The Road to Stardom: Start as a Slam Dunk Master

As soon as the contract with Hisashi Mitsui was signed, things seemed to start to turn around.

The Mavericks and Spurs again entered overtime in G6. Faced with the Mavericks' forward defense against Duncan, Popovich used the Spurs' ace, the Admiral, with the twin towers inside.

The two-tower combination's mutual cooperation in the interior made this forward-circling defensive tactic, which had previously amazed the entire league, instantly fall from the altar.

It can only be said that there are no tactics that are always invincible in the NBA, only second-rate coaches who don't know how to come up with ideas. In front of a famous coach like Popovich, as long as it is not absolute suppression of strength, he can always find a way to fight.

In the Eastern Conference, the Wizards and Cavaliers had already surpassed their opponents early. The former defeated them 4:1 and the latter 4:2, taking the lead in locking in their tickets to the Eastern Conference Finals.

And by the time of G7 on May 11, the Mavericks and Spurs, who were already cornered, once again played a close and exciting game.

After three overtimes, the final score was 145:136. In the end, the Spurs, with their GDP combination and Admiral, were better.

With more experience and a bigger heart at the last moment, coupled with Popovich's tactical blessing, the twin towers inside saved the Spurs from dire straits several times at critical moments.

Duncan fought hard until he almost suffered from leg cramps, and the Admiral fought hard until he collapsed on the ground. In the end, he defeated the Mavericks' three Musketeers and advanced to the Western Conference Finals with difficulty.

For the Sonics, the fact that the Spurs are so exhausted is probably the most pleasant result to see.

Don't talk about winning without fighting. Our Payton is still injured and can't play. Who can win without fighting? It's just a matter of finding a balance. Everyone is exhausted and half-measured.

On May 14, the two sides will usher in the Western Conference Finals G1 game in San Antonio.

Although it is the home court of the Spurs, the outside world is obviously more optimistic that the SuperSonics will win G1.

On the one hand, the Spurs were too tired after 7 fierce games. Can you believe that they actually played 9 overtimes in just 7 games? Although the Mavericks Three Musketeers didn't let the Spurs hurt anyone, all of them were directly cut off by half of their combat power.

On the other hand, the SuperSonics, although Payton is missing, the combination of Lin Dong and Sakuragi Hanamichi also shined against the Lakers OK combination, which won three consecutive championships, winning G5 with a big score, and all members received sufficient support afterwards. , more than a week's rest time, all the players are fully equipped, and they are also the pioneers of forward defense. Their strength still feels better than that of the Spurs.

Therefore, the outside world generally predicts that the SuperSonics will win G1, and the Spurs may fight tooth and nail to defend their home court in G2. There is a high probability that the two sides will tie 1:1 in San Antonio.

This is definitely good news for the Sonics, and this is obviously not the only good news for the Sonics these days.

On May 11, in a taxpayer survey launched by the Seattle City Hall three days ago, more than 48.6% of taxpayers voted in favor of building Key Arena, including 37% of abstentions, invalid votes, etc. Wait, only 14.4% of taxpayers voted against it.

This is completely reversed from Schultz's previous application for the arena, where more than 40% of the votes were opposed. It is really because the Sonics are so exciting this season.

After all, the streets and alleys are now full of news and elements related to the Sonics. The 4:1 elimination of the defending champion Lakers made Seattle people excited and the whole city rejoiced.

In addition, rumors are flying around Oklahoma City that they are moving the Sonics out of Seattle. Fans are eager to keep the Sonics, so how do you keep them? Of course, we want the SuperSonics to make money. How can we make money if we don’t build the arena? !

Everything was a matter of course, and through multiple combinations, this incredible 48.6% vote rate was achieved.

The Seattle Department of Finance has now officially approved the official document to repair Key Arena. It is expected to invest a total of US$280 million in batches. The SuperSonics team will provide repair opinions and design drawings, and then find an engineering team under financial supervision. The construction period will be about half a year. It is expected that all expansion and renovation work will be completed before the end of this year. Before that, the first half of the regular season next season will be changed to the old arena before the SuperSonics, which is the current lower-level team Supersonic Storm. held at the team's arena.

After finalizing this major matter, the most excited person in the Sonics team is the management, but they are also the busiest.

