Chapter 52: Supersound

"Success is not in how much favor God gives us, but in how much we live up to what God has given us" - this passage is from Morin's autobiography!

Before the Christmas break ended, Chamberlain returned to San Antonio with the friendship of an American couple and 7,600 experience points. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Fast forward to January 16, and the Spurs traveled to Seattle to challenge the SuperSonics, who have been beating tough opponents recently.

At this time, the supersonic can be called the most powerful shooter battalion in the NBA, and they not only have Ray Allen, the greatest shooter after Reggie Miller, but also gather Rashad Lewis, the later Mr. billion, Brent Barry, Radmanovic and other shooters with good three-point ability.

At 7:30 local time on January 16, the game between the Spurs and the SuperSonics began at the Key Arena in Seattle.

The team's soaring results after Christmas, and the media touting, have made Seattle's ball market very hot recently. Well, relatively hot, because people here prefer college basketball to what the NBA is.

But as long as the fans who come here are very enthusiastic, the team's record makes them open their voices.

, The fans are the best sixth man, and in the frantic cheering of the fans, the Seattle shooters led by Ray Allen gave the Spurs a three-point air attack at the beginning, and the Spurs, who are used to slow heat, actually fell behind by 11 points in the first quarter.

But no matter how good the hand feels, there will be a time to cool down, in less than three minutes of the second quarter, the SuperSonics were lost under the Spurs' tight defense, and Ray Allen, Lewis and others continued to play iron, so that the advantage in the score was reduced little by little.

With less than two minutes to go before the end of the second quarter, the Spurs, who led by seven points, began to switch to the bench.

At this time, the Seattle center was Jerome James, the owner of the "most water contract" in New York in the future, and he is not very water now, but he is not much stronger.

Such an unsuccessful blue-collar worker met Chamberlain, who gained a lot of game experience after being taught by Willis and Mourning.

It was a tragic night for Jerome James, abused by Duncan, abused by Nate Slovich, and a furious Chamberlain.

The game started, because the touch was not recovered, and Ray Allen began to break through. Relative to his three-pointers, his breakthrough was seriously overlooked, as it is now.

Ray Allen, who was holding the ball, suddenly shook off Ginobili, and Chamberlain, who was competing for the position with Jerome, reacted, and his position moved forward instantly, trying to wait for the opportunity to perform the "blindfolding method". Horse-like calf ravage.

Chamberlain, who was hit by the swollen self-confidence, calmly shook past James in a series of shakes while attacking, and cut into the basket to score the ball.

In the last few games, Oxlade-Chamberlain has been in good shape, and the offense that has been excavated by Mourning has improved very quickly, but Popovich's favored defense has not been changed for the good because of physical constraints.

"Small ball tactics" are not a good idea to play against a group of shooters, who are also not afraid of a faster pace, and the time has come to test the center's control of rebounding.

The old guy made a mistake, and he let Lewis run out of the open position, and the bench defense made the Seattlemen a lot more comfortable relative to the Spurs' main team, although they still felt cold to the touch.

Lewis catches the ball and throws. Three-point shooting is gambling, and the greatest shooter, Reggie Miller, shot just 39.5 percent from three-point range.

When grabbing rebounds, because of his body, Chamberlain is often out of position, and he mainly relies on the skill of anticipation. Fortunately, Jerome is not a rebounding master, and Jerome, who took the lead, did not put any pressure on Chamberlain.

Ginobili had already rushed through the half court when Chamberlain grabbed the rebound, which is also their usual trick to cooperate with each other, Chamberlain, who grabbed the ball in hand, immediately found Ginobili who was still running, and the excellent pass instantly allowed the basketball to cross the half court and accurately pass to Ginobili.

The SuperSonics' offense found the interior this time, and they tried to open the Spurs' interior channel through their bodies, but they overestimated Jerome.

When Jerome received the ball, Chamberlain was ready. For his slow-motion turn, Chamberlain said there was no pressure at all. It was a cap that was rare on Chamberlain. As Jerome jumped, Chamberlain first avoided his bent knee and then pressed his missed ball to death.

During an offensive session, Chamberlain grabbed an offensive rebound, gave it to Horry Sr., and then turned around and blocked Lewis who was defending Horry, giving Horry an open shot. It was this action that made SuperSonics head coach Nat McMillan notice Chamberlain.

Chamberlain pressed Jerome again to grab the rebound, which was already his seventh rebound, and the third quarter ended in the game.

McMillan, who was sitting on the sidelines, asked for the player's stats, which showed on Chamberlain's page: 14 minutes played, 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 fouls, 1 turnover. If you add the dismantling and foul play that cannot be reflected in the data, McMillan's eyes are bright.

Popovich, who didn't know that the corner was being remembered, began to deploy troops again, and the main force began to play. However, even if he knew that the corner was dug up, Popovich would not have any feelings, his test of Chamberlain had completely passed, and yes, he finally decided to give up on Chamberlain.

After returning from Christmas, Chamberlain's performance has recovered and his offensive ability has improved somewhat, but Popovich has not been able to see more potential in him, and he will still play badly when he encounters some very physical interior players.

And now Chamberlain still has a big flaw, his game experience, and his inconsistent performance when he encounters opponents who restrain him, all of which require a long period of training.

How many years to develop a trick? Spurs don't have that habit. They prefer to opt for some instant power, such as Ginobili, who just came to report to the Spurs this season, such as Turkoglou!

What's more important is that Spurs don't have that much money to match the right players for small-ball tactics. Popovich doesn't deny that this tactic is very capable of scoring, but it requires a rebounder, a breakout strongman, and a stable outside shooter, which is all money, and compared to these, it is more cost-effective for the Spurs to defend.

But Chamberlain can only play his best in a quick attack and defense!