Sloan was very dissatisfied with the team's defense and said loudly: "Guard Young and don't let him score anymore. He has almost broken the historical record. If he scores more points than Chamberlain today, we will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever."
Go up. Double-team him and let others score easily but also guard him."
The players were very quiet, knowing that it would be difficult for the Jazz to win if they played like this.
The other Sonics players are not vegetarians. Double-teaming Yang Jian means that others will get easy shooting opportunities. There are two All-Stars on the court. It is also a shame to double-team the rookie and lose at home.
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Sloan knew it, but now he had to make a choice.
The Jazz didn't double-team Yang Jian before, so they were evenly matched with the SuperSonics and were able to defeat Kemp. If they had double-teamed Yang Jian in the first half, the game would have lost its suspense.
Yang Jian scored 8 points in a row in the last quarter, which was a huge blow to the Jazz players and the whole team's morale was low.
The SuperSonics team's morale is high, and now everyone believes that they can get a good start in the away game today.
George Karl's tactics are still centered on Yang Jian. "Gary, continue to pass the ball to Yang. Yang has the opportunity to take a direct shot. If he attracts a double team, he will pass the ball to his teammates. Defend man-to-man, and go for a fast break if there is an opportunity."
"Tighten your defense against Malone and three-pointers from outside. To deal with Stockton, you still have to pursue the defense. Gary gets around the screen as quickly as possible."
George Karl doesn't teach players to defend, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't understand defense at all. He knows that if the Jazz want to come back, they need to shoot from the outside. And if players want to get easy shooting opportunities from the outside, high-quality screens and stars to attract double teams are indispensable.
Stockton will definitely not be able to attract double teams. Only Malone can do this job. Get rid of Malone and the Sonics will win. It is extremely rare for Stockton to turn the tide at the last moment of the game. He will act as usual when falling behind.
With such a stable organization, those who didn’t know better would have thought that the Jazz were leading by double digits.
Yang Jian knew that he had scored 37 points, but he did not know that he was close to breaking the record. He kept a normal mind and just wanted to help the team win the game.
Of course, he is in an extremely excited state now. This game is so enjoyable that he will remember it for a lifetime.
This is called a basketball game. Before time travel, he was just playing for fun. The previous summer league and preseason games were also far behind, and they couldn't bring him the thrill of fierce competition. He believed that if you don't record data, you don't care about winning or losing.
Competitions are boring. Friendship first and competition second are nonsense.
Before time travel, Hornacek was a superstar to him, an unreachable figure. Now he can despise Hornacek's defense, and can even comment calmly, "That's not how we play."
The game continued, Chris Morris and Brian Russell came on, replacing Hornacek and Benoit.
Benoit felt cold today. He made 2 of 8 shots, 1 of 4 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws in 30 minutes. He scored 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. The team needs to chase points, and he is not suitable to stay on the court.
Russell is better at catching and shooting. He played very little time in the playoffs last season, but he shot 50% from three-point range and averaged one goal per game.
Stockton controlled the ball and played a pick-and-roll, breaking through to the left to avoid Payton. Perkins resisted Malone and did not change defense. Stockton saw that Payton was going around from behind and decisively shot a long two-point jumper.
The two faced each other at least four times every season. Stockton knew very well at what distance Payton could hit him and hit the mid-range shot without fear of interference. 100 to 97.
The fans applauded, but Stockton, who scored his 17th point, did not celebrate after scoring. He knew that the challenge had just begun, and the Jazz had to fight to defend every Sonics attack.
Payton dribbled the ball across half court, and Yang Jian relied on Irvine's off-ball screen to run out of the three-point line. Chris chased after him with all his strength but still kept distance from him, unable to stop him from catching the ball.
Yang Jian got the ball from the outside, and Kife immediately went out to attack without hesitation. Sloan arranged the tactics, and Kife would obey, no matter what the consequences of doing so.
After Yang Jian caught the ball, he saw the two men coming towards him, and without thinking, he passed the ball to Payton who was receiving the ball. Payton did not pause, and quickly transferred the ball with both hands to Irvin, who was cutting from the right.
