That evening, the American West Arena was crowded with people inside and outside, and at least a quarter of them were Chinese.
With the development over the past few years, the number of Chinese in Phoenix has reached 60,000. The city government has always adhered to the policy of attracting Chinese, and the results are still somewhat effective.
The media promoted this game as a Chinese Derby. Lao Wang and Yao were the leaders of the Suns and Nets respectively, and they were in the same position, so the attention was extremely high. Chinese people from Phoenix and nearby cities came in droves.
.
Before six o'clock, Zhang Lili and Su Qun brought the photography team to the American West Arena.
Seeing such a hot sports market, Lao Zhang said with emotion: "After Tie Jun left the Suns, the Suns took the championship bonus for about three years, and then their record declined seriously and they could not make the playoffs. The sports market deteriorated seriously, and it was very difficult for them to make it.
There are rare times when the stadium is full, and the ticket price has been reduced again and again, but it can't save the football market, and now the football market is finally back."
"Director Zhang, Su Qun."
When they entered, some Chinese reporters who saw Lao Zhang and the others came up to greet them.
There are many domestic reporters in the United States who cover the NBA. One group follows Yao, the other follows Lao Wang, and there are dozens of them.
At 7:30, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Nets: Yao Min, Aaron Williams, Richard Jefferson, Corey Kidders, Kidd
Suns: Wang Tiejun, Amar'e Stoudemire, Marion, Anfernee Hardaway, Nash
The game is broadcast live across the United States by TNT. TNT purchased the most of the Suns' national live broadcasts this season, with a total of 32 games. TNT accounted for 20 games, and several other broadcasters added up to 12 games.
Barkley analyzed: "The Nets left Kean Van Hoyne, and their strength has declined compared to last season. However, Chad Jefferson, whom they acquired from Mosaic, has grown up and has certain benefits to their strength, so this season
Its strength is still at the forefront in the East.
Comparing the Nets with the Suns, even though Yao is very strong, he does not have a good power forward. I think the strength of the Nets' interior combination is definitely not as good as that of the Suns.
On the outside, Hardaway's injury is still a problem and he can only contribute 8 points per game, but Marion and Nash can both provide 15 points, and there is still room for tapping their potential in scoring ability."
Kenny Smith said: "Last season, Marion almost hit the numbers of 2010. So far, he has only scored 18 points and 9 points, and his strength has declined.
His data dropped, of course because of Old K, who took fewer shots, but with Old K's restraint in the low post, Marion's efficiency improved a bit."
Barkley continued: "In comparison, the Suns are actually not weaker than the Nets on the offensive end. The only question is whether Kidd's control of Nash at the No. 1 position can destroy the Suns' offense."
Kenny Smith said: "The Suns' current offensive system is still based on positional warfare. If you can hit the fast break, you can hit it. If you can't, it will immediately switch to positional warfare. Although Kidd's defense is at the top level, he can't guard Nash.
Can't pass the ball for Old K."
Barkley nodded and said: "So I think that once they encounter a strong defensive point guard opponent, or a strong defensive team, it is best for the Suns to focus on positional warfare. Nash can switch to a pitcher. He and Marion,
Hardaway can shoot three-pointers, and he should be the most accurate one."
Domestically, because it was Saturday, countless fans were sitting in front of the TV, and the sports center on Fengshen Street was still crowded.
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
Wang Tiejun and Dayao jumped the ball. When the ball was thrown, Dayao responded falsely and didn't jump much at all. He knew he couldn't jump.
"The Suns are attacking, Old K gets into the basket, Dayao, hurry up and catch up!" As soon as the game started, Su Qun looked excited and shouted loudly.
Seeing Lao Wang running towards the basket, Dayao quickly followed.
His weight is controlled at 130 kilograms. Like Lao Wang, his lower limbs are thick and powerful. Since he participated in the Iron Army training camp at the age of 15, the training plan Lao Wang has formulated for him has always focused on movement speed training, especially lateral movement.
In addition, his pace is very long, so his speed is actually pretty good. When switching between offense and defense, as long as he has enough energy, he can completely attack on a fast break.
After following the basket, he moved forward, leaning against Lao Wang, and stretched his arms backwards, blocking the possibility of Lao Wang passing around him to catch the ball.
Lao Wang immediately exerted his strength and pushed forward, causing Yao's upper body to bend forward and his feet to loosen.
However, Dayao's lower body was very stable. Although his upper body was shaken by the push, he could barely stand on his feet. After several confrontations, although he finally pushed Dayao away, he did not have three seconds to attack.
