Chapter 166 [Signals of contract renewal, one of the few]
The next day, the news that Yang Jian bought a mansion on Mercer Island made sports news. Not only the local media in Seattle reported this matter, but also the media in many places reported this matter.
All Sonics fans breathed a sigh of relief. The media believed that this was a sign that Yang Jian was willing to renew his contract with the Sonics. If he wants to change cities to play in another city after the season, there is no need to rush to buy a house. He only wants to settle in Seattle for a long time.
Only people will do this.
Yang Jian really wants to settle down, and by the way, he sends a signal to the management to renew his contract, which is good for everyone.
He has no intention of leaving the Sonics in the short term. Before joining, he compared the Sonics with other teams. There is no team more suitable for him.
If he wins the championship this season, what reason would he have not to renew his contract with the SuperSonics and fight with his teammates to defend the title? Kemp's contract expires in the summer of 1997. If the SuperSonics win this season, there is a high probability that they will beat the Bulls again next season.
.
Although the core players of the Bulls are strong, their overall age is a major weakness. They are all older than the core players of the Sonics. Except for Luke Longley, all the starting five are over 30 years old. The oldest, Rodman, is over this season.
After 35 years old, Longley is the youngest at 26 years old, and his speed is not as fast as many 36-year-old black insiders.
The increasing age of the core players means that the overall strength of the Bulls will decline slightly every season. The SuperSonics have no such concerns. The trident is all young people, and only Schrempf is 33 years old among the starting five.
Yang Jian would be a fool to leave the Sonics. Here he may win three consecutive championships and establish a dynasty as soon as he enters the league. How can other teams have such an opportunity? The Bulls do, but he is a loser when he joins the Bulls.
He averaged 10 minutes per game as a substitute for Jordan, which is a lot.
He has not thought about whether to leave the SuperSonics in the future. There is no big-city team suitable for him to join in the short term, and there may not be one in the future. The New York Knicks are hopelessly bad in the parallel world, and he will not be able to do it no matter how much money he is given.
Go. God knows what the future will be like for the Lakers, and it’s not convenient.
The geographical location of other teams is not much better than Seattle, and living in the city is not very comfortable. If he becomes the boss of the Sonics, there seems to be no need to change teams.
He can become a symbol of this city in the future, just like Jordan was in Chicago.
Which superstar in NBA history would take the initiative to join other teams? Even if they left, they were forced to trade. For example, Ewing was kicked out by the Knicks at the end of his career and got a lot of air. Or the star really couldn't lead his team.
The team wins the championship, and when he retires, he joins a strong team and strives to win a championship ring, such as Karl Malone.
Superstars cannot change teams at will, as it will affect their historical status.
There are only a handful of stars in the NBA who change teams frequently and still rise to historical status. Unless the stars change teams to play brother basketball, hometown basketball, family basketball... otherwise it looks like they are joining other teams to join a team.
That night, the Key Arena was packed again. Many people came to watch the Sonics break their winning streak in the opening game.
NBA legend Bill Russell sat in the front row to watch the game. Yang Jian greeted Russell and chatted for a while while viewing the house yesterday. Russell also usually watches basketball games, but he doesn’t go to the scene very much and watches with his family at home.
television.
Yang Jian called to book a ticket and invited Russell to watch the game. The management immediately agreed. This was a good record-breaking stunt.
Today happens to be Saturday, and tv5 also broadcast this regular season live.
Before the game started, the cameraman gave Russell a close-up shot. After Yang Jian came out, he walked to the sidelines, shook hands with Russell, and exchanged a few words.
Zhang Lili introduced: "The news just came out today. Yang Jian bought a villa on Mercer Island in Lake Washington. The neighbor is Bill Russell, the King of the Rings. Today, the 61-year-old Russell came to watch the game and supported
Yang Jian broke the record."
Sun Zhengping said: "Russell has won 11 NBA championships, 5 NBA regular season MVPs, and was selected to the All-Star 12 times. He has too many personal honors, even Michael Jordan can't compare to him."
Zhang Liji said with a smile: "It feels like God's will that Yang Jian can become neighbors with Russell. In the future, he may become the next King of the Ring and have a chance to win the championship this season."
