On the 28th, the Bobcats finally got on the plane and started their road trip. This time it's a six-game trip in the West, and the Bobcats' schedule has finally hit its first difficulty.

The first game is a trip to the Devils' home court, Salt Lake City, where the Utah Jazz are waiting for them.

John Stockton, who had been in the league for 19 years at the end of last season, announced his retirement, and he was unwilling to leave the gracious Salt Lake City like his good brother Karl Malone in search of the final glory of the championship.

He prefers to sprinkle all his basketball blood on this desolate plateau.

In the draft 19 years ago, Stockton, who was still a white guy from Washington, D.C., was not favored by many, and he was not picked up by a remote town of Salt Lake City until the 16th pick in the first round. But many years later, he became the glory of the 84th class, and together with Jordan, Olajuwon, and Barkley, he formed the strongest draft in history.

Jazz for a day, Jazz for life, in Stockton's 19-year NBA career, he left the same impression on everyone - low-key, peaceful, silent, and only on the court did he show his burning desire to win, and unyielding tenacity.

Point guard originator Bob Cousy once said this.

"If there's a word for playmaking defender in the dictionary, it's John Stockton."

Stockton is the epitome of a traditional point guard, he wasn't as fast, as tall, as talented as today's point guards, he only had the weak body and inner tenacity of the average white man.

This tenacity has made him lead the NBA's all-time assists and steals list. The number of assists written in his 19-year career is 15,806, which is more than 5,000 more than the current second-place Magic Johnson, that is, one-third more.

Stockton also has a big lead in steals at the moment, with 3,265 steals, more than 700 ahead of second-place Michael Jordan, which is still a jaw-dropping lead.

Even Carl Malone, another pillar of the team, joined the Lakers in Los Angeles in the summer to form the league's strongest F4 team. The current Jazz team has only one goal, to go straight to the top pick, but on the way to the top pick, one of the Jazz players stood up, and he simply stopped the team from continuing to fall.

That is the Russian Andrei Kirilenko, this season Kirilenko has officially entered his peak, but his peak has some alternatives, from the current players, only one "alphabet brother" Antetokounmpo can be found. Because Kirilenko's average per game is 16.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.8 blocks, this statistic is incomprehensible in '03.

What kind of person can get such data in the game, and Kirilenko often has some strange data, such as 5+5+5+5+5+5 data, here is scoring + rebounding + assist + steal + block, that is, he got 10 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 6 steals and 7 blocks a few days ago, such data is simply suffocating.

Before a James-esque 30+ triple-double, Kirilenko was considered the most well-rounded modern player, and he seemed to be able to do anything on the court.

Although Kirilenko couldn't let the Jazz win the game against the Bobcats, it made Wade suffer.

Before the game, Hu Qingniu reminded Wade that he believed that Kirilenko was the strongest defensive outside player in the entire NBA, and asked him to be careful.

But when it comes to the court, how can there be so many things to pay attention to, good defense is good, not that if you pay attention, he will have poor defensive effect. In the whole game, Wade was probably cut off 3 balls, and it is impossible to count how many he risked.

Kirilenko's many oblique stabs into the hot pot feast made Wade deflated, but these can't be taught, sometimes familiar with the opposing players' style of play, characteristics and habits on the court is also part of the strength of the court, Wade lacks experience in this area, he does not know where Kirilenko's habits appear. If Wade wants to improve, he needs to accumulate more experience and comprehend his own things.

Wade had a total of 9 turnovers in this game, which is also Wade's own record for turnovers. But fortunately, I finally got 20 points, and I didn't drag too many season averages.

The last sullen Dazhi will be much happier this time, just look at the Jazz's starting center to know Greg Ostertag, although this brother has been with the Jazz for 9 years, he can be regarded as a seasoned master who has partnered with Malone in the Finals.

But the hero doesn't mention the courage of the year, although Greg was also a rough brother and a meat shield back then, but now Greg has become an old rough brother meat shield. Once something is prefixed with an old age, then his movement speed must be very slow, and he does not dare to make any big moves, for fear of injury.

Coupled with the rough technique and heavy weight, Greg basically stared lonely on the inside for the whole game, and the rainbow-like arcs thrown by Dazhi's hand one after another.

Can't prevent it, Greg Ostertag can only cry out in vain!

Seeing Dazhi put in training-like shots one by one, he scored 26 points and took away the game.

This season's Jazz lineup is really rotten, but Hu Qingniu is also ashamed, because Desean Stephenson and Raja Bell, who should have been on the Jazz team, were also poached by him. That's why the Jazz lineup can't be seen at all.

But veteran coach Jerry Sloan is still holding on, and along with Stockton and Karl Malone, Sloan is also a living fossil of this team. And Sloan's persistence is even greater than that of the two, the players will slowly get older, the coaches will slowly get older, the difference is that the coaches will only get more experienced and wise as they get older.

Sloan has had an outstanding playing career, and his No. 4 jersey still hangs high above the Bulls' United Center arena. But in comparison, Sloan's coaching career can only be described as a legend.

From his arrival in 1988 to his dismal retirement in 2011, Sloan coached the Jazz for a total of 23 years, a record number of years for any professional league in North America. In other words, no one would be as loyal to the Jazz as Sloan, and if it weren't for the 2011 Jazz owner changeover, Sloan would have continued that record.

He led the team to the NBA playoffs for 17 consecutive years and the NBA regular season win rate for 18 consecutive years with a win rate of more than 50%, and the Jazz team has given them most of the surprises and glory in this small city in the western highlands of the United States in these 20 years.

It is precisely because of Sloan's persistence that the current Jazz team did not dive directly to the champion.

And Sloan's secret to maintaining the team's competitiveness is the pick-and-roll strategy, the NBA's most superb pick-and-roll strategy.

This once again confirms Hu Qingniu's view that the head coach can determine the lower limit of the team.