Chapter 742 [Important awards, not moving like a mountain]
On May 5, the first game between the SuperSonics and the Mavericks started in Seattle.
The Mavericks did not have the strongest lineup. Shooting guard Bobby Fiers, who was traded from the 76ers, injured his ankle in the fourth game of the first round of the playoffs and his return date has not yet been determined.
Phils's condition has dropped a lot from his peak, and he is very depressed because he cannot be reused by the 76ers. He doesn't know how lucky he is. If he had joined the Hornets instead of the 76ers, he would have been dead for two years now.
In the year, grass grew on the grave.
Phils's strength is average, but he is very important to the Mavericks. If he cannot play, the Mavericks will not have a defender suitable to face Yang Jian. After all, he was once a defensive expert and has good awareness.
Mavericks coach Nelson was forced to change the starting lineup, letting Michael Finley serve as shooting guard and blue-collar Edondo Najera as small forward.
This arrangement will affect the offense. Najera has no shooting range, and the Mavericks' formation is not that open. Fiers can catch and shoot three-pointers, and his shooting percentage this season is 39.2%.
SuperSonics coach George Karl also adjusted the lineup, letting Stephen Jackson start to defend Nowitzki, and Rashard Lewis left Najera open at any time to help defend against double attacks.
Yang simply defended Finley, and Payton defended Nash alone. Neither of them was responsible for assisting defense.
The Sonics' defense is very targeted, striving to limit the Mavericks' three main scoring points. Moreover, the players do not need to consider allocating physical strength. On the offensive end, they just open up and pass the ball to Yang Jian, allowing him to play with a big core.
The Mavericks Trident won't be able to win as long as someone is being defended and their offensive efficiency drops, because they can't guard Yang Jian.
Yang Jian singled out Finley on the weak side, and the Mavericks couldn't guard him without double-teaming. Payton and Yang Jian passed the ball to him on one side, and the Mavericks could only use inside players to attack Finley. Nash's double-teaming was of little use and it was impossible to block him.
Gai Yangjian's jump shot.
Yang Jian played 38 minutes in the first game, making 18 of 28 shots, 5 of 11 three-pointers, 9 of 10 free throws, and scored 50 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals.
Four members of the Sonics team scored in double figures, beating the Mavericks 118-91.
Center Brad Miller was the second-best player. He played 35 minutes, made 7 of 10 shots, 6 of 6 free throws, and scored 20 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists.
In order to ensure the speed of returning to defense and limit the SuperSonics' fast break, the Mavericks' big men did not dare to fight for offensive rebounds. Miller sat in the penalty area and picked up a lot of backcourt rebounds.
On the offensive end, Miller was responsible for covering Yang Jian, and he got easy shooting opportunities no matter in the high or low position.
Miller is very flexible and can catch the ball and shoot from the high post. He can also catch the ball and hit the basket when LaFrentz and Nowitzki double-team Yang Jian.
Because of Miller, the Mavericks players could not double-team Yang Jian all the time, and Finley was tortured in single defense.
Finley was also guarded by Yang Jian on the offensive end. He couldn't break through once and had to make strong shots against the defense.
He made 4 of 12 shots, 1 of 4 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, and scored 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. His shooting percentage was only 33.3%, and his performance was not worthy of All-Star status.
Nowitzki's performance was equally bad and he was lost in the opponent's attack. He made 8 of 24 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, 7 of 9 free throws, 23 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 5 turnovers.
Nash performed better than Payton, scoring 21 points and 5 assists. The Mavericks' sixth man Van Exel also scored 15 points.
The two have a good shooting percentage, but if they play together, the Mavericks' defense will have serious problems, and the opponent's shooting percentage will be higher. Yang Jian scored 22 points in the third quarter, leading the team to widen the point difference.
.
Both Van Exel and Nash were dunked by Yang Jian. They couldn't defend each other on their own, and he felt panicked in the matchup.
After the game, the fans who supported the Mavericks became very low-key. They no longer expected the Mavericks to upset the SuperSonics and advance to the next level. They would be thankful if they could win one game in the series.
The Mavericks and Spurs both have 56 wins in the regular season, because there is no home field advantage in the relationship between the two sides. They won two games against the SuperSonics in the regular season, which does not mean they can win in the playoffs.
