NBA Backer King Chapter 140

   Chapter 140 Playoffs, the first round against the Lakers

   At 6:30, the Suns bus also came to the American West Arena.

   At this time, the sky was still very bright, and the arena was full of fans, crowded and full of voices, black and white.

   Comrade Pharaoh took a look. There are still a lot of fans wearing No. 33 jerseys. I took a look at their feet, and many people were wearing the K1 that was just released in the morning.

   "Look, they're wearing my K1." Pointing out the car window, he shouted proudly to his teammates.

   "Old K, how much did you sell?" Barkley asked.

   "I guess ten thousand or twenty thousand?" He said without hesitation.

"what?"

   Including Barkley, everyone in the bus looked at him in surprise.

   "You think you are Michael Jordan?"

   Seeing the smile on his face, Barkley reacted and smiled angrily: "If you really can sell 10,000 or 20,000 a day, I guarantee that Nike and Adidas will fire a group of executives."

   "At 12 noon, more than 1,800 pairs were sold. They expect 3,000 or 4,000 pairs to be no problem today." Pharaoh said seriously.

   "Three or four thousand?"

Barkley said in surprise: "Three or four thousand is not bad, the center doesn't sell shoes, and the three super centers are not good. Now among all the centers, that is, O'Neal's shoes sell well, you are not much different from him, he It sold more than 8,000 on the first day, and you are almost halfway to him."

  Kevin Johnson said: "Old K's style of play is very violent and attractive. I don't think it's surprising that sneakers can sell well."

  Dan Marley said: "With the baskets he collected, he smashed several baskets, and he could gain a lot of loyal fans."

   came up from the underground parking lot, and some waiting media followed, asking some questions.

   "Charles, how many games do you think we need to solve the Lakers?" asked a reporter from a local TV station.

   "Hello."

  Buckley waved to the TV camera lens and said with a smile: "I'm sure it won't drag on to G5."

   "Old K, congratulations, the Mammoth company just announced that your K1 sales exceeded 4,000 pairs today." A reporter shouted loudly.

   "Oh hoo, that's great, old K, congratulations, your sneakers are selling well."

   "Old K, I also bought two pairs of K1s."

  Including the media and the management of the Suns, everyone sent their congratulations.

   "Thank you, thank the fans for their support..." Pharaoh quickly thanked the fans through the lens of the local TV station.

  Mexican Arena, Zhang Lili was sitting in the stands, in the 16th row, costing him more than one hundred dollars.

   The regular season is reluctant to pay, but he does not want to miss the playoffs.

   He was holding a CD recorder in his hand, ready to record the game and bring it back to Liu Yumin to show her Wang Tiejun's strength.

   He also contacted Sun Zhenping a few days ago to ask if CCTV could come to interview him, but unfortunately, he didn't.

However, Sun Zhenping told him that the last All-Star live broadcast was still effective. The station plans to continue to broadcast the All-Star next season, but there is no plan to broadcast the regular season. Instead, he is considering live broadcast of the finals. There have been discussions, but no decision has been made yet.

  The home team's locker room, the atmosphere is OK, not too nervous.

   The Suns have entered the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. They reached the second round last year. Most of the players have playoff experience.

   There are also rookies, but what Comrade Wang wants most is to make money. Today, the sneakers are selling well, and I am very excited and nervous. What is that?

   And he is not Barkley or the others. He has just entered the league, and now he has no pursuit of the championship at all, and he does not have the mentality of worrying about gains and losses, and he will not be nervous.

   But there is another rookie who is very nervous, so nervous, his eyes are red, and his voice is a little hoarse when he speaks, that is the coach of the Suns, Paul Westphal.

   In order to prepare for the playoffs, he hadn't slept well for several days, everything was ready, but he always felt uneasy.

   "Someone is nervous, this is not good news." Buckley said with a scowl.

   "I'm not nervous." Old Wang shouted immediately.

   "I didn't tell you. You don't even have nerves, how could you be nervous?" Buckley said angrily.

   "Then who are you talking about? Oh, I see, Oliver Miller, are you nervous?" Pharaoh asked loudly.

   "I, oh, yes, I'm a little nervous, yes, sorry, I have to go to the bathroom." Miller said awkwardly.

