Chapter 226 The Defense of Mr. Wooden Bucket

   At eight o'clock, the two sides announced the starting list.

  Nuggets: Mutombo, Lafonso Ellis, Reggie Williams, Bryant Stitch, Mahan Modlauf

  Suns: Wang Tiejun, AC Green, Horry, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

ESPN live broadcast, Winston Rollins said: "The Nuggets have a strong interior defense, Mutombo burst into a stronger defensive ability in the playoffs, and I even think he will explode in the next round. Better rim protection. Although the Suns are very strong, the Nuggets are not without the opportunity to continue to create miracles.”

   Carter Oldman nodded and said: "Kevin Johnson has made a lot of breakthroughs, and Old K is also all low-post offense, and Mutombo has a lot of opportunities to send big shots.

In the last two games of the first round, Mutombo gave 8 big caps each. The Supersonics didn’t dare to go in, and even the Rain Man Kemp didn’t dare to rush in for a dunk. It can be said that the Nuggets can complete it. Black Seven, he takes the lead. "

   In the CCTV live broadcast, Zhang Reasonably analyzed: "You must pay attention to the Nuggets Iron Army, Mutombo's ability to block shots under the basket is too strong."

  Suqun asked, "Guide Zhang, what do you think the Suns have of winning this second-round series?"

Zhang Lili said: "The opportunity is still very large. The Suns are not the Supersonics. The Supersonics are playing too evenly. There is no superstar attacking point. Tombo gave 23 big caps.

  The Suns have the Iron Army as a strong offensive point. Even if Mutombo's defense is strong, he can't completely prevent the Iron Army.

   As long as the Iron Army is here to contain Mutombo, there is also a chance to break in and fight from the outside. "

Su Qun smiled and said: "Old K has averaged 28 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 0.9 steals, 3.1 blocks, 1.5 turnovers and 3.5 fouls in 35 minutes per game in the three first-round series. He is stronger in the playoffs. I believe this second round will be better. better."

   Zhang Lili said with a smile: "His playing time has been under control. From the regular season to the first round of the playoffs, I believe that the physical problems that occurred last season will not be a problem limiting his performance in the next series."

   The two of them were talking, and they started the game.

  The home team came on the field, and there was a tsunami of shouts.

   At this time, the domestic capital, Fengshen Street, has become a large construction site.

  Eight months later, half of the buildings facing the street have been built, they are all five floors, they are being renovated, and the vacant area has been leveled.

  Iron Army Training Center, many people arrived here early in the morning. This has been the case since the start of the NBA playoffs a week ago.

  Wang Tiejun's parents were also taken over by Da Ya, and by the way, the big TV at home was also moved and installed in the basketball hall.

  The national men's and women's basketball team first came here for a while, but after Wang Tiejun returned to the United States, they didn't come much. To play the World Championships this year, the training task is heavy, the time is tight, and there is no time.

   It was mainly a group of people from Nortel. After the first round, Yu Feihong took a large group of people from Beiying to run here every day. The TV here is big, and watching the game is more enjoyable.

  Under the influence of her and Huang Sanshi, more and more Nortel likes basketball. It seems that a trend has formed in the school. If you don’t talk about NBA in your spare time, you can’t keep up with the fashion.

   A lot of students from her own class came, and a lot of students from other classes came too.

  Guang was a class 94 student, Jin Qiao, Chen Yihan, Jiang Qinqin, Fu Dalong, etc., all ran over.

  Added up, there were hundreds of people, big and small, and a basketball court was crowded.

   There are a lot of people, and Liu Damei and Wang Aiguo also like it. One is because it was brought by Yu Feihong, and the other is because they are used to it in the countryside. Everyone gets together and is lively.

   "Brother Fei, won't he rebuild the old K training hall?" Huang Sanshi asked before the game started.

   "Let's build it, but it shouldn't be in the plan this year. He will have to train here when he comes back." Yu Feihong said.

  Huang Sanshi paused for a while and couldn't help but ask, "Are you talking to him?"

Yu Feihong's psychological quality is extremely strong, Feng Danyun gave Xiao Huang a light glance, and said, "What is the gossip, have I inquired about you and your female student? I'm friends with him, so that's it. ,Good."

  "..." Little yellow is dumb.

   At half past eight, the game officially started.

   "Victory!"

Before    went on the court, all the Suns players gathered around and shouted slogans.

   "Victory! Victory..."

   All the home fans shouted, and the momentum of the home court began to rise.

   In the jump ball segment, Pharaoh took the lead to remove the ball and the Sun attacked.