During the regular season, the Sonics players did not pay enough attention on the defensive end. They are different from the Mavericks, who can only fight for offense. As the defending champions, they are more familiar with the referee's whistleblowing standards in the playoffs than the Mavericks players. Once the intensity of the confrontation is increased, the Mavericks
I can't stand it anymore.
The G2 Supersonics still played the same way. Yang Jian's jump shot was very poor this time, and his shooting percentage was less than 50%.
He doesn't force shots to look for touch, he plays pick-and-roll coordination, drives for layups with the ball to ensure a hit rate, attracts double-teams and cover-ups, and then goes out to let his teammates take shots.
Finley and backup shooting guard Adrian Griffin were passed by Yang Jian many times, and both paid the price of 4 fouls.
Yang Jian made 7 of 16 shots, 1 of 6 three-pointers, and 10 of 10 free throws. He had a triple-double of 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 16 assists, leading 6 players on the team to score in double figures.
The SuperSonics won 117-101, leading the game 2-0.
After this game, all the important NBA regular season awards were announced.
Yao Ming won the Rookie of the Year award this season, which excited Chinese fans. He averaged 30.6 minutes per game, scoring 16.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.9 blocks, shooting 50.7% from the field and 80.9% from the free throw line.
Yao Ming quickly gained the ball when he joined the Bulls, and no one like Cato popped up to ask him to tie his shoelaces. Because he performed so well, Barkley, who joined TNT as a commentator, didn't even kiss the donkey's butt.
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Barkley is a Yang Mi, and he likes Yao Ming, who is also Chinese, and has not done any harm to him.
Yao Ming's statistics improved slightly after the All-Star Game, and Yang Jian encouraged him to increase his statistics. If the team does not enter the playoffs, anyone who does not improve his statistics is a fool. Elton Brand has the highest statistics.
The best rookie, the Bulls' record was last at the time.
Yang Jian changed Yao Ming's history, gained a point, and randomly selected one of Yao Ming's talents.
"Unmoving as a Mountain": "Yao Ming is an excellent high center and a ruler in the penalty area. He is one of the players with the strongest lower body strength in NBA history. As a yellow man, he can compete with O'Neal. The host can have this talent.
A more stable bottom plate, as immovable as a mountain!”
Yang Jian is not an inside player, but there is no harm in becoming more resistant. On the basketball court, the strength of a player's lower body is more important than the strength of his upper body, and he will not lose his center of gravity easily.
Yao Ming's lower body strength is recognized as the best in history. Except for his slightly inferior rookie season, he still stood firm when faced with a back-up attack from a heavy tank like O'Neal. His thighs are as thick as buckets, and the waist of an ordinary person may be thicker.
Not as thick as his thighs.
Yao Ming can become a star in the NBA, which shows that his talent is amazing. Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian have excellent wingspan, but they are faster but cannot play. The main reason is that their confrontation ability is not good, so they are at a disadvantage in the NBA.
Spanish forward Pau Gasol ranked second, and he also played well for the Warriors. The Warriors management is now beginning to consider trading Antawn Jamison and cultivate Gasol to become the boss.
Jamison is an average player. He is strong offensively and defensively but not good at assisting his teammates. He is not suitable to be the core of the team.
Kwame Brown, the most promising No. 1 pick in the summer, was not even selected for the second team of the All-Rookie Team and became a parallel import. Yang Jian's evaluation of the Wizards and Jordan is often mentioned. More and more people believe that Jordan will waste his teammates.
Much more.
The best sixth man is Cuttino Mobley of the SuperSonics. He has the ability to play in the starting lineup, but he can only be the sixth man because of Yang Jian. With his height of 196cm, he is a bit disadvantaged when playing defense as a starting small forward.
A corner pitcher who is overqualified and overqualified.
The Most Improved Player Award was won by Pacers power forward Jermaine O'Neal, who averaged 19 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.3 blocks per game and was selected as an All-Star.
Basketball experts think it is a pity for O'Neal Jr. After he entered the league, he sat on the bench for the Trail Blazers for four years, wasting precious four years of ball growth. Although he is playing well now, if he had been focused on training from the beginning,
Should be able to achieve higher results.
The best coach is Jim Carrey of the Pistons... no, it's Rick Carlisle.
This is the first season of his coaching career, leading the Pistons back to the playoffs and past the first round of the playoffs.
He deserved this award, but it was no big surprise that soon a "famous coach" came to the Pistons to pick his peaches.