Chapter 227 Crazy Sweeping

   At this time, in the headquarters of the Houston Mosaic team, in a large conference room, all the Mosaic team players and coaching staff were there, and they were organized to watch the game.

"what do y'all think?"

   Head coach Tomjanovich heard this and turned around and asked the others.

   "Old K is very cunning, I think it is possible. He does seem to be a little faster. But he is still slower than me." Da Meng said.

  Others also joined in, but Barkley did not speak.

   "Charles, you are most familiar with old K. What do you think?" Tomjanovich asked.

Barkley said solemnly: "Compared with last season, his athletic quality has improved significantly. He can jump higher and faster, run faster, and his body flexibility is also better. The most incredible. The thing is, it's done while he's gaining weight, do you think it's amazing?"

  Dameng frowned and said: "This should be his own potential. I heard that he didn't get the most professional strength training before, and now he should be able to achieve this effect by adding this link.

   But no matter how much potential he has, with continued weight gain, these athletic qualities should be reaching their limits. "

Barkley nodded and said: "I think so too. But I'm not very familiar with the current old K. In the four regular season games this season, he has not shown such athletic qualities, nor has he shown a stronger help defense than last season. Ability, we will face a stronger old K in the Western Conference finals."

There was a ruthless look in Da Meng's eyes, and he said firmly: "No matter how much progress he has made, at most his help defense will be at the next level, but that level of help defense is not enough to resist me and your low-post attack. We must win, we must win.”

  Barkley also nodded. For the Western Conference finals, he is confident to beat the Suns. Even if the old K has some progress and some difficulties, the final winner will still be them.

   But no one ever thought that the Suns could not beat the Nuggets, even ESPN, which did not like the Suns, was the same.

   In fact, the current media basically has two teams scheduled for the Western Conference Finals, that is, the Suns and the Mosaic.

  Mexican Arena, the game continues.

   In the 4th minute of the second quarter, at 30:33, the Nuggets pulled back 3 points and were still 3 points behind. Wang Tiejun played again.

  Sun attack.

   He wanted the ball in the low post on the left wing. Mutombo did not dare to go around the front. He still defended and gave him a little space, but the space was not as big as in the first quarter.

   At the same time, the Nuggets' defense immediately began to shrink a little to the paint area. There is no doubt that Mutombo can't defend him alone. This is a posture to double-team the basket.

  The ball passed, and when it flew in the air, the Nuggets' defense instantly shrank faster.

   On the left wing, small forward Reggie Williams turned around and took a step. As soon as his arm was stretched, his hand almost touched Wang Tiejun.

"Snapped!"

   grabbed the right hand, the moment the ball was in his hand, he threw it outward, and the ball flew straight to Robert Horry on the three-point line.

   "Point the ball, so fast!"

   In the ESPN live broadcast booth, Luo Lin shouted.

  Horry caught the ball, and there was no defender within three steps. He dribbled the ball in, jumped up, and shot two points away.

"brush!"

  The water splashed and two points hit.

   "Hoo!"

   In the cheers of the fans, Horry breathed a sigh of relief.

There is a lot of pressure. He feels more pressure in the Suns than in the Mosaic. Da Meng sometimes scolds him, but Lao K will not scold him, but after Da Meng scolds him, he will pass the ball to him, but Old K won't, just ignore him.

   If it wasn't for his shooting better than Ceballos, this main position wouldn't be for him.

   This season, he has practiced shooting, but what makes him cry is that not only has the shooting percentage not improved, it has also dropped by two percentage points compared to last season's 47.4%. Does he belong to the peak of his debut?

   The three-point shooting rate has improved a lot, but it is only 33%, which does not meet the team's requirements, which makes him a little frustrated.

   Fortunately, his mental quality is good, he hit this ball, I hope old K will give him the ball tonight.

   In the next time, Wang Tiejun assumed the responsibility of the low post. The ball was given to him first, and he attracted double-teams, and then distributed it to the teammates who were vacant.

   "With 9 points and 3 assists in a single quarter, the Nuggets' low-post double-teaming tactics failed." Zhang Lili said excitedly.

   "The Suns led by 11 points at halftime, so this should be no problem." Su Qun laughed.

