Chapter 512 Slam dunk against the supersonic meteor!
The Knicks have always done well in their dreams. This is an old tradition.
In 1997, I tried to recruit Jordan, and in the next 10 years, I also had the idea of recruiting James.
But everyone knows the result.
The Knicks' offer of more than $20 million for Jordan became a bargaining chip in negotiations between Jordan and the Bulls. In the end, in order to keep Jordan, the Bulls renewed Jordan's contract with a sky-high price of $30 million.
Joe became the first player in NBA history to receive an annual salary of 30 million. Calculated according to inflation, this annual salary will be enough to reach hundreds of millions in 2022! This shows how exaggerated it is.
The Knicks can't get Jordan, but for fans in New York City, after witnessing the team's failure this season, they can only use this statement to give themselves psychological comfort, otherwise the Knicks would have already
You have been eliminated and there is no hope of winning the championship again. What else can you do?
The showdown in the Eastern Conference Finals will be the pinnacle showdown between the Bulls and the Magic, Jordan vs. O'Neal, and Pippen vs. Hardaway.
Most people generally believe that the Bulls will be the team with the last laugh, but the Magic led by O'Neal are by no means weak. The two sides will definitely stage a battle in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In contrast, although the Western Conference finals on the other side are also a duel between two teams with 60+ wins in the regular season, the attention is obviously not as high as in the Eastern Conference.
The highlight here is the showdown between Wang Feng, who has reached the ultimate level of personal heroism and is called the most perfect player by Olajuwon, and the SuperSonics, which can be regarded as the best team in the league.
The SuperSonics in the 1995-96 season were definitely the best team.
They won 62 games in the regular season and made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs. Such a strong team did not even have a single player who averaged more than 20 points per game during the regular season.
"Rain Man" Sean Kemp averaged 19.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, "Glove" Gary Payton averaged 19.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists, Detrev Schrempf averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and Jose Hawking
Si 15.6 points...
The Sonics have a very good team with multiple scoring points on the field. No matter which player performs poorly in the game, players in other positions will step forward. Because of this, the Sonics can be in this strong team.
Ruyun still won 62 games this season and became first in the Western Conference.
In fact, this can also be seen from the awards for the best team.
The three 60-win teams, the Bulls, Magic, and Warriors, all had players selected to the All-NBA First Team, but the SuperSonics only had Gary Payton selected to the Second Team, and Kemp even had to settle for the Third Team.
Because their performance in personal data is indeed slightly worse.
Now the question arises, when Wang Feng, who represents the strongest individual strength, meets the Supersonics, who represents the strongest team, who is stronger and who is weaker?
On May 18, the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the G1 game started in Seattle, home of the SuperSonics.
The Warriors are playing away from home. This is the first time they have started a series on the road since the playoffs this season.
The Warriors' starting lineup has not changed. It is still the starting combination of Blaylock, Mullin, Wang Feng, Garnett and Sekali.
On the SuperSonics side, starting point guard Jose Hawkins, shooting guard Gary Payton, small forward Detrev Schrempf, power forward Sean Kemp, and center Irvin Johnson.
Although the SuperSonics center is named Earvin Johnson, he is not the famous Magician of the Lakers, but a blue-collar insider with the same name, a height of 2.11 meters, and a career average of 4 points and 6 rebounds per game.
In the jump ball session, the SuperSonics chose Kemp, who has more outstanding bounce, to play. However, Rainman was defeated in the jump ball session with Garnett. There is no way, compared with talent, I, the big wolf king, will fight and retreat.
Garnett is not afraid of anyone.
The Warriors had the ball and the basketball was quickly handed over to Wang Feng. The SuperSonics player assigned to defend Wang Feng was Kemp.
As a top superstar in the league, Kemp is more remembered for his explosive dunks and excellent physical fitness, but when it comes to defense, no one will think that Kemp has such outstanding defensive ability.
Of course, with his strong strength, speed and jumping ability that are not inferior to those of forward players, as long as Kemp is serious, his defense is definitely not bad, but even so, it is impossible for him to guard Wang Feng.
After all, even top perimeter defenders like Rodman and Pippen couldn't do anything against Wang Feng.
Supersonic naturally knows this, but what can he do if he knows it?
The game can go on.
