On the sidelines, a confident D'Antoni walked towards Colangelo with a smile and extended his hand.
"I am fine."
Little Colangelo stretched out his hand to shake it without joy and anger, and soon let go.
"Jeff, congratulations."
D'Antoni is still self-aware, and Colangelo just wanted to kill him with one shot. He sneered and stretched out his hand to Xiao Fan.
"Thank you!"
Xiao Fan nodded and shook hands.
"Thank me?"
D'Antoni was stunned for a moment, and soon understood that Van Gundy really had to thank him. If he hadn't left, how would he have had the chance to take over?
At this time, the first team comes on the field, the home team comes to the end, and the visiting team takes the lead.
"Old K..."
After seeing Old K come out, D'Antoni, who was waiting on the sidelines, smiled and extended his hand, wanting to say something else.
Lao Wang didn't seem to see D'Antoni and walked straight over. D'Antoni's expression froze and he retracted his outstretched hand in embarrassment.
Lao Wang understands Stoudemire and his team's choice, and also understands D'Antoni's choice to leave the team, but he will never agree with D'Antoni's behavior of poaching the Suns.
With his current status, there is no need to give D'Antoni any face at all, or even maintain superficial politeness. It will only give people a feeling of hypocrisy. His image has never been that of a gentleman, but a villain. He is labeled as domineering, rough, and inconsistent.
Violence.
"Tom, Monica, Jessica..."
He hugged and shook hands with some friends on the sidelines. Many celebrities came tonight.
At half past eight, the game officially started.
Kenyon Martin and Stoudemire jump ball, the Knicks attack.
The moment he saw Stoudemire taking the lead in getting the ball, Lao Wang immediately turned back to defend and quickly retreated to the basket.
At this time, the Knicks' offense had already begun.
Marion made an air cut from the left wing. Zhu Fangyu was not as fast as Marion and was thrown away. At this time, Nash quickly passed the ball. Marion received the ball and took a step outside the paint area. When he saw old K coming from the basket, he immediately stopped and shot a jumper.
.
"brush!"
The water splashed and the mid-range shot hit.
Lao Wang was about to turn around to grab a rebound. When he saw Knicks center Muhammad rushing to the basket, he took notice of this short center. He was a center who was good at grabbing offensive rebounds and tip-ins.
He has studied the Knicks' lineup before and also knows about Muhammad. He is a very good blue-collar player.
Sun attack.
Lao Wang entered the basket and the others pulled away.
Kenyon Martin can't shoot well and has average spacing ability. Stoudemire stays on the right midfielder and can return to the basket at any time.
White Chocolate feels that his talents will be buried in the Suns, because everything here is centered on Old K. There is no need for so many fancy breakthroughs and passes, just pass the ball in, so in fact, he also understands why Kidd and Nash are like this
An excellent point guard will choose to leave the Suns.
However, he still tried his best to show his ability. When he saw old K entering the basket, he immediately pulled to the left. When Nash followed up, he suddenly pulled back, and Nash in front disappeared. Before the three seconds were up,
, and then passed the ball in.
He obviously got rid of Nash and could pass the ball directly, but he used a fancy backhand pass.
Lao Wang was just about to curse at the basket. Don't you know that there are three seconds of attack? Just throw it in and it's over. What's the point of pulling it back and forth? Does Nash have the ability to stop you from passing the ball?
He quickly took a step forward and jumped to catch the ball before Stoudemire came in to double-team him. At this time, Muhammad took a step behind him and got behind him, while Stoudemire also stayed on the left side.
The next moment, as soon as he landed, he immediately turned right, avoided Stoudemire's double team, put his right elbow against Muhammad behind him, and hit a front hook with the ball in his left hand.
Muhammad tried his best to take off and block the shot, but unfortunately he was not talented enough and was pushed outside. His defensive height was significantly different.
"brush!"
The ball goes hollow into the basket.
"Beautiful! Old K hit a hook near the basket." Barkley shouted.
Before these words were finished, the Knicks' offense had already begun.
D'Antoni's seven-second offensive theory has been realized on this Knicks. When Old K received the ball under the basket, Nash, Marion, and Alan Houston were retreating. When the ball entered the basket, they
It has turned around and is about to descend.