   "I always feel that Old K is jumping a little faster than before, but it's not obvious." Su Qun laughed.

Zhang Lili recalled the recent situation and said: "It is possible that after more than a year of the most professional training, his physical potential has been tapped, and it is entirely possible and normal for him to improve his athletic quality. After all, he is only 21 years old. It's not too late, it's the last age group for strength training, it's not too late."

   At this time, Wang Tiejun came to the low post and squeezed directly to the basket.

   Mutombo's tonnage is 118 kg, 8 kg lighter than him, and his absolute strength is smaller than him, so he did not perform a hard top, but moved forward to defend, just not giving him the opportunity to easily catch the ball under the basket.

   Mutombo is also very confident that even if Old K receives the ball at the basket, with his ability to protect the basket under the basket, he can still make Old K suffer a lot. In the regular season of these two seasons, he also blocked the old K several times.

  He and the Nuggets' coaching staff have studied the old K's style of play, especially the eccentric power-based technique.

  Actually, it's not just him, which team and insider players in the league haven't studied?

   The result of their research is that you can't defend against the old K, or even close to defend, you need to leave a certain space to avoid being knocked away by the old K, or even knocked over.

   This kind of relaxed defense can't completely prevent the old K, and the old K's hooks and throws are very fast.

   But old K is not the kind of person with very strong offensive ability who can completely prevent death. Through such defense, as long as it can reduce his offensive efficiency.

Where    is now, although Mutombo is around, it doesn't wrap around Pharaoh's body, leaving a certain space for him.

  Kevin Johnson saw that Pharaoh had reached the basket and immediately hoisted the ball into it.

Needless to say, his passing skills are at the top of the league. This lob, after reaching the peak, seems to have lost momentum immediately, and immediately fell down. The landing point is near the basket. It is very difficult to steal the ball.

  Because the defender has left a certain space, Lao Wang can't use Tieshan to play, that is to say, before he catches the ball, he can't sweep the defense force under the basket.

   He jumped up and caught the falling ball with both hands.

   Almost at the same time, Mutombo also jumped up, in order to prevent old K from dunking and playing an alley on his head.

"Snapped!"

  Pharaoh grabbed the ball with both hands. At this time, he saw that the defender's big hand was sealed in front of the ball. If he chose to take advantage of the situation, he would just be blocked.

   The next moment, he fell to the ground and stepped down, and Tieshan broke out instantly.

"not good!"

   Mutombo's landing time was a little slower, but this little time made it too late for him to move.

   "Boom!"

   Juli got on his upper body, his feet just touched the ground, he was knocked a step away, and when he tried to step forward, his opponent had already jumped up.

  Pharaoh's iron mountain is not very powerful, because it doesn't need to be very big, just knock the opponent away.

   As his playing experience becomes more and more rich, he is now more and more in place in the use and control of his strength, and the number of all-out blows that waste his energy is getting less and less.

"yeah!"

   At this moment, even if Wang Tiejun hadn't finished the end, the scene had already burst into great cheers, and countless arms were swaying.

"boom!"

   smashed the basket with one hand, and he responded to the cheers from the home fans with a clean one-handed dunk.

   The Nuggets coach is Dan Issel, who, like Westphal, is a second-year head coach.

In the past, he was also an NBA player from a power forward, and his player qualifications are also good. He won the championship, won the All-Star AMVP, won the scoring championship once, was selected to the best first team once, and was selected for the best second team four times. This hard honor is more than three times. The big super center is still tough, at least not bad.

He believed very much in Mutombo's defensive ability. Although he was beaten once this time, he didn't say anything. He was very calm. He had just completed the Black Seven, and he had the confidence to complete it again. The Suns are not invincible, as long as the defense Live in old K, and other people are nothing to worry about.

   Nuggets offense.

   Right wing, point guard Rauf made a breakthrough and made a pull-up jumper.

   Under the basket, Mutombo judged that the ball was a little short and would bounce back, and he hurriedly moved to the landing spot.

   "Why is he so fast?"

   But at this moment, a person moved first, and he was stuck behind.

"Snapped!"

  Pharaoh moved from the basket to the front right side of the basket, protecting the rebound

   At this time, Lightning Kevin Johnson was going down quickly, and he threw it quickly. The former caught the ball and went down quickly, but the Nuggets couldn't catch up and successfully completed the layup.

  0:4, the Nuggets attacked.

