When pride still matters

Chapter 490 The Dragon King returns, everyone gets out of the way
In last year's Christmas Day game, the Sonics lacked Bosh, and in the second game after that, Roy was injured. Now, Roy is still lying peacefully on the injured list.

Jeff Van Gundy said: "Dynasty Syndrome is affecting the Sonics and I doubt they will be able to keep their roster intact this season."

"Even so, they still rank second in the league." Mark Jackson said, "It is not easy for the Lakers to win."

As soon as tonight started, the SuperSonics lineup looked very strong.

DeAndre Jordan started in place of Kwame Brown, partnering with Bosh at the fourth position, plus Yu Fei, Moreau and Durant on the outside.

The shortest member of the SuperSonics' starting lineup is Moreau at 198 centimeters, followed by Yu Fei at 206 centimeters, followed by Durant at 208 centimeters, followed by the double-height inside man who is over 210 centimeters tall.

Such an average height does not appear bulky. Everyone in this lineup has excellent physical fitness and mobility, and can switch defenses extremely quickly.

The Lakers on the opposite side also have a staggering average height.

After the ten people on the field faced each other, an anxious game began.

The referee tossed the ball and the Sonics won the ball.

On the first goal, Yu Fei passed the ball into the basket.

That's the only area where Jordan is an offensive threat.

Xiaojia underestimated Jordan's instant explosive power, was violently faced by the opponent, and dunked over his head.

ESPN's Mike Breen said jokingly: "The first point tonight came from the connection between Frye and Jordan!"

Frye’s connection with Jordan?

Is this some demonic whisper?

"Good pass, Da Fei!"

Jordan gave Yu Fei enough emotional value.

Ever since Yu Fei learned how to feed Kwame Brown cakes, there was no insider in the world that he couldn't feed enough.

A rough guy like Jordan, who has a simple mind and well-developed limbs and can only do one thing on the court, shouldn't be given too complicated work. No matter how simple it is, what he can solve with his talent will never be solved with his mind. If he encounters something that even his talent cannot solve, then killing his competitive spirit and challenging the limits is not what a primitive person like him who only has athletic instinct should do.

The Sonics' task for DeAndre Jordan is simple.

The defensive end is to protect the basket, help defend, block positions and protect rebounds. Preventing the pick-and-roll is a bit complicated for him. Therefore, if the Lakers call it a 1-4 pick-and-roll or a 1-5 pick-and-roll, the SuperSonics are all about letting go. Bosh went out to defend.

Then, Xiaojia came up with a three-pointer tonight.

This strengthened the Sonics' determination to keep DeAndre Jordan in the paint.

The consequence of Xiaojia's three-pointer was that Yu Fei jumped to grab the defensive rebound and immediately led the third-line defensive counterattack.

James returned to defense quickly, and Kobe was also fast enough.

Not to mention, when these two men defended with all their strength, they really looked like Jordan and Pippen back then.

Because they are currently the players with the strongest defensive abilities at the second and third positions respectively.

You mean Yu Fei? His position is difficult to define. Although he has played the third position for a long time, due to his height, he doesn't have much to do against those fast runners. He mainly relies on his golf businessman to lay traps and add a little anticipation. The main reason why he can continuously enter the defensive formation is that his assist defense and supplementary defense are top-notch.

For single defense, it would be difficult for him to deal with running men and talented men whose first step is as fast as a mad dog in the era when hands are prohibited. This is a disadvantage caused by his height and cannot be improved.

But the overall defensive value is enough to send him into the defense.

Now, facing the frontcourt defense built by No. 23 and No. 24, Yu Fei chose to speed up the breakthrough.

This forced James to confront him, and Durant was released.

Yu Fei passed the ball.

Durant hit a three-pointer.

"It's useless, but it's hard work."

Yu Fei said mockingly.

James had been humiliated by Yu Fei for many years, and he had already developed a face of steel, and now he was unbeatable.

Kobe, on the other hand, was a little unhappy.

After that, it was Kobe who worked alone on the outside and scored the Lakers' first goal of the night.

Subsequently, the Lakers made a classic change of formation and defense.

James went to guard Bosh, Artest guarded Durant, Kobe Bryant guarded Yu Fei, and Hamilton chased Moreau.

Yu Fei called for a 1-5 pick-and-roll, and Jordan came to his comfort zone. Yu Fei did not need him to run complicated tactics, he only needed to get to the high post and then rush to the basket as if he was rushing to reincarnate.

Xiaojia knew that Jordan had no shooting range, so he did not follow him out. He just came to the paint area to prevent Yu Fei from advancing. But after Yu Fei really approached the paint area, he had to go over to help defend, so Jordan was left open again.

