If the Suns want to make a difference in the playoffs, the Mosaic team must face a strong team, and the same goes for the Mosaic team. Therefore, in every regular season game, both sides are very cautious and try to play targeted games.
tactics.
But to say whether there are any reservations, there must be reservations. Whether it is Dameng, Barkley, or Lao K, they all have reservations about the performance of their personal abilities.
In this game, Mosaic team won in the end, with two wins and one loss, and the winning rate was higher.
The Mosaic team still used meat shields to defend Lao Wang, but in this game, the defense of the meat shields became as intense as the playoffs. The two meat shields took turns on the field, using all kinds of methods, coupled with the package of Barkley and Dameng.
The combination of pinching and supplementary defense really limited Lao Wang's performance. He only scored 17 points and his shooting rate was only 42%.
On the offensive end, the Mosaic team also made adjustments. Barkley returned to the low post, improving the team's low post offensive efficiency.
After the game, ABC commentator Bill Walton analyzed: "In terms of strength, the Mosaic team is indeed stronger. Old K's ability to protect the basket is still a bit poor and cannot provide defense for the team. My opinion is that this season
It will be difficult for the Suns to break through the mosaic.
If the Suns want to advance out of the Western Conference last season, one thing they must achieve is to improve K's defense, otherwise they will end up with nothing."
Partner John Hanks analyzed: "It's a bit similar to the Magic's Shaquille O'Neal. After he gained weight, his defensive quality declined somewhat this season.
My understanding is that these two behemoths are too big to support their physical strength. It is difficult to take care of both offense and defense, so they can only focus on one end."
Bill Walton thought for a moment and nodded: "This is reasonable, but if this is the case, it will lower their evaluation."
John Hanks laughed: "Judging from the results, as the main center, Old K has already won a championship ring. Judging from his data in the playoffs and finals, this ring is of high quality.
.
So what I mean is, if they can really maximize their offense and exert terrifying dominance, then it’s okay to be a little worse defensively.”
"Dominating opponents with offense?" Bill Walton couldn't understand.
He is a veteran traditional center superstar. Based on his understanding of centers, starting from Chamberlain's era, if a center does not defend, it will not work at all.
Take Chamberlain, for example. His offensive ability is ten times better than Russell's, but what's the result? He has been dominated by Russell in the playoffs all year round, instead of dominating Russell with his offense. Even if he played 5,025 games in the regular season
Average data, even entering the playoffs was dominated.
The three current super centers are all stars who are good at both offense and defense. They are strong offensively and weak defensively. In his opinion, they are biased and cannot be called top centers at all. Of course, they cannot become super centers.
After the mosaic, the Suns returned home and defeated the Kings, and then defeated the Timberwolves on the road, winning two consecutive games, and then flew to Salt Lake City.
Lao Wang and the postman had a fight at the end of November. It has been less than three months now. The postman has not fully recovered from his injuries, but he has been discharged from the hospital.
Without Postman, the Jazz's record has been declining, and they are now in the ninth position in the Western Conference. Whether they can finally make it to the playoffs, if Postman cannot come back, they will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Although the Suns and the Jazz have never acknowledged the private duel between Wang and the postman, so many people were present about the incident, and as time went by, word spread, but it was not officially acknowledged.
In the West, the so-called cowboy spirit has always been prevalent. Lao Wang was the postman who was injured in a duel with the postman. Although he was responsible for the consequences and had no moral responsibility, he received the biggest boos so far here.
"Chop suey!"
On the sidelines of the court, on the bench of the Jazz, Malone, the postman with red eyes, stared at Pharaoh Wang on the field, wishing he could rush up to him.
He has now begun to resume physical training and has not yet practiced with the ball. He should be able to return in the playoffs, but the impact of his condition cannot be evaluated yet.
Although he himself felt that his recovery was going well, he had no idea what would happen in the end.
"postman?"
Lao Wang also saw Karl Malone and walked straight over.
"Shh!"
