Legend of Tomorrow

Guo Xu didn't expect it to be so easy to score. The Supersonics' two inside pick-and-roll defenses are black holes. The scary thing is that Wen Baker's salary this season is also 10.13 million, which is the team's third highest salary.

With these two big burdens, even if Payton's personal ability reaches the peak Jordan's level, he can't move the Sonics. In recent years, he doesn't have to think about the championship, and it's sad to enter the first round of the playoffs. For Payton, 32, this is really cruel.

Wen Baker used to be an all-powerful figure in the NBA. He joined the Bucks with the eighth pick in 1993. In the second season, he scored 17.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1 steal and 1.4 blocks. He was selected as an All-Star.

At that time, Wen Baker, who was 211cm tall and weighed 105kg, seemed capable of anything.

Afterwards, he was selected to the All-Star three times. In 1997, he was selected to the All-NBA Third Team. In 1998, he was selected to the All-NBA Second Team.

After winning the Olympic gold medal, Wen Baker went on vacation. He didn't play in the preseason, and drank and had fun all day long. When the new season started, the supersonic coaching staff was surprised to find that he had become a fat man.

Vinbeck's current average of 12 points and 5.7 rebounds per game is lower than his rookie season data. He always seemed careless on the defensive end, so the coaching staff had to make him a substitute.

His weight has increased from 105 kilograms at the peak to 122 kilograms now. He can resist O'Neal in the low position. He did a good job in the first quarter, but he can't defend against pick-and-rolls. Alcohol dulls his reactions and slows his lateral movement.

In Guo Xu's previous life, Wen Baker was one of the NBA players with an IQ of around 50 and could only play basketball. After retiring, he quickly went bankrupt and went to work at a Starbucks coffee shop in Rhode Island to make a living.

He said in an interview: I am a father of four children, and I want to support my family, no matter what others think.

This sounds very responsible, but who can ignore that he lost a fortune of 100 million US dollars?

After the timeout, the Sonics made adjustments. Ewing took a break and sent in Jelani McCoy, a blue-collar center who is 208cm tall and weighs 111kg. The 23-year-old McCoy was the fourth overall pick in the second round in 1998. He had poor shooting and was unable to clear the basket, which made it difficult to attack offensively.

Shamond rested on the outside and was replaced by Payton. Since the start of the game, Payton has averaged 41 minutes per game. Without him, defense would be impossible.

The game continued, and Payton took Guo Xu hard when he came out. He first passed the ball to Barry, then caught the ball with his back on the right side, turned around and made a mid-range shot with a very smooth movement. Payton's height and wingspan advantage make it a mismatch to hit Guo Xu.

30 to 40, Phil Jackson was watching the game with his eyes squinted, not planning to make a substitution.

When the Lakers attacked, Guo Xu and Foster played a pick-and-roll and were broken. McCoy changed defense quickly and blocked the breakthrough route. Payton bypassed the cover and pursued the defense quickly, forcing Guo Xu to pass the ball from front to back.

Foster is now a marginal player for 7 minutes. He occasionally comes out to play for a while. His cutting speed is very slow, and he will be blocked if he doesn't take action immediately after receiving the ball in the middle. McCoy was not far away and returned to the center to interfere with him. Foster hit high and passed to the receiving teammate.

Leder caught the ball and singled out Barry, forcing a breakthrough and missing a layup.

The Lakers' two inside players evacuated the penalty area, and the opportunity has emerged, but Leder's condition has declined rapidly. No one has an absolute advantage when playing with the ball. The only thing left is catching and shooting, which is relatively reliable.

In the SuperSonics offense, Guo Xu started to get close to him as soon as Payton dribbled the ball past half-court. He has experience and cannot defend tall guards who cannot give him space. Once there is space, he can comfortably make a pull-up jumper, which he cannot block. Although Payton's three-point shooting percentage has never been high, he shot it very resolutely. He averaged 2.2 goals per game last season. Who knows which game he will have trouble?

Payton pushed Guo Xu twice with his back in front of the left three-point line but failed to squeeze away.

