The Road to Stardom: Start as a Slam Dunk Master

Sure enough, whatever you worry about will come true.

The SuperSonics' physical strength has not yet begun to have problems, but mistakes have begun to appear frequently.

First, Payton missed a half-open 3-pointer from Iguodala, but the Wizards seized the opportunity to counterattack, opening the lead to 4 points at 21:17.

Immediately afterwards, another mistake occurred in the pick-and-roll between Lin Dong and Sakuragi. Sakuragi was entangled by Tyronn Lue and walked around half of the court with great difficulty to get rid of it. However, the time to rush over to seize the position was already a step too late and he had not yet stopped. He collided with Jordan first and moved the screen properly. Not only did he get a foul, but he also wasted a solid 3-pointer by Lin Dong.

The ball changed again, and Dayao quickly attacked Pedrague under the basket. At 23:17, the point difference continued to widen, and what's more terrible is that Sakuragi had committed two fouls in a single quarter.

For protection, McMillan replaced Sakuragi and replaced him with Desmond.

The Wizards immediately adjusted their defense. Tyronn Lue put it back to guard Iguodala, and Harrington found Desmond.

It's even harder to hit now.

Desmond could not provide any effective help to the team on the offensive end. His cooperation with Lin Dong and Payton seemed a bit inconsistent, and he did not have the ability to shoot from the outside. He was eager to make contributions after coming up, relying on Lin Dong Attracting Harrington and Jordan, he was freed up, so he rushed inside and tried to hit one, but he got a big hit from Yao Ming.

On the defensive end, he is no match for the misplaced Harrington. Although Desmond is a forward, he is only a small forward. His skills at the 4th position are only superficial to him. When encountering Harrington at the 4th position, A master who can perform at a quasi-All-Star level suddenly appeared to be full of loopholes. Just one post-up move left Desmond helpless, let alone Harrington's outside three-pointer.

And Harrington alone can't defend it, and it's even more impossible to attack Yao Ming inside. Now, let alone fighting for the initiative inside, Yao Ming is even allowed to play comfortably under the basket. No more consumption.

In the past few rounds after Hanamichi Sakuragi, Harrington executed the Wizards' last three attacks in the first quarter. He scored 7 points in a row with 2 back-ups and 1 3-pointer. On the SuperSonics side, Dong Lin scored two consecutive points. Jordan alone hit two 3-pointers, setting the score in the first quarter at 30:23.

Take a short 5 minute break.

The home team was in the lead and the atmosphere was electric, with loud music, cheerleaders dancing and fans cheering.

Unlike the relaxed atmosphere on the Wizards' side, the atmosphere on the Sonics' side seemed somewhat solemn.

Not to mention the troubles on the offensive end, if Payton's physical strength is not considered, the combination of Lin Dong and Payton can barely cope.

The key is that the trouble lies on the defensive end.

Even though Artest's own offensive ability is relatively weak and Jordan has not yet let go of the offensive mode, the Wizards still have Yao Ming at the basket and Harrington and Tyronn Lue on the outside. The combination of these three points allows the main Payton, the core of the defense, is completely out of consideration.

Previously, the main focus was on the flanking rotation, which was to use Sakuragi's flexibility and physical strength to not only defend Harrington, but also form a containment and flanking attack on Yao Ming. Even if the defensive effect was not good enough, it could greatly weaken Yao Ming's physical strength.

Yes, the SuperSonics' physical problem is actually also a problem with the Wizards' big man. His physical strength is not very good either.

But now the flanking tactic has been proven to be ineffective. If Sakuragi flanks Yao Ming, Yao Ming will distribute the ball to the outside. Harrington and Tyronn Lue can kill the Sonics, but Sakuragi will choose to lock Harrington and Yao Ming. The famous player Pedrague doesn't take much effort. After all, their strength is too far apart. Judging from their posture, they may not be able to sweat much even after playing for four quarters.

This has greatly reduced Sonics' options.

All McMillan can think of is to give up Pedrague, give up the inside, and completely switch to a five-small lineup to play the most primitive rotation defense and fight for steals.

That can solve some problems, at least it can release one more outside firepower to relieve offensive pressure, but the problem is that the fault tolerance rate is also lower, and the inside line is equivalent to completely giving up. No one cares about Yao Ming, that guy waits until fourth I'm afraid I can still be alive and kicking during the festival.