Several old employees brought by Yang Dong who had worked with her in the glass factory for ten years also formed a temporary construction supervision department, responsible for all matters related to the renovation of the arena.

As for the top executives within the SuperSonics, Lin Dong’s advice to his mother was not to move for the time being.

In fact, there were some problems with the original management of the Sonics, but after Bob, who wanted to do big things, came, Schultz gave Bob a lot of power because he was not in Seattle, and Bob had already cleared up a lot of confusion in advance. The die-hards, and even some of the team's top executives who originally had a messy relationship with the league, thought they had someone in the league who wanted to interfere in the team's affairs, so they were all dismissed by Bob, who had Stern's back. Get rid of them all.

Therefore, the overall operation of the Sonics last season was actually quite good. There was a sense of hard work from top to bottom. In addition to the team's rising performance, whether it was the financial department, coaching team, logistics department or management, etc., They all work together pretty well.

Leave professional matters to professionals. When Lin Dong just mentioned the SuperSonics' operation last season, Yang Dong understood quite well that a management team like this that is mature and has been tested in practice is best. The best way is to let it continue to grow naturally, and it is not too late to intervene when it starts to grow.

Of course, Yang Dong is about to become the new boss and teammate Lin Dong is about to become the "Prince" of the Sonics. Currently, even within the Sonics, only a few people such as Bob, McMillan and Payton know about it.

Firstly, the contract has not been officially signed, and secondly, it is also because we do not want any changes in the financial allocation of the city hall at the last moment.

It was originally planned that the funds would arrive on the 12th and the contract would be signed with Schulz on the 13th. However, the other party only faxed a signed letter of intention to contract, and then gave various excuses for being unable to leave. The contract signing date is set for June 20.

On June 20, even if the finals have already been played, this plan is... just to get all the ticket revenue of the SuperSonics this season into his hands.

Yang Dong was also a little speechless. Originally, both mother and son had a very good impression of Schulz, but the true nature of a capitalist can only be seen when it comes to money.

What should be fought for still needs to be fought for. Although after Mitsui Hisashi's investment, he still has 100 million to buy the team as the operating capital of the team next season, but to be honest, it is still a bit tight.

After all, the expansion and renovation of the Key Arena will need to last until at least the end of the year, and the temporary auxiliary arena has only 6,000 to 7,000 seats. Except for some season tickets and annual tickets, there are very few tickets available for sale.

Therefore, in addition to the tens of millions in wages that will be paid out at the beginning of the season, the Sonics will have to make ends meet for at least half the season. The reserve of 100 million US dollars may seem sufficient, but the ability to resist risks is very poor. Change the ownership of the team as soon as possible and take advantage of the finals to get a wave of ticket money back, at least 10 to 20 million.

While Yang Dong was negotiating with Schultz, the G1 between the SuperSonics and the Spurs had also begun.

Facts have proved that outside predictions are not accurate enough...

The SuperSonics G5 was able to successfully defeat the Lakers, largely due to Sakuragi Hanamichi's advanced bypassing tactics, and the Lakers did not have a strong backup center, nor did they have two interior towers to rely on to break through.

But the Spurs' double-tower combination of Duncan and the Admirals restrained the SuperSonics to death, and when the game started, the Spurs did not show the extreme fatigue that everyone predicted.

The two days of rest allowed the Spurs to recover a lot, at least not visible on the surface, and they were also very motivated.

Hanamichi Sakuragi's statistics were okay, with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but compared to Duncan's 29 points and 18 rebounds, and the Admiral's 17 points and 9 rebounds, the Sonics' interior was still completely overwhelmed.

There is no way, no one in the entire league dares to say that they can beat the Twin Towers Spurs in the paint, not the Mavericks, and even the Lakers with O'Neal probably can't.

In view of the characteristics of supersonic run-and-gun tactics, Popovich's tactics are also quite targeted.

It was not specifically aimed at Lin Dong, but instead he was desperately trying to block the ball holder, which brought huge trouble to the Sonics, who were led by a single core.

If Brent holds the ball and faces the Spurs' various attacks and blockades, mistakes are inevitable. No matter how many points Lin Dong scores, he can't withstand one or two mistakes from Brent from time to time.

