start with scouting

Chapter 112 Anthony Nemesis

The first round of voting for the All-Stars was announced, and various discussions followed.

A large number of fans are amazed that Durant can actually rank first in the western striker group. Considering that his opponents are long-established veterans such as Anthony, Gasol, Duncan, Nowitzki, Stoudemire, etc., that is quite remarkable.

There are also many fans who think it is normal. After all, Durant averaged about 27 points per game, and he scored 11 points in overtime to defeat the Celtics and beat the Cavaliers in 1.8 seconds. His strength and popularity have a certain foundation .

Nuggets player Kenyon Martin tweeted: "Kevin Durant ranks first in the striker group is very simple! Because his Chinese coach Su Yang mobilized many people to vote for Durant. As a rookie center, Shaquille O'Neal was able to take away the starting center position of the All-Star. That's cheating! The league should immediately modify the vote counting method!

We must be vigilant against Chinese forces manipulating the alliance! "

Less than half an hour after the tweet was sent, famous commentators such as Bill Simmons retweeted it one after another, and the scale of fan discussion further expanded. ESPN even specially invited commentators to discuss whether Durant is eligible to be selected in the midday program.

And in Kenyon Martin’s tweet, a Twitter user frantically responded to more than 50 comments, each of which praised Durant as worthy of being selected as an All-Star. As a result, Durant’s own account also participated in it somehow.

Although the comment posted by Durant's own account was quickly deleted, the fans took screenshots faster.

A few hours later, Durant used his trumpet to tout his own news, appearing on ESPN Late Night.

The reporter deliberately interviewed Su Yang online and asked him what he thought. Su Yang replied that he absolutely supported it. He also emphasized that NBA players are human beings and should have the same rights as the public. As for Martin's questions, they are pure nonsense.

Martin then commented on ESPN News, saying he wanted to prove on the court that Durant was not worthy of being selected as an All-Star.

Coincidentally, the game between the Thunder and the Nuggets started on the second day, and the fans were full of attention and expectations.

Seeing Martin's comments, Su Yang felt that it was necessary to win the game, so he arranged it carefully.

On December NO.16, the Thunder played against the Nuggets at home, and the fans at the scene wore jerseys with Durant's portrait printed on them to show their support.

In the first round of the game, the Thunder settled in a five-out formation and played a weak-side Chicago tactic. Durant used the cover of Green to go around, and then cooperated with Jordan Jr., easily getting rid of Anthony and hitting a big three. point.

Su Yang originally designed a Flare change to prevent Anthony from chasing too closely and let Jordan and Green cooperate.

But Anthony was so careless in defending without the ball. Chasing was just a show, and it was no different from standing still.

Turning to the Nuggets to attack, Billups called for a tactical position and lobbed the ball to Anthony for a single.

According to Su Yang's pre-match arrangement, Durant stood sideways to block shots and release breakthroughs, resolutely defended Anthony's right hand, and guided Anthony to rush to the basket to finish with his left hand. Regardless of whether Anthony scored or not, he could continue to consume his physical strength and willpower.

Amid the boos all over the court, Anthony rushed to the basket and took off against Jordan's supplementary defense. The graphics card dropped the frame and picked the basket with his left hand.

The basketball slammed like iron, but Nene, who was temporarily unguarded, caught an offensive rebound and made a dunk through Jordan.

The process was as expected, but there was an accident. Su Yang applauded the Thunder generals, indicating that he would continue to be so defensive next time.

Because compared to McGrady and other small forwards, Anthony's left-handed skills are relatively poor, which has caused Anthony's shooting percentage at the basket to never reach the level of top small forwards, which in turn has caused Anthony to be more inclined to use jump shots to end the game at critical moments.

The Thunder's offense was easy, and they still started with a five-out delayed position formation, which successfully attracted the Nuggets' defensive attention.

But Westbrook ran across the center line and suddenly stopped and turned. Instead of looking for Durant, he went to Green for a pick-and-roll.

Billups and Kenyon Martin hurriedly set up a defensive formation, feeling a little interlocking in a trance.

Seeing the cooperation between the two, Su Yang felt that defense was really a matter for the whole team. Billups used to move slowly because of his age. Also poor.