   "I'm looking at the time, twenty minutes, you've been there three times, this is the fourth time. Kid, you need to nourish your kidneys." Old Wang shouted.

   "Haha..." The dressing room burst into laughter.

   "Hoo!"

   In the noisy environment, Paul Westphal let out a sigh of relief, relieved the pressure, and felt better.

   "I did the math, and it seems that the salaries have been paid this year, but that's not right. The playoffs have just started, so there will be no salaries later?"

  Wang Tiejun suddenly shouted.

   "Old K, don't you know that there is no salary in the playoffs?"

   "Old K, you won't spend all your money, will you? Then I congratulate you. In the next few months, you will have to borrow money to live."

   Everyone laughed.

   Comrade Pharaoh said with a look of surprise: "The playoffs are for nothing, what's the point of playing the playoffs?"

  Barkley became anxious and said quickly: "Old K, you can't be lazy, the playoffs are the time for everyone to work hard."

   "It's boring, Charles, play it yourself." Old Wang leaned against the closet, shaking his head like a rattle.

  Barkley said anxiously: "Don't worry, we have a share of the ticket revenue. As long as we reach the finals, it is safe for one person to share 200,000 US dollars."

   "Haha, look at Charles so anxious to cry, if we don't win the championship this year, will he really cry?" Pharaoh laughed.

   "Haha..." The dressing room burst into laughter.

   "Damn old K, are you making fun of me?"

  Buckley reacted, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

   At eight o'clock, the two sides announced the starting list.

  Lakers: Divac, Eldon Campbell, AC Green, Byron Scott, Cydalus Ritter

  Sun: Wang Tiejun, Barkley, Ceballos, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

   The game was broadcast live by TNT in the United States, and the commentators were Latham and Dortmund.

"Divac is 216 cm and 110 kg, Campbell is 211 cm and 100 kg, and AC Green is 206 cm and 100 kg. The Lakers have arranged two centers today. This is a two-tower tactic? But in terms of average altitude, the Lakers have an absolute advantage. Because of the Suns' five starters, only Old K is above two meters." Dort said with a smile.

   "So the Suns need to be careful, rebounding, interior defense, pick-and-roll tactics, etc." Latham said.

   "The other two teams have one thing in common, only their shooting guards can shoot three-pointers." Dort laughed.

"Also, old K suffered a loss under Divac's men last time and was sent off. Later, I heard that Divac signed up for the Hollywood acting training class, and now his acting skills are more superb, so in this series, old K wants to Be more careful."

  Letham grinned.

   "Haha..." The two laughed.

   At a quarter past eight, the starting lineup.

   "Boom!"

   The first game was very enthusiastic, and countless fans cheered. The atmosphere of the playoffs surpassed that of the regular season.

   At half past eight, the game officially started.

  Wang Tiejun was also very excited when he walked on the court for the first time in the playoffs.

  Divac's bounce was average, he threw the ball away first, and the Suns attacked.

   Reaching the low post on the left wing, Divac used a wraparound defense, which is a defensive style he is very good at.

  The defensive method of diving was actually unintentional last time, but after tasting the sweetness, it is now under development and it is progressing well.

   Today's Lakers' defensive requirement for him is to interfere with Wang Tiejun with entanglement defense, supplemented by diving, and once the ball comes down, it is necessary to create conditions for double-teaming.

  Wang Tiejun, who had a balanced strength, stood firm, carrying Divac with his left elbow, and opened his right hand to ask for the ball. Kevin Johnson passed the ball down.

   As soon as the ball came out, he saw the Lakers' double team coming. It was not the weak-side help defense, Campbell dared not let Barkley, but AC Green, who was 206 cm and 100 kg.

  Green is very close to him, just on the right wing, only two meters away from him. He can turn around and take a step down to be in place. It is estimated that as soon as the ball arrives, the double-team will be in place.

"Snapped!"

   Received the ball, AC Green was double-teamed, and hit his hand with one hand.

   But his hands were too big. He pinched his fingers when he caught the ball, and then closed it down. Green missed it.

   In the next moment, his feet didn't move, and he hit the left and right in a row. With two bangs, Divac and Green were knocked away one after another. He had a short shot space, and then immediately got up and hit a frontal hook.

  Divac's center of gravity was bumped, he took a small step back with his back foot, and when he saw his opponent take off, he couldn't keep up with the rhythm.