Facing Kemp with the ball, Wang Feng looked calm, but Kemp in front of him smiled at him, showing his big yellow teeth.
"You brat, if you dare to break through, I will definitely give you a taste of my fists."
As an NBA player, Sean Kemp has a bad record.
Drug abuse, alcoholism, lust, and lying.
Apart from his football skills, there is absolutely nothing that shines in this guy.
When he was 28 years old, this guy had at least 7 illegitimate children. According to incomplete statistics, his number of illegitimate children is as many as 11, which is completely comparable to Howard.
The problem is that like Howard, he is engaged in superhuman guerrillas, but no Master Huo can make money, and he is not as smart as Master Huo.
Although Howard has many illegitimate children, the custody rights are all in Howard's own hands. Therefore, he only needs to raise these children, but does not need to pay astronomical monthly alimony like Kemp.
Therefore, just after retiring from the NBA in 2003, Kemp declared bankruptcy on the spot.
Think about it carefully, what kind of obedient person would such a drunken and merciless person be in the arena where violence was common in the 1990s?
Looking at Kemp with a fierce expression on his face, Wang Feng sneered disdainfully.
It was almost a year and a half into the 1990s, and Kemp was not the only villain he encountered in the league.
Oakley, Barkley, Rodman, these are not fuel-efficient lights. To put it bluntly, Kemp, who only joined the league in 1989, is slightly less interesting than these guys.
Wang Feng's dribbling movement paused slightly, as if he was about to shoot the ball the next moment.
Kemp's heart jumped when he saw this scene, and he immediately stepped forward and raised his hand. Wang Feng's three-pointers have long been famous in the league. They are like nuclear weapons. No team dares to let him shoot three easily.
point.
But the moment he stepped forward, Wang Feng suddenly moved. He held the ball and accelerated towards Kemp's right side. The master badge was instantly activated in the first step, making him move as fast as lightning.
Kemp was as motionless as a telegraph pole, and Wang Feng easily passed him with one step!
Although his speed is outstanding at the power forward position, Kemp, who is 2.08 meters tall, is obviously not on the same level as Wang Feng, whose speed is among the best even among defenders.
Letting Kemp defend Wang Feng is really the best answer the Sonics can give.
After easily passing Kemp in one step, Wang Feng immediately took the ball and accelerated toward the basket. Johnson, the blue-collar player, was the only one left in the SuperSonics basket. With the opponent's ability, Wang Feng had no problem even if he forced a dunk.
But at this moment, a figure shot out from the side, aiming directly at the basketball in Wang Feng's hand.
Gary Payton!
Wang Feng raised his eyebrows slightly.
Sure enough, the Sonics didn't simply let Kemp defend themselves. It turned out that they planned to use the combination of Kemp + Payton to jointly restrain their own performance.
Kemp's defense is not very good, but it doesn't matter. Payton is still there to help detect and fill in the gaps.
Gary Payton is a top perimeter defender, ranking among the best even in NBA history.
This season, Gary Payton won the steals title with 2.9 steals, and the Warriors' Blaylock and Wang Feng ranked second and third in the steals list. If nothing else, this year's best defensive player will also be
Obtained by Payton.
The reason why the Sonics don't let Payton directly defend Wang Feng is because the size difference between the two is too big.
Payton, who is 1.93 meters tall and weighs only 82 kilograms, has no way to defend Wang Feng one-on-one. Even if he is not slower than Wang Feng, Wang Feng does not need to break through when facing Payton. He can just pull up and shoot on the spot.
The height difference between the two coupled with Wang Feng's 99cm bounce means that Payton has no way to effectively interfere with Wang Feng's shooting.
And to put it another way, even if Wang Feng doesn't feel good and can't make outside shots, there is no problem in imitating James's style of play and using his strength to crush Payton's breakthrough.
But like now, Payton was not the player Wang Feng faced the first time, but came out from the wing the second time after he broke through with the ball, and his goal was very clear, to steal Wang Feng who was breaking through with the ball.
Payton's timing was very accurate. Time no longer allowed Wang Feng to continue adjusting his dribbling dodge. In order not to be intercepted, Wang Feng could only stop immediately to protect the ball.
"It seems that you have really studied my game videos carefully..."
Wang Feng sneered in his heart.