   On the right wing, shooting guard Stitch attacked with the ball, smashed Dan Marley, made a mid-range jumper from outside the paint area, and was almost blocked by AC Green in the low position. He adjusted his shot height in the air and the ball flew to the basket.

   This time, Pharaoh did not give Mutombo a chance to enter the basket. Last time, he was careless, and this time he directly stuck his opponent behind him.

"boom!"

   At this time, the basketball smashed into the basket and rebounded. Although Mutombo was stuck outside, Nuggets power forward Ellis rushed in to grab the offensive rebound, but he was not high enough and was caught by Pharaoh.

   "The Nuggets are still very active in their offensive rebounds." Rollin said on the ESPN commentary booth.

Oldman nodded and said: "Lafonso Ellis and K are rookies of the year, the fifth pick in the first round, the pick is very high, the third and fourth positions can be played, and the Nuggets have high expectations for him. Gao started 82 games in his rookie season and averaged 33.5 minutes per game.

   His offense is good, he can pull off, 43% of his offense is in the paint and the rest is outside. His rebounding is also good, averaging 9.1 per game in his rookie season, 8.6 this season, and offensive rebounds accounted for 32%, compared to 36% last season, both slightly down. "

  Sun attack.

  Kevin Johnson made a breakthrough, hit the basket and made a throw, but got a sap and was capped by a slap from Mutombo.

   Luckily, the ball fell to the right wing AC Green and was snatched by him.

  Green forced a nearly two-point shot over Lafonso Ellis' head, but missed, and Mutombo grabbed the backcourt rebound.

   "These two times are unreasonable strong fights, and there is already a vacancy in the Iron Army just now." Zhang Lili said a little unhappily.

   "That's right, it's unreasonable, we should call Old K, he's already completely empty." Su Qun nodded quickly.

   In the live broadcast group of CCTV, Lao Zhang is a guest employee and is paid, but he is not organized in CCTV, but he is completely professional in basketball and is familiar with the NBA, so this group is completely centered on him, and he is in charge.

   And he is too familiar with Pharaoh. Now the group's expenses in the United States are all US dollars exchanged by him to find Pharaoh. It is said that CCTV has prepared to give him a formal establishment.

  The Nuggets attacked. Small forward Reggie Williams singled Horry. He was the fourth pick in the first round in 1987. He was a swingman at the front and back. He was 201 cm and weighed less than 90 kg. He was fast and explosive.

  Robert Horry is 206 cm and 100 kg. Although he has a height advantage, his agility and speed are a bit worse. At this point, Reggie Williams has the dislocation advantage of playing big.

   On the left-wing three-point line, with a tentative step, Williams smashed Horry with one step, shot the ball into the flank, and went straight to the paint area.

  Wang Tiejun moved to the left waist of the paint area, and as Williams approached, he immediately retreated to defend.

   He had to retreat, because Mutombo had taken the opportunity to move to the basket. If he stayed at the waist to intercept Williams, the opponent only needed a pass to penetrate his defense.

   At this time, Williams made a pull-up jumper at the waist, and the ball flew to the basket.

   "Hoo!"

   Pharaoh, who had just retreated to the basket, took a step forward, but he almost got caught in the air.

   But Williams was taken aback, it was really only a little bit, just one or two centimeters. His shot speed was a little slower, and the ball might be caught directly. It seems that the next time it will not be so deep.

"brush!"

  The water splashed and two points hit.

   "What a pity!" Su Qun sighed.

   "Unfortunately, it is impossible to defend such a ball as soon as it is defended, but through this defense, the opponent will not dare to jump so deep next time.

   "The speed of Old K's save just now is indeed much faster than before." Su Qun laughed.

   "In the past, if he was in the basket, he would not make it up." Zhang Lili laughed.

  2:4, the sun attacked.

   The left wing is low, Pharaoh wants the ball, and Mutombo still goes around.

"ball!"

   He pressed his left elbow against his opponent, raised his right hand high, and signaled to hang his back hand from the top of the arc.

  The top of the arc, Kevin John's sharp eyes, noticed a tactical gesture of Pharaoh's right hand, and immediately understood it.

   At this time, he suddenly had a bad luck and pulled to the left wing.

   At this time, Wang Tiejun, who was in the low position, suddenly turned around and cut into the paint area one step along the bottom line.

   The next moment, he pushed in with one hand, and Kevin Johnson's ball came in.

"Snapped!"

  Pharaoh stepped into the paint area, just caught the ball, and then took advantage of the situation.

"boom!"

   Opened his hand to build a bow, and under the one-handed dunk, the audience burst into cheers.

"yeah!"