"We don't have to rotate anymore. We can't deal with the Wizards' mismatch. It's not very useful. It consumes more of our own energy. We switch to man-to-man and press the whole court. I'll guard Harrington." Lin Dong said: " Sakuragi, go and guard against Yao Ming alone."

Everyone was startled when they heard this.

This is the simplest and primitive way, but it has two major problems.

First, Sakuragi does not have the ability to defend Yao Ming alone. First of all, the height and wingspan of the two are too different. The difference in height alone is a full 22 centimeters, which makes Sakuragi's best defense in front of him directly ineffective.

In terms of strength, although Sakuragi has extraordinary strength, it is possible to use the advantage of a lower center of gravity to push Yao Ming out of the paint area, but the problem is that Yao Ming has a small hook and a mid-range... It is impossible to control the position just by relying on strength. There is no way to restrain him.

Secondly, Lin Dong also has problems guarding Harrington alone. As a powerful center who can play at the 3rd and 4th positions, Harrington is powerful enough to compete with Sakuragi Hanamichi, and is much better than Lin Dong. If you want to defend the opponent alone, it will be a great test for Lin Dong's physical strength.

You know, Lin Dongke has a more important scoring task. For example, at the end of the first quarter, he relied on his two extension 3-pointers to control the difference between the two sides to single digits. Once the Sonics are inaccurate from outside, , all need to rely on Lin Dong's attack to break the deadlock.

At the same time, Lin Dong also needs to reserve his physical strength for the more important fourth quarter. After all, judging from Jordan's current state, the God of Basketball who is holding back will definitely have amazing explosive power in the fourth quarter. In addition to Payton's The defensive end keeps up with the outside, and Lin Dong has to complete the key ball handling when facing tighter blocking. Otherwise, when a ball is pulled away, it may be the difference between victory and defeat.

"I believe this guy, even if we can't guard Yao Ming, we won't suffer too much if we lose points in exchange for Yao Ming's physical strength. And I think with this guy's fantastic ideas, maybe there are problems we can't solve with him. Maybe I can find some way... As for me..."

"It's just about physical strength." Lin Dong smiled and joked with everyone: "It's just like that, there will always be crowding. I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Everyone laughed, but McMillan frowned.

Sakuragi defended Yao Ming alone, and lost points in exchange for Yao Ming's physical strength. This was no problem.

But to talk about Lin Dong's own physical problems, it would be a bit too casual.

He is very aware of Lin Dong's physical ability and limits. Although he is already a top-notch talent, he is only 19 years old after all. He is in a transitional stage where explosive power is better than endurance as a whole. This is the advantage of young people, but it is also the advantage of young people. disadvantages.

A tireless guy like Hanamichi Sakuragi is, after all, a special case among special cases. That guy's heart is unusual. Not only can it maintain a beating frequency of 200 beats per minute for more than 3 minutes, but it can also beat at 200 beats per minute under normal conditions. The ability of the heart to pump 32 liters of blood to the body...

This statistic not only ranks first in the current NBA league, but is probably one of the few in the entire history of world sports. You know, even the famous swimmer Feiyu Phelps, who is world-famous for his heart-pumping ability, has no more heart-pumping ability. It only provides 30 liters of blood to the body every minute, and only monsters like the ancient Chamberlain can compete with Sakuragi Hanamichi.

But Lin Dong can't. His heart pumping ability is only 26 liters of blood per minute, which is at the top of the NBA, but not yet at the top level.

McMillan could completely see Artest's all-out blockade on Lin Dong in the first quarter. It almost felt like the whole game was going to hang on Lin Dong.

With Lin Dong's hardware conditions, it is difficult enough to drag such a defensive warrior to play the entire game. If he is also asked to deal with a No. 4 position who is more than ten kilograms heavier than himself on the defensive end, it is simply impossible. It's not something that humans can do. I'm afraid even if I exchange Sakuragi Hanamichi's heart for him, it won't be possible!

But before McMillan could say anything, Lin Dong had already made another joke and shouted at Sakuragi Hanamichi: "I just heard them say you were a virgin, what's the matter?"

McMillan was startled. When he was talking about tactical arrangements, he suddenly brought up such a topic. Did Lin Dong not want to give him a chance to speak?