Under the basket, Muhammad also picked up the ball immediately, retreated to the baseline, and prepared to serve quickly.
However, Lao Wang is too familiar with D'Antoni. When he was rebuilding his body in 2002, he chose the direction of rebuilding with equal emphasis on strength and agility. He just wanted to try small ball and try different styles. He knew the tactics of small ball very well.
I also know a lot about run and gun.
D'Antoni's first step in running and gunning is to send and pass quickly to get the ball to Nash's hands as quickly as possible.
Therefore, after discussing with Xiao Fan, his defensive task during the offensive transition is not to quickly return to defense, but to prevent the Knicks' quick passes.
Muhammad was only 208 centimeters, still as tall as a shoe, and his wingspan was much smaller than that of Lao Wang, and his mobility was also much slower than Lao Wang. As soon as Lao Wang stood in front of him, he was cut off as he waved his arms.
His passing space.
There is no need to cut off for a long time, just one or two seconds is enough. This time is enough for the Suns players to catch up with Nash and Stoudemire and complete the return defense.
After two seconds, Lao Wang stopped caring about Muhammad and calmly turned back to defend.
"The Knicks' fast break failed, and now they have fallen into a positional battle and lost speed. Is it still a run and gun?" Barkley asked with a smile.
Before he finished speaking, the Knicks' offense was completed.
Marion suddenly made a reverse run on the left three-point line. After getting rid of Zhu Fangyu, he quickly moved to the top of the key.
Nash passed the ball at this time, Marion caught the ball and shot a jumper. Zhu Fangyu flew from one side to block the shot. It seemed that he did not touch the ball and the ball flew towards the basket.
"Rebound!"
Zhu Fangyu shouted loudly, knowing that he had touched the ball.
"Bang!"
Sure enough, the next moment, the basketball hit the basket and bounced short.
Muhammad wanted to bypass Lao Wang and rush to the basket to grab an offensive rebound, but Lao Wang quickly blocked the position, protected the backcourt rebound, and handed it to White Chocolate Williams.
When the positional battle began, Lao Wang entered the basket again, and when he received the ball, he was once again double-teamed by Stoudemire and Muhammad.
"Bang!"
With his back arched, Muhammad collapsed.
"Bang!"
The next moment, he faked a rise and easily shook Stoudemire, then stood up a second time and smashed the ball into the basket with one hand.
4:2, Knicks attack.
After the dunk, Wang still stayed in front of the baseline, like a mountain, blocking the Knicks' quick start.
The others quickly returned to the backcourt and marked man-to-man.
In positional battles, Stoudemire has a little offensive ability with the ball in the low post, but he hasn't developed it yet. He is already used to eating cake.
And Muhammad is just a blue-collar worker.
Therefore, in positional battles, the Knicks' offense mainly relies on outside jump shots or sudden points.
This time, Nash broke through with the ball, entered the paint area, attracted Martin's defense, and then passed the ball to Stoudemire.
Stoudemire caught the ball and shot a jumper outside the paint area. Josh Howard rushed down to cover the ball and flew under the block, affecting the former's shot.
"Bang!"
Missed, Lao Wang protected the backcourt rebound, and the Suns attacked.
Lao Wang hit the basket twice, this time pulling to the left wing and emptying the basket.
White Chocolate held the ball to the left wing. At this time, Kenyon Martin got rid of Stoudemire and was cutting into the weak side. After the former used Pharaoh's pick-and-roll to get rid of Nash, he made a wonderful pass with his backhand and passed the ball into the basket.
"Bang!"
Kenyon Martin caught the ball and hit a dunk.
This time, Stoudemire quickly picked up the ball and retreated to the baseline to prepare for a quick serve. Kenyon Martin did not stop him in time. The quick serve was successful and the ball was passed to Nash.
Nash quickly moved forward after receiving the ball, and Marion and Alan Houston were already rushing down from the left and right wings respectively.
Zhu Fangyu and Josh Howard pursued and defended with all their strength, but they were not as fast as others. They had to be slower and they both fell behind.
Lao Wang also started to defend from the left wing, constantly accelerating towards the backcourt, chasing Zhu Fangyu one step behind, and soon shortened the distance.
"Whoosh!"
