If I were Yi Di in the NBA

Chapter 53 Rebuilding Teams and Underdogs
Yi-masochistic master-sword came to Minnesota with the team, and this is also the first game of the Sonics in March.

This is already the third matchup between the Sonics and the Timberwolves this season, and each time the opponent starts differently.

As a rebuilding team, the Timberwolves have not found players that are too worthy of training, so they are constantly making choices.

In addition, there are injuries. Their second-year guard Randy Foye has been out for a long time.

The Timberwolves are all young people now, as is the new boss of the team.

But the talent has reached the level of Yi Jian and Durant, there is no such thing.

The rookies of the Timberwolves this year have not played out at all.

The second-round pick Chris Richard they almost gave up, and the No. 7 pick Corey Brewer was completely sorry for his pick.

Brewer is also a physical type. Choosing such a player with physical skills and rough skills is a gamble.

You can make money if you cultivate it, but most of the time you just look anxious.

Yi Jian knew that this buddy stayed in the alliance through hard work in the end.

It's just that now, he can't shoot at all, that is to say, the Timberwolves don't have any good young people, so they are temporarily trained.

Compared to the Sonics, the Timberwolves must be very jealous.

It's a pity that their drafting ability is very average, and they can't select better players if they need a little judgment.

With a small ball market and poor draft ability, such a team basically has to be rebuilt all the time.

Now, against the Sonics with poor defense, they still have the strength of Jefferson.

Jefferson belongs to the relatively strong quasi-all-star level. This level is those quasi-all-stars who have obvious flaws but have relatively strong one-on-one ability.

Jefferson has a low-post offense and a good inside offense, but the Sonics can't prevent it.

At the same time, the Timberwolves couldn't defend against Yi Jian and Durant.

The Timberwolves first sent forward swingman Ryan Gomez to face Yi Jian normally. Gomez worked hard, but he was not tall enough to stop Yi Jian from receiving the ball.

Some teams may have noticed that the key to defending Yi Jian is not to let him get close to the three-second zone, but many teams are not so careful.

After all, no matter how popular Yi Jian is, he is still a rookie in the league. The Supersonics are not competitive in the playoffs. Many teams will target them defensively, but it is difficult to target them in detail.

And after Yi Jian received the ball in the right area, ordinary defense was useless at all.

So, he started to go in and score.

Seeing that something was wrong, the Timberwolves asked the taller Brewer to defend.

Brewer is very active defensively, and he is very eager to play in the NBA.

Now he is not very good on the offensive end, so he works hard to defend.

"Yi, I won't let you score easily..."

As a classmate, he also hopes to perform well in front of Yi Jian.

It's just that although Brewer is taller, he plays more outside and is thinner.

No matter how active he was around the front, he was completely unable to hold back in terms of strength.

Yi Jian's strength is not top-notch, but it is certainly not bad, it is a standard inside strength.

It didn't take long for Brewer to defend against Yi Jian, and he wasted a lot and got fouled.

The point is, the effect is not good, Yi Jian can still receive the ball inside to complete the attack.

The Timberwolves did not continue to try, and replaced the main defense player with Gomez.

Maybe Jefferson can let Yi Jian go outside to catch the ball, but the Timberwolves are still willing to let Jefferson put all his energy on offense.

After all, even if Jefferson is stronger than Yi Jian, but his speed is too slow, he is not good at dealing with opponents like Yi Jian.

So the Timberwolves quickly gave up defending well and focused on attacking the Supersonics.

With the Supersonics one more strong point, the Timberwolves can't get cheap on offense.

But during the rotation period, they still found opportunities.

The Timberwolves' substitute players, McCants and Craig Smith, are also young players who can be cultivated, but they find it difficult to cultivate them.

They occasionally have a good game, and the Timberwolves now have many such young people.

Most of this kind of players will be abandoned after the rookie period.

Some of them can find jobs again and stay in the NBA, and some may talk about it slowly.

It is normal for such players to come and go in and out of the league every year.

However, before they entered the NBA, they were all outstanding basketball talents everywhere.

The market development of basketball is not as good as that of football. There is only one top league in the world, and the competition in it can be imagined.

For Yi Jian, all he has to do is to lead the team to win the game.

At the end of the first half, Durant's shot helped the Sonics stabilize their lead.

Yi Jian also smiled and gave Durant a high-five, "Beautiful shot!"

"We can't give such a weak team a chance. If we lose to them, our two future superstars will be ashamed."

Durant also felt the same way. The two of them had the All-Star Weekend and proved that they were the best of the younger generation. Although the Supersonics were rebuilding, they were different from those weak teams with no future.

"Speak to the coach, other people can't hold us back."

Durant is relatively shy now, looking very gentle.

But he will always show his pride inadvertently.

Geniuses don't need to understand mortals, but mortals need to know how to assist geniuses.

If it weren't for Yi Jian's presence, Durant's character might have sulked many times.

There were times when he felt disrespected, but others thought he was already privileged.

This is the problem of communication, no one is a roundworm in someone's stomach.

Now, the situation is much better, Durant will express it, and Yi Jian will also help.

I just don't know if Yi Jian's many half-fudged words will make Durant more proud.

But the problem is not big, as long as the team continues to be strong, pride is not a bad thing, they have the capital to do so.

In the third quarter, the Sonics' offense fluctuated.

Durant is still growing, he has determination, but his strength has not reached that level.

As the player with the most points in the first half, he was closely guarded by the Timberwolves.

Plus, Jefferson is getting better and better in the paint.

"It doesn't matter, leave it to me, good brothers should support each other." Yi Jian said.

The Timberwolves can occasionally interfere with Durant, but it is much more difficult to lock Yi Jian.

On the defensive end, Yi Jian also began to actively help defend Jefferson.

Whether the original defender will be missed, Yi Jian is not worried.

After all, the Timberwolves are relatively weak on the offensive end. Their outside line is very unstable, and if they miss it, they will miss it.

Facing weak teams is sometimes as simple as trying to limit their strongest point.

"Beautiful, Yi Jian stood up again at the critical moment."

"Dunk King's performance, the basket felt like it was about to shatter."

"The Timberwolves' inside line is not tall enough, and Yi Jian is fearless."

"Excellent. Yi Jian's defense blocked Jefferson. Yi Jian was upgraded again after the All-Stars. He dominated both offense and defense."

(End of this chapter)