Build a Dream Dynasty

Losing a preseason game is nothing to the Nets. After all, the team is still in the running-in period, and the playing time of the main players is restricted, and even George did not appear in the game. But then facing the 76ers and the Knicks, the Nets lost consecutively and ushered in a three-game losing streak in the preseason, which gave the fans an ominous premonition.

Don't underestimate the preseason game. The beginning of the downturn of many dynasty teams is that the preseason game was not played well. This is especially true when the lineup of the Nets has undergone major changes, and this kind of problem is more likely to occur. Many net fans' initial efforts to "overturn the entire league with the Big Four" have now faded away. At least you have to win the Big Four first. play football?

However, Jiang Mingliang saw the team's current predicament and was not in a hurry. He is very concerned about the game. The problems displayed by the Nets in the game are not so much due to the lack of cooperation caused by personnel changes. Psychological slack may be more serious. It's not that the players don't work hard and don't want to strive for more honors. Rather, it is inevitable that in some seemingly insignificant games, their fighting spirit and desire to survive are really not that strong.

From this point of view, Jiang Mingliang made the right decision to change the team to a certain extent in time. After all, George and Joe Johnson have not yet won a championship. They have a kind of expectation for the continuation of the strength of the Nets. This expectation will make them maintain a more vigorous fighting spirit, which will affect their teammates.

In the fourth preseason game of the season, the Nets ushered in the challenge of the Milwaukee Bucks, which has the strength to challenge them in the playoffs. This offseason, the strength of the Bucks has improved, not only in the second Added jr Smith, added a breaking point, and continued to strengthen the already weak bench lineup, French magician Boris Dior, super shooter Kyle Korver, and all-star McGee below the neck Joining, the team's lineup is more balanced. The more obvious improvement is the muscles and coordination of the team's core Antetokounmpo. This new star who just played last season was completely locked by Leonard in the playoffs. He has obviously become stronger again. Judging from the past few preseason games, the speed of straight-line burst pushes and counterattacks may have declined slightly, but the destructive power of the inside seems to have increased significantly. Their competitiveness this season should be no less than that of the Cavaliers.

In this game, George and Yi Jianlian, who had been out for a long time, entered the starting list of the game, replacing Royce O'Neal and Landry. It is not uncommon for George to enter the starting lineup, but the adjustment of Yi Jianlian to replace Landry is beyond many people's expectations, because Landry's performance in the past few games is not bad, and he can grasp the opportunities created by Curry and Leonard , hit some shots, and Landry was also very active in the game, frequently doing pick-and-rolls for his teammates, it seems that the effect of integrating into the team is still good.

However, in addition to the statistical performance, Landry still exposed a lot of problems. The first is the expected defensive end. Landry's state is that he can't stand up to taller and stronger players, and he can't defend against space-type insiders. He plays hard, but that's the way it is, he's terrible defensively. On the offensive end, in addition to his barely stable mid-range shooting, Landry's ability to make a living in the interior has also declined significantly. With Curry's strong restraint, he withdrew from the defense of the opponent's penalty area. In the next three games, he scored two goals in the three-second zone and grabbed an offensive rebound.

Experts look at the doorway, and basically anyone can see that the power forward position will become the Achilles' heel of the Nets in the new season. It depends on how much Yi Jianlian can fill. At least in the Olympic games, people still have a little bit of expectation for him.

However, the NBA and Fiba are completely two competition systems. From the beginning of the game, Antetokounmpo showed his dominance over the Nets' penalty area, forcing Yi Jianlian to score a layup.

Although he failed to hold Brother Antetokounmpo, Yi Jianlian's defensive position and habits are not a problem. At least this time, the defense is in place, and no points will be deducted.

The Big Four assembled, and the Nets were also quite perverted in terms of offensive power. Returning to the second position, George singled JR Smith with a back and hit a jumper to equalize the score for the team. When returning to defense, George held up his No. 13 jersey with his thumb, and his expression was very arrogant.

George has always been a very polarized person. As a superstar, his strength need not be repeated, but his outside style of play has a hit rate higher than the average level of the league. He is super accurate and scary at the same time. He is clean on the defensive end, and has a good relationship with most players in terms of personality, but he was able to designate the Lakers as his next home, and other teams would not renew their contracts in trades. This offended most of the fans, and turned around to the Nets. , directly called the Nets "home", and offended the Lakers.