This is the simplest offense. Yu Fei only needs to throw the ball into the air, and the rest is the performance moment.

What Jordan showed was the physical fitness of the top pick in the draft. He was extremely stretched and extremely powerful. Every dunk was as rough as if he was preparing to take off the rim.

There is a kind of technical discrimination against Jordan within the SuperSonics. They believe that he is extremely talented but does not have the corresponding skills to match, and he is destined not to become a great player.

But as soon as he came to the court, when Jordan used his talent to do the center's duties of eating cakes, defending, and rebounding, the seal that was firmly engraved on everyone's minds was loosened.

If Jordan is better than Kwame Brown on these basics, what advantage does Brown have as a starter?
Xiao Ou looked at the excitement and noticed that Brown had a serious expression, so he asked: "Will the number one insider in history be pushed to the bench by a second-year kid?"

"Fart!" Brown only has a hard mouth. "He just learned a little bit!"

James hit the ground to blast the ball, jumped into the basket one after another, and scored 2+1 on Jordan.

Jordan looked helpless. He wanted to walk, but he found that the NBA's rules on walking were too complicated and he couldn't understand them.

Yu Fei then responded and called a pick-and-roll again, this time a 1-4 pick-and-roll linked to Bosh.

James decided to "believe" in García and let Bosh follow him casually. It would be no problem for García to defend one against the other. He thought optimistically and teamed up with Kobe to double-team Yu Fei.

This is the most oppressive defense any basketball player can face right now.

Yu Fei's ball was like a butterfly flying among the flowers, shuttled back and forth from his crotch, and with the last big step-back jumper, he shook off the double-team and shot from a relatively safe position.

James' well-developed motor nerves allowed him to react quickly, but he couldn't catch up.

Yu Fei's ball flew over James' five-finger mountain and fell lightly into the basket.

That was a three-pointer.

"Kobe, how does it feel to play with a burden on your back?" Yu Fei took a scornful attitude toward James and went straight to Kobe's mentality.

Kobe responded: "Didn't you lose enough in the last game?"

"I scored 64 points, and you actually think I lost?" Yu Fei said with a smile, "This may be because of the burden around you. When did you say you scored 64 points against the Lakers?"

They did not continue to fight. If they continued, Yu Fei would look back at the game in which he scored 71 points on James.

Yu Fei's goal shocked the two giants of the Lakers.

James believed that Yu Fei should not be given a chance to score easily.

If he insists on playing, let him play. Last time he scored 64 points but he didn't win. So what if he scored 74 points tonight?

This decision became a foreshadowing of the trend of the game.

The Lakers' mismatched defense on the court is, on the surface, a strategy to match the right people with the right opponents, but in fact it does not realistically place everyone in the right position.

Artest is right to guard Durant, and his defensive style just restrains the current Durant.

But James is not ready to switch to the fourth position at any time.

He also doesn't know what the correct defensive method is for the fourth position.

He still handled Yu Fei's pick-and-roll offense according to his original defensive understanding.

Lock Yufei, release Bosh, and leave secondary issues to teammates.

The Lakers maintained strong firepower on the outside, and Richard Hamilton caught the ball and hit a three-pointer.

Then, Yu Fei once again came up with Bosh's idea.

The foreshadowing of the previous round will be recycled in this round.

James pressed forward more aggressively, unwilling to give Yu Fei any space to handle the ball.

Yu Fei stops the ball. Although it is difficult to attack, it is not difficult to pass the ball to Bosh.

Bosh caught the ball and was in an open position. He didn't understand why the Lakers disrespected him so much.
Judging from his resume, is he someone who can be let go at will?
Bosh hit a jumper.

"Come on!!!" Bosh roared, spittle flying everywhere.

Yu Fei believes that if he wants to impersonate Kevin Garnett, he still needs to beat his chest with iron blood.

James dribbled the ball hard, but was affected by Jordan's protection of the basket and was unable to take action and passed the ball outward.

Hamilton was cornered by Moreau and had to barely throw the ball toward Kobe.

This pass was not good because Kobe was unable to catch the ball.

Hamilton's passing path is covered by Durant's long arms.

Steal the ball, counterattack.

After being disgusted by Artest for a long time, Durant struggled to get a chance to hit the basket and took the lead, gliding and dunking as if he was flying.

The Lakers became anxious.

When James is guarded by Yu Fei alone, his shooting will be interfered with. Although he can break through, the SuperSonics' inside line with two tall men will not give him the opportunity to attack the basket at will.

The King suddenly felt like he was playing for the Cavaliers.

The Zen master asked him to play the triangle offense on the sidelines, but his attitude was "I think we can still observe the situation."

