Starting from the last bus in the NBA

Chapter 292 Focus Battle
"Oh, incredible dribbling, Michael was swayed away, and he could only watch Wang dunk."

TNT TV, a pair of new partners, is now emerging in the basketball commentary world.

That's right, it is the famous star Kenny Smith, and the famous flying pig Barkley.

It's just that, for young fans of later generations, what everyone is familiar with is their career as a commentator.

As for his player career, Kenny Smith has won two championships with the Rockets.

As for Barkley, he was also the top star in the NBA at the time, with an incredible buttocks.

With a height of less than two meters, Barkley can dominate the basket with his huge buttocks and physical fitness.

He once said that Rodman couldn't even win a rebounding title if he wanted to.

This sentence is exaggerated, but most of the contemporary NBA stars cannot deny it.

It's just that Barkley's career as a player is obviously not as good as that of a commentator.

For the sake of the championship, he has given up his face to hug his thigh, but he has become his thigh time and time again.

Although I can't understand Jordan, but as a good friend of Jordan, he couldn't help but said when he saw the old man being teased like this.

"Hey, wait a minute, Kenny, isn't this a walk?"

Kenny Smith smiled: "Charles, as a championship-level point guard, I can tell you, this is not walking.

To be honest, I actually didn't fully see Wang's movements clearly, but, I felt his rhythm, which is not walking. "

"Damn it! Kenny, can you leave out the words championship?"

……

Looking at Wang Hao who spread his hands, Jordan felt so angry. He used to do this action for others.

In the next game, Jordan tried his best to fight back, but unfortunately, it was not that easy.

Wang Hao and Gary Payton, one is responsible for marking and entanglement in the back, and the other is responsible for double-teaming and assisting defense.

Even, Wang Hao can directly intercept the pass from the Wizards to Jordan at certain times.

It's all about the Sonics' defense problems, but it's just another shooting team that can only attack.

This is why?
The Sonics achieved very good results in the regular season, but they have not been favored to win the championship.

The saying that defense wins championships is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Can the Sonics' defense be poor?

In terms of interior defense, PJ Brown is indeed a bit weak, but in many cases, opponents can't get into the interior at all.

The perimeter defense built by Wang Hao and Gary Payton has been able to solve most problems.

This is also the tradition of the Sonics.

As early as the 90s, the Sonics also had a period of prosperity.

Not only was he a regular in the playoffs, but he even made it to the finals at one point, which embarrassed the Bulls.

For this Sonics team, most people remember the combination of Gary Payton and Rainman Sean Kemp.

It is another combination of inside and outside line, which can be regarded as one of the traditional routines for the success of the NBA.

Then there's Schramff, the big pitcher.

It's just that, at that time, the Supersonic's defense was not bad, basically in the top ten.

You know, this is the case when there is no super defensive insider in the Sonics.

Sean Kemp, it's good to be able to rebound well, but you still expect him to defend well?
As for Schramff, this is also a big white pitcher. From this description, he knows that his defense is average.

As for the team's main center, Irvin Johnson, who has the same name and surname as Magic Johnson, is actually a fake center.

The Sonics can maintain a pretty good defense, but it is actually a defensive formation built entirely from the outside.

Gary Payton and Kendall Gill, Gary Payton and Nate McMillan, Gary Payton and Jose Hawkins.

Now, it has been replaced by Gary Payton and Wang Hao, which makes this defensive line even stronger.

As for the reason?
On the one hand, it is naturally because Wang Hao's defense is better, especially his ability to assist defense is very good.

Faster movement speed and better defensive prediction allow him to appear in the most critical position at the most critical time.

Of course, the most important thing is the change of NBA rules.

That is, this season, the NBA officially canceled illegal defense, which means that the NBA allows joint defense.

To put it simply, from now on, facing non-ball holders, you can double-team in advance.

For example, facing O'Neal, you don't have to wait for him to catch the ball before double-teaming, but you can double-team in advance.

Of course, in fact, the NBA has always had a zone defense, but it has been playing around the edges.

