basketball never sleeps

Chapter 272 Isn’t there still one section left?

With Washington State eliminated, the Sonics' attention in Seattle rose to another level.

A large number of fans who were unable to buy tickets found that the more than 18,000 seats in the KeyArena were indeed too tight, and more and more citizens wrote letters and called the city government to ask them to allocate funds to build a new arena.

The Mavericks players couldn't help smacking their lips as they looked at the scene in front of them. The densely packed stands made them feel as if they were in a different city. Their memory of Seattle still remained in last season - a sparsely populated arena and a bad team that played easily.

And everything changed just because of the arrival of that man.

In front of the camera, Mo Wen, with a smile like a presidential candidate, cordially signed the hat of a young fan on the sidelines.

His handsome appearance and not-so-obvious muscles make him look like a friendly and charming big brother next door.

"Little guy, what's your name?"

"Porter, Michael Porter Jr." The child's voice was very clear.

Mo Wen stopped signing and took another look at the boy. Are you the one who ruined James' 10 milestone by making 10 of 411 shots in the future?
Signed vigorously.

"Come on, little guy. You have a protagonist's last name and a protagonist's first name. Do you want to play in the NBA when you grow up? I'm very optimistic about you."

Mo Wen put the hat on little Potter's head, just like Shanks put the straw hat on King Luffy's head.

"Thank you, Mo. Can you please leave your contact information? I have two little sons. Our whole family likes you, including them. Can I treat you to a meal later?"

"Sorry, sir. The only things I can decide on are autographs and photos. Of course, if Mike Jr. can make it to the NBA someday, I don't mind attending his celebration party." After painting a pie in the sky for the father and son, Mo Wen waved his hand and went to the side to continue his image-building project.

In front of the camera, Mo Wen is quite lovable, but the Mavericks players cannot appreciate it. They have already put a filter on Mo Wen in their eyes - an invincible and well-known villain; a scoring machine who chooses who to prey on; a surgeon who ruthlessly dissects the defense and can accurately find the "lesion" of their formation.

Cuban was very confident in the Mavericks players, and the Mavericks players were also very confident at the beginning. But when they really stood opposite Mo Wen and thought that they were about to fight him again in real life, they couldn't help feeling nervous.

Josh Howard, who is regarded as the winner of today's game, with Devin George in his left hand and Sun Wukong in his right hand, looked at the elegant and easy-going gentleman on the other side of the court with a full sense of security.

"Brothers, kill him, and I'll treat you to roast chicken when we get back to Dallas!"

In the last game, although the Mavericks won, Mo Wen scored 36 points, and Josh Howard, who was the main defender of Mo Wen, was still questioned.

Facing Mo Wen's threat of 2 points in two games, Josh Howard had a headache for a long time at the beginning. He wanted to defend Mo Wen, but two hands were obviously not enough. But then he got inspiration from Shenggu's movie. Who said he could only use his own hands?

Devin George looked at him and held up two fingers.

Josh Howard agreed readily, "It's only two. No problem. I know a club that has great roast chicken. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"I mean, my contract is only 200 million." Devin George rolled his eyes at him.

And Sun Wukong also stretched out two fingers.

"I remember your contract is less than 200 million." Devin George asked from the side.

"I just think he's a little silly." Sun Dasheng scratched his head. He remembered that this was how Yao Ming taught him to joke last time.

……

As the game approached, the Mavericks players put away their playful smiles under the admonitions of the young general, while on the other hand, the Supersonics were relatively relaxed.

When the boss announced before the game that he wanted to explode, their task became much simpler. They just had to shoot the damn basketball and then shout 666.

Everyone wants to show off their style on the stage that is the center of attention, but they are not stupid. Every time Mo Wen gets a high score, they will find it much easier to play for a while afterwards.

After the All-Star Game, Mo Wen was lazy and only scored 1+ once, and they were still a little uncomfortable with it.

The familiar BGM sounded, and the Sonics fans stood up and cheered for their heroes.

