Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

The regular season of this season has concluded, and the entire league has entered the annual honor harvest season.

The top five data kings rely on data to speak for themselves. This point is firmly locked and no one can come back. And poor Malone was ready to kill O'Neal in the next few days.

As for other awards such as regular season MVP, first-team defense, best rookie, best sixth man, etc., they will be announced during the playoffs. Although these also depend on data, they are ultimately determined by media reporters and professional ball commentators. Members vote, with great uncertainty.

Malone lost the scoring title, so he naturally wanted to compete for the MVP. However, this competition will be much more difficult than the scoring title, because there are so many competitors, such as Jordan, Olajuwon, Robinson, and even O'Neal. Fight for it, after all, the Magic have made a huge jump in the Eastern Conference rankings this season.

However, if we really want to talk about the most likely option, the answer given by Ma Long is Li Shengli.

You have to know the changes in the Jazz after Li Shengli joined. Even a blind person can see it. They were a strong team before, but they were only ranked in the middle of the Western Conference. They failed to make a run every year. After that... last season's championship, this season's Western Conference rankings First, the jump in strength is more terrifying than that of the Magic, because the Magic only reached the middle of the East from the edge of the East, but the Jazz reached the top from the middle of the middle.

However, these things are no longer decided by the players. Everyone has set their sights on the playoffs that are about to start this season. The Jazz's playoff schedule has also been released. In the first round, they will face the eighth-ranked Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference. .

The game against the Bulls is on April 24, and the first game of the first round of the playoffs is on April 28. There are four days in between. It is not a rush or an easy one. Fortunately, according to the first round 221 format, The first two home games are played by the Jazz, so there is plenty of room for preparation.

The only bad news is... Stockton's shoulder injury is more serious than expected. He will definitely not be able to play in the playoffs, and the Jazz's playoff journey is destined to be more difficult than last season.

…

The night of the 28th.

The opponent Denver Nuggets went to Salt Lake City on the second day after finishing the regular season, and the Jazz players who had been preparing for several days finally waited for the first game of the first round.

Bang bang bang!

In the locker room, Jerry Sloan, as the coach, clapped his hands to signal the players to start a pre-game meeting, while Li Shengli and Malone gathered people together, waiting for Sloan to speak.

"Guys, everyone is playing very well this season, but the regular season is the regular season and the playoffs are the playoffs. The first place in the regular season does not mean the championship. I hope everyone can cheer up, because This will be our second championship run in the history of our team!”

"It's a pity that John didn't play in any playoff games, but it doesn't matter. I want to see each of you doing your job well. And... our opponent today is Nuggets, even if they are eighth and we are first, don't let up."

"Now, my request is very simple. No matter which round it is, we cannot lose at home, not even a game, starting today!"

It is appropriate for patrons to compete for customers.

Looking at all NBA games, the winning rate at home is greater than that at away. There are many influencing factors. The advantage of the Jazz as the number one in the Western Conference is that they will have one more home game than their opponents in each round, and as long as they are undefeated at home , the chance of making it out of the series will naturally be greater.

As for the Jazz's main starting lineup today, there is still no change. Li Shengli and Malone are still inside, and the trio of Crotty, Tyrone, and Bond are responsible for auxiliary attack and peripheral defense.

When Stockton was still there, in addition to Li Shengli and Malone, there were not too few shots in the other three positions, because Stockton could always pass the ball to the most suitable person to take the shot, but he is not here... Jazz It has become an absolutely typical team that is strong internally and weak externally. It is invincible in the league compared to the inside team, but worse than a weak team compared to the outside team.

On the other hand, the internal and external comparison of the opponent Nuggets is much more balanced.

Center Mutombo and defensive center, this is the third season of his career, and he has averaged a double-double of 12+11.8 per game. Looking at these alone, there is nothing worth paying attention to, but what is surprising is... ... His average blocks per game is second behind Li Shengli, averaging 4.1 per game.

If you have to figure it out, Mutombo can't squeeze into the first echelon of centers, but he is top below the first echelon and is the Nuggets' inside guarantee.

As for the No. 4 assistant LaFonso Ellis assigned to him by the Nuggets, he was born in the same draft as Li Shengli and O'Neal. He was the fifth pick in the first round. He got 14.7+9.1 data in his rookie season. After partnering with Mutombo, both of their statistics have changed.

Mutombo's rebounds remained at 10+, but his points slowly decreased because Lafonso took on some of the shots; Lafonso's points increased slightly, but his average rebounds per game dropped because Mutombo took on more of the shots. Defensive tasks.

The combination of these two makes the Nuggets management very satisfied. Although it cannot compare with the Jazz's Li Shengli + Malone, nor can it compare with this season's new team of David Robinson + Rodman, but after two seasons Judging from the performance, no matter which team they compete with, the insiders will not suffer too much.

As for the Nuggets' backcourt players.

Chris Jackson is the leading scorer, followed by Bryant Stich and Thunder Williams, averaging 18 points, 12.5 points and 13 points per game respectively.

To be honest, when evaluating a player's strength, it doesn't mean much to just look at the player's score without looking at other data, but there is no doubt that this data intuitively reflects the Nuggets' peripheral firepower from the side.

The Nuggets' outside line is definitely not weak.

Speaking of which...the Bulls have the super giant Jordan, and the triangle offense is simple and crude. However, the Nuggets do not have such a big brother to lead the team. They can only follow the SuperSonics and make all five positions into firepower points. Fortunately, they really have the savings. They put together a good lineup, stumbled, and entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Moderate is not wrong, and the absence of super giants does not mean that there is no hope of winning, even if it is small.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the Nuggets locker room is solemn, far more tense than the Jazz locker room. The Jazz are thinking about the Nuggets, and the Nuggets are thinking about how to deal with the Jazz. And today's game...Mutom The task of Bo + Lafonso is too difficult, because they will face the two inside kings soon!

It's easy to win against the Jazz. Just defeat Li Shengli and Malone. But it's also difficult to defeat the Jazz. Li Shengli and Malone have never faced each other once, regardless of offense or defense.

"Man, do you have any ideas?" Even though the game hasn't started yet, Lafonso's expression is not very good.

It is a tragedy for the inside players who were born in the 1992 draft, because this year the three major centers gathered all the honors into one, surpassing everyone in one fell swoop. Although Lafonso, the fifth pick, was not low, in the draft It is not an eye-catching one in the long history of China.

"Don't worry, in this game we just need to guard against the Jazz's inside shots, and we will try to leave the shots to Chris and a few others." Mutombo's expression was much calmer, because this time he still played his defensive style. As for the true nature of the center, winning or losing depends on the performance of the Jazz's inside offense and the Nuggets' outside offense.

"It's not that I'm discouraged. I can't defend Malone 100%, because you also know how he plays. But compared to Malone, what I'm afraid of is that something will happen to you. Basically no one can handle that pervert. !" Lafonso whispered, because the two of them were really scared of being beaten in the game against the Jazz this season.

"Isn't this discouragement? Listen to me, there is nothing to quit now. Stop playing the same way you did in the regular season. If you can't prevent it, just use fouls to pull them down. You can't lose the momentum. If you lose, you will have nothing. ”

Both of them are playing in the playoffs for the first time, which is of great significance to them. Obviously Mutombo is more stable, and the Nuggets coach has also prepared a group of human shields waiting to take down the Jazz inside. After all, the outside defense is The requirements for the defensive players will be higher, and the interior defense can be a human shield.

At this time, there was no time for the Nuggets to be nervous, because the staff had already notified them to come on stage, and the first game of the first round officially started.