I really can't handle the ball

Chapter 147 The Old and New Jazz

On May 11, at the American Airlines Center Arena.

Tonight, the Mavericks will host the visiting Utah Jazz.

This season, the Jazz have achieved a record of 8 wins and 10 losses at this stage, ranking tenth in the Western Conference.

In the summer, Stockton retired, and the aging Malone joined the Los Angeles Lakers with a basic salary for championship honors.

At this point, the Utah Shuangsha, the all-powerful Utah Shuangsha in the league, has become history, and the once powerful Jazz team has also completely disintegrated, entering a period of reconstruction in which the old and the new alternate.

At this stage, the Jazz's biggest star is "AK47" Kirilenko.

这位未来俄罗斯篮协主席，本赛季能够场均获得16.5分8.2个篮板3.1次助攻2.8记盖帽和1.9次抢断的全面数据。

Almighty is Kirilenko's label. He has excellent defensive ability, positive defensive attitude, and is a master of blocking and stealing.

But his shortcomings are also very obvious. His shooting ability is not stable enough, his offense is mainly based on mid-range shooting and inside attack, and he lacks ball control ability, and often makes mistakes. He is ridiculed by fans as a weakened version of Li Xuan.

The inside core of the Jazz is Ostertag, the team boss of this period, who is the last witness of the Utah Shuangsha period.

In the two finals between the Bulls and the Jazz in 1997 and 1998, Ostertag was known to Chinese fans.

In addition, Ostertag has two labels: one is high salary and low ability. His highest annual salary has reached nearly 900 million US dollars, but he averaged only 4.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in his career; the other is kidney donation. During the summer break, he donated a kidney to his sister and became a moral role model in the league.

Although Ostertag has no offensive ability, but his defense is very good, relying on active defense to gain a foothold in the league.

With him on the inside, the Jazz's defensive system is very complete, allowing Kirilenko and Harprin, the two Jazz's offensive cores, to freely attack and defend, forming a complete offensive and defensive system.

Therefore, this young Jazz team looks weak, but its real strength should not be underestimated, and it often staged scenes where the weak beat the strong.

After the warm-up activities, players from both sides returned to the bench and waited for the start of the game.

At the same time, the starting lineups of the two sides were displayed on the big screen at the scene.

Mavericks starting lineup: Nash, Finley, Jamison, Li Xuan, Nesterovic.

Jazz starting lineup: Carlos - Arroyo, Deshaun - Stevenson, Matt - Harprin, Andrei - Kirilenko, Greg - Ostertag.

Not long after, the game officially started, Nesterovic successfully competed for the basketball, and the Mavericks got the first chance to attack.

Nash dribbled to the top of the arc to organize the offense and directed his teammates to run.

Li Xuan tried to run without the ball on the outside, trying to get rid of the defense, but Kirilenko stuck to his side like a dog's skin plaster, and used small movements to interfere with his running speed from time to time.

With the help of double screens, Li Xuan successfully got rid of the defense, received a wonderful pass from Nash, made an emergency stop jumper, and took the lead for the Mavericks.

After the absence of Nowitzki's injury, Li Xuan, as the team's first attack point, gained more offensive tactics, which freed him on the offensive end and allowed him to fully exert his strength.

Looking back, the Jazz's offensive system is still based on pick-and-roll tactics.

After Arroyo and Kirilenko pick and roll, they broke through to the inside.

Li Xuan did not go out to change defenses, but came near the free throw line. He could not only switch defenses against the ball-handler who was breaking through to the basket, but also prevent Kirilenko from cutting towards the penalty area.

Before the game, he learned from the information that Kirilenko's long-range shooting is unstable, and he can let him shoot, so he dared to use such a bold defensive strategy.

After Arroyo entered the three-point line, he did not choose to shoot from a long distance, and went straight to the basket to break through.

Seeing this, Li Xuan immediately stepped forward to defend, raising his arms to interfere.

Absolutely confident in her speed, Arroyo drove to the hoop and quickly threw the ball toward the rim.

Clap!
Li Xuan, who followed closely behind, took off vigorously, stretched his arms and slapped the rising basketball on the backboard.

"Beautiful chasing cap! It's too difficult to score from the basket guarded by Li Zhen."

Steve Kerr, the commentator for the game, said excitedly.

As soon as the words fell, Li Xuan, who had completed the block, controlled the basketball to land steadily, and then threw the ball towards the middle circle.

Nash, who was on a fast break, received the pass as soon as he ran across the center line, dribbled, and immediately passed the ball.

Finley, who ran to the right for a three-pointer, received the pass, feinted and swayed the defensive player, broke through to the middle distance, and hit a jumper with an emergency stop.

4: 0!

"The offense is smooth and smooth, and watching this kind of entertaining game will never be boring." Cole praised.

As the game continued, the Jazz quickly made adjustments and successfully tore through the Mavericks' defense through passing and cutting cooperation.

After Arroyo and Kirilenko pick and roll, the ball is passed back to Kirilenko who cuts to the basket.

After receiving the ball, "AK47" attracted Li Xuan's defense and hit the ground to pass the ball.

Harprin, who made an air cut along the baseline, received a pass from Kirilenko and hit a layup.

4: 2!

Jamison raised his hand to indicate that it was his own mistake and failed to defend, saying that such a situation would not happen again.

Li Xuan ran over and patted him on the shoulder, and suggested: "Antoine, you can shoot properly without letting go. The No. 21 shot of the Jazz is not stable enough, so you can make a fuss about it."

Jamison nodded and ran to the frontcourt to participate in the attack.

In the next round, Li Xuan did not participate in the offense, and took Kirilenko out of the three-point line, not giving him a chance to help defend others.

After Nash cooperated with Nesterovic in the pick-and-roll, he broke through to the basket with the help of a screen, changed directions continuously and passed Ostertag, who was changing defenses, and easily reached the basket and scored a layup.

6: 2!

"The Mavericks' offense was very clear, using Lee's threat from outside the three-point line to pull the Jazz inside, allowing Nash to easily break through to the basket and score."

In the commentary booth, Cole analyzed in detail why the Mavericks' offense was so easy and successful for the fans.

On the bench, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan frowned. Judging from the first few minutes of the game, the Jazz has been led away by the Mavericks' offensive rhythm. This is not a good signal, and we must find a way to solve it. , otherwise you can't win the game.

As the game continued, the Jazz players found that the Mavericks had shrunk their defense inward, compressing the breakthrough space, making it impossible for them to easily break into the basket.

But the Jazz is a team that is not good at shooting three-pointers. The average number of three-pointers per game does not exceed ten times, and they do not have outside shooting ability at all.

When Arroyo saw Nash, who was standing two steps away from him, he pulled up and shot a three-pointer. He wanted to try a three-pointer and let the Mavericks change their defensive strategy.

Bang bang!Fight with anger!
The basketball bounced far, was grabbed by Jamison, and passed the ball to Nash immediately.

After Nash received the ball, he dribbled and immediately passed the ball.

Li Xuan, who was originally near the free throw line, rushed to the frontcourt the moment Arroyo shot.

At this time, he has come to the defensive half of the Jazz. After receiving the pass from Nash, he immediately takes three steps.

8: 2!

On the sidelines, Jazz head coach Sloan did not ask for a timeout. He asked for a timeout just a few minutes into the game. He wanted to look at the situation again and hoped that the players on the field could adjust themselves and solve the problem.

(End of this chapter)