And if Lin Dong is allowed to hold the ball, although the Spurs can't block it, most of the pressure to score will have to be placed on the SuperSonics' perimeter. The twin towers inside have a big advantage in rebounding. No matter how flexible Sakuragi is, he can't compare. The cooperation between Duncan and the Admiral resulted in a lot of rebounding losses, so once the perimeter is inaccurate, it will be an absolute disaster for the Sonics.

It can only be said that the Sonics without Payton are not complete after all. The Spurs seized on the single-core aspect to death, and the Sonics players, who had rested for 8 days, were relatively relaxed in their overall thinking. They were slow to find outsiders. Without the touch, the offense throughout the game seemed a bit fragmented.

Although Lin Dong came out with full firepower in the second half and continued to chase the score, the 15-point gap in the first half was still not completely erased. 108:101, the SuperSonics suffered a small defeat in G1, which also caused the outside world to change quickly. .

It is human nature to adapt to the changing circumstances, and the American people are no exception.

Various analysts say that the Spurs are invincible inside the Twin Towers, various analysts say that Supersonics Sakuragi Hanamichi's performance is just a flash in the pan, various comments say that Lin Dong is not enough to determine the outcome of the game in the playoffs...

But G2 then slapped everyone in the face.

The SuperSonics used a run-and-gun death five small lineup. Sakuragi Hanamichi no longer chose to bypass the defense, but chose to duel with Duncan on the inside.

The normal defensive position means that he no longer needs the help of his teammates to defend and attack, forcing the Spurs' internal twin-tower combination to be stretched a lot, losing part of the advantage of the twin-tower linkage.

Sakuragi, who was in a one-on-one situation, used all the tricks he had used to deal with O'Neal on Duncan.

With a body size of 211 centimeters and 113 kilograms, Duncan does not have the absolute strength advantage of O'Neal. Compared with the brute strength of Sakuragi Hanamichi, he can only compete with Sakuragi on his skills at the basket.

But this fight gave Sakuragi Hanamichi the nickname "Inside Dpoy".

All kinds of Rodman-style signature tricks kept coming, blocking his feet and body, and his two super-long arms were like a net tightly wrapped around Duncan, making Duncan, who shot 71% in the last game, this time. The field goal percentage dropped directly to 54%, and they were evenly matched in rebounding.

Although comparing the data of both sides, Duncan had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Sakuragi Hanamichi had 11 points and 15 rebounds. It seemed that Sakuragi lost, but in fact everyone understood that the winner should be this new Japanese talent pair.

Because Duncan's more points are based on more shots, not to mention a regular season MVP, who is currently known as the league's top center, was defended by a first-year rookie to a 54-point shooting percentage. %, and it still steals 15 rebounds from your head, then it cannot be said that the former has any advantage at all.

Once Sakuragi opened up and the rebounds were guaranteed, the SuperSonics' perimeter began to show off. Six people on the team scored in double figures. Iguodala even hit six 3-pointers, plus a breakthrough layup. He scored 20 points in a single game for the first time in his career, and even Desmond, who usually hates shooting 3-pointers, hit one.

Lin Dong comfortably held the ball throughout the game, scoring 32 points, 14 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, which were "unremarkable" data for him, helping the SuperSonics win G2 112:105.

The outside commentators felt a bit slapped in the face. They predicted that the SuperSonics would win in G1, but the Sonics lost. Then they changed their direction and predicted that the Spurs would win in G2, but the Spurs lost.

This time they decided to maintain their dignity, not to follow the rhythm, not to immediately badmouth anyone who lost, so they once again gave a unified argument.

G3 still depends on the Spurs!

What is ‘insider dpoy’? Is he worthy of a newcomer?

Just like his performance in G5 when he played the Lakers last time, no matter how amazing this newcomer's performance is, it is just a flash in the pan. They simply do not have the ability to fully control and exploit their own advantages.

The SuperSonics can win in G2, but it is because of the extraordinary performance of the outside. When G3, the Spurs will definitely switch back to the two-tower inside style that won the game before, use regional defense to contain the SuperSonics' inside, and strengthen their inside advantage. By then, Once the Sonics lose a few more rebounds, the confidence of outside shooters will immediately drop, and the outcome will be obvious.

Experts predict that the Spurs will win G3!

result……