basketball never sleeps

Chapter 282 The Ascension of the Dragon in Lushan Mountain

It is not easy to deliberately provoke a star player to shoot on the court, especially for a point guard like Parker, who needs to stay awake at all times is a basic skill, not to mention that he has a bachelor's degree in psychology named Deng by his side.

However, the reason why old people are old people is that they can always grasp the key points of the problem.

Eva, who was about to marry Parker, was cheering him on from the sidelines.

Payton, who has a sense of shame, naturally would not use the same despicable methods as his old teammate Malone to influence Parker, so he chose another path.

The woman is currently committing a crime.

To put it bluntly, she used various small actions to constantly invade and attack Parker, and then put a regretful and shameless expression on Eva in front of Parker.

Is that all you have for your man?
Friends who often act like hooligans know that compared to committing a crime in front of their husband, showing one's incompetence in front of a woman will undoubtedly arouse a man's direct anger.

Not only because it involves self-esteem, but also because most people love themselves a little more.

Parker was unwilling to be a bottom, so he could only increase his efforts to confront Payton. However, vigorous interaction is easy to start and easy to get addicted to.

In terms of speed, the near-retirement Payton has a hard time keeping up with Parker, but if it comes to strength and armor, your uncle is still your uncle.

Relying on the young Parker who threw three punches in a short period of time, Payton did not suffer any loss. After withstanding Parker's mediocre skills, he swung his fist with his backhand and followed up with a top punch, replicating the previous interaction between Ray Allen and Bowen.

Stern, who was on the sidelines, felt like his head was about to ascend to heaven when he saw this scene.

The first and second halves, the boxing, the grappling, the cheering audience on the sidelines, what the hell is going on? Is this still an NBA game?

The referee in charge of today's match was also stunned when he saw this scene. It was only when the two people were entangled that he reacted and went over to pull them away with a constipated look on his face.

According to previous experience, usually after a conflict involving a player being sent off, players on both sides will calm down. What happened this time?
The first time is unfamiliar, the second time is familiar. With everyone's restraint, the conflict did not escalate.

Popovich had a dark face. He wanted to complain about something, but faced with this situation, he didn't know how to get angry or who to get angry at.

There was no point in going after Parker. Going after Payton, who was about to retire. Going after the replays above the referee, who had irrefutable evidence, and going after Mo Wen, that guy, who would most likely ignore him...

Earlier, he had imagined using the precedents of Anthony and Iverson's suspension to put pressure on Stern and have Ray Allen suspended for a longer period of time.

Now that Parker has done this, and he was the one who took the first action in the camera, what else can he do?
Judging from the regular season data, the Supersonics can still maintain a winning rate of nearly 70% without Ray Allen, but it is really hard to say about the Spurs without Parker.

The third quarter has proved that Ginobili cannot maintain his efficiency under Mo Wen's defense. If Parker is absent again, who will have the ball in the end?

Duncan on the sidelines also thought of this problem. He pursed his lips and looked at Popovich with helpless eyes, sighed, and lowered his head again.

In his heart, he also blamed Popovich for causing trouble and making things into such a chaotic situation, but he couldn't speak up because he knew that this was the old man's coaching style.

Is NBA just a cruel arena?
What would you do if you met someone more ruthless than you?
Old Hill clapped his hands with Payton who was leaving the court. He originally wanted to hug him, but considering the impact, he just pretended to do it.

At this moment, he really wanted the team to renew Payton's contract for another year. The Supersonics really needed such an experienced veteran!
When the game resumed, the Spurs tried to struggle, but the Cowboys' noose had already been around their necks, and struggling only made them more suffocated.

Duncan was unable to score efficiently in front of the defense formed by Tyson Chandler and Milicic, and his only hope of catching up was on three-pointers from two veterans, Robert Horry and Brent Barry.

But neither Mo Wen nor Old Hill would give them the opportunity to fire easily.

Mo Wen handed the ball to Earl Watson, who was in full energy as a substitute, and he took the lead in focusing on defense.

Inspired by Mo Wen, the other Supersonics players ignored the more than ten-point lead and continued to play steady defense.

