Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"Damn it."

Murray was a little depressed. He got rid of Holiday and dribbled past Lopez who was defending him, but he didn't expect to be blocked by Zhuang Yu.

No, where did this guy Zhuang Yu come from?

This is the keen sense of defense.

The reason why Zhuang Yu was able to win the Best Defensive Player award twice is not only because of his special ability to accurately predict the intentions of offensive players, but also because of his extremely high basketball IQ and defensive sense.

When Murray called for a pick-and-roll, Zhuang Yu had already predicted that Murray would play the ball by himself, so he decisively left Will Barton behind and moved inward, seizing the opportunity and using his height, wingspan, and jumping ability to block the shot from behind.

After grabbing the rebound, Zhuang Yu immediately launched a counterattack. He took two steps forward and pushed the ball to the frontcourt with both hands, just like Jokic's long pass just now.

At the same time, Holiday had already taken the lead and rushed down.

When the basketball flew over, Holiday reached out and grabbed the basketball, dribbled forward a step, and then pulled it up and did a two-handed dunk.

"Well done."

"Haha, the Nuggets aren't the only team that can score a goal like this, our Lakers can also..."

In the audience stands, the home fans cheered excitedly and applauded loudly.

On the court, Murray looked at Zhuang Yu with a dark face, looking unhappy, while Jokic narrowed his eyes slightly. He walked to Murray and patted him.

......

The Nuggets attack.

When Murray came to the frontcourt, Jokic came up for a screen and then waved at Murray.

Now the team has determined that Jokic is the cornerstone of the team and the absolute core, so Murray still has to listen to Jokic and pass the ball back to Jokic. Jokic stood at the top of the arc, holding the basketball high with one hand, but his eyes were observing the position of his teammates.

The next moment Jokic suddenly accelerated, pushed the defender away and took three steps after only one dribble. He kept the ball high, not giving the defensive player a chance to cut the ball.

The Lakers quickly tightened their defense, and Jokic swung the ball with one hand in the air and passed it to the left corner three-point line, where Murray was already standing.

When the basketball flew over, Murray caught the ball and immediately took a three-point shot. With a swish, the ball obediently went into the net.

Murray held his chin high, looking proud.

He ran towards Jokic and high-fived him to celebrate. Jokic smiled and thought to himself, you have to listen to me, it will be so easy to score this way.

For a center, Jokic's passing ability and basketball IQ are extremely rare. They were demonstrated last season, so Zhuang Yu was not surprised.

However, seeing a center forward pass the ball so beautifully, he couldn't help but feel a bit competitive.

After arriving at the frontcourt, Zhuang Yu took the initiative to ask for the ball and then called for a pick-and-roll.

Lopez came up to screen and Zhuang Yuwang moved to the left. Barton was the person facing Zhuang Yu. At this time, he was blocked and the Nuggets immediately switched defense. Jokic rushed up to delay, and Zhuang Yu accelerated and changed direction, passing Jokic in an instant. Jokic's speed was still a little slow.

Millsap was behind him. He didn't have time to think and rushed over quickly, while Zhuang Yu grabbed the basketball and took a step forward.

It looked like he was going to rush towards the basket, but in fact it was a hidden behind-the-back pass. The basketball came from behind Zhuang Yu, flew past Millsap's waist, and fell into the hands of Anderson who was coming along the baseline behind Millsap.

"Wow..."

There was an uproar in the audience.

Millsap's heart trembled. Before he understood what was happening, he heard a "clang" behind him. He turned his head and saw Anderson with his hands hanging on the basket.

This...how did this ball end up in his hands?

When did Zhuang Yu pass the ball?

Millsap was a little confused, and Jokic just turned around to chase Zhuang Yu, and clearly saw the process of Zhuang Yu passing the ball from behind. He also subconsciously stretched out his hand to intercept the ball, but it was still a little far away and failed to intercept it.

"This pass... is so beautiful." Jokic couldn't help but admire in his heart, and subconsciously looked towards Zhuang Yu, and happened to meet Zhuang Yu's gaze.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

......

For a period of time afterwards, Zhuang Yu did not attack much himself, but created opportunities for his teammates. His passes were always given to the teammate in the best position at the first time.

Although Zhuang Yu did not attack much himself, the Lakers' offense was very smooth.

The Nuggets' offense is mainly initiated by Jokic. Usually, Murray calls for a pick-and-roll after reaching the frontcourt. If there is an opportunity, he can attack by himself. If there is no opportunity, he will pass the ball back to Jokic and let Jokic organize it.

Although this is only the preseason and the Lakers did not play defensively, their defensive foundation is there. It is not so easy for Murray to get a scoring opportunity with a simple pick-and-roll, so he can only pass the ball back to Jokic.

Fortunately, Jokic performed very well, both in personal offense and in organizing passes.

As a result, the game took on a situation that the fans had not expected.

The person who is really in charge of organizing the Lakers' game is not the point guard Holiday, but Zhuang Yu. The person in charge of organizing the Nuggets' game is not Murray, but Jokic.

After a few minutes, Zhuang Yu had already received 4 assists, and Jokic also got 4 assists. A shooting guard and a center actually competed in assists.

This is indeed somewhat unexpected.

......

"Requesting a timeout."

The Lakers called a timeout, not because of the score.

At this time, the Lakers were still leading by 4 points.

But this is just a preseason game, and the main purpose is to train the players, test the lineup, and fill in the gaps. Winning or losing is not that important.

Especially for the Lakers, who are defending champions, winning or losing in the preseason is meaningless.

So Coach Scott called a timeout and made a personnel rotation, replacing Zhuang Yu, Holiday and Anderson with Rose, Clarkson and Kuzma.

The Nuggets also made some changes, but the changes were not big, Jokic and Murray still remained on the court.

Zhuang Yu came to the sidelines and sat down. Anderson sat next to him. While wiping his sweat, he said, "That fat guy is good at passing the ball."

Which fat guy?

Zhuang Yu was stunned for a moment, then realized that Anderson was talking about Jokic. But to be honest, Jokic is really a bit fat. His arms are round, his waist is round, as if his whole body is covered with fat. It is hard to imagine that he can play in the NBA with such a figure.

"He's not fat, at most he has a bit more pork belly." Zhuang Yu smiled, "But his basketball IQ is very high and his hands are also very good. People like him play basketball with their brains, not their bodies. Kyle, you have to learn more from him."

Anderson was stunned, and then nodded seriously. He also relies on his brain rather than his body to play basketball, and he can indeed learn from Jokic.