Chapter 190: Thunderball
"Don't think that if you took me out to play yesterday, I will be bought by you, I will not be merciful tonight!"
"Rest assured, we're just entertaining friends. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Your subordinates are ruthless, which is exactly what I want. Defeating an all-out opponent is a great pleasure! β
This is the conversation between Yi Feng and Durant before the game starts.
Seeing that these two were reminiscing, Westbrook also came over and hugged Yi Feng, and then teased: "Yi, you were really embarrassed to run away last night!" β
Yi Feng said righteously, "I'm all a person who has a girlfriend, of course these things can't be touched again!" β
Westbrook raised an eyebrow, "yes, you're really a model of a good man...... What I want to know, though, is how many girlfriends do you have? β
Yi Feng: "Do you need to ask, of course there is only one." β
Westbrook: "Oh? Easy, you're not honestβ"
Yi Feng: "Those are all scandals, don't take them seriously." β
Westbrook: "But I haven't said anything yet, so why are you in a hurry to explain?" β
Yi Feng: "......"
Westbrook: "There's a ghost in my heart??! β
Yi Feng: "......"
"The game is about to start, let's talk after the game!"
Durant and Westbrook, the Thunder, were the first friends Yi Feng made in the NBA. Although it is passive to become friends, after becoming friends, it doesn't matter whether it is active or passive. As long as it is a friend, Yi Feng will cherish it.
However, as an opponent on the field, giving it your all is respect. And because they are friends, they need respect even more. That's why Yi Feng said something like that to Durant.
On December 19, the Los Angeles Lakers' away game against the Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The visiting Lakers fielded five players from Jordan Clarkson, Yi Feng, Anthony Brown, Julius Randle and Roy Hibbert.
Bryant was out of action for the game, and it was said that the cause was a sore shoulder. Yi Feng thought a little darkly: Could it be that he had too much fun last night, and the old driver didn't control his speed for a while. Then when I woke up this morning, I felt that my body was hollowed out, so I chose to hang up the free card.
However, against the fourth-place strong team in the West, the Lakers had no advantage, and now that Kobe Bryant is out of action, this game looks even more hopeless.
Although Yi Feng is competitive, he will not turn a blind eye to such an obvious fact in front of him.
The home team's starting lineup for the Thunder is: playmaking guard Russell Westbrook, scoring guard Andre Robertson, small forward Kevin Durant, power forward Serge Ibaka, and center Steven Adams.
When it came to the Thunder's selection at the No. 2 spot, head coach Billy Donovan ultimately chose Robertson.
In fact, last season, Robertson was also the starting point guard of the Thunder, averaging 19.2 minutes per game, scoring 3.4 points, 1.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks, shooting 45.8% from the field, 24.7% from three-point range, and 47.9% from the free throw line, and was even hailed by fans as the "worst starter" in the league.
Why is Robertson's offensive stats so poor that the new head coach still has to put him in the starting lineup? Wouldn't it be better to use Dion Vitesse, who is more offensive?
In fact, after the Thunder have Durant and Westbrook, there is no need to worry on the offensive end. Even if they were to take turns playing alone, no one in the league would dare to say that they would be able to prevent it.
Compared with enhancing the offensive firepower of this year, the need for the Thunder to strengthen the defensive ability of the wing is more urgent. It was for this reason that Robertson was chosen as the starting number two.
As the No. 26 pick in the first round in 2013, Robertson, who is two meters and one meters tall, actually played power forward during college. And he has all his technical points added to the defense, with excellent statistics such as steals, blocks, and rebounds, which is also valued by Donovan.
And of all shooting guards last season, Roberson had the third-highest defensive plus/minus (+3.30) and was able to reduce defenders' shooting percentage by 4.3% compared to their average!
This season, if the Thunder still can't win the championship, then Durant's stay will be a big problem. So, in order to keep Durant, the Thunder's goal this season is undoubtedly a championship.
Because the team has the Thunder of Durant and Westbrook, the team will obviously focus on offense. However, when we compare to last season's championship Warriors, it's clear that an offensive advantage alone isn't enough. Some details will be fundamental, and Robertson's defensive-first style of play also fits in with the Thunder's need for defense on the defensive end.
Vitesse was the No. 4 pick in 2012, although he debuted earlier than Robertson, and was praised for his talent when he debuted. But later on, people also found that he actually didn't grow much, his shooting ability was never exercised, and his attitude on the defensive end was also a problem. And as a two-way defender, his organizational skills are not good.
So Donovan could only use him as a sixth man.
Since the team has a sixth man, there is bound to be a "fake starter". There is no doubt that Roberson is the 'fake starter', averaging less than 23 minutes per game so far this season, compared to Vitesse's 28 minutes.
The game officially began, and the center forwards of both sides jumped the ball in the middle circle.
Adams, a native of New Zealand, was able to be picked by the Thunder with the 12th pick in the first round in 2013, which shows that his talent is excellent. After the Thunder's careful training, Adams' ability has improved considerably. This season is the third season of his NBA career, averaging 8.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game. And Hibbert can only score 6 points, 5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in an average of 24 minutes per game this season.
Although it is impossible to determine who is more capable from the comparison of the data alone, the data obtained by the player is a testament to the contribution he has made to the team in the game, and the better the data, the higher the contribution. And on the other hand, the more capable you are, the more likely you are to get good data.
When Adams first entered the league, he was a pink little fresh meat, but two years later, he was a rugged man with a stubble on his face. With flowing curly hair and a flamboyant beard, it feels like a full passion.
In an interview, he also talked about how he went from a little fresh meat to a rough tough guy -
"$40 a month for a haircut is too expensive, and I can buy a lot of food, and [getting a haircut every month] is a waste of money, so I like to grow my hair long because it allows me to eat more."