Building tank in your favor and dealing damage against you is applicable in most competitive games.

Ginobili was still locked down by Mo Wen, and the Spurs' outside players could only pass the ball back and forth ineffectively if they didn't want to force a shot.

The big-hearted Horry burned his luck and made 4 of 2 three-pointers, but the others couldn't keep up the firepower.

Milicic, who had been a spectator twice, put down his knife after being comforted by Mo Wen and focused all his energy on Duncan.

Looking at the angry yellow-haired man, Duncan was reminded of the punch from Tainai two years ago. His performance became a little timid. He missed two of his three shots and one was blocked.

Finally, with four minutes left and the score difference at 18 points, Popovich reluctantly raised the white flag, replaced the main players, and gave up the game.

The game is over, but the media’s feast has just begun.

The two conflicts made today's game full of tension and drama.

Although everything was shown in front of the camera, everyone still wanted to see how many bowls of noodles were in Liuzi's stomach.

"I don't want to say much about the conflict between Tony and Gary, because this is the playoffs. When the friction is too intense, sparks will burst out. We are all players who play seriously, and this kind of situation is not surprising."

"But for what Bowen did, I can only say that he should thank Ray. If Ray hadn't taken action before me, he would not be seeing an orthopedic surgeon, but a neurosurgeon or... a priest."

"I have no intention of criticizing the referee. In fact, the referee today was very responsible, but even the most agile referee could not stop the confrontational actions that were not allowed by the rules in time. If the league can't do anything about it, then we can only protect ourselves in our own way."

"Many people may think that Ray's behavior this year was a bit impulsive. Haha, I don't know if you still remember how the Supersonics were eliminated by the Spurs in the playoffs two years ago? Who was injured and left the game? Why did Dak show his fist that year?"

As Mo Wen angrily scolded the Spurs, his face showed an expression of frustration and grief, as if his grievance was almost written on his face.

Reporters in Seattle felt the same way. After the Supersonics were eliminated two years ago, they cursed the Spurs for a whole month. These despicable Texans had no cowboy spirit at all. They wanted to repeat the same trick they played two years ago. It was so despicable!

On the other side, Popovich was also expressing his grievances. He said that everything was a conspiracy and deliberate revenge by the Supersonics and they must be severely punished!

That night, the NBA Seattle branch.

Stern was sitting in front of his computer holding a video conference with senior executives.

"I think we must take strong measures this time. The league can allow a certain degree of conflict and confrontation, but we cannot allow the next Heat and Knicks to appear. Times have changed. The traffic brought by violent conflicts cannot make up for the damage to the league's image." A senior executive said in a loud voice.

There has been no rebuttal yet, because everyone still remembers the battle between the Knicks and the Heat in the last century. Since the first violent conflict, the two teams have raised the temperature every year when they meet in the playoffs, and they will present several bloody and violent fights as promised.

The only reason the league was able to capture this traffic at the time was because Jordan was reaping the benefits, and the marketing of the God of Basketball could overwhelm most of the impact of violence in the league.

Things are different now. The Spurs are a championship team, and Mo Wen is likely to be crowned the best player in active service. No one can suppress the negative impact brought about by the two teams being involved in violent incidents.

But too heavy a penalty can also make the series boring.

Stern rejected the proposal for heavy penalties. After repeated discussions, he finally issued a two-game suspension for Ray Allen and Bowen, and a one-game suspension for Parker and Payton respectively.

Both sides were given fifty lashes each.

The Spurs were quite dissatisfied with the result. Bowen was beaten up pretty hard, so why should he receive the same punishment as the one who beat him up?

Popovich even publicly criticized the league for favoring fraud!

The league quickly gave a very official explanation for this - it takes two to tango, and at the same time issued a $25000 fine to Popovich for his rude remarks.

Stern has always been reasonable with these team managers, but this time he didn't want to talk too much.

Not to mention Mo Wen's current commercial value to the NBA, the sky-high contract signed between Mo Wen and Nike determines the importance of Mo Wen's health.

From the league's perspective, Bowen's actions are despicable but tolerable. The Spurs have achieved success in this way, which makes it convenient for the league to portray him as an evil villain for hype.