   "Sigh!"

   Luckily, he hit the first playoff goal of his career.

   "Papa..." There was warm applause at the scene.

   "Beautiful! Old K broke through the double team and hit his first playoff hook." Dort laughed at the TNT live broadcast booth.

"I noticed that Lao K's feet didn't move, neither of his feet moved. This is different from his previous kicks. In the past, his kicks had the coordination of his footsteps. Without the coordination of his steps, his force seems to be limited. Small, you can see that the two defenders didn't completely collide, only got a little space."

  Letham said.

  Dott guessed: "Is it to avoid hitting Divac due to movement?"

   "Haha, it's possible, I think it should be out of that consideration." Lightham laughed.

   The speculation of the two is actually a joke, not like that.

Because no matter how realistic Divac's diving is, as long as the attacker's supporting feet don't move, and there is no obvious movement of raising his elbows and sinking his shoulders, he will fall to his own death and be hit to death. normal confrontation.

  Only when the attacker is completely in a moving state, his diving has room to play.

  The reason why Wang Tiejun did not move or exert his full force was due to physical considerations.

   In fact, he doesn't need to completely knock out the defender, he just needs to knock out a little to get space to get up and shoot. It's even more unnecessary to knock over the defender, it will only waste his physical energy.

   He can do that in the regular season because it's more fun and attracts fans, but he can't do it in the playoffs when the defense is more intense.

   Watching two playoff games last night was one of his gains and insights.

   Lakers offense.

  Divac's most powerful ability is support.

  Basketball has four basic tactics, support, pass, cut, and screen, and he is good at three of them.

   came to the low position on the left wing, leaned on Wang Tiejun, and opened his hand for the ball.

   At this time, the point guard at the top of the arc gave the ball to the small forward AC Green on the right wing, and he immediately pulled to the left wing, taking Kevin Johnson away, so that the Suns had no chance to double-team Green.

  Green got the ball, but didn't stop it in his hand, and immediately passed it down to Divac, then immediately bypassed Ceballos in front of him and quickly implemented a strong-side cut.

"boom!"

   Divac, who was backed by Wang Tiejun, suddenly threw the ball to the floor on the upper (left) side with both hands. After the ball rebounded, it was caught by Green who cut in.

  Green crossed over Wang Tiejun, who didn't dare to stretch out his hand, only had time to guard against it with his eyes.

  Green took one step into the paint, then took off.

  Barkley went back to the basket, and it was too late. If he rushed in, he would have to be dunked.

"boom!"

   A clean one-handed dunk, the Lakers scored two points.

"The Lakers' tactics are very clear, pass and cut + support, they are eyeing the weakness of old K's lack of lateral movement speed, and they will attack him. This requires the Suns in other positions to quickly make up defenses, and Ceballos is the point. Don't miss anyone easily." Dott immediately analyzed.

"Barkley on the weak side was pulled out by Campbell, and came back a little slower. Campbell has a little mid-to-long-range shooting ability. His two-point and two-point shooting percentages are 37%, and he can't be completely empty. I'm afraid this is also what the Lakers made tonight. The reason for his starting is to increase the height of the basket, and he has a high degree of mid-to-long shot, which can pull Barkley away." Laetham analyzed.

   At this time, Dan Marley missed a ball, and Babel protected the backcourt rebound.

   Looking back, Lakers point guard Byron Scott also missed a shot, and Wang Tiejun grabbed the backcourt rebound.

   The reason why they want to grab this backcourt rebound is because the Lakers did not give up offensive rebounds. Divac and Campbell rushed to the basket at the same time to grab the rebound, and even AC Green rushed in.

   "Be careful with rebounding, the Lakers are fighting for this advantage," shouted a live commentator.

   "Old K long pass, to Ceballos, good ball!" Another commentator suddenly shouted loudly at this time.

"boom!"

  Ceballos took the ball to the basket and faced Lakers guard Byron Scott who was chasing the basket. It was a dunk.

   On the sidelines, Lakers coach Randy Fender glanced at Wang Tiejun, who was still in his own basket, and shook his head in disappointment.

   He is also a rookie, Pat Riley's assistant coach, and only became the head coach of the Lakers this year.