Seeing him heading towards the postman, the center of the field suddenly rose up.
The Jazz's security personnel also took quick action. Half a dozen security guards rushed over to respond at any time.
When the Suns players saw Lao Wang going to find the postman, they also rushed forward.
There was a distance of two meters between the two, and there were security guards on both sides of the middle to separate them.
"Postman, you can come to me for a challenge at any time." He only said one sentence, turned around and left with his teammates.
"I will."
The postman's wolf-like roar sounded from behind.
That night, the whistle was on him. He only played 25 minutes and committed six fouls, including three offensive fouls.
However, the Suns still won. Without him on the court, Thorpe and AC Green partnered in the paint. Their strength was still good. The Jazz without the Postman were unable to cope and lost.
After playing against the Jazz, we returned home to face the visiting Knicks.
Since last season, the Suns and the Knicks have become rival teams. They already played one game in January, which was the Knicks' home court. The Suns won. This home court was a battle between the Suns and everyone.
Strive to win.
At 7:30, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Knicks: Ewing, Oakley, Charles Smith, John Starks, Greg Anthony
Suns: Wang Tiejun, AC Green, Horry, Dan Malley, Kevin Johnson
The game was broadcast live across the United States by TNT, and the commentators were Letem and Dortmund.
At this time, Letem said in a joking tone: "The Knicks' main point guard Doc Rivers was seriously injured last season and only played 19 games. He was reimbursed for the season and could not even play in the playoffs. Backup point guard Greg Anthony took the seat.
They both started the game, but both of them are about the same strength. They will definitely be beaten by Kevin Johnson. No matter who plays, they will be the same."
Dort continued: "The other positions have not changed. The shooting guard is John Starks who was spanked by Old K. The fourth and fifth positions are still Oakley and super center You who were grabbed by Old K.
Because, two poor guys."
"Hahaha..." The two burst into laughter.
After teasing, Letem said: "Dot, have you heard that the Suns once submitted an offer sheet to the Knicks. They wanted to trade Oliver Miller for Oakley, but they were rejected."
Dort said in surprise: "Really? Oh my god, are the Knicks out of their minds? You should agree to this deal.
"Why?" Letem asked with confusion on his face.
Dort chuckled and said: "Because by sending Oakley to the Suns, the Knicks can sit back and watch Old K and Oakley fight each other in the locker room. They will win without a fight!"
"Haha..." Letem burst into laughter.
At this time, in the player tunnel, the starting lineups of the two teams met.
After the one-on-one incident between Lao Wang and the postman, in order to avoid further conflicts off the field, Colangelo had already made arrangements. The security guards of the two teams stood in the middle to maintain order, and it was the same tonight.
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
"Crack!"
Lao Wang got the ball away in front of Ewing, Dan Marley received the ball, and the Suns attacked.
Pulling away, he ran towards the basket, Ewing moved forward to defend, and the other Knicks defenders began to shrink their defense. The Suns had some space on the outside, but not much.
He deliberately strengthened his distribution of the ball. If he didn't open up the outside line, his opponents would double-team him in the low post. No matter how strong he is, he can't conquer the world all by himself.
"Whoosh!"
Throwing it hard with one hand, the ball flew directly to Horry on the left wing three-point line.
Horry has been here for so long, so he should be able to trust him more, but he still doesn't trust Horry because this guy is really not a strong shooter, so he still doesn't pass many balls.
Horry was in a very excited mood. He had been with the Suns for more than half a season, and Old K had never given him the ball fifty times in total. At most, he was given the ball twice a game. Every time he got a pass from Old K, it made him very happy.
Happy.
"Must go in."
Taking a step forward, facing Charles Smith who was returning to defense, he firmly threw a long two-pointer.
"Bang!"
The moment he saw the basketball hit the basket and rise into the air, he felt that the next time Old K would pass the ball to him would be delayed.
Ewing jumped high and grabbed the ball with his left hand.
"Old K?"
