In the evening, the Chinese Derby started. Yang Jian was not polite to Wang Zhizhi, and the Rockets led by Yang Jian were defeated and completely defeated.
The Rockets' starting lineup has always been a twin-tower tactic, and neither Olajuwon nor Vin Baker is fast. Olajuwon used to be the most mobile inside player in the league, but now he is about to turn 37 and has suffered serious injuries.
Quality has declined significantly.
Olajuwon's data this season has dropped to only 10 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, and his playing time is only 24 minutes. Coach Tomjanovich now allows Vin Baker and Michael Dixon to be the core of internal and external offense, with unlimited shots.
Quan, it was purely a helpless move.
The Rockets do a poor job of defending pick-and-rolls, and shooting guard Dixon is still a strong offensive and defensive player. This makes the Rockets can only rely on offense to win, and it is difficult to defend against the opponent's offense.
Dickerson is 196cm tall and weighs only 86kg. He can shoot quickly and is afraid of confrontation. This season, he is the Rockets' leading scorer with an average of 18.2 points per game, better than Vin Baker who averages 17 points per game. If he is not seriously injured in the future, Dickerson
Sen has the potential to become a top scorer in the league.
Dixon couldn't guard Yang Jian one-on-one, and the coach tried to let Sandon Anderson play the main defense, but he couldn't guard him either. Sandon was a second-round pick that year, and his physical fitness was average. He was already very successful as a starter. Let him play against the All-Stars.
Players are hard-pressed.
Rockets' backup guard Vernon Maxwell took the initiative to defend Yang Jian, and was beaten even more miserably. The two were of similar height, and Yang Jian hit him casually, while Maxwell cursed and was incompetent and furious.
Maxwell's peak period was spent with the Rockets, and he won two championship rings with the team. He left the Rockets in 1995, switched to five teams, and then came back, but what he brought to the team was negative.
Influence.
Maxwell has always been a self-righteous person, always thinking that he is a star rather than a role player. No matter which team he joins, as long as the ball is in his hands, he will dare to play in singles with the ball.
Since 1995, he has been changing teams every year. Whoever plays with him, just step away and watch him play.
As the Rockets' sixth man this season, Maxwell averaged 21 minutes per game, 10.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists on 10.4 shots, shooting 33.6% from the field.
No matter what Tomjanovich said, it was useless. Maxwell was determined to be a cancer for free shooting. The most amazing thing was that this guy was still a little dissatisfied with the ball. He felt that Dixon was more suitable as a substitute and he should start.
Why did Rockets manager Dawson sign this guy back? Why aren't they considering sending him away now? It's all a mystery.
Originally, Yang Jian wanted to fight with the Rockets until the end, but in the third quarter, Maxwell made a shooting error and was chased by the SuperSonics to counterattack. The point difference quickly widened to 30 points and entered garbage time.
Yang Jian attracted a double team and then split the ball, assisting Mobley and Rashard Lewis to hit two three-pointers each. In the third quarter, the SuperSonics made 9 of 13 three-pointers.
Yang Jian played 31 minutes, making 11 of 18 shots, 5 of 10 three-pointers, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 33 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Maxwell always said bad words, which was a bit embarrassing, so Yang Jian defended hard and sent out two big blocks. He made 0 of 6 shots in a single quarter.
Maxwell played 33 minutes, making 5 of 20 shots, 2 of 7 three-pointers, and 2 of 4 free throws. He scored 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. The audience was very curious. With his shooting rate, how could he have the confidence to shoot like this?
repeatedly?
In the end, the SuperSonics defeated 126 to 86 by 40 points, winning 11 consecutive games.
Six members of the Sonics team scored in double figures, and Mobley became the second-leading scorer. He made 7 of 13 shots, 4 of 6 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Payton made 5 of 10 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 7 of 8 free throws, and scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.
Brevin Knight, who is 178cm tall, is destined to be a black hole on the defensive end as the starting point guard. Facing the tall defender, there is no other way except fouling. Because of this, Maxwell got a lot of playing time as a guest point guard.
Wang Zhizhi's performance was quite satisfactory. He made 3 of 6 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 8 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes.
