Chapter 48 [A clever woman is hard to cook without rice]
Yang Jian did not score again in this quarter, and one mid-range shot missed due to interference from Chris.
Schrempf ensured the Sonics' offensive firepower, scoring a three-pointer and a mid-range shot. Payton was addicted to assists, not only passing the ball to Schrempf, but also breaking through and passing the ball to Earvin Johnson, who was cutting through the air.
Dunk score.
At halftime, the SuperSonics led 55 to 51.
George Karl assigned tasks to the players in the locker room. "Sean, I will still send you on the field in the second half. You have to let go of your normal defense and don't be afraid of fouls."
"Cut off the connection between Stockton and his teammates, Gary tried his best to pursue the defense, and the inside players continued to guard against Malone."
The SuperSonics coaching staff is very confident. Even if Kemp is sent off, there will still be someone available inside. They guessed that the Jazz will probably attack Kemp and try to defeat him. The Sonics may be able to use this to defend.
Bob Weiss suggested letting Kemp defend Malone alone, and shrink the formation to defend the penalty area when encountering pick-and-roll situations. This way, the Jazz will not easily cause Kemp to foul. If they force the ball to the inside, the shooting rate in the penalty area melee may not be high.
On the Jazz's side, Sloan's tactics were still aimed at Yang Jian, treating him as the Sonics' leading scorer. Too many points by Yang Jian in the opening game would not only affect the outcome of a game, but would also seriously affect the morale of the Jazz team.
After all, this is a nominally undrafted rookie. Failure to guard him will change the mentality of Jazz players. If you can't guard even rookies, how can you guard Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Michael Jordan?
"Yang will definitely continue to run in the second half. Jeff will try his best to follow him. When encountering a screen inside, be careful to help defend and don't let him have an easy jump shot. The defense against Schrempf should also be tighter and don't let him
Comfortable catching the ball.”
Sloan sighed in his heart. After playing 82 regular season games, Yang Jian will be stronger after accumulating some experience. The Jazz will definitely be at a disadvantage when they meet the SuperSonics in the playoffs.
The Jazz took care of Kemp today and the Sonics can still take the lead. The key is that the shooting percentages of Yang Jian and Schrempf are too high. Payton's jump shot is worse, and the overall shooting percentage is also around 50%.
The SuperSonics are the only team in the league with four offensive strengths, and the Bulls can't compare.
The Jazz fielded their strongest offensive lineup, with Hornacek and Stockton playing together. Chris Morris scored 2 points on a mid-range shot before the end of the first half. There was not much that the team could do against Yang Jian.
Need to strengthen firepower.
If Sloan does not allow Hornacek and Yang Jian to face each other throughout the game, it will be a serious blow to the veteran's mentality, and he will appear to be too wary of the opponent's rookie.
The Sonics started with four starters and made only one adjustment. Kemp assumed the center position and Bo Outlaw, who did not play a minute in the first half, was the power forward.
After the game started, Outlaw became a surprise player for the Sonics.
Outlaw is a short power forward who is good at guarding pick-and-rolls. He is very mobile and can match up with Malone and help defend guards.
On the offensive end, Outlaw was active near the penalty area. He didn't want the ball to cover and attracted an inside defender. When his teammates took action, he tried his best to block the offensive rebound.
Foster's ability to control rebounds was average, and the Sonics' two highly mobile inside players rushed to grab offensive rebounds, which worked very well. Outlaw grabbed two, Kemp grabbed one, and each scored one in the second offense.
The ball converted to 4 points.
Kemp scored a two-handed dunk tip-in, which will definitely be selected as one of the top five goals of the day. He was suppressed by Malone for most of the game, and he let out a fierce breath.
But a minute later, Kemp was fouled by Malone for the fifth time and went to rest again.
George Karl replaced two inside players, with Sam Perkins and Frank Brickkowski playing together. The SuperSonics' defense in the penalty area became worse, with two space-based inside players on the court, and the offense opened up.
When the Jazz defend Payton's breakthrough or Yang Jian's movement to catch and shoot, the inside must help defend and block appropriately. As long as they distribute the ball to the two inside teammates, they are sure of mid-range shots, and they also caused three air cuts to the basket.
foul.
Perkins made all 4 free throws and Frank made 1 of 2 free throws. The Jazz's situation became a bit unfavorable. Kemp committed 5 fouls and took a rest. Malone also committed 4 fouls but could not rest.