At this moment, suddenly there was wind behind me, a shadow was approaching, pressure suddenly appeared on my back, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
"Bang!"
The next moment, he exerted great force on his body, screamed in surprise, jumped forward in the air, and was knocked down.
"Bang!"
Before he even hit the ground, the basket above his head exploded.
"yeah!"
With arms raised, the home fans cheered in the American West Arena.
"Beautiful! Old K pressed super center Ewing to complete a putback dunk." Letem smiled.
"The powerful tonnage makes Lao K's aerial confrontation ability also very strong. Although the three super centers are good at offense and defense, in terms of confrontation ability, even the strongest Dream is no match for Lao K and O'Neal." Dort.
smiled.
"Whoa!"
Looking back, Ewing, who was pushed out of the paint area by Lao Wang, immediately did a rabbit kick after receiving the ball, and then hit a jumper and scored two points.
But if this kind of ball is too far away from the basket, the hit rate is bound to not be too high, so Lao Wang doesn't think much of it. If you like to throw it, just throw it more, I won't mind.
Now his defensive strategy for these super centers is to prevent breakthroughs and not shots. They can throw them from the outside, but they don't let you rush in and hit at will.
I don't necessarily need defensive data, but I must reduce your offensive percentage at the basket and your offensive shooting percentage.
His assist defense is not good, but his single defense ability is still good. Under this strategy, no matter which super center is facing him, even if he scores more points than him, his offensive efficiency will be lower than normal.
level.
"Bang!"
After getting the ball under the basket, he was double-teamed by Oakley and got an elbow in the face. In a rage, Lao Wang exploded with all his strength and hit an iron mountain with as fierce a wave as the waves, sending the famous villain flying.
Got out.
He turned around suddenly, elbowed Ewing away from behind him, and shouted: "Get out of here!"
When Ewing saw his opponent's aura as fierce as a tiger, he couldn't help but pause in surprise.
"Bang!"
Taking this opportunity, he suddenly stood up and smashed the ball wildly with both hands.
"Ouch!"
America West Arena was in a state of carnival.
"Ahem..."
Oakley clutched his chest and coughed. His ribs felt stinging. It might be a fracture or a crack, but the bone was definitely injured.
He only weighed 110 kilograms. Although he was strong, he was still injured under Lao Wang's crazy beatings.
Lao Wang touched his left cheek. It was already a little swollen so quickly. The damn guy must have used too much strength.
Turning around, he stepped directly over Oakley.
When he moved his legs, O'Neal and Ewing knew something was wrong and it was too late to stop him.
"asshole!"
The humiliated Oakley's eyes instantly turned red and filled with murderous intent.
Lao Wang turned around and said: "Remember, Oakley, you are not the only one who knows how to use your elbow. Next time, I will use my elbow to lift your scalp."
The cold and stern words were not high-pitched, but they were so ferocious that the murderer Oakley couldn't help but shrink his eyes, and Ewing's whole body trembled.
"Be careful next time. Look at him. I'm not joking. I heard that the postman's scalp was ripped off by him." Seeing Lao Wang walking away, Ewing warned Oakley and then carefully helped him.
Got up.
With Oakley's dismissal, the Knicks also fell into defeat, and the Suns finally won a victory.
After beating the Knicks, the Suns ended the February regular season with 38 wins and 15 losses, still third in the Western Conference.
However, the Sonics lost two games and the gap between the two teams narrowed by one.
The regular season ends on April 23, and there are still almost two months of games. As the playoffs approach, each team has also entered the adjustment stage, and the main players have strengthened their rotation.
Kevin Johnson has worked very hard this season. Some injuries have occurred, and with old injuries, he has taken more rotations.
His rotation caused a serious decline in the strength of the Suns' No. 1 position, which affected the subsequent record.
Lao Wang himself did not take any rest, but the average time per game was controlled at about 33 minutes, which was a little lower than before.
On March 1st, Lance Hoxman and the Mercedes-Benz team came to Phoenix and signed a global endorsement contract with Wang Tiejun for the new off-road Mercedes-Benz vehicle.
