Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

In early May, the playoffs entered the second round.

The Mavericks' regular season ranking was slightly lower. They advanced to the second round and encountered the SuperSonics, which ranked first in the regular season. Therefore, the first two games were at the home court of the SuperSonics, and there was still too little rest time in between. The Mavericks He will only be able to charter a flight to Seattle to prepare for the game the day after playing the Lakers.

At the same time, as the playoffs progress, major awards in the regular season are also announced one after another. Unlike usual, this year's announcement progress is very fast, and all the awards are announced before the second round.

The scoring leader was won by Jordan (30.4), the rebounding leader was taken by Rodman (14.9), and the three leaders in assists, blocks, and steals were Stockton, Mutombo, and Payton respectively.

As for the Rookie of the Year, Damon Stoudemire, Garnett also missed out on this award; the Best Coach is Phil Jackson, who led the Bulls to the first-ever record of 72/10, which is not surprising.

From this point of view, not to mention Li Shengli, the entire Mavericks have gained nothing. However, these awards are of average weight and no one cares. The highlight is yet to come...

Li Shengli won all the center positions for one defense and one defense!

He didn’t win the regular season MVP. Counting his two consecutive wins last season, even Jordan couldn’t stop him when he won the scoring title. Even though Li Shengli didn’t have any data kings, he ranked third in points, rebounds, and blocks on the top five lists. Two, it's pretty scary. The only regret is that DPOY's best defense is gone and was won by SuperSonics glove Gary Payton. At the same time, Payton also became the first point guard DPOY in the history of the league.

But even so, Li Shengli is still the biggest winner in the regular season.

One defense, one defense, two consecutive MVPs, and the most important things, the championship and FMVP, Li Shengli wants even more.

…

Back to the schedule.

There were not many disturbances before the game between the SuperSonics and the Mavericks. They started the first game directly. According to the intensity of the second round, both sides also played the main force.

On the Mavericks side... Li Shengli, Kidd, Garnett, and Curry are still there, plus McLeod at the third position. Among the four generals, only Crotty is a substitute. After all, he is a functional role player. The purpose of his existence is to make the team's tactics more flexible and adaptable. Just like Rodman of the Bulls, he played all three games in the first round as a substitute. It is just Crotty's role. Not as obvious as Rodman.

As for supersonic speed...

The record in recent seasons has been rising steadily, and the strength is definitely strong enough. Coupled with George Karl, who has unconventional tactics, he has ranked first in the Western Conference this season, and the starting lineup is as expected.

The center is Earvin Johnson, who has the same name as Magic and is considered the worst among the SuperSonics starting lineup; the power forward is Kemp, and the small forward Detlef Schrempf is the number one German nationality. A player who joined the NBA with outstanding scoring ability; point guard Gary Payton; shooting guard Jose Hawkins.

Looking at the regular season statistics of the SuperSonics team, although Kemp and Payton are in charge, the scoring statistics of the whole team are widely distributed. Basically, anyone who can be pulled out can be an offensive point, except...the starting center of this game. Earvin Johnson.

…

To be honest, the pre-game atmosphere of this game was a little too good.

Kidd went to have sex with Payton. After all, the two had known each other since they were children and had played together before entering the league. In addition, the temporarily formed major league beat Leder. Kemp also happily faced Li Shengli. Grinning, a bit ugly, but the atmosphere is really good.

"Look, how enthusiastic this camp is." During the warm-up, Curry couldn't stop laughing.

"Isn't that my credit? Payton and I know each other very well." Kidd curled his lips, worried about Garnett standing next to him, "Kevin, please stop talking trash for a while and bear with it for a while."

"Damn, who do you think I am? I am also a new young man with quality, okay?"

Are you so talented?

You have a lot of qualities!

Li Shengli cried. After all, after playing for one season, everyone knows what Garnett is like. It's just that as a teammate, no one talks about him. From Garnett's point of view, it's basically... the big stage of the league, you have your mother. Just come, the opposite side of the wind will be full of brothers, and the headwind will let your family tree ascend to heaven.

That's it, what quality is there to talk about?

"Kevin, please save some face!" Li Shengli took a sip and practiced two shots. However, both practice shots failed to go in, which gave Curry a headache. On the contrary, Li Shengli didn't react at all.

SuperSonics let Earvin Johnson start at center?

Johnson has started in the regular season, but the opponents he started against are all standard core teams such as the Rockets, Spurs, and Mavericks, and this game is the same. SuperSonics coach George Karl specifically uses this team to cultivate. He used a human shield center to fight against Li Shengli and bully Li Shengli because he didn't have the "short hands" of the mid-range shot.

However, Li Shengli is really not afraid of not having a mid-range shot. After all, when he first entered the league, he rarely had a mid-range weapon in his arsenal. But this time... the Mavericks have Garnett, and Kemp will not be involved in the inside. Dou, Johnson really can't cause a big problem to the Mavericks alone.

Furthermore, no matter how powerful Gary Payton is as a defensive point guard, he can't hold up the Mavericks' outside shots at all, which directly weakens the impact of Payton's defense on the game.

This is just the offensive end of the Mavericks, and the defensive end... Even though the SuperSonics claim to be capable of playing with all players, Garnett's top-notch defensive awareness and area can greatly suppress it.

Based on this, there will be resistance to the SuperSonics' outside charge. As for the inside, Johnson versus Li Shengli. Originally, the meat shield center only emphasized confrontation, and the offensive threat was very small. The only one who could be considered a threat was Kemp. After all, Garnett defended alone. The power forward is still a weakness.

…

To be honest, everyone can see the paper strength of each company!

George Karl also knows that his own SuperSonics can beat anyone, even the Rockets and Spurs. After all, the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference is not something that is announced, but he also knows... In the entire Western Conference, the Sonics are actually the most difficult to beat. calf.

The inside combination of Li Shengli + Garnett is different from that of the Rockets and Spurs, because Garnett is too flexible and completely different from the standard fourth position in the past...Li Shengli forced the inside, and few people could resist it, so he sent people to the inside. , Garnett shot over immediately, but after dividing the defenders, Garnett didn't take a shot, and Li Shengli was still able to overturn their inside line with one-on-one.

To put it bluntly, the team lineup is indeed incompatible in some aspects.

The Sonics are not afraid of the Rockets, Spurs, or Mavericks.

Because even if the center position is outperformed by a super center, Kemp can still outplay the opponent at the fourth position, and with Payton leading the team on defense, the game is easy to win, but with the Mavericks' inside combination, Garnett can't Can limit Kemp's position very well.

The Mavericks are not afraid of the Sonics, but to a certain extent they are afraid of the Spurs and Rockets.

Because if Li Shengli cannot control the center position, Garnett's performance environment will be restricted. If he really wants to move to the outside, it depends on whether Kidd and Curry can shoulder the burden.

In such a comparison, it can only be said that the Sonics are unlucky.

If they were second in the Western Conference, they would not encounter this situation, but they are first in the Western Conference, and in George Karl's view... the second round is more difficult than if they play in the Western Conference Finals. After all, their opponents in the Western Conference Finals will be the Spurs. and rocket production.