In the last two minutes, there was always interference around Yang Jian, and it was difficult to catch the ball. He shot another three-pointer, but missed due to interference.
After guarding Yang Jian, the Jazz failed to sound the clarion call for counterattack. After Karl Malone came off the court, the power of Jazz's pick-and-roll tactics was greatly reduced. The two inside players had no shooting range and were left open on the outside after covering. They were on the outside of COSCO
Shoot from any distance, and the Sonics mainly defend outside players who can shoot.
Kiefe and Foster stood near the penalty area to attract defense, and the Jazz outside players could only rely on their personal abilities to fight one-on-one.
The Jazz players made all five shots and didn't score a single point. Stockton, Brian Russell, and Chris Morris all tried three-pointers, but jump shots against people couldn't guarantee a hit rate.
On the SuperSonics side, Payton scored two points in isolation against Stockton. He also stole Stockton's pass and assisted Askew, who came on the bench, for a layup, sealing the victory.
108 to 97, the SuperSonics beat the Jazz by 11 points in an away game.
Payton played 37 minutes, made 6 of 11 shots, scored 12 points, 3 rebounds, 16 assists and 3 steals, tying his personal single-game assist record.
Stockton played 33 minutes, making 7 of 9 shots, 2 of 2 three-pointers, 1 of 1 free throws, and scored 17 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals. His performance today was not as good as Payton, although he scored more.
Karl Malone played 40 minutes, making 10 of 21 shots, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 26 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He beat Kemp, but his 47.6% shooting rate was not enough to lead the team to win.
, and six fouls left the field at critical moments.
Yang Jian had the most luxurious statistics, making 15 of 22 shots, 4 of 5 three-pointers, 6 of 7 free throws, and scored 40 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. His shooting percentage was as high as 68%, and his three-point shooting percentage was 80%.
There were 4 wonderful dunks, and this performance certainly overwhelmed Malone.
Hornacek scored 13 points and 4 assists with a shooting percentage of 70%, which was far inferior to Yang Jian. At the critical moment, he could only be a spectator off the court. Schrempf scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 60% from the field, and his performance was also good.
Slightly better than Hornacek.
After Yang Jian shook hands with the Jazz players, he did not leave the court immediately and was blocked by reporters.
A local white female reporter couldn't wait and wanted to interview him immediately.
"Yang, you scored 40 points in the first game of your career. How do you feel?"
"I'm very happy, and a little surprised. I felt very good today. The opponent was unfamiliar with me and gave me a lot of opportunities to shoot. This was a fierce and memorable game. I will always remember today." Yang Jian laughed.
road.
"Is there anything you want to say to the fans?"
"The home fans? They were booing me the whole game, and I didn't think of what to say to them. I was going back to the locker room, and I felt like some fans wanted to rush down the stands and hit me, and some were ready to pour drinks on my head...
...Yes, that's the guy with the baseball cap." Yang Jian pointed towards the player tunnel.
The middle-aged Jazz fan was quite excited and cursed. The cameraman gave him a close-up, which made him a little embarrassed.
Yang Jian said a few words casually and returned to the locker room. He planned to wait until the press conference to say what he wanted to say. His performance was so eye-catching, he would definitely attend the press conference and be the focus of the press conference.
Entering the locker room, his teammates congratulated Yang Jian one after another, and everyone had a smile on their face.
If a new player wants to integrate into a team as soon as possible, the fastest way is not to please a big boss, but to become a big boss himself. Yang Jian has gained the respect of everyone in the team with his strength. Which country is he from, what is his skin color,
It doesn't matter how old he is, what matters is that he can help the team win.
The Sonics haven't won at home against the Jazz for a long time, and this victory means their progress.
The NBA is a typical success-or-failure theory. You know what it means to play here, but you don't know how many people are watching your position. You have to withstand these pressures in every training and every game.
Yang Jian has already stood out in the competition within the SuperSonics team. As long as he is not seriously injured, no one can shake his status in the short term. The coaching staff allows him to take more shots, and the team also needs him to take more shots.
The players all simply took a shower and felt refreshed.
