The Fifth Point Guard

Like Shen Tong and Jefferson's tacit boxing before going on the field, Karl Malone and John Stockton on the opposite side also hugged and greeted each other before going on the field.

According to the official media, Malone and Stockton did not discuss with the Utah Jazz about renewing their contract during the offseason. Some media broke the news that this season will be the last season of the two veterans in Utah.

Lian Po is old, can he still eat?

With the passage of time, the growth of age, and the decline of competitive status, even if they were once the league's leading violent power forward and passer, this evergreen combination has to face the situation of withdrawing from the stage of history.

Judging from the four games on the first day of the regular season, the Nets' game looks the easiest.

In this game, there are no surprises in the Nets' starting lineup.

The center is Dikembe Mutombo who just joined. After joining the New Jersey Nets, Uncle Mu quickly integrated into the team and was appointed by Scott as one of the captains of the team.

In the locker room and on the training ground, Mutombo's hoarse voice is often heard.

Jefferson once told Shentong that he doubted Mutombo's age was more than 36 years old.

Shen Tong answered him, perhaps Mutombo himself did not know his real age.

After all the trees in his backyard were cut down in 2001

Although Uncle Mu is old, he is not too slow to move, and he is tall and has long arms. Compared with Mark Rocky, he does have the ability to guard one side alone.

In the new season, the fans of the Continental Arena can't wait to see Uncle Mu's stunt - Kato's finger!

The other four positions are unchanged from last season.

Kenyon Martin was at power forward, Richard Jefferson was at small forward, and the two guards were Shen Tong and Jason Kidd.

On the other hand, although the two elders in Utah are old, their level is still there.

Even in the face of retirement, the two elders are still unshakable starters.

Karl Malone and John Stockton are still the team's starting power forward and point guard, respectively.

The center player is Greg Ostertag, who is 2.18 meters tall. This player has been playing here since he was selected by the Jazz with the 28th overall pick in the first round of 1995.

But it is a pity that his performance is definitely a blue-collar among blue-collars. The best season of his career is only 7.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.

However, his partner is Karl Malone, so he only needs to do his part, which is enough for the Jazz.

In terms of small forwards, the Jazz ushered in a newcomer, Matt Harprin, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

With Keith Van Horn, Harprin, who has the same position and function, has no room for personal development, so he left the declining Philadelphia and came to Utah, which was in a state of disuse.

Although the team is facing reconstruction, reconstruction also means opportunities. Halprin expects that he can play his own sky here.

As for the shooting guard, Calporte Chaney, who came from the Denver Nuggets with a gun, became the team's starting candidate.

This veteran has also played in the NBA for nearly 10 years. He has a long-range shot and basically does not occupy the ball. It is a good match for Stockton.

In addition, there is also a man called the successor by the Utah media on the Jazz's bench.

Almighty forward Andrei Kirilenko, the Russian-born player was a rookie in the same class as Shentong last season. He averaged 10.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocks last season. Performance, selected to the first team of the All-Rookie Team, and these data were only completed in 26 minutes.

In short, judging from the current situation of the Jazz, it may be difficult for them to make it to the playoffs, but the classic pick-and-roll cooperation of the two veterans in Utah is still one of the highlights of people watching the Jazz game.

Before the game, Byron Scott also specifically told the players to study and observe the pick-and-roll cooperation between Malone and Stockton. After all, this season will be the swan song of their tacit cooperation.

Mutombo and Ostertag stand on the center line.

With the whistle of the referee, the ball was thrown high into the air.

Uncle Mu hugged his withered long arms, and the ball was thrown into Kidd's hands with contempt.

The atmosphere in the Continental Arena is extremely hot. Ever since the Nets lost their momentum last season, made it to the finals and lost six games against the prosperous Lakers, the ball market here has completely exploded.

The tightness of the tickets is even more exaggerated than last season. Even the relative tickets guaranteed by the players themselves, if there are spare ones, are requested to contribute to meet the needs of more fans.

However, the fact is that the relative tickets of the players are not enough for themselves.

Shentong is also facing this problem. Because of the old Shen’s business, in New Jersey, where the Chinese gather, friends often ask Shentong for game tickets, so Shentong himself is too busy to take care of himself.

The basketball market atmosphere of the Nets can be seen from this!

The first offense is the most familiar taste.

Kidd dribbled the ball outside, Martin mentioned the high position, and the Chicken Ding combination took the lead in attacking.

Malone came out of defense, Stockton was blocked by Martin, Kidd rushed to the penalty area, and Martin immediately followed. This kind of tacit pick-and-roll double lob cooperation has been played countless times in the Nets!

Although Malone tried his best to turn around and return to defense, it was obvious that the old Malone was no longer a high-spirited cowboy. He could only watch Martin take off in front of him, and then press Kidd's pass into the basket!

Martin scored the first goal of the season for the New Jersey Nets!

An alley-oop dunk.

The moment Martin scored a goal, it was as if the loudest sound bomber was turned on in the home court of the Nets, it was so noisy!

Even when Shen Tong yelled two idiots beside Jefferson, Jefferson just responded with a smirk, and stretched out his hand to give Shen Tong a high-five.

In the fanatical defensive cheers of the Nets fans, the two old Utahs who don't eat cakes and porridge are not ambiguous at all.

Stockton dribbled under Kidd's defense, and he didn't even need to say hello, Malone came over.

Stockton deftly used Malone's pick-and-roll to get rid of Kidd and walked in against Martin's defense.

Different from the double-down empty catch of the Chicken Ding combination, the cooperation between the two elders in Utah has pick-and-roll.

While Martin defended and Kidd returned to the defense, Stockton hit the ground with a left hand and passed it to Malone standing near the penalty area.

The iconic mid-range shot, hit it steadily!

In the 18 seasons of his career so far, Malone's two-point shooting percentage is 51.6%, which is comparable to many center players who can only dunk.

Inside players with strength and baskets are quite rare.

However, just after Malone and Stockton performed a standard pick-and-roll cooperation, the two back waves also became angry.

Shentong received the pass from the outside line, and it took only one step to pass Cheney who was on the opposite position, causing Harprin and Malone to immediately step forward to defend.

After tearing apart the Jazz's defense, Shen Tong hit the pass and passed the ball from between the two to Jefferson who slipped in from the baseline.

After getting the ball, Jefferson faced the Jazz center Ostertag, and directly came to a head-on two-handed dunk, full of momentum!

After the goal, Jefferson had a passionate chest bump with Shen Tong who ran over!

The two veterans of Utah are ready to call their curtains down, but the stage for these new stars has just risen.

Assistant coach Brett said to Scott in a noisy environment: These guys seem to have improved a lot compared to last year!

Scott nodded and looked at the two championship banners hanging in the arena.

That was the era when Julius Erving played for the Nets. The team won the championship banner in the ABA League in the 1973-74 season and the 1975-76 season.

After joining the NBA in 1976, the New Jersey Nets have never won a championship.

It has been 27 years so far.

Scott looked away and looked back at the court.

This year, there may be hope.