His rugged image of passion also coincides with his style of play, and many times, his passion will unconsciously affect the team and even the whole team.
Tonight, he was as passionate as ever, from the moment he jumped the ball at the beginning of the game.
After winning the jump ball, he actually seemed to have blocked a fatal ball, waving his fist and shouting, full of passion!
Westbrook possessed the ball past half court, and the game had just begun, and he did not come up with his signature "charge", but swayed to the top of the arc to organize the team's attack.
Although he has already faced the league's top No. 1 players such as Stephen Curry and Kyle Lowry, Clarkson still feels a lot of pressure tonight.
Westbrook is also the league's top point guard, and in a sense, he can even be called the No. 1 point guard in the NBA. His style of play, the style of handling the ball, is completely different from Curry and Lowry, that kind of straight violence, that kind of pure talent crushing play, is the last thing many No. 1 players want to encounter.
But when it comes to the pressure, Anthony Brown, who is also a rookie with Yi Feng, is under even more pressure. Kobe Bryant couldn't sit tonight, so Scott temporarily put Anthony Brown in the No. 3 spot.
In normal times, Anthony Brown can't ask for such a starting opportunity. But tonight is against Durant......
Many people say that if you don't have the heart of a strong man who is indomitable and faces failure, then you will not become a strong man no matter what. But let's be honest, who wants to challenge someone who is much better than themselves when they have nothing to do? Can you really afford that humiliating failure?
Anyway, Anthony Brown doesn't want to suffer such a humiliating defeat. But the situation is stronger than people, the head coach "kindly" pushed you to the starter, do you still dare to make irresponsible remarks, don't you want to be confused?
Anthony Brown silently thought in his heart: Great as Duncan, it's not like I've done countless background boards, I'm just a rookie, what can't I afford to lose?
Because the Thunder have an absolute advantage in the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, many of their tactics are hidden under the light of these two superstars, and many fans jokingly say that the Thunder only have three sets of tactics: Durant's single tactics, Westbrook's singles tactics, and Durant and Westbrook's blocking and pick-and-roll tactics.
At the end of the day, putting the ball in the basket always requires someone to shoot, and if that person has a better grasp of the shot than others, what makes sense to abandon him? No matter what the tactic is, in the end, it's just the same goal, which is to put the ball in the basket and get points.
Therefore, there is no essential difference between team cooperation and individual singles of stars.
For the Thunder, with superstars like Durant and Westbrook, why do they need to do any teamwork? As long as you play the role of these two people, the team can win. It's that simple.
Even NCAA coach Donovan, who focuses on teamwork, coaches the Thunder and follows the same path of former coach Scott Brooks and follows his guidelines.
Westbrook dangled the ball through the half, and seemed to have completely exhausted his patience, and after a while at the top of the arc, he didn't even care about the position of his teammates, and immediately started to attack in a hurry.
After a few shakes, he relied directly on his physical talent to force Clarkson. The gap between people is reflected at this time.
After Westbrook broke through, he suddenly wanted to try his touch, and then stopped and made a zombie-like jumper.
Westbrook's movements always give people a zombie-like stiffness, the shooting is straight up and down, the dunk is not stretched at all, and even the breakthrough is straight and straight......
It is also not known that he has defects in coordination and flexibility......
Westbrook suddenly wanted to try his hand at this pull-up jumper, but he couldn't hit it.
Randle struggled to protect the rebound.
Even though Ibaka has suffered a major foot injury, Randle has a clear idea of his bouncing ability. Holding the ball around for a while, Randle handed it to the defender.
Kobe Bryant couldn't get out of the game, so Yi Feng became the main point of attack on the Lakers' court. After Clarkson took the ball across the halfcourt, he also handed it directly to Yi Feng.
And Yi Feng's opponent tonight is the best defender on the outside of the Thunder - Roberson.
Robertson is two meters and one meters tall and has an arm span of two meters and one one, which is not too inferior to Yi Feng. And he has quite a few advantages in weight and strength. Coupled with good defensive awareness and athleticism, it may be able to limit Yi Feng a bit.
Since he said before the game that he would go all out, Yi Feng would not have any hands left.
Before Yi Feng breaks through, there will be some shaking, and the specific amount depends on the opponent's defensive reaction. If the other party is shaken, then he takes the opportunity to break through.
But Robertson didn't shake up, which made Yi Feng a little surprised. Roberson isn't the league's well-known wing defender, but he didn't expect his defensive awareness to reach such heights.
However, this does not stop the easy wind.
Since Robertson doesn't shake up, he also used Westbrook's pure physical talent to crush the flow of play, and directly forced Robertson.
The advantages in explosiveness, speed and agility, combined with the suddenness of Yi Fengqi's breakthrough, allowed him to occupy a half-position lead in an instant.
But Robertson's defensive awareness helped him a lot at this time, and he reacted quickly and immediately moved sideways to block the wind.
But Robertson didn't expect Yi Feng to be able to accelerate twice, and with a "whoosh" sound, like lightning, disappeared from his retina!
When Robertson looked back, he found that Yi Feng was already hanging on top of his basket.
Yi Feng scored two points on a dunk to open the scoring for the Lakers.
Yi Feng's dunk undoubtedly made Westbrook's whole body excited. He felt his blood burning, and he felt that the energy of his body had nowhere to vent.
So after receiving the serve in the backcourt, he increased his speed to the maximum in two or three steps, overtaking Randle, Clarkson and Yi Feng one after another along the way, and finally jumped in the three-second zone and dunked the ball to the basket with a hideous face.
Thunderball!
This time he attacked, and in a few breaths, he rushed from his own half to the opponent's basket, as fast as lightning and like thunder!
In the end, the angry buckle was really powerful!
It is most appropriate to describe his attack as Thunderball. (To be continued.) )