The endorsement contract is for three years and costs four million US dollars per year. It is not considered a first-tier contract, but it is definitely a quasi-first-tier contract.
But in fact, the size of the contract is not the most important. The most important thing is that the brand can enhance his status and is a status symbol.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz also presented him with a specially customized G-type off-road vehicle.
Although this G-type off-road vehicle is a new model, it is not really a new model. It is a military off-road vehicle developed in 1928 and is the ancestor of Mercedes-Benz.
The G-type off-road Mercedes-Benz was actually born in 1979, and it has been 15 years now. The previous name was not G-type, but w460, w461, etc. The name g-wagen was only determined this year.
However, this military off-road vehicle failed to enter the military market in the end, so it had to make an emergency shift and promote it to the civilian market. Wang Tiejun is considered the first global spokesperson for this vehicle.
What Mercedes-Benz mainly values is his popularity in the United States, as well as his temperament and style, which is violent and tough, in line with the style of this car.
However, he is not the only spokesperson for this car. Mercedes-Benz will also sign several spokespersons from other industries.
On March 2, the Jazz officially announced that the Postman, who had been out for more than three months, would return.
On March 6, the three-month speed training ended. The speed increased by 6 levels and now reaches level 75/77.
At the same time, the coordination training has also ended, and it has also been upgraded by 6 levels, now level 85/91.
A speed of 75 is pretty good for the center position.
He estimated through his own tests that the few naturally talented super centers and O'Neal can still beat him in terms of speed. The other centers no longer have any advantage in movement in front of him, and even many of them have no advantage in movement.
The center is even slower than him.
It's just that his current mobility has not been fully demonstrated in the regular season and has been somewhat restrained.
With the improvement of his mobility, some of his skills and abilities have also been improved accordingly, this time mainly reflected in defense.
Single defense has been upgraded by one level and is now level 87.
Assisted defense has been upgraded by 6 levels and is now level 71.
Blocking has been upgraded by 2 levels and is now level 82.
Rebounding has been improved by 2 levels and is now level 92.
Stealing has been upgraded by 6 levels and is now level 56.
"Assist in defense?"
In the coming offseason, he plans to not only continue to improve his athletic quality, but also improve his defensive capabilities. Next season, he will increase his investment in defense and improve his ability to protect the basket.
In addition to defense, there are also some improvements in offense.
The low pace has been increased from level 90 to level 91, and the low level basket has been increased from level 65 to level 70. There are no other changes.
…
On March 10, with the completion of another 50 medicated baths and medicated oil massages, his physical potential increased to level 96/99, and his ability to resist injuries and potential increased to level 91/99.
However, the system prompts that the effects of medicated baths and medicated oils will be slowed down and will increase by one level every 100 times.
This is also understandable. The higher you go, the slower it becomes. His potential level of physical fitness and injury resistance is both level 105. As long as he can improve to this level, a slower speed is acceptable.
On the 13th, the flexibility training was completed and it was improved by two levels. It is now level 77/77, which has reached the ceiling of his quality.
At this time, he noticed that his offensive ability at the basket suddenly improved from 95 to 96.
This improvement should be the accumulated effect of the improvement of various explosive qualities of the body.
"System, my explosive power should also be improved, right? Can you increase the level evaluation of explosive power?" he asked.
"Okay." The system said.
The next moment, an explosive power level of 77/85 was added to his database.
There is another reminder at the end: this quality can only be improved passively.
"Level 77, this level of explosive power should be considered pretty good in the paint, right?"
He estimated that the explosive advantage of the three super centers in front of him should be smaller than the speed advantage, or even have no advantage, because his strength and tonnage are greater. Once he moves, his impact power should be no more than theirs.
weak.
In terms of explosive power, the only one who can stabilize him is O'Neal, who has similar tonnage and strength. The other centers, even Mourning, are still a head above him because of their insufficient tonnage and strength.