If it had been anyone else, McMillan would have cursed subconsciously, but this was Lin Dong.

Throughout the season, this guy never did anything nonsensical, and he almost never made any mistakes in the team's tactical choices. This reminded him involuntarily that the whole team followed Lin Dong to watch a certain TV series from the Oriental TV series some time ago. A famous line: This move must have deep meaning!

2

He was determined to fight this, and perhaps he thought he could do it on his own will.

Of course, there is another thing that McMillan is unwilling to admit, but it is already a fact and is engraved in his bones: Lin Dong is the small boss of the Sonics!

What happened to the coach? Is the coach bigger than the boss? The boss wants to make a joke and liven up the atmosphere when the whole team is tense. As a new coach, he is not at the same level as Popovich or Old K. How can he directly tell the boss, "Go away, MD" , listen to me first'?

OK, you are the boss and you are the biggest... first let’s see what you mean.

McMillan couldn't help but laugh as he thought about it.

However, Lin Dong's topic aroused the interest of the whole team. They all knew that everyone played a bit too depressed in the first quarter, so it would be good to be active now. As for Lin Dong's arrangement, he must have his reasons. Although everyone has a certain understanding of Lin Dong. It's still far from the point of blind trust, but after all, he has made no mistakes, and now he is the 'boss'. Even if you don't blindly trust him, there is always no argument for unconditional obedience.

So everyone simply let go and said happily: "Hahaha, I remember that Haruko stayed at this kid's house that night. It must have happened that night!"

"Yes, yes, it seems that Haruko went back to Japan in the afternoon the next day, right? Sakuragi?"

"I hate it! You people!" Sakuragi Hanamichi couldn't help but corrected: "No, it was at the airport the next day!"

Everyone originally just wanted to tease the little virgin casually and relieve the depressing atmosphere just now, but they didn't expect to hear such exciting news, and everyone couldn't help but open their mouths.

"Damn it, it's your first time at the airport? Is it so exciting?"

"Men's room? Women's room?"

"Did you pay attention to the safety measures, kid? Haruko is still in school."

Sakuragi's face was full of questions and he was confused about what he meant. Lin Dong reacted first and looked at this simple guy dumbfounded.

This guy didn't think he had gotten rid of the title of virgin just by kissing her, right?

However, there is no need to get to the bottom of this matter. I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere and change the topic of McMillan.

As for not explaining the specific reason to McMillan, it is really because it cannot be explained.

How do you explain the stamina potion?

From McMillan's point of view, the worry is indeed justified. It is impossible for him to defend a 115-kilogram No. 4 position, play the entire four quarters on the offensive end, and even conserve his energy to go to the fourth quarter and the fourth quarter. The God of Basketball singled out.

No one can do such a thing, not even the God of Basketball himself.

He could only rely on the stamina potion. Although it could only be used once in a month, which meant that after this bottle was used up, it would not be possible to use it a second time during the entire finals. But for this G1, Lin Dong felt it was worth it.

G1 of this round of the NBA Finals is too important for the Wizards. Not only is it their home court, but it also has overwhelming praise from all over the United States. The time is right, the place is right, and the Wizards have already taken all of it. This actually affects the two teams invisibly. His performance is just the confidence brought by the Sonics' consecutive defeats to the Lakers and Spurs, and this impact has not been clearly shown for the time being.

But if the Wizards win in G1, the morale will rise and fall in an instant, and the balance will be broken. By then, if the Sonics want to stop the Wizards' momentum, they will need to spend more effort than now. .

But if the Sonics win G1, it will not only greatly weaken the Wizards' desire to win, but also give Sakuragi more time to adapt to Dayao inside. Even if G2 loses, he will still be able to return to the SuperSonics home court. Lose morale, and then use the home court advantage to continue to suppress the Wizards.

Therefore, the significance of choosing to hold down the Wizards in this game is definitely better than any other game in this series except G7.

But now that the book strength cannot defeat the Wizards, they can only use some unconventional means.

Just fight hard!

"Boss." Lin Dong lowered his voice and said to Payton when he came on the field: "Jordan has been taking a walk. In comparison, your consumption is too much. Save your energy to block Jordan in the fourth quarter... Offensive end , give me the ball, and I will look for changes for the team!"

beep!