, we can only leave the paint area first.
Dayao followed and the penalty area was empty. Nash tried to break through, but was blocked by Kidd. The breakthrough failed and he quickly transferred the ball to Marion.
Marion's offensive ability with the ball is not good, he got the ball and passed it down, left low post, Lao Wang received the ball, singled out Yao, missed the hook, and the Nets attacked.
Zhang Lili said: "It can be said that Dayao was trained by Tie Jun. Although his upper body strength is not very strong, his lower body is very stable. Look at his legs, especially his thighs, they are so strong!
Tie Jun's idea was that he did not want Dayao to maintain a large tonnage. Large tonnage would have a great negative impact on the joints of the lower limbs and feet, but light tonnage would not be able to stand in a low position, so he strengthened Dayao's lower limb strength training.
You can take a look at Dayao’s knees, where the small muscle groups are particularly well developed and specially trained, which can have a strong protective effect on the knee joints."
Su Qun nodded and said: "There are very few centers that can make Dayao unstoppable in a confrontation. That is, Old K and O'Neal have some advantages. Even Duncan and Garnett, against Dayao, their strength and quality
It’s stronger, but its tonnage is smaller, so it can’t even lift the big Yao.”
In the TNT commentary box, Barkley said: "The Suns' first attack failed. Facing Kidd's defense, Nash was restricted to a certain extent and could not break through as he pleased before. Then the Suns should pay attention to this situation.
Because once he enters the playoffs, Nash will only be defended more tightly."
"So in the playoffs, the Suns should still focus on half-court battles and play defensive counterattacks on fast breaks." Kenny Smith said.
At this time, the Nets came to the frontcourt and started a traditional positional battle with the center as the core. Yao went down to the low post on the left wing to get the ball.
I just tried it once, this time Lao Wang did not engage in a strong confrontation, but put a defensive step.
The game against the Nets is not very important, just feel out the opponent's fundamentals. There is no need to compete with Dayao unless they meet in the finals.
Dayao stood up neatly, locked his left elbow, and hit a side hook. Lao Wang stepped forward to block the shot, and the ball passed over his palm and hit the basket accurately.
"Beautiful! Dayao himself has a good hook shot, and he learned his hook shot from Old K. When he entered the league in 2000, his hook shot had already reached the top level." Su Qun introduced.
Sun attack.
D'Antoni shouted from the sidelines, asking Stoudemire to come out and do a pick-and-roll with Nash.
First, Nash can get rid of Kidd's defense and use his breakthrough ability. With Old K in the low post, the breakout tactics will be very strong, just like the breakout tactics of O'Neal and Jordan, which are very threatening.
Secondly, Stoudemire has a strong ability to move down the court. He and Nash played pick-and-rolls very well in team training games. He followed up and cut in. Whether it was dunks or small floaters near the basket, Stoudemire was still good at facing the basket.
The impact of the basket is very powerful.
Sure enough, after using the wall to get rid of Kidd, Nash changed directions and bypassed Aaron Williams, who was changing defense, and rushed into the paint area, forcing Dayao to return to defend the basket. At this time, Nash casually threw the ball behind Dayao, and Dayao
Yao knew something was wrong.
"Bang!"
When Lao Wang saw Nash throwing the ball, he immediately jumped up, caught the ball in the air, and dunked directly across Yao.
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded and pointed at Dayao. Dayao was staggered and received a blocking foul.
Barkley smiled and said: "When it comes to sudden scoring tactics, I think the cooperation between Nash and Old K will not be worse than the cooperation between Michael and O'Neal, because Nash's passing is better than Michael's."
Kenny Smith said: "It won't be better, because Nash doesn't have Michael's ability to attract double teams."
Barkley sighed: "It's good to be that strong. If it hadn't been for meeting Old K, Michael and O'Neal were both at their peak when they teamed up. I wouldn't be surprised if they created a dynasty in those few years."
"It's just fate, the 1990s was the era of Old K." Kenny Smith said with a smile.
Barkley nodded and said: "From the beginning of the 90/91 season to the end of the 99/00 season, in ten seasons, Jordan won three championships. His big dream counts as one championship, but in fact he only has one third, haha..."
"This damn flying pig!" Dameng yelled in his home.
Barkley continued to say with a smile: "Old K won three championships with the Suns, and the Lakers had a three-peat dynasty, with a total of six championships. In ten seasons, he won six championships. The 1990s were of course his era.