Because Mo Wen only authorized the song "Right above it" to the Sonics' home court, and the Sonics have never lost a home game, it has become a victory song among fans.

Some time ago, Heuman was joking that if Mo Wen could really win all the home games this year, he would hype this song up and associate it with victory, and promote it to major competitions, and maybe even create a copyright cow.

The starting players of both sides came to their positions one after another.

The Supersonics still have their regular lineup: Mo Wen, Ray Allen, Gay, Milicic, Tyson;
The Mavericks also put out the starting lineup that beat the Supersonics last time: Devin Harris, Terry, Josh Howard, Nowitzki, and Dampier.

At the opening jump ball, Dampier lost to Tyson without any suspense.

Cuban closed his eyes in pain again. What hurt him the most was not the difference in jumping height between the two of them, but the tens of millions annual salary contract of the "second center in the Western Conference" that lasted until the summer of 10.

After getting the ball, Mo Wen's aura changed, and an air of indifference emanated from him, which immediately attracted the attention of the Mavericks' outside defense.

The discipline instilled in them by the young general prevented them from rushing into a double-team, and instead they hastened their retreat.

But Mo Wen did not give them the chance to establish defense. His teammates ran to their respective sweet spots. Mo Wen broke through to the mid-range, observed for a while, and without stopping, he dribbled around his back, brushed past Josh Howard, and rushed to the basket.

After his body moved up, Mo Wen's feints became simpler and simpler. This time, the breakthrough was just a slight shake of the body and a wiggle of the eyes.

Such "perfunctory" fake moves are certainly not as effective as the previous ones that relied on rhythm to daze people.

The benefits are also obvious. The one or half a second saved is enough for Mo Wen to tear apart the Mavericks' defensive formation that has not been established.

Mo Wen said he was ready to score 2 points in those two games. Although he said this to Cuban, he was actually provoking the Mavericks players.

Seeing that Dampier was about to lose his position while staggering, Nowitzki decisively came over.

Ray Allen fell to the bottom corner with the help of Milicic's pick-and-roll. As soon as he slowed down, the ball flew into his hands.

Swah——

The Supersonics scored first, 0:3.

This is a standard ball-holding core tactical assist.

Apart from being fast, accurate and handsome, there is no technical content.

Cuban breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Ray Allen who scored.

He has always been certain that the main reason why Mo Wen could not score 50 points was because the Supersonics' lineup was complete.

If Ray Allen hadn't been injured, Mo Wen would not have been able to score 88 points. From this perspective, no one can deny that Ray Allen is an excellent defender.

The Mavericks' counterattack failed. Terry shook twice and was blocked by Mo Wen when he broke through. Then he handed the ball to Devin Harris, who successfully broke through with a pick-and-roll with Nowitzki.

It's just that Harris hasn't mastered the three-point shot yet, and Ray Allen, who had anticipated this, did not defend his shot, but directly blocked him in the interior. Harris missed the shot, and the Mavericks went straight back to defend.

In order to prevent the Supersonics from turning into the Supersonics, the young general selectively gave up the fight for the frontcourt rebounds in the absence of Nowitzki in the pre-game arrangement.

Danpi's offensive rebounds are actually very good. In 36 minutes, his offensive rebounds are really at the level of the second-best center in the league. His refrigerator-level shoulders give him a great advantage in competing for offensive rebounds.

But Tyson in front of him is a strong contender for the league's rebounding title this season.

Once the Supersonics get the defensive rebound, the situation after the opening jump ball could easily happen again.

If you look at the data column, the Supersonics, who are ranked first in the record, did not occupy too many top positions. The Suns, who are only third in the league in the overall record, are still continuing their dominance over Excel.

But on the rebounds, the Supersonics dropped everyone's jaws.

First in rebounds per game, first in rebounding differential per game.

The reason why the Supersonics can occupy this position has nothing to do with discipline or tactics, it’s just their overwhelming talent.

Tyson can jump, Milicic is tall and flexible, and there is also a "rebounding master" like Mo Wen who is experienced and almost demonic. It is difficult for the Supersonics to not have suppressive power in the rebounding.