Nash took a few steps forward and saw Marion on the right wing crossing the three-point line. Suddenly he made a long pass and the ball flew in front of Marion.
Zhu Fangyu felt someone approaching from the left, turned around and saw that it was Wang Tiejun. He immediately slowed down and Wang Tiejun rushed into the paint area from the right elbow area.
At this time, Marion caught the ball, took off from his right waist position, held the ball in his right hand, and slashed towards the basket like a tomahawk.
Almost at the same time, Lao Wang took off and blocked the shot.
"Crack!"
Under the giant palm, amid the exclamations of Madison Square Garden, the ball flew high into the sky.
The next second, Lao Wang took off for the second time and grabbed the ball.
"Beautiful! Old K chased from the frontcourt to the backcourt and sent a clean shot to destroy the Knicks' run-and-gun offense." Barkley praised.
"As a heavy center, this kind of defensive ability against fast breaks is rare, which is what I dreamed of back then."
Kenny Smith praised, and then said in a puzzled tone: "So I don't understand. With the speed of Old K, D'Antoni can also play small ball in the Suns, why would he go to the Knicks?"
"Because Old K and the Suns management did not allow him to play run and gun in the Suns. This is a difference in philosophy. He does not need to defend his run and gun, but Old K and the Suns management do not think that kind of run and gun is right.
." Barkley said.
The Suns advanced to the frontcourt unhurriedly, and Lao Wang once again directly entered the basket.
"Bang!"
"Beep!"
After receiving the ball, Lao Wang got caught in a double-team and forced himself to get up to dunk. While scoring, he also knocked over Stoudemire and caused a foul on Muhammad's thug.
The extra free throw was made, 9:2, the Suns took the lead, and the Knicks attacked.
This time, it's still quick.
Muhammad received the ball under the basket and immediately retreated to the baseline. Kenyon Martin went up to stop it, but the ball was still sent out and passed to Marion who came down to respond. Marion quickly got rid of Zhu Fangyu and passed it to the frontcourt.
Nash.
White Chocolate chased next to him, Nash made a backhand pass, and the ball flew to Alan Houston on the left wing three-point line.
Alan Houston feinted a shot from the three-point line, shook Josh Howard, quickly started, and headed towards the basket with the ball.
But this time was enough for Lao Wang to return to defense from the free throw line, and Stoudemire, who started to go down from the basket, fell a few steps behind him.
"Crack!"
Alan Houston made a layup, and as soon as the ball rose, it was pressed on the backboard by two giant hands, and then he grabbed it directly.
"Cap catch? Beautiful!" Kenny Smith roared excitedly.
Barkley laughed and said: "Look, I'm right, old K will not only have a blast today on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end."
"Bang!"
In the transition between offense and defense, Lao Wang took advantage of the Knicks' full force to go down quickly. When the backcourt was empty, he made a long pass and assisted Kenyon Martin to complete a dunk.
11:2, Knicks attack.
After serving, D'Antoni finally called a timeout.
After the timeout, the Knicks continued to run and bomb.
The Suns played man-to-man, and White Chocolate chased too closely in the backcourt. Nash passed a long pass to Marion, but Zhu Fangyu squeezed Marion and made a mistake in catching the ball. The ball flew directly out of the left sideline, and the offense and defense transitioned.
The Suns are still in a positional battle.
"Bang!"
Lao Wang still got into the basket, and Muhammad couldn't stop him at all. Stoudemire's double-teaming was no more than that, and his defense was just a show-off, with no intensity of confrontation. He didn't notice that bit of defense at all, and he beat the basket.
Two, another goal was scored.
After succeeding, he immediately defended on the spot to prevent the opponent from making quick starts, once again strangling the Knicks' running and gunning from the source.
"Bang!"
Looking back, the Knicks played a positional battle. With Wang sitting in the penalty area, the inside attack was weak. Alan Houston missed a mid-range shot. Kenyon Martin protected the backcourt rebound and the Suns got the ball again.
Barkley said with a smile: "This is run and gun. As long as their quick release and quick pass keys are locked, their fast break can be suppressed to a great extent."
"The Knicks' positional battle is all about shooting from the outside. How do you beat old K inside?" Kenny Smith said.
By the 8th minute of the first quarter, at 26:8, the Suns had led by 18 points, and the Knicks called their third timeout of the first quarter.