Observing the last five seconds, James suddenly realized, oh, if he comes to the Lakers, wouldn't he be able to handle bomb balls for Kobe? Apparently there is only one person on the Lakers team who is passionate about defusing bombs.

Kobe did his part, but with only five seconds, he was forced to choose a sudden stop inside the three-point line and drift to the left for a fadeaway jumper.

"Bang!" Missed
This is normal.

This shot falls into the category of "is there any fucking reason if I hit it?"

Although Kobe is probably the best player in history at shooting this kind of ball, if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. If you like to shoot this kind of ball, you will have to get low efficiency, and will be ranked by most of the high-efficiency data. It doesn't matter if he is removed from the list. Although he will get the question "Why can't you see him everywhere in high-level statistics because Kobe is so good?", Kobe can become the GOAT in NBA highlights.

The size is a GOAT and worth it.

Interestingly, when the backboard fell, both Yu Fei and Bosh stood at the landing point.

According to the rules of the SuperSonics in the past, it is most basic to give rebounds to Yu Fei.

But this time, Yu Fei walked away and gave the rebound to Bosh.

Anyone can take this rebound, because the Lakers retreated quickly and had no chance of defensive counterattack.

On the other hand, Yu Fei doesn't want Bosh's mentality to be too dogmatic.

He is indeed here to hug his thighs, and it is appropriate to make corresponding sacrifices for this, but if the concept of sacrifice is deepened into all aspects of the game, then Toronto's Dragon King will die beside him and be replaced by the pseudo-giants from the Heat's Big Three period. Wave a board.

The great Japanese slutty male entertainer Taku Yoshimura once said: "I am the kind of man who will degrade if he doesn't use it."

In fact, this is the truth in the competitive world.

If a person is used to being a gangster and does not have a protagonist mentality, over time, he will only live like a gangster, because no matter how much he does or how little he does, life will be like that.

Bosh's regression to Bo Yibo in the Heat was a subjective choice. In order to win, he was willing to become a bastard. Bosh had this trend with the Sonics before Roy was injured.

Once Roy was injured, the SuperSonics' ball rights were redistributed, and their failure in the second game against the Lakers made Yu Fei realize that Bosh's performance at this point would become the key.

Therefore, Bosh not only cannot be a gangster, but also has to be the winner of the game.

This change started from the first quarter tonight.

The Lakers' fourth position is the weakest position, so let Bosh go back to the Raptors period and beat the Lakers' fourth position.

Yu Fei played a 1-4 pick-and-roll for five consecutive rounds.

Except for the first time when he chose to use his personal ability to break the game, the remaining four times all passed the ball to Bosh.

The first time Bosh scored with a shot; the second time he gained confidence and started dribbling to attack the basket; the third time, Kevin felt he could no longer indulge Bosh, so he risked letting go of Jordan and took the initiative to confront him. As a result, because he did not completely let go of DeAndre Jordan and kept a certain distance from Bosh, he was shot by Yanye. For the fourth time, the Spaniard decided not to treat DeAndre Jordan as a human being and took the initiative to leave the basket.

As a result, Bosh passed in and Jordan dunked.

"Come on!!!" Bosh roared excitedly after Jordan successfully dunked, "Come on!!!"

That's like saying: Try ignoring me again!
Taking advantage of the inside advantage, the SuperSonics took a 9-point lead in one breath and even took the Lakers' timeout.

Bosh high-fived Yu Fei vigorously.

After half a year in Seattle, this is the first time he feels like this is his team, and the first time he feels like he is performing like a star.

It feels great.

If given the choice, who wouldn't want to be a star?
"I guess they will put Ron Artest back at the four position." Lue guided the analysis, "and let LeBron deal with KD."

Durant defeated James' defense in the Christmas game, so he confidently said: "I will not lose to him."

"LeBron will not treat you like a child this time." Coach Lu reminded.

Karl believes that no matter who the Lakers place at the fourth position, Bosh's advantage is huge.

"Chris, if you have the advantage, fight to the end!" Carl suddenly became possessed by Rivers, "All of us have your backing!"

Bosh nodded heavily, it felt good to be trusted.

Yu Fei said to Durant before playing: "You are not LeBron's opponent yet, but you have your advantages."

Durant nodded: "I won't confront him head-on."

After the timeout, the Lakers changed their lineup. Jackson replaced Artest and replaced Luke Walton.

James no longer preferred to use the stars' personal abilities as he did before, and began to play the triangle offense in a rigorous manner.

Xiaojia's role in the low position gradually emerged.

Once he falls into a traditional inside fight, Jordan's advantage in front of Xiaojia is limited. ,

His talent is suppressed by Xiaojia's strength and it is difficult to use it.