During the cctv5 live broadcast of the game, Zhang Lili sighed: "Wang Zhizhi gets stable playing time in every game with the Rockets, but he rarely scores in double figures, and the gap between him and Yang Jian is too big."
Sun Zhengping said: "As long as Yang Jian is on the court, it will be difficult for the opponent to defeat the Sonics. He always has a way to lead his teammates in a smooth offense."
Zhang Lili smiled and said: "If I can't produce statistics as teammates with Yang Jian, I will probably say goodbye to the NBA soon. Da Zhi is also playing well. I don't blame him for not being able to guard the outside. And the Rockets' substitute guards are too poisonous."
, if Da Zhi takes so many shots, he will definitely score more than him."
If Maxwell had entered the league in the Internet era, he would have had nothing to play for before long. In the 1990s, no matter how good the players were in shooting, not many fans cared about the shooting percentage. Many people even said that Maxwell was the hero of the Rockets' championship.
After Yang Jian became famous, many fans began to care about the shooting percentage, which is regarded as an important criterion to measure the strength of a player. After this season, Maxwell, a blacksmith whose true shooting percentage rarely reaches 50% in his career, should retire.
After the game, Yang Jian praised several young players on the Sonics and also commented on Wang Zhizhi.
"Wang Zhizhi has a height of 214cm, good mobility, and excellent shooting ability. We have a happy cooperation with the national team. He will definitely encounter many difficulties when he first arrives in the United States. I have experienced these things. I hope he can
Adapt to life here as soon as possible, and he will definitely play better by then."
The Chinese reporter asked: "What height do you predict he will reach in the future?"
"I don't know. I can only predict that I will become the number one player in the league. Whether others can become stars or what statistics they can produce, I can't predict these." Yang Jian directly changed the topic and brought it to himself.
It's not good if he talks too much, it will put a lot of psychological pressure on Wang Zhizhi, and he might even be flattered.
After the game, SuperSonics players immediately flew to Phoenix for back-to-back games against the Suns.
This game was also broadcast live across the United States. The Suns were once favored by the media in the summer and believed that they would rise this season.
Because the Suns signed and then traded to poach "Penny" Anfernee Hardaway from the Magic, with a contract worth up to 7 years and 87 million.
This can be regarded as a big gamble, because Hardaway has been exposed to injury problems in the Magic, but the Suns still chose this 4-time All-Star.
The Suns management believes that Hardaway is still very young at only 28 years old. As long as he can recover his health, he will be an excellent outside all-star. The outside combination of Hardaway and Kidd can compete with the SuperSonics Gemini.
Kidd can indeed match up against Payton without falling behind. In this game, he was in excellent condition and defeated Payton. He made 10 of 18 shots, 4 of 5 three-pointers, 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 25 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists and 2 assists.
Stealing and shooting were superb.
Payton made 3 of 14 shots, 1 of 6 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, 11 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, and the most 6 turnovers in the game.
The Suns led for three quarters, but had problems with their offense in the final quarter.
It is a daydream to expect Hardaway to fight against Yang Jian. Even if Hardaway has never been seriously injured, he cannot be Yang Jian's opponent. His true shooting percentage is less than 50% for two consecutive seasons. He is a super inefficient scorer and does not practice shooting.
, this signing by the Suns is destined to be a loss.
Yang Jian played 43 minutes, making 13 of 20 shots, 4 of 7 three-pointers, 7 of 7 free throws, scoring 37 points, 7 rebounds, 15 assists and 3 steals.
In the final quarter, Yang Jian scored 13 points and 6 assists, leading the team to a narrow victory of 105-99. At the critical moment, Yang Jian challenged Hardaway and made 3 mid-range shots and 1 three-pointer, forcing the Suns to double-team him.
Hardaway played 41 minutes, making 4 of 12 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 2 of 4 free throws, and scored 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. When the Suns needed someone to step up and score in the final quarter, Hardaway was completely invisible.
Only Yang Jian of the SuperSonics scored more than 20 points, but under his leadership, five players scored in double figures. Yang Jian once again proved that he is not only the best scorer in the league, but also the best organizer.