The Lakers' current strength is undoubtedly far behind the Suns. This time, he wants to focus on height and take advantage of the weakness of the Suns' starting lineup, which is the shortest in the league, to have a height advantage at the basket, while fighting for rebounds and expanding shots. .

   But the first time he failed to grab the offensive rebound, he was hit with a fast break. He realized that his tactical arrangement did not take into account Wang Tiejun's ability to launch a fast break.

This is just like in volleyball, there is no need for a second pass, and the first pass is directly in place. There is no way to defend this kind of fast break directly launched by the center after grabbing the rebound in the backcourt. As long as the speed of the outside line is fast enough, the success rate is very high. .

   "Green, don't go in when you're grabbing offensive rebounds, and pay attention to back defense when transitioning from offense to defense." He shouted at AC Green, who was passing by.

  The Lakers attacked, Divac and AC Green once again played a pass-cut + support strategy.

  Wang Tiejun noticed, but he was still half a beat behind his feet and was killed by Green.

   However, this time Barkley returned from the weak side quickly and blocked the basket in time. Green made an emergency stop and shot, and was caught up by Wang Tiejun in one step.

  The ball fell, and Divac got it. He threw it again. This time, Barkley made a great contribution.

"mine!"

  Pharaoh jumped up and caught the ball.

   "Old K!"

  Cerballos has turned around and quickly got down, and his defender Green is still beside Pharaoh, in an open position.

   "Whoosh!"

  Pharaoh threw with one hand, and the ball flew in a straight line.

  Cerballos took the ball and entered the frontcourt. The Lakers point guard Sirette, who was in the middle on the left, hurriedly lost Kevin Johnson and chased after him.

  Ceballos passed the ball to Kevin Johnson, who got the ball over the free throw line and made a layup two steps later.

   "Clap clap clap..."

  The two big caps and the fast break stimulated the adrenaline of the home fans to speed up the secretion of the home fans. The scene was full of applause and cheers.

   "Beautiful! The Suns sent two big caps in a row and completed a defensive counterattack again." TNT commentator Dort exclaimed excitedly.

   "As long as other people make up first, Old K can return to the basket in time. With his height, the Suns' interior defense can be improved a lot. Just now is a very good example." Latham laughed.

   Nine minutes into the first quarter, at 18:24, the Suns had a 6-point lead. After the timeout, the two sides replaced some substitutes.

  Wang Tiejun and Barkley sat on the bench together, Oliver Miller and the comeback Tom Chambers partnered on the inside.

   Comrade Pharaoh did not attack much in the first quarter. He made 2 of 3 shots, 1 of 2 free throws, and scored 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 foul.

  Three shots, two close-range hooks, one missed and another hit.

The team's arrangement for him in the playoffs is that the opponents of the first series, the Lakers, are not very strong, so he is not allowed to attack the basket too much, so as not to consume too much physical strength. His task is to defend, Rebounding, launching fast breaks, supporting and screening, etc.

   After the first quarter, the two teams tied at 26:26.

  Chambers recovered from injury for four months. He returned in the first game. He was in average form. He made 0 of 2 shots in three minutes and only grabbed one backcourt rebound.

  Oliver Miller's tonnage has now reached 135 kilograms, and he has weighed 10 kilograms in one season. The tonnage has surpassed that of O'Neal. Now he is the heaviest player in the league, and he can't control it at all.

   In fact, he is also the real first tonnage in the history of the league. In the future, Ao Fatty can only be ranked second. The peak tonnage has reached 170 kg. If you can't win, you can crush your tonnage.

With a tonnage of   135 kg and a height of 206 cm, his mobility further declined, allowing the Lakers to frequently play fast breaks.

The poor performance of the two big insiders is the most important reason for the Lakers to equalize the score in the bench lineup.

   However, coach Paul Westphal did not make any substitutions. In the second quarter, it was the inside combination of Chambers and Oliver Miller, and the outside line was also a substitute.

   In the 3rd minute of the second quarter, at 32:26, ​​the Suns fell into a scoring drought and did not score a single point, but fell behind by 6 points.

  Oliver Miller was too nervous. He made a mistake at the end of the first quarter and another mistake in the second quarter. Two turnovers within 5 minutes made the Lakers two fast breaks.

  Paul Westphal called a timeout and called up all the main players.

   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end