The referee blew the second quarter whistle.

The Wizards have maintained their previous main lineup, and now is the time when they are in full swing.

On the SuperSonics side, it is two up and two down, with Pedrague and Desmond at the bottom, Sakuragi Hanamichi and Brent at the top.

SuperSonics possession.

Seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi reappearing and Pedrague being taken down, I knew that the Sonics were going to give up their previous plan to flank Yao Ming.

Looking at this lineup, do you plan to play their five-small rotation defense in the regular season?

A faint smile appeared on Jordan's face. This was the tactic that the Wizards studied the most before the game. They had enough countermeasures and were not worried at all.

As for the offense...

I saw Sakuragi Hanamichi standing directly at a 45-degree angle on the right side of the penalty area.

This guy's habits are no longer a secret in the eyes of the league's teams. In addition to his offensive ability, his mid-range shooting at a 45-degree angle is the most stable.

But Tyronn Lue is too short, obviously unable to guard against this point, and after the Sonics played Pedrague, except for Sakuragi Hanamichi, the four outside players had completely opened up the space at this time, and the three-point arcs on the left and right sides Top and three-point corner.

Lin Dong, Brent, Iguodala and Payton, these four all have three-pointers. Even if Payton is slightly worse, he can definitely shoot in the open space. The Wizards dare not let any of them go.

They can only assume a zone defense posture, not daring to use Tyronn Lue to follow Sakuragi. At the same time, he pulls Yao Ming's position under the basket a little outside to cover Sakuragi Hanamichi's mid-range. At the same time, Artest Sturt separated from the zone defense and continued to press single defense against Lin Dong. After all, the entire league now knows that this guy has an unreasonable long-range 3-pointer, and his shooting rate is quite high. , you have to choose to stand near the 3-point line and wait for him to come over, which is no different from giving away points.

At this time, Payton had just passed the midline with the ball, but Artest was not even interested in looking over there. He focused all his attention on Lin Dong, his eyes shining with excitement.

In the first quarter, his defensive effect against Lin Dong was pretty good. Although he allowed the opponent to score three 3-pointers, they were almost all misplaced shots.

This is Lin Dong, the super scoring champion who scored 37.8 points in the regular season, but he was almost never blocked or out of position for 10 minutes. If you compare it to Kobe's performance when the SuperSonics played against the Lakers when he defended Lin Dong alone, You can understand how high your defensive value is.

Against a guy like Lin Dong, being able to defend like this is a success! It’s enough to make your worth skyrocket!

This made Artest very excited.

Since joining the league in 1999, it is now his fourth season. Although his previous statistics are pretty good, because the teams he joined before are not very good, there have never been representative battles enough for him to fight. Become famous.

Today, as long as he can restrain this Asian who can't even defend Kobe Bryant to a certain extent, and help Jordan win this year's championship, he can definitely become famous!

"Are you ready?"

Artest was thinking excitedly when he heard the Asian in front of him smile and say.

Artest's spirit was lifted. Is this a declaration of war? Is this guy going to attack hard in the second quarter?

That would be even better, because only Lin Dong's constant attacks can give him a chance to show his value!

"Come here, kid!" He responded with a sneer, but saw Lin Dong's eyes flashing slightly as if the pupils were focused.

Zone, open!

If you want Payton to take a break and challenge the entire Wizards team on your own, you won't be able to do it in a normal state.

Besides, there are only three quarters. Because a little more defense consumption will cost a bottle of stamina potion, which is too wasteful.

How about playing a big-ticket, three-quarter zone? !

The words teasing Artest were like a spell that opened up the state. The noisy Wizards scene suddenly became quiet in Lin Dong's ears, so much so that even Artest's words in response to him sounded strange to Lin Dong. It seemed like everything was half a beat too slow.

Not only did his conscious thoughts begin to run very fast under concentration, but his body at this time seemed to have opened some kind of limiter, becoming extremely transparent and comfortable, and a steady stream of energy poured out from deep in his bones. , filling his limbs and bones, making even his blood seem to have a trace of restless enthusiasm.

There is a flaw!

call!

Before Artest finished speaking, Lin Dong had already caught the moment when he was distracted while speaking, and his body suddenly started to move.

