Chapter 590 [Double happiness, abuse to retirement]
Chinese fans are also paying attention to the Rockets' game, and today is a double blessing for them.
The Rockets defeated the Bucks without Raheem 100-98 at home in the opening game. Wang Zhizhi performed well.
Wang Zhizhi served as a substitute for Olajuwon and Vin Baker. As soon as he joined, he became an important rotation substitute for the Rockets. He got 24 minutes, made 4 of 8 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 1 of 2 free throws.
10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
Yang Jian read the news and felt that Wang Zhizhi's fate had completely changed. Surprisingly, the Rockets' current strength did not look weak.
In a parallel world, in order to strengthen the inside lineup, the Rockets chose to trade with the Trail Blazers, trading Pippen for Walter Williams and center Kevin Cato. At that time, the Rockets needed inside players, Olajuwon was old, and Barkley
About to retire.
Now that the Rockets have just renewed Vin Baker's contract with a high salary, how can they possibly train another young inside player?
The position the Rockets most need to strengthen is point guard. They traded Pippen from the Cavaliers for Brevin Knight and veteran power forward Danny Ferry, who has one year left on his contract.
After the Cavaliers selected point guard Andre Miller, the position of Brevin Knight, who is 178cm tall, became very awkward. Knight is not suitable to play with Miller, and there is also Bob Sura on the team.
The three of them shared playing time and it was not easy to develop Miller.
It happened that the team's wing strength was poor, so the Cavaliers replaced Pippen to strengthen the wing defense. Sean Kemp is now a fat guy who can't jump. The Cavaliers need a star to lead the team and attract fans to the arena.
Watch football.
This is the butterfly effect. In the parallel world, Pippen's contract is 17 million more than it is now. The Cavaliers cannot use the bargaining chips to trade with the Rockets in equal salary. Now, the Rockets are not the only trading partners with the Trail Blazers.
Knight is a dexterous defender who does not have strong personal offensive ability and is good at playing pick-and-rolls with teammates to break through and distribute the ball. Partnering with Knight, Wang Zhizhi can take advantage of his ability to catch and shoot.
Veteran Danny Ferry's condition has declined significantly at the age of 33, which will not pose a threat to Wang Zhizhi's status. As long as the management is not stupid, it is impossible to let the young Wang Zhizhi sit on the bench and reuse Danny Ferry, who has a similar style and no potential.
Like in the parallel world, the Rockets did not trade with the Grizzlies for No. 2 Steve Francis, which also caused a butterfly effect. Last season's rookie second-team shooting guard Michael Dickerson stayed with the team and scored 16 points and 4 rebounds in the first game.
2 assists.
The Rockets hired Shandon Anderson from the Jazz to start, and the small forward position is not hopelessly bad.
The Trail Blazers did not trade for Pippen, and continued to invest in many big players. The Blazers manager was unwilling to trade with the SuperSonics, and other teams were unwilling to trade with the Trail Blazers. He believed that Jermaine O'Neal and Kevin K.
Vincato is a piece of trash.
Sabonis, Brian Grant, and Rasheed Wallace can complete the interior rotation, and the other big men can only guard the water cooler.
In the first game, the Trail Blazers lost to the Grizzlies 97-106 on the road.
Lamar Odom, who joined the Grizzlies, made 10 of 18 shots in his debut, 2 of 5 three-pointers, 8 of 12 free throws, 30 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, beating Rasheed...
Wallace.
The Trail Blazers traded Isiah Lederer from the Hawks in exchange for Steve Smith in the summer, but the problem of weak wing defense has still not been solved. In a parallel world, the Trail Blazers almost eliminated the Lakers and reached the Finals in 2000, but they are definitely not there now.
Opportunity.
After a day off, the SuperSonics defeated the Mavericks 114-96 in their home opener.
Yang Jian made 14 of 20 shots, 6 of 10 three-pointers, 7 of 7 free throws, and scored 41 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists and 1 steal.
Eric Strickland, the starting shooting guard opposite Yang Jian, also scored 25 points. It was because Yang Jian was too lazy to defend well, otherwise Eric would have been tortured and cried every minute.
This is the second time Eric scored high points against Yang Jian. Two of the top 10 high scores in his career were achieved against the SuperSonics.
Dirk Nowitzki was not so lucky. He struggled defensively against Mason and suffered a serious loss in the confrontation. He made 7 of 15 shots and 1 of 1 free throws. He only had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, which was the most on the team.
4 turnovers.