Now, those coaches who like to brush aside can finally play defense openly.

No, today's Michael Jordan is deeply troubled.

Not only Wang Hao and Gary Payton focused on taking care of him, but they also kept greeting Ewing after he played.

Jordan originally wanted to take good care of his two old rivals, but the final result was a bit horrible.

In the whole game, Jordan scored 16 points and 12 rebounds, which is a double-double. It looks pretty good.

But the problem is that these 16 points took 26 shots, and only hit 5 goals, and the hit rate was less than 20%.

Except for Jordan, that is, Hamilton's 23 points are worth seeing, the others have made no achievements.

Without any surprises, the Sonics beat the basketball god's team with a score of 107:84.

By the way, when it comes to changes in NBA rules, in addition to the legalization of zone defense, there are actually some changes.

For example, defending for three seconds, such as further stricting the handcheck.

The first is to defend for three seconds. In fact, in the previous NBA, there were similar regulations.

It's just that it is now more formally proposed in the NBA's rules.

In fact, whether it is zone defense, three seconds of defense, or even the tentacle rule, it is all to encourage offense.

Doesn't the NBA have such a saying that offense wins the box office and defense wins championships.

There is only one champion, but more than one team with a good offense.

It's just that, whether it's the zone defense or the three-second defense, it virtually restricts the inside players.

Therefore, many years later, many people said that the NBA would not hesitate to change the rules for the sake of O'Neal.

To be honest, it's a bit exaggerated.

Before the zone defense was legal, O'Neal was often double-teamed, and this aspect had little impact on him.

The real impact is actually the three-second defense, which allows outside players to hit the inside more.

It is also for this reason that the living space of the traditional bulky interior line is compressed, and the sporty interior line is more popular.

In addition to this, there is another reason, and that is for the NBA to properly integrate with international basketball.

Because in international basketball, it is allowed.

As early as the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the NBA discovered that under the international basketball defense rules, NBA stars were somewhat uncomfortable.

Whether it is facing Lithuania, France, or even Russia, the US team does not have such a huge advantage.

Especially in the semi-final against the Lithuanian team, the US team narrowly won by only 2 points.

There are many reasons.

The first is the rapid development of international basketball, and the basketball level of more and more countries is constantly improving.

The second is that not all of the NBA's top stars represent the US team.

For example, stars such as Allen Iverson, O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant did not play.

Of course, these are all objective reasons, no matter how you adjust them, they cannot be changed.

As for the subjectivity, it is the NBA star's incompatibility with the international basketball rules.

Especially the zone defense, so that NBA stars have no chance of one-on-one, unable to play their own advantages.

The changes in NBA rules still have some impact on each team.

It's just that the supersonic speed has adapted very well.

The 8-game winning streak at the start has already explained the problem.

In addition, the Player of the Week in the second week of the new NBA season was announced, and Wang Hao was successfully elected as the best player in the Western Conference.

In fact, last week, with the Supersonics' undefeated record, Wang Hao was eligible to be elected.

It's just that the NBA officially gave it to Kobe.

This week, the Sonics played a total of 4 games, all of which were away games, and still achieved 4 consecutive victories.

而王昊，更是获得了场均32.5分6.5篮板6助攻2盖帽和2.5抢断的豪华数据。

From offense to defense, Wang Hao has played an unparalleled performance, and it is reasonable to be the best of the week.

In addition to Wang Hao, Carter was also successfully elected as the best in the Eastern Conference.

By the way, starting from this season, the original best of the week and best of the month have also been divided into east and west.

That is to say, from this year onwards, the winners of the best of the week and best of the month will be twice as many as before.

Such an approach somewhat discounted the gold content of these two awards.

It's just that, with the development of the NBA, the number of basketball teams is increasing, and there are more and more stars.

Every selection of the best of the week and the best of the month is like a competition for MVP, and the competition is really fierce.

With a wave of 5 consecutive away games, the Sonics returned to Seattle, their own territory.