But the first prerequisite for being a villain is that you have to know who you can touch and who you can’t touch.

After hearing the penalty, Ray Allen breathed a sigh of relief, but he still felt a little depressed when he thought about missing three games.

"Sorry, I was too impulsive this time."

"What are you apologizing for? First, you didn't do anything wrong, and second, you didn't lose the game. Did you read the newspaper this morning? Carl praised you." Mo Wen smiled and handed the newspaper to Ray Allen.

The last time Milicic blocked the door and chased Bowen and beat up Popovich and Duncan, some people accused him of using excessive violence. This time, public opinion was almost one-sided in cheering for Ray Allen.

On one side is a notorious villain with numerous crimes, and on the other side is a good guy who explodes in silence. Anyone who is not a sociopath knows which side to stand on.

The Spurs' local "San Antonio Express" did not speak out for Bowen, but instead focused on the real man battle between Parker and Payton.

George Karl, who had previously looked down on Ray Allen, praised Ray Allen for growing into "a real man" in an interview before his resignation.

"Lei, you still don't understand Brother Mo. I reacted the moment you stopped me. If Brother Mo was really hurt, his first reaction should be to get up and beat up that bastard. You forgot that Brother Mo only looks painful when he's acting." Milicic also teased.

"Ah...oh, damn it, I know why I felt something was wrong at that time. Mo, you shouted too quietly when you fell to the ground!"

……

On May 5, the G11 of the series started again.

Old Hill followed Mo Wen's advice and made changes to the lineup, moving Gay to the starting No. 2 position and Damien to the small forward position.

Watson is more capable, but he is not very adaptable to the starting rhythm of the Supersonics, and he is not big enough to be regarded as a pure pitcher.

"Always make sure there are two people around TD, and the outside rotation speed keeps up. The three-pointer in the corner cannot be allowed, but some space can be given to them in other positions."

"Don't be too nervous. Without Parker, their threat to the inside has been much smaller. Guard your own area, listen to Mo's command, play steadily, and slowly drown them like we did in the fourth quarter of the last game." In the locker room, old Hill clapped his hands and emphasized.

In the visiting team's locker room, the atmosphere was a bit dull. Without Parker and Bowen, Popovich couldn't even put together a straight set. Parker's two substitutes - Jacqui Vaughn is a 31-year-old veteran with 3 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound in the regular season, and Beno Udrih is a left-handed white point guard who has no organization, no breakthrough, no defense, only mid-range shots and free throws, and is also blind at three-pointers.

Fortunately, Ginobili can control the ball, otherwise the Spurs might have to repeat the "death scene" in the 04 Western Conference Finals when Garnett was responsible for organizing the offense after Cassell was injured.

In order to strengthen the inside line, the Spurs have invested most of their draft picks in the past two years on inside players. Parker's attendance rate has been good, which made him not pay so much attention to the outside line. Now the time has come to realize how weak the Spurs' point guard reserves are.

What the Spurs are facing now is no longer a question of how to win, but a question of how to lose gracefully.

"Manu, we can only rely on you this time." Duncan stroked Eagle's hair, his voice a little heavy.

Ginobili rarely did not hide, but just sat quietly in his seat and adjusted his suppressed breathing.

When they met in the finals two years ago, he didn't feel how big the gap in talent was between him and Mo Wen. It was only after two years when the two met again in the playoffs that he realized how much Mo Wen had improved in the past two years.

That kind of power and stability in confrontation...it must be drug abuse!
If it weren't for his excellent balance, he would have fallen to the ground countless times in the last game.

A player who is MVP-level in terms of skills alone and has such a strong body... He can't even withstand the injection of wolfberry juice into his veins.

But there is no way, there are some ups and downs in life, just like statutory holidays, you have to go even if you don’t want to.

At the beginning of G2, the two teams were not able to adapt to the personnel changes in the first quarter and were a little anxious for half a quarter. As the Supersonics players gradually got into the rhythm, the Spurs' stretched defense began to collapse.