Wang Feng, who has not yet strengthened all his ability values to the full value of 99, certainly still has weaknesses on the field, but they are not obvious because of the extremely high values.
For example, dribbling ability.
Wang Feng's dribbling ability value is 92, which is already at the league's top level and absolutely ahead of most players in the league.
But 92 dribbling is not 99 after all. In a one-on-one situation, it is naturally difficult to be targeted by the defense and cause the ball to be missed. However, when encountering a sudden sneak attack, this ability value is not enough for Wang Feng to pass at this moment.
Dribble to change things up.
In other words, the Sonics' first step defensive strategy was successful.
While protecting the basketball with both hands to avoid being intercepted by Payton, Wang Feng had to stop. If he continued to move forward, he would have to walk.
Payton's timing was really perfect. If he were slower, Wang Feng would take one more step... No, even if he took half a step more, the distance would be enough to take three steps for a layup.
"In the first step of defense, you can be considered successful, but what are you going to do in the second step? Are you going to double-team me and force me to make a mistake?"
Wang Feng glanced at Payton, and then looked behind Payton.
As a point guard, Payton understood Wang Feng's thoughts the moment he noticed his eyes.
In this game, Payton was originally responsible for guarding Mullin. At this time, he came to press Wang Feng. On the other side, Mullin had already reached a fixed position outside the three-point line. As long as Wang Feng's pass was in place, he would raise his hand and score.
The three-point shooter makes a move!
This is how most of Wang Feng's assists averaged in the triple-double per game in the regular season came from.
Payton hesitated for a moment. Wang Feng had stopped the ball. Should he immediately return to guard Mullin? Kemp was right behind Wang Feng. If the opponent chose to shoot from this position, Kemp's jumping ability would definitely give it to the opponent.
A big hit.
Just when he hesitated, Wang Feng moved again.
He did not choose to jump on the spot or pass the ball to Mullin. Instead, he threw the basketball towards the backboard, then accelerated towards the basket and took off.
"Self-throwing and self-deducting?"
Payton, who was hesitating, had no time to stop in front of Wang Feng, and Kemp, who was still standing behind Wang Feng, could not do it. They could only watch as Wang Feng took a two-step approach and jumped high at the free throw line and received the ball.
The basketball bounced off the backboard, a shooting star dunk in the air, and a one-handed split dunk to dunk the basketball into the basket.
"boom--!"
The entire Sonics home court was quiet for a moment.
Wang Feng's dunk action is full of visuals, very similar to Howard's Superman dunk action in the Dunk Contest. Although due to the distance, his hand only touched the edge of the basket, and it looked more like he was condescending and relied on height to smash the basketball in.
, but the viewing quality is not inferior to those powerful dunks, and the picture of flying long distance in the air is even more shocking and cannot be calmed down for a long time!
From being flanked by Gary Payton to performing a self-throw and dunk, it only happened in an instant. Many SuperSonics home fans didn't even react before they saw this shocking scene.
"Oh my God! What happened!"
"At that moment, I almost thought this guy was going to grow wings and fly away."
"How did he jump so high and so far? It would be difficult even for the current Michael (Jordan) to do it, right?"
On the field, Wang Feng turned around and went back to defense after landing, but glanced at Payton and Kemp and smiled faintly.
"Want to defend me? Okay, if you can do it, then give it a try!"
…
The Sonics' strategy is obvious, which is to find ways to curb Wang Feng's performance. The Warriors' style of play is very simple and direct, attacking around Wang Feng. All other players basically serve Wang Feng on the court.
This is exactly the way James played with all the stars in the Cavaliers during his peak period, but the current Warriors still can't get four outside shooters, so the configuration has been lowered a bit.
Therefore, as long as Wang Feng can be restricted, the Warriors' offensive rhythm can be restricted.
But the entire league understands this truth. The Warriors still won 60 of the 82 games in the regular season. Wang Feng also averaged an exaggerated 38.7+ triple-doubles per game.
The effect of Payton's help and defense was not obvious. He couldn't even defend Wang Feng with his sudden attack on the first ball, let alone the subsequent ones.
The main reason is that Wang Feng passed Kemp's defense too easily, which resulted in the poor defense effect behind Payton. Wang Feng could either attack on his own in the face of Payton, or he could pass the ball to an open teammate in a timely manner to assist and score.