   A live commentator roared excitedly and roared excitedly: "Very beautiful inside and outside line coordination, lightning is still strong, and old K's cut is extremely fast.

   At the same time, his dunks are also very explosive, not at all like the explosive power of a power heavy center. He has changed too much. "

   "Yes, old K has become faster, his cutting speed has not made Mutombo react at all, and he is also more explosive." Another commentator was also excited.

   Mutombo was amazed in his heart, Old K's cutting action just now completely exceeded his understanding of Old K, which caught him by surprise.

   "Laomu, you don't seem to be able to guard against me." Lao Wang spat out trash talk and gave his opponent a short name by the way.

   "Old wood?"

   Mutombo muttered in his mouth, but he did not object.

  His name is dozens of characters long, and the surnames of his ancestors are all in his name. There are people who call him this and that, which is not bad for Lao K.

   But he said that he couldn't defend himself, but he didn't accept it. Although there was no expression on his face, he was still honest and honest, but he decided in his heart to give old K a good look, and hating him with blood on his face was the best answer.

   However, he miscalculated. In the next game, Pharaoh rarely went directly to the basket. In most cases, he was in the low post and on the flanks, and then dropped him to cut inside.

   His movement speed is not enough, obviously he can't keep up with Pharaoh. After being beaten twice by Pharaoh, he can only change his ways. Instead of going around the front, he will change to top defense, preventing breakthroughs but not throwing.

  His top defense is similar to that of the front, and he also leaves a certain space, so that Pharaoh does not have the opportunity to rely on him.

However, Pharaoh does not only have the ability to attack the basket. He has hooks and throws near the basket. When he let go of a certain space, it was almost an open position. He was hit three times in a row and hit two. .

   He wants to block Pharaoh, but his movement speed is not enough. His blocking area is more at the basket, and his ability to block shots in this close-range area is obviously not enough.

Now Pharaoh's bullet speed has also increased, and he can jump faster than Mutombo. When the opponent puts him in a certain space, he wants to block him. With his shot height and shot speed, even if he is the block king, It's also very difficult.

   In the 10th minute of the first quarter, Wang Tiejun made 6 of 8 shots, 2 of 3 free throws, and scored 14 points and 4 rebounds. His offensive efficiency was very high and he was replaced.

   With this efficiency, it can be assumed that he has already blown up Mutombo, and Mutombo only gave Kevin Johnson a big cap in the first quarter, and did not cap him.

   At this time, at 18:25, the Suns led by 7 points at home.

   A few minutes later, after the first quarter, at 23:29, the Suns led by 6 points.

"If you can't guard against Old K, the chances of the Nuggets winning this series are very small. Then I judge that the Nuggets will double-team Old K next, fighting for Old K's ball-pointing ability and the Suns' perimeter accuracy. That's it." On the ESPN commentary, Rollin analyzed.

   "Old K averaged 4.7 assists per game in the regular season and 4.2 assists per game in the first round. The Nuggets can only bet on the Suns' touch failure on the outside." Oldman laughed.

   At this time, Rollin laughed: "By the way, man, old K has always been dissatisfied with our guesses on the probability of winning the championship, so do you think the Suns have a chance to reach the finals?"

"Um…"

Oldman hesitated for a moment and said: "Actually, I have been thinking about this issue, but I have the same opinion to disappoint Old K. It is very difficult for the Suns to win against Mosaic. In four regular seasons, the Suns only won one. , that's enough to explain the problem."

   Luo Lin suddenly said solemnly: "But the first verse just told me that things might not be so easy."

   "What do you mean?" Oldman asked immediately.

  Rollin said: "Did you not notice that in the first round, Old K's performance was not obvious, but in the first quarter just now, Old K showed a faster movement speed."

   Oldman nodded and said, "Yes, I noticed it too, he's getting faster. But that's normal, he's young, not old guys."

  Rollin said: "This kind of progress certainly didn't happen in a day or two, and it didn't show up in the past. This shows that old K has been playing, why?"

   "For the playoffs?" Oldman said.

Nodding, Rollin said: "To be precise, it's for Team Mosaic. He now needs to prepare for the second-round series, improve his state, and make the final run-in with his teammates by the way, and then fight against Team Mosaic in the Western Finals. Bundle."

"This should be."

  Oldman nodded, but added: "But even if he is faster, I'm afraid it won't change anything. There is a gap in overall strength."

   Luo Lin nodded and said: "There is always progress, at least his help defense speed will be faster, isn't he lacking help defense?"

   (end of this chapter)