Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 159 Unsolvable Singles Durant!
On the 19th, the first game of the Western Conference Finals officially started in Seattle.

Domestic CCTV5 live broadcasted the game, Yu Jia said: "The Supersonics' home attendance rate this year is astonishingly high. During the regular season, the stadium was almost full. In the playoffs, it is even more difficult to find tickets. The atmosphere on the scene is particularly enthusiastic."

Director Zhang said with a smile: "It only took Lu Yong two years to build the Supersonics into the favorite to win the championship. You must know that before Lu Yong took over the coach, the Supersonics were still the last team in the league. No wonder the United States The media speak highly of him, and this level of coaching is already comparable to top coaches."

Yu Jia pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and said: "However, the Supersonics are not having a good time this summer. They have many players whose contracts have expired. It is unrealistic to keep them all. How to strengthen the team requires It's up to management to decide."

It is the tragedy of every small team that it is difficult to keep new players after training. In addition to the huge luxury tax that does not allow it, the return rate of the ball market is also crucial.

Tickets for the Supersonics have sold well in the past two years, and they have also undertaken a lot of advertising endorsements, but they are incomparable with big cities like Los Angeles and New York, and their geographical location is naturally at a disadvantage.

Once the management makes a wrong decision and leaves a bunch of junk contracts in the future, the Sonics will decline within two years. This is why many small teams in the league are unwilling to pay high salaries to keep other role players except stars.

Before the game, Lu Yong stood on the sidelines and emphasized tactics again. "Kevin, you are the team's main offensive point tonight. No matter who the Blazers send to guard you, play your confidence. Jokin will pull to the outside to cover for you. You only need to do a good job of scoring. Other things will be covered by your teammates. You solve it."

Durant nodded lightly, and replied: "Don't worry coach, I promise to blow up the opponent."

The Sonics starting lineup remains unchanged: Francis, Jackson, Durant, Szczerbiak, Noah.

The Blazers' starting five have not changed: Blake, Roy, Fernandez, Aldridge, Przybilla.

Noah jumped the ball to win with his talent advantage, and the game started.

Francis dribbled the ball across half court, hit a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc and took a step inside, attracting the help defense to pass the ball back to Noah.

Noah kept holding the ball in the middle, while protecting the basketball with his body, he moved to the flank to find Durant.

Durant ran from the bottom corner to the left corner to catch the ball, faked his face frame, made a big change to the right to break through, passed Fernandez with one step, and made an emergency stop jumper in the three-second zone.

Pulzbila stepped forward to help defend and raised his left hand high. Before he could take off, Durant easily hit the board and scored, 2-0.

When returning to defense, Adu looked indifferent, and his star temperament became more and more sharp, although he was still a bit weak when he looked closely
The Blazers attack, and the Sonics defend man-to-man.

Inside Noah has no pressure against Przybilla, as long as he watches his penalty area to score, all other positions can be played.

Pulzbila doesn't even have mid-range shooting ability. With a height of 2 meters and a weight of 16 kg, he is a standard blue-collar insider.

Blake held the ball in the middle to observe his teammate's running position, and dribbled the ball to Roy who was running to meet him.

Roy was entangled by Jackson and had no good chances to make a move, so he could only use his personal ability to play singles.

Until 4.6 seconds left in the attack time, Roy singled out Jackson at the top of the arc, missed a jumper with a mid-range emergency stop, and the rebound was grabbed by Szczerbiak.

Francis dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and passed it to the Noah organization outside the three-point line. The latter completed a hand-to-hand pass with Durant during the march, and strictly implemented the tactics arranged by Lu Yong.

Durant caught the ball and shook it. Seeing that Fernandez was blocked by Noah with his body, the three-pointer at the top of the arc was a jumper.

"Shua!" The ball went into the net hollow, 5 to 0.

Lu Yong sat on the sidelines and gave applause to his disciples. Durant's jump shot became more and more stable. If he continues to play like this, he will likely become the scoring champion next year.

The Blazers also scored in the next round. Blake and Aldridge hit the pick-and-roll and scored the ball. Aldridge made an emergency stop in the face of Sczerbiak and scored. 5 to 2.

Aldridge has a lot of mid-range shots. His playing style is similar to that of Chris Bosh and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Even fans can sometimes see Novus from him. base shadow.

Before the game, Lu Yong did not emphasize his defense against Aldridge. Even though he played well in the Western Conference semifinals, against the Supersonics, he could not kill anyone with just a mid-range shot. shot.

Supersonic offense, Durant's breakthrough this time attracted opponents to double-team, and he used his height advantage to distribute the ball to the basket.

Noah caught the ball in the penalty area and raised his hand. Before the bulky Przybilla stabilized his foot, he scored a violent dunk with both hands. "Bang!" 7-2.

The fans at the scene gave warm applause. Noah played the ball very hard, giving full play to his talent and advantages, and did not humiliate his title of All-Star.

In the impression of the fans, Noah is a senior blue-collar who can support the pass. It is rare to see him single-handedly attacking opponents under the basket in games, and he rarely even dunks.

But in the face of Przybilla, Noah's talent finally had a chance to show, regardless of bullet speed or reaction speed, he had the upper hand and played very tough.

Director Zhang said: "The ball came from Durant's assist. He attacked very aggressively after the start. It seems that Durant will explode again tonight."

Yu Jia said with a smile: "Since winning the regular season MVP, Durant's self-confidence has been much stronger than before. Personal honors have brought him not only popularity but also confidence. With his performance in this year's playoffs , Durant deserves the status of MVP."

The Blazers attacked, and Roy relied on the cover to catch the ball, singled out Jackson one-on-one, and scored against the defensive mid-range shot. 7 to 4.

In the next round, the ball was still passed to Durant. This time he directly gestured for his teammates to pull away, and the horns held the ball for singles.

Facing Fernandez's single defense, Adu adjusted his position with continuous dribbles under his crotch, and failed to pass the defense by changing directions in front of his body, but it was a jump shot from the mid-range.Fernandez took off with all his strength and couldn't block the block. His height is only 1 meters.

Swish!Durant made another jumper. 9 to 4.

He scored 7 points in a row after the opening game. As Lu Yong expected, no one in the Blazers could defend against Durant in singles.

McMillan was obviously aware of this, standing on the sidelines and frowning, weighing repeatedly between substituting and not substituting.

There is also a "spider monster" sitting on the Blazers bench. Travis Outlaw is very suitable for Durant regardless of his height and wingspan, but his biggest shortcoming is his offensive hips.

This year's playoffs averaged only 7 points per game, and his shooting percentage was as low as 31.8%, which is far less useful than Fernandez.

In the next few rounds, the Sonics still focused on Durant singled out, while the Blazers' main attackers were Roy and Aldridge.

Five minutes later, with the Sonics leading 5-16, McMillan requested a timeout.

Durant scored 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. He scored in double figures in only half a quarter. He was extremely efficient tonight.

(End of this chapter)