The Bucks attacked, and Paul handed the ball to Middleton, the team's most reliable outside single, and then the team opened up space to create a chance for Middleton to single Leonard. Middleton topped two He couldn't find the space to shoot at all, so he had to throw the ball to Brother Antetokounmpo who came up to meet him.

This season, from the second position to the third position, Middleton's physical advantage has been weakened a lot, and his speed is not fast in the small forward position. The wing combination of Leonard and George is really powerless.

To be honest, even James and Durant will have a headache facing the wing combination of the Nets.

Yi Jianlian protected the rebound, handed the ball to Curry immediately, and then did not run forward immediately, but stayed near the center line to catch Curry's pass, easily breaking the Bucks' attack on Curry. Frontcourt flanking, this is also what Landry failed to do in the previous few games.

In the opening stage, although Yi Jianlian's performance was not outstanding, it was still qualified overall. The defensive rate is high, the offensive end knows what to do, and George's return has driven the Nets to perform better on the offensive end. The Nets gained an advantage at the beginning and entered the first official game with 19:14. pause.

After returning from the timeout, the Nets replaced the starting five as usual. Van Vleet, Joe Johnson, Robertson, West, and Wood appeared on the field. He has learned a lot, and Robertson, who has all his skills on the defensive end, can be used as a functional player, and he can play his role. Not only can he help Joe Johnson and Van Vleet defend the number one attack point on the opposite perimeter, but also help them defend. The inside line does not even suffer, and it is not bad to use, but how to play his role and weaken his incompetence on the offensive end is a headache for the coaching staff.

This is also the reason why Stevens chose to use Robertson with Joe Johnson instead of Royce O'Neal who is more adaptable to the team in this game. For the head coach, more preseason games should be used for training. If it weren't for the respect for the fans on the scene and the protection of the team's commercial value, he would even have plans to rotate Curry.

After the main lineup returned to the court in the second quarter, the Nets even directly used Robertson as a power forward to directly target Antetokounmpo. Flexibility does not fall behind. Although he suffers in terms of strength, the overall defensive effect is not bad, which once suppressed Antetokounmpo's offensive performance.

However, on the defensive end, Antetokounmpo, who is mainly responsible for man-marking Robertson, has completed an even more abnormal job of assisting the defense. Facing the pick-and-roll of the Nets, the Bucks resolutely chose to go around the screen and chase the defender. Brother to fix it. And Antetokounmpo's replacement is really good, he can rely on his up and down coverage to improve the team's help defense rate.

If it is an ordinary opponent, it will be really uncomfortable to face the defensive system of the Bucks, but after all, the Nets have Curry, the player who can use space the most in the league. After all, there are two players with strong singles ability. The All-Star wing, the lineup of the Big Four, even if there is not enough running-in on the offensive end, they all have a great offensive threat, not to mention that Curry, George, and Leonard are all players with high off-ball ability. Still can't resist.

In front of the TV, Jiang Mingliang watched the performance of the Nets, and he could only say that he had mixed feelings. The Big Four are all on the stage, and the team's combat effectiveness is obviously stronger than the top team Bucks, which once again confirms the Nets' unique strength in today's league. But just watching the game, it can be seen that without Green, the team's offensive system has changed significantly. After this period of time, it has not been fully adjusted. In many cases, the offensive choice is still very simple. If this continues, the team is still very good. Tired, and the effect is not necessarily good.

Of course, as far as the reaction of the fans is concerned, compared with last season's lineup, they prefer the current Big Four team building model. New York is a place where not only exciting games are watched, but also exciting gimmicks. Stimulating ticket sales is indeed a good effect. Especially George has a very high popularity in East Rutherford. Many old fans who started to pursue the team from the "New Jersey Nets" have rekindled their pursuit of the Nets this season.

The dominance is not there, and the scene is not as good-looking as it is to beat the opponent at every turn? Well, after a perfect season of 74 wins and 8 losses, maybe watching more intense games to stimulate adrenaline is more exciting for fans.