Chapter 12 [The team first, then the individual]
The game continued, the Timberwolves still played a pick-and-roll, the defender failed to break through and passed to Garnett, and the players pulled away.
It is impossible for a group of people to form a team temporarily, and it is impossible to play a very subtle tactical coordination. The comparison is the individual ability of the players.
After a few passes, Charles missed a jumper under interference and the rebound was taken by Richkin. Richkin was a standing center center who stayed near the paint almost uniformly. Although he moves slowly, he is very effective at defending the restricted area. At 218CM, he does not need to jump to interfere and control the rebound.
This time the SuperSonics failed to play a fast break, and the Timberwolves players' back defense was very fast.
Thomas Jones' task is to keep an eye on Yang Jian. On the offensive end, he only stands on the perimeter, symbolically waiting for a chance to catch the ball. Even if the ball is really passed, he won't shoot because he can't make it.
After a positional battle, the supersonic attack will not be so smooth.
Snow has neither speed nor basket. He played the pick-and-roll, and Garnett waited for the guard near the paint, completely ignoring the blue-collar Scheffler who pulled out. Scheffler has no range, and can only shoot at the basket if he wants to score.
Only Yang Jian and Sherrell can make three-pointers for the SuperSonics. They can only make three-pointers. If the opponent shrinks near the penalty area, it is not easy to play.
At this time, the team needs a strong offensive point with the ball. Sherrell singles with the ball against Davis, who is also 201CM tall. He runs a two-step pull-up jumper and misses under the interference, and the rebound is taken by Garnett.
Bob Weiss shook his head lightly on the sidelines, instructing Sherrell to pass the ball if he couldn't break through, and try not to make jumpers outside the penalty area, but he still shot. Sherrell's mid-range shot is not efficient at all, and his hit rate is less than 40%.
The Timberwolves attacked. Garnett singled Scheffler on the left side of the penalty area. He turned a jumper and missed the physical confrontation and interference. Sherrell got the rebound.
The Sonics' roster is clearly flawed, and the Timberwolves' roster is just as bad. Of the five players on the field, only Garnett can shoot the ball correctly, and the others can only be effective if they get shots near the penalty area.
In the summer league, rookies peck each other, and inside players with advantages in height and weight are more likely to play their strengths. They can make driving perimeter players very uncomfortable, and there are very few players who are good at shooting 3-pointers, despite the shortened 3-point line in the NBA.
Three more rounds were quickly played, with neither side scoring. There are no tricks in the supersonic drop positional battle, and the tactics are also only pick-and-rolls and air cuts. Yang Jian has become low-key.
Yang Jian's "three axes" have already been used, and under the targeted defense of the opponent, there is no easy chance to shoot.
Yang Jian was always followed outside the three-point line, and his teammates did not pass him the ball. This time, he first moved from the bottom line on the right to the top line, then ran to the left and made a circle, looked for Richkin's off-ball cover on the left, and slipped the bottom line to make an empty cut.
He managed to get out of Thomas's entanglement with speed, and Snow saw the opportunity to pass the ball over. Garnett and center Eric both huddled near the penalty area, and when they saw Yang Jian had the ball, they immediately retreated to the basket to prepare to block.
In this case, if Yang Jian makes a shot, he must use a difficult lever for a layup or a direct dunk.
He felt that shooting was not a good choice and decided to pass the ball.
"The big guys are all under the basket, and I'm attracting a double team. There must be teammates that are free... Where's the guy?"
At this moment, he suddenly understood what the "spirit" attribute was about. His mental attributes are very poor, his vision is not wide enough, and he can't find anyone when he wants to score the ball. He didn't take off, he protected the basketball under the basket, and when he saw his teammates who were moving in response, he passed the ball to the past, which had already delayed the fighter.
Scheffler, who cut in the middle, caught the ball and made a layup, missed by Garnett's interference, and the rebound was grabbed by Eric.
Garnett's defensive range is huge, and he will definitely get some solid playing time in the new season. It doesn't matter if he's not underweight, and it doesn't matter if he suffers from losses. He can play in the help defense and single defense of perimeter players.
The Timberwolves attacked. Charles and Garnett made a pull-up jumper after a pick-and-roll. Snow chased the defense a little slower and couldn't interfere, and the ball was scored. 9 to 4.
The audience only gave the Timberwolves players sporadic applause. They didn't play well and couldn't find any bright spots.