Point guard Steve Nash, who joined the Mavericks, played 27 minutes and performed generally.
Nash was severely bullied by Yang Jian on the defensive end. During the counterattack, Yang Jian couldn't stop him even if he wanted to foul. Yang Jian broke through and drew a foul and scored 21, and even dunked Nash. Then Nash was replaced and thought about life.
Went.
Yang Jian guest-starred as point guard, and during the five minutes Mobley played shooting guard, he became Nash's nightmare.
Six members of the SuperSonics team scored in double figures. While Yang Jian led his teammates, he also scored a lot of points himself.
Mason made 7 of 12 shots and scored 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Brad Miller made 6 of 11 shots, 3 of 4 free throws, and scored 15 points and 6 rebounds.
With Ben Wallace gone, the SuperSonics' interior offense is better, and the defensive deficit is not a problem at all. If you can defeat the opponent with offense, you don't have to work so hard on the defensive end. When Ben is on the court, there is less individual offense in the interior.
Now the Sonics are so strong that they don’t really need Payton to score. He can help the team as long as he organizes the offense. He occasionally catches the ball and attacks the basket during counterattacks, or runs to catch and shoot in positional battles. He scored 10 points in this game.
Points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists and 3 steals.
On the 6th, the SuperSonics played against the Jazz at home, another defeat 118-94.
Shandon Anderson was poached by the Rockets, and the Jazz lost a swingman who could guard Yang Jian. Let Hornacek guard, and Yang Jian received the ball and one-on-one opportunities. He hit a series of big jump shots on the weak side.
Double-teaming by midfield players will vacate the high post, and double-teaming by bottom-line players will vacate the bottom line. Yang Jian can always pass the ball to his teammates, and several behind-the-back passes are very fancy. When the opponent thinks that Yang Jian is passing the ball behind the back, he may still
Fake fax.
When encountering a defense at the basket, Yang Jian has two options: layup by himself or pass the ball to a teammate on the bottom line or to a teammate in the middle.
Hornacek had absolutely nothing to do against Yang Jian. He was slow and struggled to catch up when faced with a screen. He kept up with the physical confrontation but couldn't handle it. He barely resisted Yang Jian's turn and shot, but he couldn't cover it.
This is the tragedy of floor-playing players. Some super-qualified players are unreasonable when playing and attack the defense. When Yang Jian shoots, he can jump high enough to complete a dunk. How can floor-playing players defend against this?
On the surface, it seems that Yang Jian is about the same height as Hornacek, but with his wingspan and bounce, a two-meter small forward cannot block his shots.
In turn, how many points Hornacek scores depends on Yang Jian's mood when defending. He is in a good mood and wants to let go, so Hornacek can get an easy shot.
Unconsciously, Yang Jian scored 44 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. If the SuperSonics hadn't been too far ahead, he only played 37 minutes, and he would have scored 50 in the game.
At this time, Hornacek decided to retire after this season. After being beaten by Yang Jian for many years, he had long been psychologically shadowed when facing Yang Jian. He felt powerless when he faced the SuperSonics. He knew very well that he would not be able to play in the Jazz.
He may win the championship, but he doesn't want to stick with it after the contract expires.
Players at other positions may join the SuperSonics to compete for the championship, but Hornacek cannot. He and Yang Jian are both No. 2, and their athletic ability is not as good as Mobley's. The SuperSonics do not have a position for him.
Hornacek played 33 minutes and made 3 of 9 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws. He only scored 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Stockton's performance was not good either. He made 4 of 8 shots, 1 of 3 three-pointers, and 1 of 1 free throws. He scored 10 points and 4 assists. If it weren't for a technical foul free throw, Stockton would not have scored in double figures.
Karl Malone performed best, scoring 31 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal, shooting 59.1% from the field and 5 of 5 free throws.
Malone is now completely flat, but he has just signed a big contract with the Jazz, with a starting salary of 14 million U.S. dollars. Stockton also signed a big contract, with an annual salary of 11 million this season. The Jazz will not let the two of them earn high salaries.
Maybe signing someone in would mean giving up the chance to win the championship.
The owner of the Jazz is more humane. This contract extension is actually a thank you to the two veterans for their long-term dedication and perseverance in the Jazz.
Malone is prepared to make do with playing for a few years, and when this contract expires, he will take a salary cut at the end of his career to join a strong team and strive to win a championship ring.
Malone, who has never won an MVP, would have failed in his career even if he won the ring by hugging his legs...