As soon as Malone rests, the Jazz's interior offense will become very bad, ranking at the bottom of the league. He is the only one with the shooting range, and other interior players will leave the restricted area at will.
A good woman can't make a meal without rice. Sloan had no solution to this problem and could only let Malone play more.
Malone's physical fitness is amazing. If he were to be the core on both ends of the offense and defense, he would be tired and injured. What about Malone? He played 1,476 regular season games in his career, averaging 37.2 minutes per game. His playoffs were even more outrageous, playing in a total of
193 games, averaging 41 minutes per game.
In the third quarter, Yang Jian's touch dropped. He made 2 of 6 shots and 1 of 2 free throws, scoring 5 points. He also grabbed 2 rebounds and sent 1 assist.
His roar is not effective every time. The "iron-blooded jump shot" is shot under the interference of the defender, and it is impossible to maintain a high shooting rate all the time. In the eyes of Jazz fans, he is already ridiculously strong, and he is completely treated as a star player defensively.
Can still score.
Moreover, Yang Jian's tactical effect is very obvious, and he can attract inside help to defend. After Hornacek is shaken away by him with his speed, the inside players must jump out in time to interfere with the jump shot. When the SuperSonics launch a quick counterattack, Yang Jian rushes up and the Jazz's big men are all
There is no opportunity for defensive assistance.
In addition, he led Hornacek to run non-stop, which consumed the opponent's energy and the latter's shooting percentage also dropped. Hornacek played 6 minutes in this quarter and scored 2 points on 1 of 3 shots.
No rebounds or assists.
Yang Jian was not satisfied with his performance. He could get rid of Hornacek with his speed, but the saves from inside players could interfere with his mid-range shots. He missed three mid-range shots.
The Jazz have figured out his tactics. If he mainly plays without the ball, it will be difficult to get easy shots from the mid-range.
Chris Morris also played 6 minutes in this quarter. He broke through and drew a foul and made two free throws. Yang Jian felt that his defensive actions were not strong and lightly leaned against the opponent. Chris's body tilted and the referee awarded a free throw.
Yang Jian also started to get angry. He was pulled many times but didn't get a free throw. It was so unfair.
With the help of the referees, the Jazz still couldn't beat the Sonics in this quarter, scoring only 21 points and trailing 72-83 at home.
Commentator Sheldon said: "Today both teams scored in double figures with four players, but the Jazz's role players, except for the base fee, did not have a high shooting percentage. Payton organized better than Stockton today and got
10 points, 12 assists and 2 steals. He may break his personal assist record in a single game today."
Stockton has assisted 6 times so far, only half of Payton's. His shooting percentage is quite high, 6 of 8 shots, 2 of 2 three-pointers, 1 of 1 free throws, and scored 15 points.
Plummer laughed: "Payton's previous assist record was 16, which he got in a home game against the Jazz in his rookie season. He only took 3 shots and scored 2 points in that game. He seemed to be facing Stockton.
Prefer to pass the ball."
Sheldon said: "Whether Payton can break the record today depends on Young's performance in the final quarter. Young has now scored 29 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. He will break 30 with one more goal."
Plummer nodded: "Young is the player who took the most shots on the Sonics today. He will definitely not stand on the outside in the final quarter and watch his teammates attack."
At the beginning of the last quarter, Yang Jian and Schrempf, who had played the entire third quarter, were replaced and rested. George Karl sent Edwards and Askew, hoping that they could hold up for a while.
The performance of the team's rotation players is also very important. If you only rely on the starting lineup to perform well in the regular season, if you only have 7 or 8 players in the playoffs, it will be difficult for the team to go far.
The coaching staff has some expectations for Edwards, who averaged double figures in points per game in the first seven seasons of his career.
The result was disappointing. Although Edwards made a mid-range shot on offense, his defense was too poor. Hornacek, who faced him, broke out and scored 7 points in a row.
The Jazz's role players also took shots, Kiefe scored in the low post, and Benoit scored a three-pointer.
With 7 minutes and 48 seconds left in the final quarter, the Jazz went on a 14-5 run and were only 2 points behind.
George Karl requested a timeout and regretted replacing Yang Jian and Schrempf. Payton could not lead the substitutes by himself...