The Mavericks' defensive retreat was very effective, forcing the Sonics to slow down and fight the Mavericks. Forcing the Sonics to fight a positional battle?
Isn't that a stage for you to perform on?

The young general who had suffered a loss did not let Mo Wen play alone. While Josh Howard was the main defender, Harris and Terry were also very aggressive in their positioning, ready to double-team Mo Wen at any time when the offensive players were not paying attention.

After being double-teamed, Mo Wen quickly passed the ball to Gay who was in an open position, but the Mavericks players rotated quickly, and Gay was frightened by Dampier's diving momentum and missed the shot.

Unless you meet a team with a lot of stars, active rotation will solve most defensive problems.

For ordinary players, as long as you can stand in front of him when he raises his hand, you can effectively reduce his hit rate.

Most people can't be said to have a big heart. Apart from those who make fun of them, there are only a few Mambas out there.

Back on the offensive end, the Mavericks did not continue to press the pace.

Terry and Harris are both speed players, so if they are always playing in the positional field, one of them is enough.

However, the Sonics' defense was just as quick. After Mo Wen confirmed that he wanted to start the performance mode, the other Sonics players spared no effort on the defensive end.

In this round, Harris used his speed to attract the Sonics' defense, and Nowitzki found an opportunity and made a mid-range shot.

2: 3.

On the other hand, in the Supersonics' turn, Mo Wen adjusted his offensive strategy.

After pulling Milicic to the high post for a pick-and-roll, he passed the ball to Ray Allen in the crowd.

Ray Allen pulled Tyson into a pick-and-roll and once again seized the opportunity, hitting a three-pointer.

In the last game, the Mavericks' double-team strategy against Mo Wen was not as aggressive as today. Ray Allen, who has studied the Mavericks' game videos, feels that the Mavericks are not restricting Mo Wen's performance, but are clearly slapping him in the face!

2: 6.

The Mavericks' double-team strategy continued for another round. After Gay rushed into the inside and received an alley-oop from Mo Wen, the young general couldn't help but call a timeout.

He still underestimated the Sonics' offensive capabilities.

Although this can effectively limit Mo Wen's scoring, it is estimated that the game will be over in less than one quarter.

If this continues for the entire game, I don’t know how many points Mo Wen can score, but there is a high probability that he can get 50 assists.

After the timeout, Mo Wen found that the Mavericks' defense had returned to rationality. He turned around and turned into a little top, pushing Josh Howard into the inside, and with one pass, two elbows and three hooks, he easily got 2 points.

Chou Huo rubbed his chest and looked at his teammates for help, but no one responded to him.

He looked at the head coach, Young General, aggrievedly again.

You liar, didn’t you promise not to let me get hurt again?
The Mavericks didn't dare to double-team Mo Wen like they did when Ray Allen was not there, and he felt like he was back in last year's finals.

The entire stadium turned into his execution platform, and a group of cold-blooded animals watched him being eaten up by Mo Wen.

And you let me face Mo Wen, do you want to ruin Dallas basketball?

Fortunately, the young general had made enough preparations. After seeing that Chou Huo was unable to defend Mo Wen as expected, the Mavericks decisively switched to a compromise path.

Because Mo Wen had done a good job of building up hatred before the game, the Mavericks actually did a pretty good job of double-teaming to a limited extent.

After the first quarter, Mo Wen only scored 6 points.

However, this is not without any cost. Whenever there is a double-team, there will be opportunities, and they are right in front of Mo Wen.

Under Mo Wen's organization, the Supersonics took a 9-point lead in the first quarter. Because of several indirect passes from his teammates, Mo Wen's assists did not reach double digits, only 7.

Cuban and the young general looked at each other, both of them were a little confused.

Mo Wen was indeed restricted, but under his organization, the Supersonics' performance was much more stable than the Mavericks.

In their expectations, Terry and Harris can rely on their speed to explode with Mo Wen and Ray Allen. On the front line, Hulk and Nowitzki have obvious advantages, and Danpi and Tyson can also exchange points in the interior.

