NBA: Crazy Little Giant

The timeout is over.

The game continues.

The Philadelphia 76ers replaced the starting center Joel Embiid and let him adjust his mentality. He was replaced by Jahlil Okafor.

This is the third pick of the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

He is 211cm tall, weighs 125kg, and has very solid footwork in the low post. Before the draft, he was considered by many fans to be the next 'Tim Duncan'.

Last season, Jahlil Okafor averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

But the basic data is deceptive. After all, the Philadelphia 76ers were still the bottom team in the league last season.

This is completely different from the Spurs who got Duncan.

Okafor's biggest problem is that his athletic ability is poor, his defensive sense, and his sense of spatial position are also a mess.

He is the kind of player who can kill 800 enemies and hurt himself 1,000.

After the return of the great Embiid, the team management will naturally not focus on training him........

At this time, Okafor, who came on as a substitute, was also holding his breath.

Although he knew that Embiid was more talented than him, he had a smooth last season. He once competed for the best rookie, but he ended up as a substitute.

Okafor wanted to prove himself.

The Philadelphia 76ers were attacking, and Okafor received the ball in the low post. After receiving the ball, he planned to attack.

Although Okafor, who weighs 125kg, is not very strong, his tonnage is there after all, and ordinary small-sized centers really can't withstand his strong attack.

But facing Chen Cheng, who weighs 134kg and is 226cm tall like an iron tower.

He didn't react at all.

Chen Cheng looked down at Okafor, who was still struggling in his arms, and chuckled,"It's almost 5 seconds to turn back."

Okafor was startled. He didn't get the upper hand in the confrontation, so he could only use his footwork.

Okafor's footwork was indeed very solid.

First, he bumped into Chen Cheng violently, and then, he turned half a turn, seemingly trying to turn over and hook, tricking Chen Cheng into jumping up. But in fact, Okafor was just bluffing, using the time difference to wait for Chen Cheng to drop....

He overlooked one point.

Chen Cheng is not a short inside player in the small ball era.

He is a center.

A center with a giant height.

Even if Chen Cheng landed, he would still be a high wall in front of him with his hands raised.

What's more, Chen Cheng couldn't jump high at all.

Okafor looked helpless and thought to himself:

"Fuck, why is he so tall?"

"asshole!".......

Okafor could only pass the ball or force a shot at this time.

However, his vision was not very good, and he did not find any teammates with good opportunities at this time, so he could only choose to force a shot.

This shot was not blocked by Chen Cheng.

But it was seriously interfered.

In the fight for the rebound,

Okafor's rebounding ability is very average. He is completely incomparable with Embiid.

Chen Cheng quickly grabbed the defensive rebound.

It was another long pass across half the court. It was passed directly to Westbrook in the fast break. After Westbrook received the ball, he did not attack the basket immediately, but made a very sexy crotch pass to Oladipo who followed up.

The latter dunked again.

Oladipo, who succeeded in two consecutive dunks, could not help but get excited........

On the sidelines, the Thunder teammates applauded their teammates on the court.

But at this time, the head coach"Donovan" frowned.

Their rookie little giant Chen Cheng still seemed too immature on the defensive end. If it weren't for Okafor's slow speed and lack of flexibility, this ball might have gone in.

In terms of low-post defense, the big man still needs to be further refined.

Donovan himself didn't know why, but his requirements for Chen Cheng were getting higher and higher.

This was completely different from the estimate before the draft.......

A few rounds later.

Philadelphia 76ers attack

"Ha ha"

"This ugly big guy made a mistake again"

"I really don't know why the media calls him 'Duncan II'’"

"Come on, Duncan is a hundred times better than him."

Charles Barkley couldn't help but mock Okafor who made a dribbling error under Chen Cheng's defense.

"Yeah, this Jaxil, I feel like he's even slower than Chen"

"You know, Chen is 15cm taller than him."

Smith, his partner beside him, couldn't help but sneer.

Although Okafor's footsteps are solid and he can fight well, he is really slow.

No wonder Barkley and Smith teased him. Even Chen Cheng thought he was faster than Okafor.

Facing Chen Cheng, who was more than half a head taller than him, Okafor's so-called low-post kaleidoscope attack was completely unsuccessful........

On the court.

With the little giant Chen Cheng sitting under the basket, rebounds are fully guaranteed.

Especially offensive rebounds.

Offensive rebounds are very devastating to opponents.

Every time his teammates missed a shot, Chen Cheng repeatedly appeared in the right position, grabbed the offensive rebounds, and then distributed them to his teammates.

In the positional battle, Chen Cheng's extremely solid pick-and-roll won a lot of space for Westbrook's breakthrough.

This season, Westbrook is difficult to pull down without fouling as long as he rushes up.

In the first half.

Chen Cheng played a total of 10 minutes.

But he got 13 rebounds, 9 of which were offensive rebounds.

The remaining 4 defensive rebounds.

It also caused a lot of headaches for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Not only did he effectively protect his own basket, but he also almost seized the first opportunity for offense and defense conversion.

4 defensive rebounds, 3 of which were completed fast breaks.

The remaining 1 time was destroyed by the opponent because of a wild pass.......

After the start of the second half, the situation was completely controlled by the Thunder.

The team led by 16 points with 76 vs 60.

Westbrook, who was in good form, made 9 of 21 shots and scored 20 points, plus 6 rebounds and 13 assists with 1 minute and 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

It is worth mentioning that when Westbrook and Chen Cheng were on the court together, they shot 7 of 10, which was very efficient.

Although the hit rate was not high, a lot of it was due to the mistakes made at the beginning of the game.

Fortunately, a lot of them were filled later.

As for Chen Cheng, he had already got 17 rebounds at this time and had 2 big shots from Westbrook.

Alternative data of 4 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.

It is worth mentioning that Chen Cheng had 1 more rebounds than Joel Embiid and Okafor combined.

"Big guy, go to the low post and make a shot."Westbrook said with a smile

""Okay." Chen Cheng naturally took the lead.

"Humph, Chen, don't even think about scoring in front of me." Joel Embiid, who was defending Chen Cheng, opened his arms and said in full readiness.