   At this time, the capital, the men's basketball training base, is organizing to watch this game.

   Liu Yumin, director of the basketball department, is also here. She is a senior and is very familiar with the members of the national team. She has a high prestige in the national team and is very capable.

  For example, Hu Weidong and Liu Yudong were brought into the national team by her last year. Many young members, including Hu Weidong, called her Mama Liu.

   She also had a headache for Wang Tiejun's question.

   It's not because he doesn't want to call Wang Tiejun in, but from the football club to the local sports bureau, the constraints are too great.

The Capital Sports Bureau alone clearly opposes it. The obvious reason is to oppose calling a person who has been in prison, but the real reason is very simple. Wang Tiejun came in, and the main position of Shan Tao will definitely be gone. This involves interests of local sports bureaus.

   There are many other reasons. For example, the strength of the men's basketball team is very strong now. It can be described as a golden generation. There are no opponents in Asia. Many people think that there is no need to recruit people with problems like Wang Tiejun.

   Even the He B Sports Bureau, for some reason, did not support her idea.

   So during this period of time, she tried to solve the problem of Wang Tiejun's case through the upper management, but was dragged down indefinitely.

   One thing has been confirmed, Wang Tiejun will definitely have no chance in this year's World Championships.

She also learned about Wang Tiejun's current attitude towards joining the national team through Zhang Heli. He will not join the national team until the case is overturned. Moreover, Wang Tiejun has never contacted her actively, nor has Zhang Heli contacted her, which is enough to explain problem.

   Now it is not a question of whether the national team wants others, but that they are not willing at all.

The last time Zheng Haixia wanted to go to the United States for surgery, she reported it, but the Secretary did not approve it. The dollar allocated by the Secretary from the Sports Commission was not enough. She only approved the operation in China. Originally, she wanted to ask Zhang to be reasonable. Exchange a little US dollar from Wang Tiejun to help Zheng Haixia go to the United States for surgery, but now she is not working well with this attitude.

  Because Wang Tiejun has been unable to join the national team for a long time, now the men and women basketball players are embarrassed to go to other people's training halls.

   Originally, she had an idea to find a way to ask for a sum of money from above, and then ask Wang Tiejun to exchange some dollars, and also put together a set of those training equipment he used, but unfortunately this idea also came to an end.

  Mexican Arena, the final, 96:108, the Suns won 12 points at home and won the G1 game.

   The Nuggets of Black Seven were behind the whole game, and they never took the lead.

   The key point, Wang Tiejun, cannot be prevented.

   Mutombo's one-on-one defense can't prevent his offense.

   double-teamed and couldn't prevent his scoring.

   In addition, the Suns felt good on the outside tonight. Horry made 2 of 4 three-pointers, and played at a super level. Wang Tiejun sent out 9 assists.

   In 40 minutes, he made 8 of 13 shots, 61.5% from the field, and 5 of 9 free throws. He scored 21 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls. He recorded a quasi-triple-double.

  The Suns team had six players in double figures, and Kevin Johnson scored 18 points, 11 assists, 3 steals, and performed equally well.

   Mutombo’s defense was really strong. He sent 4 big caps in the whole game, and he finally capped Wang Tiejun once, but he was capped twice by Pharaoh. His shot was too slow, and his weakness on the offensive end was undoubtedly exposed.

   After the game, Wang Tiejun was interviewed by ESPN reporters on the sidelines.

   "Old K, the Bulls just finished the game and beat the Pacers by 27 points, Jordan scored 33 points, what do you think about this?" the reporter asked.

   "I'm very surprised, why are you asking me this question? This is not the Bulls' press conference, nor the finals." Pharaoh asked suspiciously.

  The reporter smiled awkwardly and asked again, "So how many games do you aim to play for the Suns' second-round series?"

  Pharaoh replied: "Seven sets and four best, I think at least four games will be played."

   "Puff!"

   Some people watching the lively next to me laughed and squirted.

The ESPN reporter who was interviewed by    rolled his eyes and secretly said, "Old K, can't you be bigger?"

   "Old K, congratulations on winning the G1 battle." He said with a smile on his face.

   "Thank you. Goodbye." Old Wang smiled.

   After asking the three questions and the interview was over, he didn't like ESPN, the TV station that licked Jordan so much, he turned around and left.