After getting dressed, Payton patted Yang Jian on the back and said loudly: "You are so awesome. You are the person who ran the most meters in the game today. Can you still compete in back-to-back games tomorrow?"
"Of course, I am used to high-intensity training. The amount of exercise today is nothing. I can recover after a short sleep."
Payton grinned widely and said: "Then I will pass the ball to you more tomorrow and perform well. I think you can definitely deal with Ceballos. It's best to dunk him once."
The Lakers' leading scorer, Cedric Ceballos, dunked on Payton on a counterattack last season. Payton couldn't get it back. Ceballos and Payton entered the NBA in the same year, and he was a brave low pick in the second round.
A rookie, he became famous after winning the Slam Dunk King in 1992. Last season he averaged 21.8 points, 8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
A swingman who is 193cm tall and weighs 86 kilograms averages 8 rebounds per game, which shows how brave he is. The SuperSonics were eliminated by the Lakers in the last playoffs, and the two teams formed a gap.
What Yang Jian cares about is not Ceballos, but his position in the team. Seeing this, Payton wants him to take more shots tomorrow, or even throw them casually.
A month ago, he was worried that he would annoy his boss by taking too many shots and would not be happy in the team. As a result, he took more shots, and Payton was very happy and did not care about his personal shot count or statistics.
It's not that Payton doesn't care about personal data, but he cares more about assist data. He said excitedly: "As long as you maintain this state, I can compete for the assists title this season. Who can say that I am alone in the future?"
Payton is sincerely willing to pass the ball to Yang Jian. He has been under too much pressure in recent years and cares about other people's evaluations. What he wants to do most this season is to win the assists title to prove that he is an excellent point guard. No.
cancer.
It's not easy for him to win the assists title, because Stockton's assists are so stable and he leads the league in assists every year.
Payton joined the SuperSonics for five seasons, averaging a maximum of 7.1 assists per game in the regular season. His performance was even worse in the playoffs, with the most assists being in his rookie season, averaging 6.4 per game. In 1993, he reached the Western Conference Finals with the team, averaging 7.1 assists per game.
12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, the performance was also very poor.
Many people say Payton is a cancer and overrated.
How can an excellent core player's numbers decline as soon as he comes to the playoffs? Last season, Payton averaged 43 minutes per game in the playoffs and could only get 17.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals. His efficiency was appallingly low. This season he has
As long as he takes the most shots on the team and doesn't provide enough assists, many people will definitely criticize him.
Yang Jian quietly observed Sean Camp's reaction again. Camp sat aside and didn't listen to them at all. He was thinking about it in a daze, and even showed a silly smile.
Kemp would definitely not give Yang Jian a blow in the locker room, asking him to take fewer shots and pass more to himself. Kemp didn't look uncomfortable after being beaten by Malone. He didn't know what he was thinking at the moment.
For him, playing basketball is just a job, not a passion.
Yang Jian looked at Schrempf again, who happened to be looking at him too and smiled meaningfully at him.
Schrempf's expression seemed to say: "You're welcome, that's how the SuperSonics are, if you feel good, just shoot more."
Yang Jian discovered the biggest advantage of joining this team. No player feels that he is superior to others.
It is true that the SuperSonics have three All-Star players, but their personal abilities are not top-notch and have obvious flaws. They did not compete for the ball last season, and whoever was in good condition took more shots.
Schrempf averaged 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game last season, shooting 52.3% from the field and 51.4% from the three-point range. His highest efficiency is said to be more like the boss of the team, but his efficiency is based on "not playing around."
"Basically. He is not suitable to be the boss of the team and cannot attract double teams.
Yang Jian thought happily: I have been directly upgraded to become the core of the team, at least one of the core, so fast!
There is a Chinese proverb that goes, "You can't find anything without trying hard to find anything." In Yang Jian's case, there was only the second half of the sentence. He didn't put a lot of effort into finding anything. He just asked his agent to contact the SuperSonics.
Just got a trial opportunity.
At this time, George Karl came to the locker room to call for someone.
"Has everyone packed up? Sean, Gary, Detrev, Erwin, Yang, the five of you, come with me to the press conference."