With the Supersonic attack, Thomas's defense against Yang Jian was even tighter. Moreover, the three Timberwolves players with a height of more than two meters all shrunk to the penalty area to prevent breakthroughs and empty cuts, and intentionally let the supersonic players shoot.
Seeing that a group of people surrounded the penalty area, Yang Jian stopped cutting empty and stood outside the three-point line waiting for a chance.
He can't just join in the fun, basketball isn't like that. Now the person with the strongest three-pointer ability in the team is him. It is useless for him to rush in to attract a double team. Who will it be passed to? The teammates also wanted to rush to the penalty area, but Snow couldn't make three-pointers at all.
"The team first, then the individual." Yang Jian remembered what his agent Oldman had told him before departure.
Being in the limelight depends on the occasion, and summer league is such a special occasion. This is where the players who did not get the contract work hard. For Yang Jian, even if Garnett is detained, it does not make much sense.
There is no broadcast of the summer league. No matter how beautiful his deductions are, only the people on the scene know this. Without the video, the news will not spread, and he will not greatly increase his popularity. If he fails the dunk and is blocked, there is a risk of injury and the loss outweighs the gain. If he does, he is not playing according to the tactics arranged by the coach, and it seems that he is not enough for the team.
Yang Jian's mental age is much more mature than his current age, and he knows how to show his best side. He resisted the urge to score and created opportunities for his teammates to open up the space.
After 8 minutes of playing, Yang Jian was replaced to rest. He started with nine points and no more points, no assists, only a backcourt rebound.
Weiss was very satisfied with Yang Jian's performance and affirmed his style of play. "You did a good job, that's how the positional battle is."
The coaches' impression of Yang Jian is getting better and better, and they firmly believe that he is the talent the team needs.
Weiss believes that Yang Jian is not only capable, but also a smart newcomer who is willing to obey tactical arrangements. He will not be blindly confident because of his outstanding physical fitness, which is rare for young people.
In the NBA, players who have conflicts with their coaches abound. Especially for some black players with good physical fitness, if they don't get too much ball rights, they will feel that they are underappreciated, and they often play indiscriminately on the court. Some famous stars are also in this style, and the coach can't control it, because their reputation is far better than the coach.
Moreover, Yang Jian also did a great job on the defensive end, limiting the players who played against him, and neither of them scored a single point.
On the other hand, Sherrell's performance disappointed the coach. He was just playing around, scoring 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting. He only made one drive, and the layup was so bad that Garnett's assist defense blocked.
It's not easy for the Sonics to trade Sherrell out, and other teams probably don't like it. He and Timberwolves' second-round pick Mark Davis didn't have the slightest advantage. Davis also scored 2 points, 1-of-2 from the field.
The more embarrassing thing happened after the substitution, the backup striker Byron Houston scored consecutive singles, and quickly helped the SuperSonics expand their lead to double digits.
Houston was a 27-year-old rookie in the first round in 1992. He is 25 years old this year and was on the fringes of the SuperSonics last season. He is only 196cm tall and weighs an astonishing 113kg. He is a striker who is good at back play.
He was a high draft pick that year because people thought he was a bit like "Flying Pig" Barkley. But he is just like in size and style of play, his impact is generally not flying, and his scoring ability is far worse than that of Barkley.
Houston's hallmark is that it's unusually brave when faced with players far less powerful than it is, and can use its ass to open opponents and drive to the basket to score. It's a pity that his shooting is poor, his core ability is insufficient, and he is not good as a role player. If he does not participate in the summer league to prove himself, 80% will be unemployed.
Lithuanian center Julius Zukoskas came on as a substitute and the situation was even more difficult. He can only participate in defense, and the offensive end follows his teammates to run back and forth, and his teammates do not pass the ball to him.
He didn't communicate well with his teammates, and he didn't play with the three who had practiced. Substitute players do not know the technical characteristics of this European big man, who is willing to pass the ball to him? He can only be a blue-collar player. If he wants to score and grab offensive rebounds by himself, that's not his strength.
In Julius, Yang Jian saw discrimination against foreign players in the NBA. Julius is very helpless on the court, and he can't play with his skills. On the defensive end, he has to deal with a black center who is stronger than himself.
He definitely won't be able to stay, and returning to play in Europe may not be a bad thing for him. Remaining in the NBA, he would soon lose confidence.