   Seeing the back of Pharaoh leaving without hesitation, the reporter could not wait to smash the wheat in his hand, and he was also scolded in his heart. Am I interviewing a lonely person?

   Back in the locker room, the atmosphere was good, he chatted with his teammates for a while, and then soaked in the medicine bucket. When he came out of the bucket, it was almost time for the post-match press conference.

"Old K, from the regular season to the first and second rounds this season, you have a big change from last season, that is, you spend a lot of time responding to the ball and the number of assists has increased significantly. Does this mean that you are moving towards the all-rounder? direction?" a reporter asked at the press conference.

He didn't think too much, and immediately said: "Compared with last season, my first change is my tactical position. More often, the ball will come to me first, so when someone double-teams me, it is very easy to score the ball. A natural change is also a necessary choice, after all, it is impossible for me to force a shot every time I am in a double team, that is the most stupid way."

   "Old K, how confident are you of entering the Western Conference Finals?" the next reporter asked.

   "Thanks to the SuperSonics, they picked us a good opponent. We are not the SuperSonics, and the Nuggets have no way to hack us." He said with a smile.

"Ha ha…"

   There was a lot of knowing laughter at the scene.

   "Old K, do you think the most likely opponent in the Western Conference is Team Mosaic?" the next reporter asked.

   "Except for them, of course, I don't think the Spurs can beat them," he said.

   "Then if you and the Mosaic team meet in the Western Conference Finals, what do you think are the chances of reaching the finals?" the reporter asked.

   He said without hesitation: "We were one to three behind in the regular season, but in the playoffs, I think it's a 50% chance."

   "50%?" There was a chatter at the scene, and it seemed that most of the reporters did not agree with his probability prediction.

   "Do you really think there is a 50% chance of defeating the Mosaic team?" The reporter asked again.

   "Of course," he said.

"Is there any reason to support your result? Everyone knows that in the playoffs, you pay more attention to defense, and your defense is exactly your weakness. I think in the Western Finals, the Suns will be even more disadvantaged." The reporter asked again. road.

   "More disadvantaged? One to three in the regular season, do you think Mosaic has the strength to swept us in the Western Conference Finals? This is unbelievable, I think, you are crazy!" Pharaoh said in a mocking tone.

  The reporter quickly explained: "I'm not talking about sweeping, but saying that the Mosaic team will have a bigger advantage than the regular season."

   "The mouth is just boasting, let's let the facts speak." Pharaoh ended the question.

   No. 9, no competition.

In the morning, Mutombo accepted an interview with reporters and expressed his anger: "Everyone thinks we are eliminated, you are even discussing the Western Conference finals between the Suns and the Mosaics, but we don't think that is the case. result…"

   It’s just his words that didn’t spark any public opinion. There are not many media who think that the Nuggets will continue the Black Seven, and the Suns are indeed not the Supersonics. Wang Tiejun’s low-post attack is an ability that the Supersonics don’t have, and it’s not so black.

  The second round of the Suns' G2 match was on May 11th. The schedule was not as intensive as last season, and there was plenty of rest time.

  On the 10th, the Suns arranged training in the afternoon.

   On this night, the remaining two second-round teams started their G1 battle. In the end, the Knicks defeated the Eagles and the Mosaic defeated the Spurs.

  On the 11th, on the match day, two G2 battles in the east and west started at the same time.

"Snapped!"

   With another big cap from Mutombo, the ball flew into the sky, then the whistle blew and the first half was over.

   This is his fifth big cap. Pharaoh ate one, Kevin Johnson ate two, and AC Green ate one. The last one in the first half was given to Ceballos who went in for a dunk.

   Halftime ended, 44:41, the Suns were 3 points behind at home, and the players went back to the locker room to rest.

   Zhang Lili sighed at this time: "Cerballos is brave, he dares to kill him, and no one else dares to enter."

   "Today, Mutombo is playing again. This is a crazy rhythm. He complained to the media yesterday, but it broke out today. He seems really angry." Su Qun said.

   Zhang Lili said with a smile: "He and Tiejun are two types of centers, weak in attack and strong in defense. If he and Tiejun are in the same team, their combination will be stronger than the combination of Big Dream and Barkley."

