Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 291
A quarter of the season has passed, and apart from the Phoenix Suns, the Seattle SuperSonics are the most eye-catching.

From a team that was shoulder to shoulder with the Suns last season, with a winning percentage of less than 10% and did not even make the playoffs, it has now become a strong contender for the top spot in the league. Compared with the Suns, the Supersonics are free They didn’t catch any big fish in terms of market and trading, and they didn’t have strong players like Steve Nash or Quentin Richardson join in. Not only that, but they also lost a team that could contribute around [-] points per game. Veteran Brent Barry.The only harvest may be Danny Fortson, the rough rebounding brother who entered the end of his career and didn't play many games in the Mavericks last season.

Jerome James and Reggie Evans were tapped internally. The Supersonics can reach this level thanks to head coach Nate McMillan.

As a supersonic star, he once won the steals title, once held the steal record in team history before Gary Payton, and maintained the 25 assists record of a rookie in the league. Nate McMillan has always believed that the word talent has nothing to do with him , He believes that his advantage is that he can unite his teammates and fight for a greater good, rather than just playing for himself, so his coaching style and player selection have a strong personal mark.

"As a coach, I can only now really realize how much I have helped the team when I played on the court in the past, carefully covering screens, running and defending well, communicating loudly with teammates, and directing tactics. These things will not be reflected at all. In terms of statistics, maybe everyone is saying 'how many points XX scored again!', but I think for a team, selfless players are more valuable. They are desperately fighting for victory every night and don't care about their own statistics. All work is considered for the benefit of the team, and they can play a lot of positions, which is convenient for the coach to deal with various situations. This is also my criterion for selecting players." Nate McMillan accepted an interview before the game.

Jim said that what McMillan said made sense. Good puzzle players are of course essential, but to raise the upper limit of the team, there must be superstars.

Kobe has already suffocated for this game. After the game against the Supersonics last season, Ray Allen once said in an interview that Kobe is a selfish player and he only has the basket in his eyes.

Of course, Ray Allen scored a triple-double in that game, and some resentment is normal.

The grievances between the two have a long history. As early as before the draft, the young and vigorous Kobe believed that he did not need to undergo a medical examination and had a dispute with the doctor. As a college star, Ray Allen could not see Kobe being so arrogant. Say "There's a lot more you don't know, a 17-year-old kid."

"According to our observations, the Supersonics' style of play relies on a large number of off-ball screen opportunities, allowing Ray Allen and Lewis to get a comfortable shooting space, and their interior has almost no offensive ability. So our countermeasure is that once the opponent When there is an off-ball screen, the first time to switch defenses, it doesn't matter if the inside is misplaced, they will not be willing to hand the ball to Reggie Evans or Jerome James to finish, that is tantamount to a turnover. As for the offense , Just follow our usual style of play.” Before the game, Jim and the coaching staff studied the Supersonics’ style of play, and Nate McMillan has always adhered to his consistent style whether he was in the Trail Blazers or the Pacers. The confrontation is tough, the players are balanced, and the defense is tough. It's just that the Supersonics' foundation is too deformed, so they settled for the second best and came up with such a weird style of play.

At the start of the game, the Supersonics did as Jim expected. Ridnour controlled the ball, and the two insiders provided Ray Allen and Lewis with off-ball screens, allowing them to cut outside to find shooting opportunities.

Jerome James and Reggie Evans are two black and tough, and the quality of the screen is quite high, firmly blocking Kobe and Battier in front of them, Garnett and David West immediately switched defenses .

Seeing that the two cores did not run out of opportunities, Ridnor lobbed the ball to the inside, allowing Reggie Evans to hit Kobe in a misplaced position.

It is said to be misplaced, but Reggie Evans is not a few centimeters taller than Kobe, and his offensive skills are unparalleled. After Reggie Evans dribbled the ball and arched inward, he turned over and was extremely ugly The ball didn't even touch the basket, and it shot directly across the bridge.

But by mistake, Battier did not expect the shot to be so outrageous. In a blink of an eye, Jerome James had already got stuck in the position and grabbed an offensive rebound, and then made a dunk to open the record for the SuperSonics. .

Looking back, the Lakers used a similar routine. Kobe used Garnett's cover to roll to the flank. After receiving the pass, he attracted the double defense of Ray Allen and Jerome James. Kobe threw it away, Garnett understood, flying alley-oop dunk score.

"Hey! Why don't you dare to shoot by yourself? Is this the Kobe I know?"

Back on defense, Ray Allen and Kobe started talking trash.

The Supersonic offense still found a dislocation. Jerome James was bigger than Battier for several laps and forced to push the basket. Battier tried to draw an offensive foul from James, but the referee ignored it.

James hit zero and scored a dunk.Only 1 minute into the game, he got his season scoring average.

Battier just shared his hands with the referee, got up and started attacking without too much argument.Jim, on the other hand, was chasing the referee on the sidelines, nagging all the way, almost crossing the center line to the Supersonics bench.

"I'm warning you, Mr. Bass, if you continue to babble, I'll give you a technical foul." Javi, one of the leaders of the referee, is the one who enforces the focus of this match. Too much face.

Watching Battier being bullied by Jerome James, Jim misses Artest a bit. At least Artest's chassis is more stable and powerful, so he won't be easily stuck in a deep position.

Kobe over there fouled Reggie Evans, went to the free throw line, and Jim called Battier and Garnett and told them that if it was Jerome James' off-ball screen, they wouldn't need a substitution , Chasing and defending the past will do.

As a result, Rashad Lewis borrowed a double screen, received a pass from Ray Allen at 45 degrees, and hit a three-pointer, which seemed to feel good.

The Golden State Warriors of later generations took this routine to the extreme, using the inside line to move the Great Wall-like cover, creating a large number of mobile phone opportunities for the Splash Brothers on the outside line.

The problem for the Lakers now is that with switching defenses, Battier can't withstand the inside line, and the pass is undefended.

Seeing that Rashad Lewis felt hot and scored another three-pointer, Jim had to request a timeout in advance.

(End of this chapter)