All-round Athlete

Chapter 914

Zhang Guan's super triple-double shocked the entire NBA. At this time, everyone suddenly discovered that Zhang Guan can not only score, but also pass the ball like a point guard, help opponents score, and even grab a dozen rebounds.

There is no shortage of scorers in the NBA. If there are enough ball possessions and enough playing time, many role players can easily score 20 to 30 points, and some "wave shooter" players can even score as high as 40 points. . But in the NBA, there are very few players who can help teammates score.

Prior to this, many people in the league regarded Zhang Guan as a super scorer who was good at scoring, like Kobe Bryant. After this game, people realized that Zhang Guan was much more terrifying than imagined. Everyone thought that everything would be fine if they could only limit Zhang Guan's scoring, but now it seems that it is far from enough to limit Zhang Guan's scoring, and it is also necessary to limit Zhang Guan's passing. And this is basically an impossible task, no player has this ability.

And the ones who feel the most headache are obviously the opponents in Los Angeles. They don't know how to defend Zhang Guan at all.

On March 7, local time in the United States, the Lakers came to Denver in the Colorado Plateau to challenge the Nuggets away.

The final score was that the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 126 to 114 with a 12-point advantage.

This Nuggets team lacks the ability to score inside. They mainly rely on Lawson. As long as Lawson is restricted, the Nuggets are equivalent to abolishing more than half. And Lawson is the kind of player who is not stable enough. When he is in good form, he is as fierce as a tiger, and all kinds of large double-doubles fly up; This kind of player can basically only be deflated when encountering that kind of strong defender.

The away game against the Nuggets can only be regarded as an appetizer for the Lakers, and after returning home, the Lakers have ushered in a real challenge. In the next four games, two games against the Thunder and two games against the Spurs!

Before visiting Los Angeles, the Thunder had just lost to the Phoenix Suns, and their ranking in the Western Conference was also surpassed by the Spurs, becoming the second in the Western Conference. However, they have more games ahead of the third-placed Clippers. Judging from the current situation, it is impossible to fall out of the top two.

In terms of team personnel, Westbrook has returned from injury and is in good condition. In recent games, he has become a "triple-double man". However, the Thunder's starting center Perkins and Sefolosha after starting were both injured. The Thunder can only let the first-year freshman Adams replace Perkins and appear at the center position.

From the perspective of later generations, Adams is a very good inside player, and he can definitely take on the starting position, but now Adams is much younger. In the interior of the Thunder, veteran Collison and last rookie Perry-Jones will get more performance opportunities than Adams.

Perry Jones occupies another starting position. This is also the new lineup that Thunder coach Scott Brooks experimented with after Sefolosha was injured. He let Perry Jones partner Adams as the inside, and Ibaka played At small forward, Durant played at shooting guard. The current starting lineup has played a total of three games, and the Thunder's record is two wins and one loss.

The Thunder is considered a tall lineup, Adams is 2.13 meters, Perry Jones is 2.11 meters, Ibaka is 2.08 meters, and Durant's real height is not much to say.

The Lakers still have a big and four small lineup. Except for Gasol, the other four are all small.

Facts have proved that the Thunder's formation is a failure.

The popular trend in the NBA is to play small ball, so there must be some reason. In the future NBA, the small ball style will prevail. The last group of big men, who run slowly and can't shoot three-pointers, will be hanged and beaten in all likelihood.

Coach Brooks' changes had the opposite effect. A player with outstanding athletic talent like Perry Jones was better, and Adams had to turn back and run.

...

Westbrook's shooting rate today is relatively average. He only hit one of four three-pointers. However, in terms of defense, Westbrook is still working hard, especially when he faces Zhang Guan, he is even more motivated.

Since the shooting percentage was not high, Westbrook simply turned into Beverly and gave up all scoring and assists. He just clung to Zhang Guan desperately. No matter whether Zhang Guan had the ball or not, Westbrook would pounce on him.

"Come on! With me here, no matter if you are breaking through or shooting three-pointers, you will never score easily! I am not the Westbrook four years ago!" Westbrook was extremely focused and did not want to give Zhang Guan any points. Opportunity.

"Swoosh!" Zhang Guan passed the ball to the basket.

I saw Gasol take the ball, faked his move, walked around Adams, and then went straight to the basket. But the energetic Perry Jones rushed over, which was an irrational foul.