In order to help Ginobili save energy, even though Brent Barry has been proven to be unable to defend against Mo Wen, the Spurs can only use him to match up with Mo Wen. However, the white veteran's legs and feet can no longer keep up with Mo Wen's speed, so he can only keep Mo Wen at a distance.

After Mo Wen made consecutive three-pointers, Brent Barry was forced to move forward again. At this time, Mo Wen used his physical talents to make various breakthroughs.

Due to the lack of defensive support from his teammates, Brent Barry had to open up his distance again.

He is like a plank of wood with two holes in the deck and he can only choose one.

"Brent... is a real man!" After watching Brent Barry being knocked down by Mo Wen and then standing up again tenaciously and joining the attack without stopping, Barkley's mouth stopped teasing and showed a bit more respect.

"If the Spurs still want to win the championship, they must recruit reinforcements targeting Mo Wen, otherwise they will have to allow Brent Barry's tragedy to repeat itself. The veteran's technical experience and willpower cannot help them limit Mo Wen. Only sufficient talent can bring pressure to Mo Wen."

Popovich on the sidelines also looked unhappy. He knew the problem, but talent is never cheap.

Because talent is so intuitive, even basketball game players can understand physical test reports. A small team like the Spurs has no advantage at all if there is multiple bidding parties.

Duncan was chosen through all-in, while Parker and Ginobili were recruited from overseas in the early years when there was a lack of information. In order to increase the popularity of the Orlando training camp, the league officials also banned private tryouts before the official training camp...

Poverty is a terminal illness.

So what's wrong with him doing all kinds of bad things by any means necessary?

After the first quarter, Mo Wen, who was in hot form, scored 17 points and led the Supersonics to a 36:19 lead, a full point ahead of himself.

With a large lead, Mo Wen played for another half quarter without rest, widening the gap to 20 points, and only left the court after almost sending the game into garbage time.

Old Hill did not give face to his former club and directly replaced four players with substitutes to start training.

Atkins, Watson, Gay, Millsap, Francisco.

What was even more humiliating to Popovich than the Sonics' substitutions was that the Spurs didn't get any advantage from facing such substitutes.

As substitutes, they each have their own shortcomings, in terms of size, defense, shooting, and experience, but they all have one common advantage, which is speed.

Led by the two combo guards, five players were fully engaged in both offense and defense, which put tremendous pressure on the Spurs starters who had not had much rest.

At the end of the first half, the difference between the two teams had reached 24 points. The only consolation for Spurs fans was that the Spurs had already scored 39 points, basically missing the record for the lowest score in the playoffs.

Parker, who was watching the game in the hotel (suspended from entering the stadium), had a very strange expression on his face. He was depressed about the team's current predicament, but also happy about his own importance.

That old guy Buford (Spurs manager) was very stingy when he renewed his contract last time. I will definitely make fun of him when I see him again.

Before Parker could think about it, the unusual movement in his abdomen drew his attention back.

"Honey, didn't you say you would help me abstain from sex during the playoffs?" Looking at Eva's little hand, Parker did not stop her.

"That's normal, but now, you need to vent, don't you?" Eva raised her eyebrows, looked at Mo Wen who disappeared from the camera, and reluctantly withdrew her gaze.

"I think... yes." Parker tilted his head back, choosing to respect the woman's will.

For some reason, his mind went to Barry's plump, fair wife whom he had met at a teammate party before...

After returning to the second half, I don’t know what drastic measures Popovich took, but the Spurs regained their vitality.

Duncan scored consecutively with his back to the basket, Ginobili's three-pointer also regained some of his accuracy, and even Magloire, who had previously had little presence, completed consecutive dunks.

To be honest, Mo Wen was quite grateful to them. If the Spurs had just played it directly, it would have been really difficult for him.

The average ticket price for the Sonics playoffs is as high as $300. If Ray Allen can't play, he would just score points and then leave the court, which would be a shame to the fans. If he stays on the court with a big lead, he will definitely be outscored.

Ginobili, who had regained some confidence, took the initiative to defend Mo Wen who had just returned.

Mo Wen ignored Ginobili and waved to Milicic to pull out. After Damien and Gay were in position in the bottom corners on both sides, he suddenly started the shot.