  Su Qun smacked his mouth, shook his head and smiled and said, "I think it's better for Old K and Barkley's kind of power forward who can pull apart. One inside and one outside, Barkley can attack and defend, and is the best match for Old K."

   "That's true." Zhang Lili laughed.

In the ESPN live booth, commentator Winston Rollins said: "Old K didn't make many shots in the first half, and he mainly scored the ball in the double-team, but his outside teammates didn't feel very good. Horry made 1 of 4 shots. Dan Marley went 2 for 6 and wasted a lot of opportunities.

   So the Suns strengthened their breakthroughs, but unfortunately Mutombo's defense was too strong, making the Suns' breakthrough tactics completely bankrupt. "

Oldman said: "Old K made 4 of 6 shots in the first half, ate a block from Mutombo, made 1 of 3 free throws, and got 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 1 block and 1 foul. The offensive efficiency is still It's good, but it's not very good, with one assist out of 10 and two turnovers."

  …

   "Old K, it's up to you to attack in the second half. I'll arrange for Dan Marly and Danny Ainge to open up the defenders for you." Once back in the locker room, the serious-looking head coach Westphal said.

  Although the Nuggets' regular season record is not very good, but this is a strong team that has hacked the Supersonics, and he does not dare to be careless.

The Nuggets can complete the feat of Black Seven, relying on interior defense. Mutombo gave 8 big caps in the last two games of the first round, and 16 big caps in two games. Those with supersonic caps dare not go in. , and the same is true for the Suns tonight, they were too capped to go in.

   But he didn't panic too much. For today's tactical arrangement, he deliberately asked Old K to strengthen the scoring support in the first half and let the outside play live.

  Only playing on the outside, Lao K's physical strength can be saved, he can explode in the second half, and even finish the opponent in three quarters.

   I didn’t expect that the outside line would be ineffective today, so I can only let Old K come to the attack, and try to use his attack to blow up the opponent’s inside defense.

  Fifteen minutes later, the third quarter of the game began, and the first goal was the Nuggets offense.

  Small forward Reggie Williams ran off the ball on the left wing, played big with a small shot, dropped Horry and quickly cut in. After catching the ball in the left elbow area, he entered the paint area and went straight to the basket.

  Pharaoh returned to the basket and deliberately slowed down the tempo. After Williams took off, he followed and jumped from the left.

   Although the bullet speed is not as fast as the opponent, he has an absolute height advantage and completely keeps up with Williams' rhythm.

"Snapped!"

  The side blocked, he sent the second big cap of the day.

   "Beautiful! Old K has a great defense and got the Nuggets." Su Qun shouted happily.

   Zhang Lili laughed and said, "Every time his defense explodes, the Suns will definitely win."

   AC Green, who returned to defense, got the ball and passed it to Pharaoh, and the Sun counterattacked.

  Kevin Johnson went down desperately, received a direct pass from Pharaoh and made a successful layup.

  44:43, the Nuggets attacked.

   On the left wing, Williams played big again with a small ball, smashed Horry with the ball, and made a pull-up jumper.

"boom!"

   The Suns didn’t feel good today, but the Nuggets didn’t actually feel good. The ball missed, and Wang Tiejun protected the rebound.

   "Old K's ninth rebound." Su Qun laughed.

   "If it wasn't for his good rebounding today, the Suns would have lost more." Zhang Lili laughed.

   The Nuggets quickly returned to the defense, but the fast break failed. The Suns made steady progress and started a positional battle.

  The left wing is low, outside the left line of the paint area, and Pharaoh wants the ball.

   Mutombo topped the defense and put a little space, that is, a small half-step distance, in case Old K easily shot nearly two points. In the second quarter, he blocked a frontal hook of Old K like this. But the overall defensive strategy is to guard against breakthroughs but not shots, and mainly guard against Lao K's basket offense.

   The Nuggets' perimeter and weak side have begun to shrink, and the double-team tactics are ready to go.

"Snapped!"

   caught the ball with his right hand, and Pharaoh turned around instantly.

   Mutombo reacted quickly and immediately took a step back up.

   But at this moment, Lao Wang turned up and down, and slipped to the bottom.