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Irvin only has eyes for the basket. His passing awareness is very poor. He averaged 0.2 and 0.3 assists per game in the previous two regular seasons and zero assists twice in the playoffs.
Perkins was free on the left, Malone was standing in front of him, and Erwin opened his dark, furry, watery, bright, crystal-clear eyes, neither too big nor too small, not too round.
Out of sight, out of sight.
Irvine caught the ball and rushed into the penalty area, posing as if he wanted to dunk with one hand. Facing such a reckless man, Malone had no time to think too much and jumped up to block the shot.
He knew that he had committed five fouls, and he would be sent off for another foul. But if he didn't take action, he would be dunked by the blue-collar team. Malone is worried about advancing and worrying about retreating. But when will he be happy?
Malone chose a tough approach to deal with Irvine, jumping up to intercept with both hands and knocking him down with the ball. Irvine had a good sense of balance and staggered to his feet.
The referee blew the whistle, and Malone didn't touch the ball, so he obviously hit the ball.
Even Malone didn't go for the ball. When he jumped up, he could see that the ball couldn't be defended. Although Erwin is not a great person, with his height of 211cm and weight of 211kg, it is difficult to rush forward.
If blocked, the defender will be knocked out.
Irvine was the 23rd pick in the first round of 1993. In the third season of his career, he was still very low-key. This was a dangerous move, but he would not ask Malone to challenge him, so he tolerated it.
He was not injured and knew what he did. Beating Malone is something to be proud of.
"Are you okay?" Perkins came over and asked.
"It's okay." Erwin moved his limbs and smiled.
"Ervin, you did a great job." Payton came up and clapped hands with Erwin. Yang Jian, Schrempf and others all came over and clapped hands with him.
The Jazz players all looked confused. They had lost their only advantageous offensive point on the court. How could they make a comeback?
Commentator Sheldon laughed: "After the timeout, the Jazz had just scored two points, and Malone committed six fouls and left the game. Jazz fans were booing Irvine, but this was an obvious foul and there was no dispute."
Plummer said: "This is a very critical offense. The SuperSonics can now be said to have secured the victory. Without Malone, their defensive pressure in the penalty area will be much less. This is a fatal blow to the Jazz. Look at Sloan
You can tell by the look on the coach’s face.”
Irvine made 1 of 2 free throws amidst boos, and Foster, who had just come on the court, grabbed the backcourt rebound, 101 to 97.
The Jazz lost their backbone on the offensive end. Players passed the ball several times but could not create any space. Finally, Kife cut the ball for a layup and was blocked by Irvine. Who would have thought that blue-collar center Irvin would be like this when he came off the bench in the final quarter.
What about stealing the spotlight?
Yang Jian picked up the basketball and passed it to Payton who was about to leave. The latter quickly advanced to the frontcourt.
Stockton and Payton suffered from the physical confrontation. They were uncomfortable being squeezed but did not pull anyone away. They tried their best to follow. The team had already committed four fouls. If they committed another foul, Payton would be sent to the free throw line.
After Yang Jian passed the ball, he rushed to the basket in one breath. Payton didn't take a shot himself and passed the ball to him again.
Yang Jian took the ball in the middle of the penalty area and turned to the right. Chris knew he couldn't cover this kind of monster whose dunk head could go beyond the frame, so he jumped up and fouled.
The referee blew the whistle, and Yang Jian showed his terrifying core strength. He held the ball steadily with both hands and adjusted his center of gravity in the air. When he was about to land, he pushed the ball out with his right hand and scored from close range.
After landing, Yang Jian clenched his fists and roared. It had nothing to do with the mid-range shot and the buff. He had to shout after scoring such a key goal.
Plummer shouted: "21, Yang Jian scored his 39th point. If he had added free throws, it would have been 40 points. After Chamberlain, another rookie scored a super high score in the first game of his career."
Sheldon said: "His free throws are very stable, and in this quarter he made all the shots with frightening accuracy. Let's see...he really made the shot. After 36 years, he scored 40 in his first game as a rookie!"
104 to 97, the game ended with 2 minutes and 6 seconds left.
The score difference between the two sides is not big. It seems that the Jazz still have a chance, but in fact the situation is over.