could no longer keep up with the rhythm.
"Whoa!"
With good luck, he hit his first career playoff goal.
"Bah bang..." The audience burst into warm applause.
"Beautiful! Old K knocked away the double team and hit his first playoff hook." Dortmund laughed in the TNT live broadcast booth.
"I noticed that Lao K didn't move his feet, neither of his feet moved. This was different from his past relying on fighting. In the past, his relying on fighting had the coordination of the steps with his feet. Without the coordination of the steps, his power seemed to be just
It's too small, you can see that the two defenders didn't completely knock it away, they only got a little space."
Lettem said.
Dort guessed: "Is it to avoid hitting Divac due to movement?"
"Haha, it's possible, I think it should be out of that consideration." Letem laughed.
The two people's speculation was actually a joke, not that.
Because no matter how realistic Divac's flop is, as long as the attacker's supporting foot does not move and there is no obvious movement of raising his elbow and sinking his shoulders, he fell to death himself or was hit to death. By today's standards, that is
Normal confrontation.
Only when the attacker is completely in motion can he have room to dive.
The reason why Wang Tiejun did not move or fully exert his strength was due to physical considerations.
In fact, he doesn't need to completely knock the defender away, he just needs to knock him away a little to get the space to get up and take a shot. There is no need to knock over the defender, which will only waste his physical energy.
He can do that in the regular season because it's more enjoyable and more attractive to fans, but he can't do that in the playoffs when the defensive intensity is higher.
After watching two playoff games last night, this was one of his gains and insights.
Lakers offense.
Divac's most powerful ability is coordination.
There are four basic tactics in basketball: support, passing and cutting, breakthrough points, and screens. He is good at three of them.
He came to the low post on the left wing, leaned against Wang Tiejun, and asked for the ball.
At this time, point guard Slater at the top of the arc gave the ball to small forward AC Green on the right wing, and he immediately pulled to the left wing, taking Kevin Johnson away, preventing the Suns from double-teaming Green.
When Green got the ball, he didn't stop in his hands. He immediately passed it down to Divac, then immediately bypassed Ceballos in front of him and quickly implemented a strong side cut.
"Bang!"
With Wang Tiejun at his back, Divac suddenly threw the ball to the floor on the upper (left) side with both hands. The ball rebounded and was picked up by Green, who was cutting inside.
Green passed over Wang Tiejun, who did not dare to stretch out his hand and only had time to defend himself with his eyes.
Green made his way into the paint and then took off.
Barkley returned to the basket, but it was too late. If he rushed in again, he would be dunked.
"Bang!"
A clean one-handed dunk, and the Lakers scored two points.
"The Lakers' tactics are very clear, with support from passing and cutting. They focused on K's weakness of insufficient lateral speed and attacked him at this point. This requires Suns teams in other positions to quickly cover up the defense. At the same time, Ceballos does not need this point.
It’s easy to miss people.” Dot immediately analyzed.
"Barkley on the weak side was pulled out by Campbell and came back a little slow. Campbell has some mid-to-long-range shooting ability. His mid-two-point and long-range two-point shooting percentages are 37%. He cannot completely let go. This is probably why the Lakers let him down tonight.
The reason why he plays the starting lineup is to increase the height of the basket and have the height to make mid-range and long-range shots, which can draw Barkley away," Letem analyzed.
At this time, Dan Malley missed a shot, and Babel protected the backcourt rebound.
Looking back, Lakers shooting guard Byron Scott also missed a shot, and Wang Tiejun grabbed the backcourt rebound.
The reason why they wanted to grab this backcourt rebound was because the Lakers did not give up offensive rebounds. Divac and Campbell rushed to the basket at the same time to grab the rebound, and even AC Green rushed in.
"Be careful with rebounds, the Lakers are fighting for this advantage," an on-site commentator shouted.
"Old K made a long pass to Ceballos, good shot!" Another commentator suddenly shouted loudly at this time.
"Bang!"
Ceballos drove to the basket with the ball and dunked against Lakers shooting guard Byron Scott who was chasing him to the basket.
On the sidelines, Lakers coach Randy Fender glanced at Wang Tiejun, who was still under his own basket, and shook his head in disappointment.
He is also a rookie, an assistant coach to Pat Riley, and only became the head coach of the Lakers this year.