   Now Mutombo couldn't react. His mobility was not as good as Pharaoh's. He didn't keep up with the rhythm and was shaken.

  To say that his strongest defensive area is not the edge of the paint, but the basket.

  Because he can minimize the weakness of his lack of mobility under the basket, and the offensive man's mobility advantage has no room to play under the basket unless he has the dream footsteps of the big dream.

   On the weak side, the Nuggets power forward Lafonso Ellis quickly returned to the basket to defend.

As the Pharaoh's show of the same year, the No. 5 pick in the first round, his status and limelight in the league are far less than Pharaoh's. At this moment, under the stimulation of adrenaline, he wanted to prove his existence and jumped up. Want to cap one.

   But he is still sane, he doesn't block from the front, but from the flanks.

   "Boom!"

  Pharaoh turned around, dribbled the ball at the same time, grabbed the ball and exploded, flying to the basket.

"boom!"

   The blasting of the basket sounded, and the referee's whistle also sounded.

   Lafonso Ellis commits a foul and will be penalized once.

"brush!"

  Wang Tiejun added a penalty hit.

  44:46, the Suns overtook the score.

   But then Nuggets guard Stitch hit a two-pointer to tie the game.

  The left wing is low, and Pharaoh once again wants the ball.

   On the right wing, AC Green and Danny Ainge all pulled to the three-point line, the former in the bottom right corner and the latter at 45 degrees on the right three-point line.

   The left-wing three-point line is forty-five degrees. It is Dan Marley. He got a pass from Kevin Johnson, but the Nuggets guard Stitch dared not let it go.

   Fake a real pass, the ball passed, Pharaoh caught the ball and immediately started singles against Mutombo.

   "Are the Nuggets going to double-team?" Rollin asked loudly in the ESPN live booth.

   "Double-teamed!" his partner Oldman shouted back.

   When the ball was passed to Pharaoh, the Nuggets immediately started to double-team, and the action was very fast.

   Obviously, Nuggets coach Dan Issel knows that Mutombo can't defend against Old K alone and must be double-teamed. And in the first half, the Suns' perimeter feel was very poor. When will they not be double-teamed at this time?

   However, it was not the left wing, but the right wing. Power forward Lafonso Ellis quickly implemented weak-side help defense, as did small forward Reggie Williams.

   "Three teams, be careful!" Zhang Lili shouted loudly.

   "Boom!"

   Up and down, Pharaoh dribbled the ball and started to slip.

   Mutobom was a step slower, but his position was further inward, and he turned around and stuck to the upper side of Pharaoh, wrapped around the defense in death style, and pushed down.

"boom!"

   But at this moment, Pharaoh stuck to the bottom line and made a hit pass, and the basketball flew to AC Green in the bottom right corner.

  Lafonso Ellis hurriedly turned around to defend, it was too late, Green received the ball and shot, but when he rushed back, he was one step behind.

"boom!"

  The basketball smashed into the basket and bounced high.

   "Oops, why didn't you hit?"

   Zhang Lili, who was staring at the screen, suddenly sighed loudly.

   "Make up?"

   At this moment, Su Qun shouted loudly, and the next moment, Zhang Lili said excitedly: "Yes, Wang Tiejun completed the supplementary deduction, and he completed a supplementary deduction on Mutombo's head."

   The Nuggets attacked, Mutombo asked for the ball in the low post on the left wing, then turned and hooked the ball.

"Snapped!"

  Pharaoh saw the opportunity and completed the grab at the moment when the opponent turned and jumped. Then, his body became violent, and he caught up with the opponent with a faster bullet speed, and slapped the ball to cap.

   "Pretty! Grab it again? Got it!" Zhang Lili shouted continuously.

   Came to the frontcourt and took a low position. Wang Tiejun suddenly turned around and cut into the paint area.

   It’s just that Kevin Johnson’s pass was half a beat slower. When the ball came down, the Nuggets’ defense had shrunk rapidly, and Mutombo also followed up to the basket.

   "Unfortunately, the pass is a little slower." Zhang Lili sighed.

"Snapped!"

  Pharaoh caught the ball and was surrounded by three people at the basket.

   His passing vision is still there, but with six arms around him, there is no passing line.

   "Boom! Boom!"