"Beep!" The whistle sounded, the ball was scored, and a penalty was added.

Durant shook his head helplessly. Compared with the old and cunning Gasol, Adams is still too tender.

But Westbrook looked at Zhang Guan unwillingly. He thought that Zhang Guan would play one-on-one singles like the World Championships in Turkey four years ago, but he didn't expect Zhang Guan to pass the ball directly.

The Thunder attacked, Ibaka made a mid-range shot, and when Zhang Guan held the ball again, Westbrook rushed over again.

Zhang Guan made a breakthrough feint and passed the ball to Gasol again for an assist.

"Pass the ball again! Zhang Guan is completely different from four years ago. Zhang Guan four years ago was a scoring machine. He rarely passed the ball. Now Zhang Guan is addicted to passing the ball?" Westbrook I thought to myself.

In the World Championships four years ago, Zhang Guan didn't have a few trusted teammates at all. Instead of passing the ball, he had a higher chance of scoring a shot. But now it's different, this is the NBA, even the worst players are stronger than the national team's starters, not to mention there are stars like Gasol, and excellent players like Meeks and Nezmore role player.

Now, Adams of the Thunder is obviously a loophole in the game, and Zhang Guan will certainly not miss this good opportunity.

...

Westbrook pestered Zhang Guan throughout the game, and the Thunder's offense and organization responsibility fell to Durant.

Durant's shooting percentage can only be regarded as qualified, but the hand of free throws does not feel good. He made 8 of 19 shots and 7 of 11 free throws. He scored 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, a triple-double.

Ibaka also scored 21 points and 8 rebounds. In addition, the Thunder scored the most points when Reggie Jackson was on the bench. As for Westbrook, he has been entangled with Zhang Guan, and it is almost impossible to talk about scoring and assists. Instead, he scored 10 rebounds, which was the highest in the Thunder team.

For the Lakers, Gasol scored a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Meeks made 4 of 6 three-pointers and made 10 of 10 free throws. He also scored 28 points. Bazemore once again played the role of the bench bandit. And Zhang Guan only scored 18 points today, but contributed 15 assists, which is considered a standard point guard data.

In the end, the score between the two sides was that the Thunder lost to the Lakers 106 to 114. The Lakers continued their winning streak, while the Thunder ushered in a two-game losing streak.

Counting the Thunder's defeat in this game, the main reason is not actually the players. The biggest blame should be on the head coach Brooks. With the trend of small balls becoming more and more popular, and facing a running and bombing master like D'Antoni, Brooks made up this lineup of four big players and one small team, and he was naturally blown away by one big and four small players.

It's no problem for Westbrook to guard Zhang Guan with all his strength. Westbrook's defense is as strong as his offense; Durant does the work of two people alone, which is no problem, he already has this ability.

There is no problem with Adams appearing at the starting center. Adams is a good insider. All he needs is some experience. And Ibaka is a good candidate.

Ibaka can be regarded as the inside pillar of the Thunder. In order to renew Ibaka's contract, the Thunder even gave up Harden, which is enough to reflect the value of Ibaka to the Thunder. Today, coach Brooks used a trick. He didn't let Ibaka partner with Adams, but chose Perry Jones. Perhaps in the view of Coach Brooks, Adams and Jones, one tall and strong, the other with excellent athletic ability, just complement each other.

But the final result was that both Adams and Jones became a burden to the Thunder, completely beaten by Gasol, unable to play their due role. Although Gasol has always been said to be a soft guy, he is top-notch in terms of experience, golf quotient, and awareness. Perhaps facing that kind of tough insider, he really does not dare to be confrontational, but it is more than enough to bully rookies , especially a first-year freshman like Adams, who is also a white player, has the most appetite for Gasol.

After the game, many sports commentators also thought Coach Brooks' formation was a foolish move. Fortunately, the Thunder's record is good enough, and they have a lot of opportunities to try a new lineup.

...

Although the Lakers won the game, the whole team knew that this was only the first round of the contest between the two sides. This time it was the Lakers' home court, but in the next game, the Lakers will go to the Thunder's home court and continue to fight against the Thunder. Carry out the second round of the contest.

On March 13, local time in the United States, the Lakers came to Oklahoma City to challenge the Thunder away.

This time, Coach Brooks finally didn't continue to stick to his "big four and one small" lineup. He chose a change, and Perry Jones returned to the bench.

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