With one push of his strong thigh, he turned his body to the right at high speed. At the same time, his left leg crossed Artest's body and pinned his thigh. His left arm blocked the defender's left side. , firmly blocking Artest's entire body behind him.

Artest was startled and subconsciously kept up with his body movements, but at this time, the left path was blocked by Lin Dong's legs and arms, making it impossible for him to make an effective interception immediately.

Then comes the second step.

The strong thigh muscles were swollen as if they were inflated. Artest's right leg was pinned on his pivot foot, and his left leg turned around and kicked off suddenly, and the whole body was shot out with electricity.

Turning his back, changing position, getting rid of, and then starting to rush out, all the actions were so coherent that they seemed to happen in an instant, so much so that with Artest's defensive reaction, by the time Lin Dong took the second step, his... Bian barely caught up with the first step, and the defense that was originally pressing closely was directly thrown at least half a body away by Lin Dong.

At this time, Lin Dong's direction was to go straight to the basket, and Payton in front had already understood it. He made a ground pass with a predicted landing point. When Lin Dong rushed over, the basketball just bounced off the ground. You don't even have to bend down to have the ball in your hand.

The Wizards were obviously shocked by Lin Dong's sudden outburst, but at this time Tyronn Lue and Harrington were in the corners on both sides, and Jordan was at the top of the three-point arc on the right side. It was obviously too late to double-team him. , not to mention preventing Lin Dong from passing the ball to the outside.

Fortunately, there is another big killer in the paint, Yao Ming!

Dayao stood firm and looked directly at Lin Dong. The two top picks from the Dragon Kingdom could see the strong fighting spirit in each other's eyes.

Pull-up jump shot? Or force the ball to the basket? Or give the ball to Sakuragi?

Faced with Lin Dong's three possible choices, Yao Ming immediately took a diagonal step to the right, pushed slightly out, and at the same time raised his right hand high.

A layman looks at the excitement, an expert looks at the door.

The biggest advantage of being taller is that you can have a higher fault tolerance rate when defending.

If you are as tall as the opponent, you have to jump up to prevent a pull-up jump shot or a hard attack to the basket. But Yao doesn't need to. He can block most people with just a slight step of his feet, even if he faces Lin Dong's jumping ability only requires him to make a small temporary jump to achieve the effect, which gives you plenty of defensive options.

At this time, Dayao's positioning made McMillan feel numb, and his defensive power and experience could be seen at a glance.

If Lin Dong makes a sudden stop for a jump shot, Dayao only needs to take one step forward. If Lin Dong chooses to force the basket, Dayao only needs to take a step back. Even if he chooses to pass to Sakuragi Hanamichi, Dayao only needs to turn. It's just a person, and at the same time, he uses his height to create a great sense of oppression for Lin Dong. It can be said that he takes the biggest initiative on the defensive side.

But at this time, facing the pressure of Yao Ming's 226 centimeter body, Lin Dong's speed did not slow down at this time. There was no intention of shrinking in his eyes. He crossed the free throw line and immediately joined the ball, and then rushed forward with two strides. , followed by a step on the ground, jumping high to meet Dayao, full of impact!

At such a height, it was impossible to defend just by raising his hands. Yao Ming subconsciously wanted to take off, but before he could jump, Lin Dong's right hand holding the ball suddenly pulled in the direction of Sakuragi Hanamichi.

It's a pass!

A look of urgency flashed in Yao Ming's eyes. While he was glad that he hadn't jumped yet, he hurriedly pulled his center of gravity in the direction of Sakuragi Hanamichi.

But in this flash of lightning when the center of gravity had just been lifted, the right hand that was pulled out actually grabbed the ball with one hand and took it back.

A flash of surprise flashed in Yao Ming's eyes, but it was too late to block the ball at this time. Let alone blocking, his center of gravity had been stretched away, making it impossible for him to even stand under the basket and raise his hands to block it. no.

cheated...

boom!

A powerful and violent dunk.

The basket buzzed and vibrated, and the arena was silent. Lin Dong, who landed on the ground, smiled at Dayao, who looked complicated, and turned to defend. At the same time, he did not forget to look at Artest, who was looking annoyed.

"You're too close, brother." Lin Dong smiled and said, "I can't help but think about you. I'm sorry."