The next opponents are actually not too challenging. Whether it is the Suns or the Warriors, they are all limited in strength.

Although the Suns are still a playoff team, but with Kidd and Marbury swapping clubs, the threat of the Suns is decreasing.

Again, Marbury is indeed very good, but as a lone wolf, it is difficult for him to unite the team.

Especially now, with a bunch of problems within the Suns.

Among the three people with the highest salary, Anfernee Hardaway plays on and off, and Tom Gugliott holds a contract of tens of millions to retire.

With those two on the Suns, how much do you get other people to play?Not to mention desperate to win.

Sure enough, in the first half, Marbury and Hardaway were still able to compete with the Sonics with their individual singles.

But in the second half, as the Supersonics improved their defense, the point difference expanded rapidly.

Just when the Sonics thought they were going to continue their winning streak, the momentum stopped abruptly at this time.

No one thought, including the Nuggets themselves, that they ended the Sonics' 10-game winning streak.

Well, the supersonic didn't expect it, let alone that they were shot to death by a lunatic.

That's right, the crazy Nuggets Nick Van Exel shot straight in this game.

三分球15中9，全场比赛更是25投14中，狂砍全场最高的44分。

This is also the highest score of his career.

Wang Hao and Gary Payton took turns to fight, but still failed to restrain him, and finally had to swallow the bitter fruit of failure.

This is also a nerve knife, once Dashun is done, it is really unrivaled.

More importantly, although Nick Van Exel is an attacking defender, he is only 185 cm tall.

His speed is very fast, neither Wang Hao nor Gary Payton are good at defending such speed players.

However, with a record of 10 wins and 1 loss, the Sonics still firmly occupy the top spot.

It's just that the Supersonics adjusted their status again and regained their winning momentum.

If it is said that the previous opponents were a little weak, it made the Supersonic's record not so convincing.

Then in the next game, it convinced the entire NBA that compared to last year, the Sonics have improved again.

Mavericks, Spurs, Pacers, and Jazz, these playoff teams have fallen in front of the Sonics.

If last season, the Sonics already had the qualifications to challenge the Lakers, then now, they can threaten the Lakers.

Two consecutive championships is something that is difficult to achieve in NBA history.

To put it simply, only Michael Jordan has done it, and he has done it twice.

Except for him, whether it is Skyhook Kareem, or the basketball emperor Chamberlain, or Bird Bird and Magic Johnson, they have never done it.

It can be said that the current Lakers are already considered invincible.

Plus Phil Jackson, after all, Jordan's 2 three-peats were completed with him.

Now the major media and commentators are very optimistic about the Lakers, who can once again create the miracle of 3 consecutive championships.

After all, the dominance of the Sharks is unshakable, and Peter Pan has also become the top star in the NBA.

It's just that the Supersonics don't agree with that.

Another wave of 6 consecutive victories, the Sonics impressively achieved the best record in team history with 16 wins and 1 loss.

Through one victory after another, the Sonics seem to be telling the world that it is not so easy for the Lakers to win three consecutive championships.

That's right, on the last day of November, the Sonics will face the Lakers for the first time this season.

At that time, the Sonics will sit at home in Seattle and usher in the challenge of the Lakers.

As the top two teams in the Western Conference in the past two seasons, the game between the SuperSonics and the Lakers has attracted countless attentions before the game started.

From the various teams in the NBA to the major media, they are all quietly waiting for the arrival of this battle.

After all, the changes during the offseason made everyone wonder how strong the two teams are today.

If you want to make a difference in the playoffs, you can't avoid the two teams.

Outsiders are so concerned, so inside the two teams, it is even more so.

Long before the start of the new season, on the Supersonics schedule, the battle on November 11 has been highlighted.

Compared with last season, the Sonics did not have a large-scale reinforcement, but were discovered through the draft.

In fact, both Earl Watson and Brandon Haywood actually performed very well.

More importantly, the outside core built by Gary Payton and Wang Hao has further improved its strength.

(End of this chapter)