There is no doubt that the current strength of the Lakers is far behind the Suns. This time he wants to focus on height and take advantage of the fact that the Suns' starting lineup is the shortest in the league. He can occupy the height advantage under the basket while fighting for rebounds and expanding his shots.
.
But when he failed to grab an offensive rebound for the first time, he was called into a fast break. He realized that his tactical arrangement did not take into account Wang Tiejun's ability to launch a fast break.
This is just like in volleyball, there is no need for a second pass, just a direct pass. There is no way to defend this kind of fast break directly launched by the center after grabbing the backcourt rebound. As long as the outside speed is fast enough, the success rate is very high.
.
"Green, don't go in when grabbing offensive rebounds. Pay attention to returning to defense when transitioning from offense to defense." He shouted to AC Green who was passing by.
When the Lakers attacked, Divac and AC Green once again used passing and cutting support tactics.
Wang Tiejun paid attention, but his steps were still half a beat too slow, and Green killed him.
However, this time Barkley returned quickly from the weak side and blocked the basket in time. Green made an emergency stop and threw the ball, but Wang Tiejun caught up and blocked the shot.
The ball fell and was picked up by Divac, who threw it again. This time Barkley made the difference, pounced on him and slapped the ball into the sky.
"mine!"
Lao Wang jumped up and grabbed the ball.
"Old K!"
Ceballos has already turned around and is about to step down. His defender Green is still beside Lao Wang and is in an open position.
"Whoosh!"
Lao Wang threw it with one hand and the ball flew in a straight line.
Ceballos received the ball and advanced into the frontcourt. Lakers point guard Slater in the left center hurriedly lost Kevin Johnson and chased after him.
Ceballos passed the ball to Kevin Johnson, who caught the ball and crossed the free throw line, then made a layup two steps later.
"Pa bang bang..."
Two big shots and a fast break stimulated the adrenaline secretion of the home fans, and the audience burst into applause and cheers.
"Beautiful! The Suns sent two consecutive big shots and once again completed a defensive counterattack." TNT commentator Dort shouted excitedly.
"As long as others make up for it first, Old K can return to the basket in time. Coupled with his height, the Suns' interior defense can be greatly improved. Just now was a very good example." Letem smiled.
Nine minutes into the first quarter, at 18:24, the Suns were already 6 points ahead. After the timeout, both sides replaced some substitutes.
Wang Tiejun and Barkley sat on the bench together, and Oliver Miller and the returning Tom Chambers partnered inside.
Comrade Lao Wang did not have much offense in the first quarter. He made 2 of 3 shots and 1 of 2 free throws. He scored 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 foul.
Three shots were taken, two were close-range hook shots, the last one was missed, and the other one was made up.
The team's arrangement for him in the playoffs is that the opponent in the first series, the Lakers, is not very strong, so he is not allowed to attack at the basket too much to avoid consuming too much physical energy. His task is to defend.
Rebounding, launching fast breaks, supporting and screening, etc.
After the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 26:26.
Chambers recovered from his injury for four months. In his first game back, he was in average condition. He made 0 of 2 shots in three minutes and only grabbed one backcourt rebound.
Oliver Miller's current weight has reached 135 kilograms. He has gained 10 kilograms in one season. His weight has surpassed O'Neal. He is now the heaviest player in the league and cannot be controlled at all.
In fact, he is also the real number one in terms of tonnage in the history of the league. In the future, Ao Pang will only be ranked second, with a peak tonnage of 170 kilograms. If he cannot beat you, he will be crushed to death by his tonnage.
With a tonnage of 135 kilograms and a height of 206 centimeters, his mobility has further declined, allowing the Lakers to frequently play fast breaks.
The poor performance of the two big insiders was the most important reason why the Lakers evened the score on the bench.
However, head coach Paul Westphal did not make any substitutions. In the second quarter, the inside combination of Chambers and Oliver Miller was still the same, and the outside team was also a substitute.
In the third minute of the second quarter, at 32:26, the Suns were in a scoring drought, not scoring a single point, but falling behind by 4 points.
Oliver Miller was so nervous that he made a turnover at the end of the first quarter, another turnover in the second quarter, and two turnovers within 5 minutes, causing the Lakers to have two fast breaks.
Paul Westphal then called a timeout and summoned all the main players.
