Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 76 76. Your name is Jerome James? !
On May 5, the series between the Timberwolves and the Sonics in the Western Conference semifinals officially kicked off.

Before the start of this round of the series, the fans jokingly called it sending the Timberwolves to the promotion.

Obviously, no one thinks that the Sonics can beat the Timberwolves in this series and advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Even though the Sonics ranked fourth in the West with a record of 52 wins and 30 losses in the regular season, no one still believes that the Sonics can have the last laugh.

The reason is naturally because in the three regular season matches between the Timberwolves and the Supersonics, the Supersonics not only lost all three games, but also lost a total of 63 points to the Timberwolves in the three games.

On average, the Timberwolves beat the Timberwolves by 21 points in each game. Even the local fans in Seattle are not optimistic about their team's upset by such a huge suspense gap.

Especially when the Timberwolves easily defeated the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, the SuperSonic's hope of advancing has basically been zero.

At present, the question that the outside world is most concerned about is whether the Supersonics can last a few games in this round of the series, and whether they can last longer than the Rockets in the first round!
Or it was easily swept 4:0 by the Timberwolves.

Compared with the Supersonics' upset promotion, this matter is the most concerned issue for fans. After all, the Supersonics team has a simpler lineup than the Rockets. The entire team relies entirely on Ray Allen and Lewis. Lift up the table.

And whether it is Ray Allen or Lewis, neither of them is an outstanding court leader. Relatively speaking, they are more suitable to play the role of a second or even third leader.

As one of the few pure shooting teams in the league, the SuperSonic's overall offense is inherently unstable, and it often relies on the player's personal touch.

Now encountering the Timberwolves who can switch defenses infinitely, this is simply the root of the supersonic nightmare!

In the first round of the series against the Kings, Ray Allen's personal performance was relatively good, averaging 26.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game in five games.

And the shooting percentage reached 47.4%, and the three-point shooting percentage also reached 37.8%.

On the whole, Ray Allen's performance is dazzling enough. With an average of 19.5 shots per game, Ray Allen has become more and more like a leader.

However, another core player of the Sonics, Rashad Lewis, has been in a sluggish performance since entering the playoffs.

常规赛期间刘易斯场均可以贡献20.5分5.5篮板1.3助攻以及1.1次抢断，投篮命中率保持在47%，三分球命中率高达40%。

This is exactly the data of an All-Star striker.

As a result, Lewis' scoring average in the playoffs not only dropped to 16.1 points, but his three-point shooting percentage dropped to 20%. He averaged only 3.1 three-pointers per game when he took 0.6 three-pointers.

Almost by his own strength, he distorted the blue neck of the home court, and the title of "Seattle Iron God" is definitely worthy of the name!
Lewis' poor performance made Ray Allen even more tired on the offensive end. Fortunately, the first-round series of Supersonics center Jerome James came from heaven.

In the five games against King Jerome James, he surrendered 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks, completely playing the league's top center level.

Together with Ray Allen, they brought the "Iron God" Lewis to fly, and successfully eliminated the Kings in five games, helping the team advance to the Western Conference semifinals again after many years.

Even though the Western Conference semifinals are likely to be the end of the Sonics, Sonics center Jerome James is still eager to try.

This year is the contract year for Jerome James. With his performance in the first round of the playoffs, there is a high probability that James will sign a lucrative four-year contract during the offseason.

If Jerome James can maintain this efficient top center level in this round of the series, then the 30-year-old Jerome James, who is at his peak this year, is likely to win a top salary!
After all, the age of 30 is basically the last time for a Chinese player to challenge the maximum salary in his career. What kind of contract can be signed during the offseason? The performance of Jerome James in this round of the series will be crucial.

So this is the main reason why Jerome James knows that the team has little hope of advancing, but is still eager to try!

…………

"Michael, remember what I said, you just need to stay in the penalty area, and don't get pulled out by the Sonics no matter what."

"In the end, you have to pay attention to your feet and don't defend the inside for three seconds." Before the game, head coach Luke told "Sugar Man" Olowokandi individually.

That's right, Luke will start Olowokandi in this game. Even though "Sugar Man" has poor offensive ability, "Sugar Man" has excellent defensive ability in the penalty area.

Facing Jerome James, who weighs 136 kilograms, and Luke doesn't want to double-team him, using the "sugar man" single defense is definitely the most suitable choice.

Olowokandi and Jerome James are both [-] meters tall, and the difference in weight is only about ten kilograms. There is basically no difference in strength.

This season, Olowokandi averaged 14.8 minutes per game and was able to send 1.6 blocks. As a tank center, Luke is satisfied with the defensive efficiency of "Sugar Man".

The Sonics currently entering the playoffs mainly rely on only three players, namely Ray Allen, Lewis and starting center Jerome James.

Although players like Jerome James were not considered by Luke at all, Luke didn't mind raising his eyelids to barely take a look at this guy when the Supersonics were doomed to fail.

Jerome James has very strong physical fitness, but Jerome James' inside skills are very rough.

Don't say that compared with top centers like Yao Ming and O'Neal, even "Little Shark" Curry is more dominant than Jerome James.

If it weren't for Jerome James' superb performance in the first round of the playoffs, Luke would really not want to put "Sugar Man" in the starting lineup.

After all, the introduction of "Sugar Man" in the starting lineup means that the Timberwolves will be weakened on the offensive end. Originally, Olowokandi was reserved by Luke for the finals to deal with O'Neal.

But now it seems that Jerome James is probably going to enjoy it in advance.

Although Olowokandi's defensive efficiency is good, it is far from terrifying. However, the meat shield "Sugar Man" who can send 1.6 blocks per game on the spot, combined with the "Wolf" who is the top defensive ability in history When "King" Garnett, this kind of defensive oppression would even give O'Neal a headache, let alone a little Jerome James.

It can only be said that it is Jerome James' luck and misfortune to enjoy this kind of defensive treatment under Luke!

Fortunately, Jerome James' performance in the first round of the playoffs caught Luke's eyes, making Luke regard it as a threat.

Unfortunately for Jerome James, it's going to be O'Neal-level defense.

If nothing else, the big contract that Jerome James just got on his lips may be forced into a basic salary by the Timberwolves!
(End of this chapter)