But Billups joined the Nuggets, relying on his super positioning awareness and height, he blocked most of the passing routes and helped Kenyon Martin solve the problem of prediction, and Kenyon Martin helped the Nuggets through speed and weight. Lupus makes up for the shock.

Seeing that Westbrook and Green failed to find a chance after several attempts, Su Yang signaled for a shift in strength.

Westbrook did as he heard, and at the same time, Durant used Jordan's off-ball screen to circle out from the bottom corner.

Maybe it was because the defense was too ugly before. This time, Anthony bypassed the screen and intercepted very quickly. Nene also tried his best to help delay Durant, which greatly delayed Durant's start time. However, Anthony's center of gravity was too high when he ran, and Durant Very easy to break through dunks.

Cheers exploded in the arena on the spot, and Nuggets coach George Karl threw his fists and roared angrily, giving Anthony a refreshment.

Su Yang also couldn't help feeling silently, Anthony can do a good job of defense, but Anthony is unwilling to do that.

Famous NBA draft expert Matt Kamalsky once wrote a report on Anthony, saying that Anthony did not work hard on defense, was not active in retreating and retreating, was slow to move laterally, and his center of gravity was too high when making up his position, making it easy for people to sway. The end often chooses gambles, and the peripheral positions are not detailed enough. The advantage of defense lies in its height and strength. It can single-handedly defend the inside line, but it is easy to foul.

Anthony has never corrected the shortcomings mentioned in the report, so that he almost has no ball to play.

While Su Yang was feeling, the Nuggets launched a counterattack, and Billups passed the ball to Anthony again.

Durant still led his left hand, but this time Anthony stepped back and shot arrogantly, making it easy.

In the next few rounds, Anthony followed suit, and Durant was slightly annoyed by the kaleidoscope attack.

Durant defended very hard, but Anthony's choice was very random, and it was difficult to predict through conventional logic.

Choosing randomness is why Anthony has become an offensive kaleidoscope. He never limits himself, so he has become a rare master at a young age, but that also makes Anthony unable to get nervous, just like Curry also played behind the back pass in the tiebreaker of the finals.

At the end of the first quarter, the two teams were tied, and the statistics were almost the same, as if it was a [-]-[-] split.

During the timeout between quarters, Su Yang told the Thunder generals not to worry, because the Thunder had high scoring efficiency and relatively few long rebounds. The Nuggets failed to play the rushing mode they are best at, and continued to maintain it later, and waited until the fourth quarter to launch a strong attack. .

In the next two quarters, the situation was exactly as Su Yang predicted, with the Thunder leading by six points and unable to expand.

The reason why the Thunder can't expand the point difference is that Nene often beats Jordan Jr. and Kenyon Martin beats Jeff Green. They use strategies such as switching defenses and pinches to limit the Nuggets' two insiders from taking the ball, but Billups is too organized. He was too good, and there was also a shooting threat from the three-point line. Those strategies were not easy to use, which led to the Nuggets' two insiders getting the ball very efficiently.

The Nuggets can't narrow it down, because the overall defensive deviation, especially Anthony's point, the Thunder made a fuss about it, and Su Yang arranged players to separate Martin and Billups intentionally. Westbrook also used speed to force Billups. many.

In the fourth quarter of the game, Su Yang changed his defensive strategy and tried his best to limit Billups from playing for Anthony.

After Anthony entered the off-ball mode, he didn't move much without the ball, and the offensive end almost became invisible.
However, Nene and Martin's scoring efficiency was low, and the Thunder easily controlled the game until the end, narrowly winning by six points.

When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, Kenyon Martin almost had a fight with Durant, and Westbrook rushed forward.

Fortunately, Wilcox was fast enough to successfully prevent the escalation of the conflict. The fans caught Martin and booed wildly.

全场比赛，杜兰特砍下33分9篮板5助攻，完胜安东尼31分9篮板2助攻。

That night, a Twitter user tweeted that Durant was a better starter than Anthony.

And the Twitter user had just registered for less than 5 minutes, and all the fans believed that it was Durant's trumpet.

But compared to the trumpet anecdote, the famous reporter Stein reported that an anonymous coach from the West said that he had learned from Su Yang how to restrict Anthony, and guessed that other teams would restrict Anthony in the same way in the future.
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PS: I recently tried this kind of narration + comment cross-writing. Do you feel confused?

(End of this chapter)