Guo Xu lowered his center of gravity, used boxing steps and concealed elbows, which made up for his lack of weight to a certain extent.

Simply looking at strength, Payton is not as good as Cliffs, he is not afraid.

Payton turned towards the middle, but Guo Xu pinned him with his leg and prevented him from starting up. He stumbled slightly and the referee's whistle sounded.

If a star point guard uses such small actions to defend, he will not be called for a foul. Stockton is best at doing this, but Guo Xu is not good at it. The referee is very strict with rookies, especially in away games. Most of the fouls he is called are small actions, no It’s not possible to be so defensive.

The SuperSonics sent an inbound ball, and Payton stopped looking down on Guo Xu. It was much easier for him to go on the court and beat Jason Williams. Guo Xu's defensive ability at position 1 is above the league average. Not only is he not overrated, he is also a bit underestimated because of his height.

Barry passed the ball to Mason, who forced a breakthrough and singled out George and missed the throw near the penalty area. George is physically strong and cannot be pushed away so easily, while Mason is a rough rookie with poor offensive options.

When the Lakers attacked, Guo Xu dribbled to the frontcourt to observe the positions of his teammates. He felt that there was no advantage in any position, and the pick-and-roll was broken just now. After thinking about it, he decided to single out Payton and waved his teammates away.

The Lakers have an infectious disease called superstar mentality. Kobe was infected by O'Neal and then infected Guo Xu. The symptom of this disease is to hold the ball and challenge the opponent's strong defensive point. If you think it is a one-on-one situation, it is definitely not as reliable to vote for your teammates as yourself, even if they face a weak one-on-one defense.

Before the game, Guo Xu said that avoiding the strong point of attack was based on the assumption that the OK team was on the field. The three of them played more and cooperated. Now that there are no big names on the field, he firmly believes that he should vote by himself.

Payton lowers his center of gravity and maintains one step more distance to prevent breakthroughs and interfere with shooting. He has read Guo Xu's information and some highlights of previous games, and knows that Guo Xu is best at cross-step changes and step-back jumpers.

Boy, I got tired of Tim Hardaway's stuff in the 1990s. Can you be better than he was at his peak?

How good is Payton at defending face-up penetration?

In the 1993 Western Conference Finals, the SuperSonics faced the Suns. Suns star point guard Kevin Johnson, who had been almost unstoppable in the previous two rounds, underperformed under Payton's strict surveillance. Payton's performance after the game was... Brother Green said excitedly, Kevin Johnson is like a baseball in the glove under your defense. Although the SuperSonics lost 3-4 in the end, the name Glove spread like wildfire and became a well-known name in the league. nickname.

Who is Kevin Johnson? He made Iverson cry in his rookie season, dunked against Big Dream Olajuwon, averaged 20+10 per game for three consecutive seasons, and ranked seventh in history in career assists per game of 9.1.

Guo Xu accurately calculated the distance, dribbled the ball from his crotch to his left hand, suddenly accelerated to the left, and used his speed to get half a distance from Payton to shoot a three-pointer. This was a move he had planned before the game, and it caught Payton by surprise. The latter moved half a beat later, but the pursuit defense failed to block it, and the ball went in.

33 to 40, Guo Xu scored his 10th point. When he returned to defense, he clenched his fist in his right hand to celebrate.

Commentator Charlie yelled: Jason Guo made a perfect shot against Payton's defense. It's so beautiful. He really dared to hit.

Joe smiled and said: Because of Jason, Jackson dared to let O'Neal and Kobe rest for a while in the second quarter, but the SuperSonics did not dare to let Payton rest. This is an advantage for the Lakers.

Guo Xu's first two moves were the starting moves of a killer crossover, and he deceived Payton with his sudden start. After all, Payton is a point guard with a height of 193cm. He cannot be as agile as Guo Xu, who is 180cm tall, and his lateral movement is slightly slower. This is Guo Xu's only advantage against him, so he takes advantage of it.

Now Payton feels that Guo Xu's greatest talent is not his technique or body, but his golf IQ. People who play with their brains are more difficult to deal with than those who play with their bodies.