But I was the core for his first championship with the Suns, so I actually have to count it as two championships in these ten seasons. I won the championship as the core. Old K can only count it as five championships in ten years. Is that okay for me?
"
Kenny Smith joked: "Then you can only count one championship. The dream of the second championship is the core."
"Kenny is good. He is my old buddy for many years."
In front of the TV, Da Meng was very pleased, and suddenly sneered: "Charles, I just don't know what old K would think if he knew that you counted his six championships in ten years into five championships in ten years?"
"Ah owe! Ah owe! Ah owe!"
Barkley suddenly sneezed three times in the commentary box.
America West Arena, the game continues.
Lao Wang didn't play violently. After getting into the basket for the first time without any results, he mainly used hook shots for nearly two points and two points in the middle. Occasionally, when the opportunity was good, he would go in and dunk, but he didn't take many shots in total.
, the desire to attack is not strong.
To be honest, he had no interest in playing against Yao, whom he trained by himself. After one game, he only scored 28 points and shot 61% from the field.
In addition, he also grabbed 18 rebounds, sent 9 assists and 5 blocks. Among them, Dayao had 4 blocks from him, and also stole 3 times from Dayao. He was weak on the offensive end, but caught Dayao to death on the defensive end.
Fuck, just like Garnett.
On the contrary, facing the big brother who trained him, Yao had a strong desire to attack and hoped to challenge him. However, under Lao Wang's defense, he made 8 of 19 shots and a shooting rate of 42.1%, which was not as good as normal. In addition, he made 5 free throws and 5 free throws.
In the game, he scored 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls.
At the end of the game, the Suns beat the Nets by 8 points.
After the game, Zhang Li said with a smile: "The result of this game illustrates a problem. The East is indeed weaker than the West now. It has shown a situation where the West is strong and the East is weak. After the Tiejun retired, as the Sharks traveled west, David
The situation of competition between East and West created by Mr. Stern has been completely broken."
Su Qun nodded and said: "It is true that the Suns are not the strongest team in the Western Conference, and today K did not attack with all his strength, but still beat the Nets. Firstly, the Suns' lineup is indeed not bad, and secondly, the Nets'
The strength can dominate in the East, but it is not top-notch in the West."
Zhang Lili said: "The main reason why the Nets played against the Suns was that the inside combination was not as good as the Suns. Although Dayao has reached the level of a top center, he is definitely not as good as Tiejun, and Stoudemire is much better than the Nets' fringe power forward.
If the Nets want to win the championship, they must strengthen the fourth position. Dayao still lacks a good helper, and the bench lineup also needs to be strengthened."
In the TNT commentary box, Buckley analyzed: "It is certain that the west is strong and the east is weak. The formation of this situation is due to the shark's westward journey and the comeback of Old K.
The Shark's journey to the West directly allowed the Lakers to complete their reconstruction and immediately return to the championship. The return of Old K also made the Suns become a championship-level super team, making the competition in the West more intense, and at the same time making the West stronger against the East.
It’s more obvious.”
Kenny Smith analyzed: "The league should strongly support the Eastern Conference, Nets, Pistons, and Philadelphia. If these strong teams cannot compete with the Western Conference, the balance between the East and the West will be lost, causing the finals to lose its appeal."
Barkley smiled: "So in this season's playoffs, the Western Conference will definitely be more attractive, and the Western Conference Finals will most likely replace the Finals and become the series with the highest ratings in the playoffs."
David Stern is thinking about how to change this situation at this time.
The thing he created before, Behemoth, was indeed successful and maintained its popularity for four seasons. The ratings of the finals in those four seasons were getting higher year by year. The tiebreaker of the finals in 2001 when Old K was injured
Battle, the viewership rating exceeded the 70 million mark.
The current situation of weak in the east and strong in the west is not what he wants to see. What he wants is balance.
The Nets can support it, as well as Philadelphia. The Pistons' record is okay now, but he doesn't like the Pistons' style of play and has no plans to support him. If the Pistons reach the finals, the ratings may drop to where they are.
In addition, there are Pacers in the East. Although Ewing left, they brought in O'Neal from the Magic and Ron Artest from the Bulls. They have the potential to make a comeback and can be supported.
Also, the top powers in the Western Conference need to suppress it. In addition to the Suns, who need to pay attention, the money offensive of Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen has destroyed the balance of the league.
However, Old K came back and is still in great shape. The Suns are currently strong and will only get stronger in the future. He feels that there is a need for a team that can compete with the Suns, and the Blazers and Lakers have luxurious lineups.
For such a team, the level of suppression cannot be too severe.