Milicic's screen was solid, so Duncan had to move sideways with his arms outstretched to delay him, while Milicic took advantage of the situation and ran directly to the other side outside the three-point line.

Given that Milicic had made a three-pointer, Ginobili had to stop and was forced to switch defense.

Duncan's ability to defend smaller players is not as good as that of talented players like Garnett and Kenyon Martin, but his terrifying 2-meter wingspan is not for show.

Mo Wen didn't think of playing tricks in front of the Stone Buddha. He bent his knees and changed direction, then pushed the ball in and out. In a moment, Duncan's step back and turn failed to keep up, so Mo Wen went around from the side.

Duncan knew that Mo Wen was not the kind of reckless man who would attack the basket as soon as he got his head down, so he did not retreat directly, but turned around and followed him.

But this time, Mo Wen did not intend to stop. He stepped two steps into the free throw line. Seeing Magloire leaving Tyson behind and returning to the basket, Mo Wen grabbed the ball with one hand, went behind his back and made a back pass that both Duncan and Magloire could see.

The two Spurs inside players subconsciously looked at Tyson along the ball's path, but Tyson's action was not to catch the ball but to... raise his hands to celebrate?
By the time Magloire came to his senses, Mo Wen had already stepped into the basket with strange steps, blocking with one hand and holding the ball with the other, and he took off by spinning like a dragon master at Mount Lushan.

Magloire wanted to move forward to block the shot, but was bounced away by the huge kinetic energy.

boom! ! !
Immediately afterwards, the referee blew the whistle.

"Win! This is More Win!!!"

The commentator on the sidelines couldn't help but yell.

The Sonics fans, who were a little nervous just now, were overwhelmed by dopamine again.

"Come on, guys, the game isn't over yet."

Mo Wen's words seemed to be a reminder to his Supersonics teammates, but his eyes and mouth were directed in the direction of Duncan when he spoke.

"This is the first time I've heard such civilized trash talk...his curse was really ugly." Duncan frowned and pulled up Magloire who had fallen to the ground.

"Shit, that's not even a s--t. I'll be defending him next round and you'll be in the paint. I can listen to this kind of trash talk the whole game!" Magloire curled his lips.

When Mo Wen came back from free throws, the Spurs, who had just started to gain momentum, returned to normal again.

The Spurs have many old players on the court, who are experienced and have a good control over the rhythm of the game, but the low level of hormones also makes them lack vitality and passion. Just like Magloire who was dunked by Mo Wen, he is a person who made enough money two years ago and wanted to return to his family but was persuaded to stay...

Popovich was helpless as he watched Mo Wen lead the Supersonics to widen the score again.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, Popovich directly replaced Duncan and Ginobili, becoming the earliest team to prepare for G3 of the second round.

Mo Wen wanted to make a big deal and put the Spurs on the "honor roll" of the playoffs, but given Popovich's overly clean morals, he ultimately did not interfere with Hill's substitution.

85:112
The Supersonics only won by 27 points.

"Mo was definitely lazy during the regular season. I think the league should seriously consider the selection of the best defensive lineup and stop pampering this kid. The Argentine only scored 17 points in 15 shots tonight, including 6 free throws. If he had taken this attitude in the regular season, I can't imagine what the Sonics could have achieved."

Holding the statistics sheet after the game, Barkley shouted with some regret.

"That's about it Charles, Mo has done well enough now, don't forget he's only in the fourth grade."

Kenny Smith didn't quite understand his partner's reaction. Mo Wen's performance so far has already reached a peak that most players would never reach in their lifetime, so why is he still not satisfied?

Barkley shook his head and looked up, as if recalling the past.

"From the perspective of an ordinary player or star, he did a good job, but don't forget that Michael Dunk won both MVP and DPOY in his fourth year. I used to think that Michael Dunk hadn't reached that level yet, but now it seems that he is just being lazy!"

It should be said that although Barkley was blaming Mo Wen at this time, Mo fans in front of the screen felt that the fat man was right.

Our Mo Wen should follow Danzi's example in all aspects!

(End of this chapter)