Without O'Neal's Bobcats are on a league-leading six-game winning streak and averaging more than 15 points per game, how strong they must be with O'Neal.

However, for the next opponent, Hu Qingniu has no blind confidence, and he also persuaded O'Neal to postpone his comeback for a few days, but O'Neal just wants to pick the Suns, who have always been weak, and they are currently 3-3 soft persimmons to pinch it.

In the current league, only Hu Qingniu knows the horror of this team.

At the beginning of the 2004-2005 season, when introducing the Phoenix Suns, two people were always added, one was Steve Nash and the other was Michael D'Antoni.

30 is a hurdle, and for Nash, he before 30 is completely different from him after 30.

The story of Nash and the Suns is endless, and Hu Qingniu will face an opponent of D'Antoni, a trailblazer in the offensive era.

In the world of basketball, the term "traction" probably came into existence after the advent of data-based thinking, but at its core, it is one of the most common images in basketball. Many years ago, when data analysis was widely advocated, there were people who built offensive tactics based on "traction".

The 2014-2015 season began with teams like the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs based on a similar offensive philosophy. They relied on innovations in the transfer of the ball to force the defender to react in a specific way, and then relied on the loopholes in those reactions to strike. The attacking philosophies of these teams have greatly influenced the talented players in the squad from all over the world.

Curiously, however, since the inception of the BA, the most common style of play has been to use misalignment and individual ability to play singles, and this style of play is still widely practiced in the league today. The premise of this style of play is that my players are better than yours; You're either going to find a couple of guys to wrap up and then have to empty some of the players on my team, or I'm going to keep rubbing on the ground.

Of course, this is not to say that there has been no teamwork in the NBA in the past few decades, and even criticizing the efforts of predecessors is useless. However, the reality is that before the 2004-2005 season, the full power of man-ball movement – five players on the move, rather than just one or two players playing in a round – had not been truly appreciated.

So, there was a loud bang in the sky, and Mike D'Antoni made his debut.

D'Antoni's contribution was not as simple as being the first to involve multiple players in the attack, or the first coach to use the ball to tear apart the opposition's defence. If you're looking for a contrast, think of Jerry Sloan in the '90s, with his pick-and-roll tactics played.

However, D'Antoni was the first coach to realise a certain idea, even if it is now familiar to the vast majority of people in the league: if the movement of people and the ball allows the opponent to pounce where the attacker intended, then what power will be our offense will be if the opponent's defense is not in place from the start.

Inspired by this idea, the seven-second offensive tactic was born, which was D'Antoni's first innovation.

Under D'Antoni's command, the team's goal was simple: to make it difficult for the defender to make the right decisions. In D'Antoni's attacking system, players have to find opportunities to create a 2-on-1 situation with every second of dribbling time, forcing opponents into a dilemma when deciding which side to defend.

The basis of this tactical play was the switch between offense and defense, which was a wasteland that was almost untouched in the league at the time. Naturally, if a player pulls out the opponent's ball at the top of the arc, or if there is a numerical advantage in the offense, or if a long rebound lands just right, it will give the team a chance to break fast. But few have been able to take this a step further.

D'Antoni made the fast break the cornerstone of his offensive system, and in the process of tactical execution, he gave everyone the impression that the league's offensive and defensive conversion guidelines have undergone a seismic change.

"When you're in a transition, what's the defender's instinctive reaction? When you were very young, your coach told you to go to the basket and not let the opponent score easily," said assistant coach Eberhart.

But when you're playing against D'Antoni's Suns, you don't want to do that.

"When the defense transitions, they're always trying to drop back to the paint and protect the basket," D'Antoni said. ”

Unlike the previous offensive and defensive transitions that go straight to the basket, the Suns' big men are asked by the coach to stay on the outside and leave a line to cut in on the inside. Unlike the previous practice of stuffing the ball to a teammate at the free-throw line and then swiping it inside and waiting for a teammate to send a layup or dunk, the Suns' forward players were asked by the coach to go directly to the bottom corner to stand by - this position is the least likely for ordinary defenders to think of, and the distance to run there when retreating. What if the opponent makes adjustments? Simple, and then hang the ball inside the line.

"They're not willing to save and defend threes because that means you're going to put us in an empty basket," D'Antoni explained, "and they're not willing to put us in an empty basket, which means we're going to throw a three." As long as we do this well, the other side will be helpless, exhausted, and in the end, the bamboo basket will be empty. ”

Once the initial transition was defended by the opposition, D'Antoni's layered attacking tactics began to show their strength. In the process of the team's victory, the importance of the Suns' second-wave offense is indistinguishable from that of a mere fast-break score.

At this time, most teams believe that when the fast break is gone, they often have to reorganize and prepare for positional battles. For the Suns, there was never a "regrouping" in the game. The team's high-speed shifts and decisive decisions in attack continue to flow. This is another innovation.

D'Antoni's third innovation soon arrived.

In the NBA game that Hu Qingniu is familiar with, the coach often has to shout tactics, 'Okay, now let Wade control the ball, let's play No. 5', or 'Let's play two-sided cut-in tactics next.'" These are the basketball courts that Hu Qingniu is familiar with and have developed to put down.

However, D'Antoni said: "If you have the strength, you can run and cut in at the right time." Do that well, the ball will definitely get into your hands and you will wait to get the highest score of your career. ”

Stay alive, run and score. This doesn't mean that the team is playing blindly, an important "concept" that makes the players run is cover.

Both the Spurs and the Warriors are integrated teams with "cover" tactics, but their core sources are also D'Antoni's Suns. The difference is that Vicky has gained experience from years of playoff battles with the Suns, while Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been the Suns' general manager for several years. Cole is more like the successor and promoter of D'Antoni's ideas.

One of the most important concepts is called "bottom line cover". Interior players who perform pick-and-roll tactics also have their own traction - they can go down to the basket and bring the threat of open picks or layups, and in D'Antoni's eyes, the most dangerous thing is probably to cover his teammates again.

In this era, D'Antoni has been "mad" to think that the big man is better off for the small man to block!

D'Antoni's brainstorming didn't happen overnight, and he was inspired by Hu Qingniu's cover tactics.

But now, at this very moment, D'Antoni is more determined than anyone else, and he is undoubtedly thinking of dropping a depth charge in the current NBA.

According to the statistics received by Hu Qingniu, the Suns are averaging 112 points per game this season, which is far ahead. The SuperSonics scored 106 points, not much different from the Bobcats' 107 points. Don't think it's common, there are only five teams in the league that average more than 100 points per game.

Most teams still stick to a slow basketball pace, led by the Spurs, Rockets, and Pistons, who average around 18 seconds per game, while the Suns have a record 11 seconds. Don't underestimate the 7-second gap, that's enough time for Nash to push two full-court breaks.

Everyone around him, the media, fans, players, coaching circles, including Hu Qingniu's own circle, Ewing, Magic, Jordan, and others all disagree with what the Suns are doing.

A new NBA head coach and a 30-year-old point guard?

Is this futile? Is this heresy? However, only Hu Qingniu knows that this represents the future and success.

Admittedly, D'Antoni has not yet comprehended the realm of Cole ten years later, how to use speed to defend, and now D'Antoni only knows how to use speed to attack.

But the clarion call for reform has been sounded, and even Hu Qingniu has to keep up, this is not simply a few three-pointers, nor is it simply a fast break.

Take advantage of traction, that's the theme!