But in fact, the speed advantage of the double small guards is not that great, but without the double small guards, the Mavericks' firepower would be a bit behind.

Chouhuo was limited on the offensive end because he had to restrict Mo Wen on the defensive end, and Nowitzki did not absolutely suppress Milicic, who was modeled after him.

It would be fine if Stackhouse couldn't help the team on the offensive end, but it would be fine if he could replace Howard on the defensive end and free up Howard on the offensive end.

But because he was not much of a threat on the offensive end, the Sonics' defensive resources shifted to Hulkenberg. After going around in circles, Hulkenberg simply went from limiting himself to the Sonics limiting themselves.

After competing with the full lineup of the Supersonics, the Mavericks didn't seem to be that good?
No, no, then how did the Mavericks get all the way to second place in the Western Conference? Was it because the Supersonics were too good?
But this conclusion is even harder for Cuban to accept. The Mavericks have taken him seven or eight years to build, and the luxury tax alone has exceeded 100 million yuan. In the end, they are still not as good as the rebuilding SuperSonics?
In the second quarter, Devin George, who Josh Howard had high hopes for, finally came on the court.

As a 3D player without a "3", in theory, Devin George can play a role worse than Stackhouse. When he is on the court, there is really no other scorer except for cutting. But big data shows that when Devin George plays with Mo Wen, he can reduce Mo Wen's shooting percentage.

Sure enough, after replacing Devin George, the Mavericks began to catch up.

But this has nothing to do with Devin George. Just like when Devin George stood next to Kobe and watched Kobe defend Mo Wen, today Devin George stood next to Nowitzki and watched the German help him to get the highest plus-minus value in the team.

The young general keenly discovered this "Mr. Nan Guo" and decisively replaced him after he had been in the game for 5 minutes and allowed Mo Wen to score another 6 points.

凭借诺维斯基单节10中8的发挥，和盖伊5中1的助攻，小牛队在第二节结束前将分差追回到了3分。

What made the Mavericks even more excited was that Mo Wen only scored 16 points in the first half.

Cuban was already tempted to order some champagne takeout.

As we all know, except for the Chinese national football team which was able to persist in not shooting throughout the entire game, most athletes have to follow the setting of using less physical energy.

Mo Wen only scored 16 points when he was in good physical condition. Could he break 30 in the second half?
"Didn't you say you were going to score 50 points in today's game? Why are you playing like usual?" Payton asked Mo Wen puzzledly.

"Didn't I want to widen the score gap first and then win? Who would have thought that everyone was so bad today and we couldn't widen the gap with so many chances." Mo Wen rubbed his temple, feeling helpless.

The Mavericks are not a sieve team like the Nuggets. If he insists on taking the Mamba route when they are fully defending him, he will only have an ugly performance.

Kobe can still say that his teammates are unreliable, but he can't use this excuse.

"You should have said it earlier. Everyone is waiting to see your performance, and it seems like their attention is not as focused as before," said Ray Allen.

Guy, who made 9 of 3 shots, also nodded with a red face.

"It's my problem. In the second half, if they continue to double-team me, I will still pass the ball. Winning is far more important than my 50 points. Focus and don't let me down again!"

Mo Wen's voice became serious, and the Sonics players around him also put on serious expressions.

In the third quarter, the Supersonics continued to play rationally. After Hill made adjustments targeting Nowitzki, the scoring of both sides returned to the rhythm of the first quarter.

The Supersonics steadily widened the gap to double digits.

It’s just that the Sonics fans on the sidelines were a little anxious.

Mo Wen and Cuban's two 2-point games were not a private joke.

The third quarter was almost over and Mo Wen only scored 23 points. What the hell was going on?
"Are you planning to score 70 points in the next game? The fans are getting anxious." Old Hill asked Xiang Mo Wen with a smile.

Looking up and glancing at the timer, Mo Wen slowly adjusted his shoelaces.

“Isn’t there still one section left?”

(End of this chapter)