"Old K is now 7-for-7 from the field, 5-for-5 from the free throw line, and scored 19 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 blocks. It's a blast on both offense and defense!" Su Qun said excitedly.
"The Knicks averaged 111 points per game this season. Their offensive firepower is strong and ranks first in the league. Now they only score 8 points in 8 minutes. The offense has been completely destroyed. This kind of running and gunning will be able to go after entering the playoffs."
How far?" Zhang Lili shook his head and asked.
In front of the Knicks bench, D'Antoni, who was full of confidence before the game, was sweating profusely.
He arranged for Nash to catch the ball in the backcourt, not letting him advance to the frontcourt, and letting the other three people go on a fast break. He also warned: "Remember, you must get the ball out as soon as possible."
After the timeout ended, the Knicks replaced Alan Houston and replaced Quentin Richardson, but the others remained unchanged.
With a huge score advantage, the Suns all used the substitute lineup, including Varejao, Kurt Thomas, Ariza, Jamal Crawford, and Smush Parker.
"There are five substitutes, including two rookies. Smushparker is also a second-year player and an undrafted player. His strength is almost non-existent. The Suns are really big-hearted. Aren't they afraid of the Knicks running and gunning to get it back?" Kenny Smith
Complain.
"Don't be afraid. With Crawford, although he is not efficient enough, he still has the ability to score points in the substitute lineup. Although the Knicks are still the main force, they do not intend to defend at all and will not affect Crawford's scoring." Barkley
smiled.
"Haha..." Kenny Smith shook his head and laughed.
However, Barkley underestimated D'Antoni's running and gunning. In the next two minutes, the Knicks made a total of 5 attacks and scored 3 of them.
Among the five attacks, the longest one only took 10 seconds, and the shortest one only took 1.8 seconds. Nash directly served the ball from the baseline. After a long pass, Marion hit an open three-pointer.
The Knicks used a wild round of running and bombing to score 7 points in a row. They used their wind-like offense to disrupt the Suns' offensive and defensive rhythm and stunned the Suns' bench lineup.
Crawford's rhythm was also disrupted, making 0 of 4 shots and scoring no points. The Knicks pulled back 7 points in a row, trailing only 11 points at 26:15.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, Xiao Fan removed rookie Varejao, and Lao Wang came on the court again and took over the Suns' offense.
"Keep an eye on them on the defensive end, and don't follow them on the offensive end."
As soon as he came on the court, the first thing he did was to stabilize the rhythm. With him as Optimus Prime, the Suns' bench lineup immediately stabilized.
He entered the basket without asking for the ball. Crawford, who was holding the ball, saw him stop and immediately hoisted the ball in obediently.
This is his status. No matter who is around him, even Kobe, who has entered his peak in the latter stages of the Lakers' three consecutive championships, the first choice is to hand the ball to him.
But every advantage has a disadvantage. This is also the reason why Nash and Stoudemire left the Suns. Except for salted fish, no one with potential and ability is willing to be the green leaf that sets off the red flower. They all just want to be the red flower and the protagonist.
.
When the ball came in, Stoudemire wanted to go around and steal the ball, but his strength was not comparable to that of Lao Wang, but he pushed him aside with an elbow.
"Crack!"
He took off and grabbed the ball with both hands. When he landed, he had already completed his body adjustment and turned sideways from the front basket. Then he rose up twice. In the double team, he forcibly got up and dunked hard with both hands.
"Bang!"
"Beep!"
The sound of the basket smashing and the whistle sounded at the same time, and Muhammad and Stoudemire fell to the floor at the same time.
The referee came over and pointed at Muhammad, making a gesture that indicated a foul on the thug and an extra penalty kick.
"Beautiful! I guess if we do it two more times, Xiaosi won't dare to double-team Old K like this." Su Qun shouted excitedly.
"His defense is really a paper tiger, and he can hardly withstand any low-post player who can attack with the ball. When he was in the Suns, the low-post defense relied entirely on Tiejun, and he just played a role. Now he is double-teaming Tiejun and has been dunked twice.
This time, the willingness to defend will definitely drop significantly, and the quality of double teams will indeed be even worse next time." Zhang Li said with a smile.