Sun Zhengping said: "It is difficult for the Bucks to pose a threat to the SuperSonics today. Yang Jian will definitely break the record. Since he entered the NBA, he has never lost in an official game!"
After the game started, the Sonics immediately started beating the Bucks. The attack of Yang Jian, Payton, and Kemp was unstoppable.
The starting shooting guard of the Bucks, John Newman, is 201cm tall and weighs 90kg. He is much less flexible than Yang Jian. Yang Jian gets opportunities by running through screens and always catches the ball on the side of Vin Baker to lead him out of the penalty area.
Wen Baker didn't come out, Yang Jian caught the ball and threw it, Wen Baker helped defend, and Kemp caught the ball and hit the basket. The Bucks' defense was already very bad, and they were beaten after a while.
Their offense mainly relies on individual players, Vin Baker singled out Kemp, and "Big Dog" Glenn Robinson singled out Schrempf. Yang Jian also put some slack when defending Newman, preventing breakthroughs but not shots.
Payton became the easiest person on the court. The Bucks' starting point guard Lee Mayberry was a role player who averaged 5 points and 3.6 assists per game. He had no confrontation, no organization, no shooting, and was only 185cm tall.
In this case, Payton did not use his physical advantage to bully Mayberry and passed the ball selflessly to get assists.
Stockton's assists have increased recently, averaging 11 per game, and Payton is feeling the pressure. He must first ensure that he wins the assists title, and everything else is secondary. If he can maintain an average of about 15 points per game, he will
Satisfied.
The Sonics led by 11 points entering the second quarter, and the Bucks' bench exploded.
There is a characteristic of the NBA. Players often break out when playing against their old clubs. When they are traded, they seem to have a lot of resentment towards their old clubs and will try their best.
The one who broke out was not Kevin Edwards, who had just been traded to the Bucks, but substitute center Benoit Benjamin. He is 213cm tall and weighs 113kg. He has good low-post footsteps and continuously singled out Earvin Johnson to score.
.
After the end of this season, it will be difficult for Erwin to get a contract extension. He is a blue-collar worker with poor scoring ability, and his ability to defend the penalty area is also average. Against him, some of the opponent's blue-collar workers can attack. In order to defend the opponent,
His choice is usually to foul, and this "foul machine" can easily find a minimum-salary replacement in the free market.
The starters returned to the court one after another, and the score opened up again. The Sonics players continued to share the ball, and the ball moved much better than the Bucks players, creating opportunities for their teammates.
In the second half, Sam Perkins took a shot and the Bucks couldn't stand it.
The Bucks were unable to successfully double-team Yang Jian and Kemp. The wing players lacked the awareness to help defend, and the Bulls could not learn to rotate. The Bucks could not open up the offensive end. Just after a while in the final quarter, the Sonics led by 23 points.
It's garbage time.
With a final score of 121 to 99, the SuperSonics won their 16th consecutive victory at home, setting an NBA record for winning streaks at the start of the game.
Yang Jian played 31 minutes, making 4 of 9 shots, 2 of 5 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, and scored 14 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. His data dropped a lot, and the playing time was too short.
In the SuperSonics, only Kemp took more than 10 shots, and 6 players on the team scored in double figures. This does not include Payton, who played 32 minutes and scored 7 points and 10 assists.
Kemp found the feeling, making 10 of 16 shots, 7 of 8 three-pointers, scoring 27 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Facing Kemp, who was physically better than himself, Vinbeck was defeated offensively. He made 4 of 12 shots, 1 of 6 free throws, and scored 9 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Yang Jian felt a headache when he thought that he might be teammates with Wen Baker in the future. If he could make suggestions to the management, he really hoped that the team would bring back another insider.
Wen Baker plays so ugly that it affects the overall image of the Sonics. He is a player with relatively good static talent. He is 211cm tall, has a wingspan of 226cm, weighs 109 kilograms, and moves very fast.
Wen Baker is good both offensively and defensively, and can be said to have comprehensive skills. However, he likes to shrink his neck when playing from behind, which is a bit obscene, and his dunks are ordinary and lack explosive power. His shooting posture is even more speechless. Whether it is a jump shot or a free throw, he always tilts his neck.
But Yang Jian knew that eighty percent of the money in the future would be exchanged for this product, because his annual salary was only 4 million.