The Sonics had a clear attitude towards Kawhi's low-post play and would not double-team him to the death.

Therefore, Xiaojia must fight to the end.

The first ball came up, and Xiaojia hit the back and scored with a hook.

Returning to the Sonics' positional battle, Bosh's advantage over Walton is too great.

Basically no help is needed, Bosh can easily eat alone.

Both sides suddenly entered a traditional offensive rhythm.

All attacks are launched from the inside.

Kawhi beats DeAndre Jordan, Bosh beats Walton.

The difficulty of these two singles is not of the same magnitude.

No matter how great Jordan's strength disadvantage is, he is always an inside man with sufficient height and wingspan, but Walton can hardly be called a standard NBA fourth position.

Bosh basically crushed him when he hit him.

Seeing that the Sonics were indifferent to Garrett's singles, the Lakers moved people up, hoping to take advantage of Walton's outside shooting advantage to force Bosh away from the basket.

But the change was once again ahead of the plan. Walton was beaten completely by Bosh. Even if he had a chance from the outside, he couldn't make a shot.

Yu Fei got the rebound and launched a defensive counterattack. The Lakers were a little slower and lost 2 points.

The intensity is high and the pace is fast.

Yu Fei jogged to the backcourt.

It wasn't until he was at the front that the relevant personnel of the Lakers discovered that the Sonics' most dangerous player had not yet performed much.

He had some highlights, but so far tonight, the Sonics' big man has been the star.

Bosh's influence alone is too great.

It may be because the Lakers' fourth position is too weak. Bosh's strength is no longer a common advantageous matchup, but gives people a terrifying feeling like a dimensionality reduction attack.

Moreover, he spits and yells every time he does something on the court, and his emotions can be contagious to his teammates.

After the first quarter, the Sonics went smoothly, scoring 34 points in a single quarter while the Lakers only scored 23 points.

George Karl said to the assistant coaches: "If one day, I suddenly go crazy and want Chris to play the fifth position to increase flexibility and space, you must knock me out!"

Yu Fei walked off the field to rest without any pressure.

He played the entire first quarter, but his presence was not strong. Judging from the data, he seemed to be everywhere.

7 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, these are just the statistics of one game.

Bosh went berserk, scoring 15 points and 4 rebounds in a single quarter, using a dominance that suffocated the Lakers and made their coaching staff think deeply about their fourth position.

"CB (Bosh's abbreviation), you have this ability, why didn't you show it more before?"

Brown asked.

Bosh was like an energy kid on the court. When he came off the court, he regained his composure: "If they let Luke Walton play the five position, you can do it too."

"That makes sense!" Brown nodded.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Lakers asked James to lead the second team, and the SuperSonics asked Durant to lead the second team. Nike's two most powerful rising stars led the team to compete. The characteristics of the two were also shown in these few minutes.

Durant is good at offense and likes to attack. When Yu Fei is not on the court, he can get complete freedom. Because he focuses on personal offense, he can often maintain the lower limit when leading the second team, but there is no upper limit.

James also likes to lead the second team. In order to let him lead the second team, the Lakers will let him off the court in the last three or four minutes of the first quarter.

With James' strength, the deterrent effect on his opponents when he appears in the transitional period is amazing.

This kind of staggered rotation deliberately made by the coaching staff just takes advantage of James's high ceiling as a core leader in ordinary lineups.

However, the Sonics' second team is not weak, so the Lakers' off-peak tactics are ineffective.

James is extremely wary of Durant. The two are in a competitive relationship within Nike. If they are beaten by each other several times like the Christmas war, Nike may make a wrong assessment internally.

Therefore, Durant ushered in an all-out effort to attack and defend.

In the first three minutes of the second quarter, Durant made 5 of 2 shots, and James on the other side made 3 of 3 shots, all of which were breakthroughs.

Fortunately, SuperSonics fire captain Shaun Livingston stabilized the situation with a beautiful low-post turnaround jumper when Durant was beaten.

Later, veterans such as Michael Finley made their mark.

James failed to tie the point difference in one breath.

It was not until the fifth minute of the second quarter that both sides replaced their main players.

The question of Chris Bosh has once again been thrown to the Lakers.

The Lakers' coaching staff believed that this problem could not be solved with the current lineup, so they did not solve it.

Artest continues to be used at the fourth position. Although he is not an inside man, his confrontation is not inferior to Bosh, and he can barely compete.

The rest depends on Cojan's performance.

I believe that the star's turn will come sooner than both parties expect. The Lakers have Cojan, and the SuperSonics have Yu Fei who is ready to go and the super god Bosh.

The biggest variable was Kevin Durant, who had a bad start to the second quarter.

He told himself that he couldn't let it go.

(End of this chapter)