   The left and right were hit in a row, and Lafonso Ellis and Reggie Williams were knocked over at almost the same time, and there was no confrontation at all.

   The next moment, Tieshan broke out again.

   "Boom!"

   Mutombo groaned and also fell to the basket.

   "Boom!"

  The entire American West Arena exploded in an instant and turned into an erupting volcano.

"boom!"

  Three quick consecutive hits, Wang Tiejun emptied all the defensive power under the basket, and ended the storm with a one-handed dunk.

  “Whoa…”

   The continuous burst of instants also made him gasp for breath.

   The on-site commentator frantically pulled his throat and roared: "Restricted area sweeper, he's here, he's sweeping our opponents..."

   Two minutes later, almost the same situation happened again. Wang Tiejun once again used a tyrannical attack from the basket, blasting the opponent's basket.

   This time, the Nuggets power forward Lafonso Ellis couldn't stand up, and he was stabbed to the ankle after being knocked out.

   Ellis' injury was a big loss for the Nuggets, and the Nuggets were forced to replace a prepared meat shield Rasir.

This meat shield was finally obtained by the Nuggets from a minor league. Lasir, who had no chance to play in the league at all, with his tonnage, got an annual salary of 2.5 million in the Nuggets for two years, which is more than Some lottery picks are even higher.

  Dan Issel adopted Mosaic's defensive strategy, dragging Wang Tiejun with a human shield and letting Mutombo do the weak side defense.

   But Wang Tiejun immediately used his performance to prove that this was a stupid decision.

"Cut in, dunk? Beautiful! The tonnage of the meat shield Rasir is as high as 135 kilograms, but his mobility is so poor that he can't keep up with the movement of the Iron Army at all, and Mutombo's mobility can't keep up either. With the team's open tactics, his weak-side assist defense is too late." Zhang Lili shouted excitedly.

   "It's also beautiful!" Su Qun said excitedly.

Just now, Wang Tiejun turned and slipped from the low position on the left flank and made an inward cut. The meat shield Rasir could not keep up with the rhythm at all, and Mutombo, who was on the weak side, was not moving fast enough even when he was pulled out. Impossible to defend at all.

   After playing a few **** like this, the Nuggets called a timeout.

   On the ESPN live broadcast table, Rollin shook his head and said: "Because of the appearance of O'Neal and old K, the price of meat in the league has skyrocketed.

   Lasir, who came from the CBA, has no strength to play in the NBA at all, and is not even eligible for a minimum salary contract, but he got a big contract in the Nuggets.

   What I want to say is that defending heavy behemoths like Old K and O'Neal doesn't mean just having a meat shield, or having tonnage is enough. "

Oldman nodded and said: "I can understand their choice, because there is a meat shield with tonnage, movement speed and agility, it is not a meat shield, but a lottery pick. If it is better, then They're the next O'Neal and old K."

   "Haha..." Rollin laughed.

   Oldman smiled and said: "So, if you want to limit giant beasts like O'Neal and Old K, there may be no way to really prevent them. Is the meat shield really useful? Can they really be guarded by a meat shield?

   So I think the only way to deal with them is to strengthen their offense to offset their score.

  O'Neal and Old K are both strong on offense and weak on defense. On the offensive end, find two space-type insiders, pull them out, and rush in from outside to play. "

   "Like a bull?" Rollin said suddenly.

Oldman was stunned, nodded quickly and said: "The Bulls' Clifford Robinson is indeed in line with my statement. I think he can really deal with behemoths like Old K and O'Neal. Moreover, he has already beaten the old man in the regular season. K's more than once, and O'Neal can't guard him."

   The timeout was over, Dan Issel broke the jar, removed the meat shield that he had bought at a large price, and let Mutombo re-match Wang Tiejun, and the backup power forward Bisendler was placed at the No. 4 position.

   This is a role player who has a gap in strength with AC Green and cannot help the Nuggets.

   However, the Nuggets are a team based on defense, and they did not relax their defense and still implemented a strict double-team on the basket.

   It's a pity that after Wang Tiejun's athleticism improved, his ability to attack at the basket was further enhanced, and all kinds of rough fouls couldn't stop him from scoring.

   In the end, the Suns won the G2 game, 88:98, winning by 10 points.

   (end of this chapter)