The Whip of the God of Basketball

After a day's rest, the Suns faced a strong enemy, the Utah Jazz, on December 12th. From about this time, the Suns will begin to compete with the strong teams in the league one by one, and the Jazz can be considered a strong opponent.

After Stockton retired and Karl Malone left, the Jazz's long era of double disasters that began in 1984 came to an end. However, the Jazz's stable and efficient management quickly found high-quality teams in the draft and the free market. Got new replacements. Although the Jazz's ball market is one of the smallest in the league, they are indeed very good at surviving in this league.

Deron Williams, the No. 3 pick in 2005, and Carlos Boozer, the free agent snatched from the Cavaliers, after several seasons of growth and running-in, they formed a deformed version of the duo. The new Utah Jazz began to show their power again in the Western Conference. Last season, they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, only to fall at the feet of the Spurs. Sloan's decades of training in the tactical system once again showed its brilliance in the new Jazz.

Because Leon was in the East, he didn't play against the Jazz and Sloan very often. Moreover, during the heyday of the Celtics, the Jazz were rebuilding, and the game between the two sides was tepid, with no sparks.

And this game can be regarded as a confrontation between two pairs of pick-and-roll players, Williams Boozer versus Nash Stoudemire. Before the start of the game, the situation was more favorable for the Suns. The Jazz's main center Okur was absent due to injury, so the Jazz had no center to start. Sloan lined up the inside combination of Boozer and Millsap. The Suns are still a stable regular lineup. After Stoudemire returns, as long as there are no injuries, the Suns' starting lineup will be unstoppable.

For the regular season, nothing is more important than a stable starting lineup. This is an important prerequisite for smoothly going through the regular season with a good record and accumulating strength for the playoffs.

Diaw has been training like crazy these past two days, and he looks a little leaner. In this game, Leon arranged for him to play against Boozer. For Diaw, who has already withstood the ravages of behemoths like O'Neal, Yao Ming, and Howard, To say that a big guy like Boozer is already trivial. One-on-one defense is almost impossible to defend, but Diaw is angry and will not let Boozer wreak havoc in the paint easily.

As a second-round pick, Boozer can now become a power forward with a stable average of 20+10 per game. It should be said to be very remarkable. Of course, in order to get a bigger contract, he broke his contract extension promise with the Cavaliers. The hook in Salt Lake City earned him a lot of criticism. But on the basketball court, strength speaks for itself after all. Last season, he and Deron Williams led the Jazz to a breakthrough, proving that the Jazz's signing is still very unique.

As a power forward, Boozer's physical fitness is incomparable to the legend Karl Malone in team history. Whether it is strength, speed or jumping, Boozer is one step behind Malone. Especially in terms of speed, his lateral movement on the defensive end is simply a disaster, but in the Jazz and Sloan's system, Boozer still maximized his comprehensive advantages in offensive skills.

He has an excellent mid-range hand, and has comprehensive offensive skills with both hands. His body is wide and thick, his footsteps are solid and steady, and his finishing ability after catching the ball is quite good. He is a very reliable offensive arrow inside the Jazz.

On the defensive end, the Jazz have never relied on speed and strength to weave a defensive net. They rely more on positioning and complementary cooperation among the players. Therefore, even if the Jazz players have relatively good running and jumping abilities, they can still play tough defense. As for being penetrated by opponents, this is also where they are strong.

After the game started, the two sides were in the stage of testing each other, and their offense was quite satisfactory. The Jazz started from Carlos Boozer, but the Suns did not conduct targeted defense against him. They just let Diaw fight alone. .

Boozer still had the advantage in terms of strength. He scored several goals in a row on Diaw alone. The Suns also started to grind the ground first. According to Leon's arrangement, they started from Diaw. Because Leon knows that in order to stimulate Diaw's enthusiasm and enthusiasm on the defensive end, it is useless to just make him defend and scold him. For example, it is useless to make him excited and open-minded.

This is the case for offensive teams. The prerequisite for winning is that the offense goes smoothly and the defense can put pressure on the opponent. When facing adversity, what they have to do is to be more determined on the offensive end and rely on goals to solve the problem. This is very different from a defensive team. Once a defensive team finds itself in trouble, the best way to solve the problem is often to get the opponent into trouble as well.

After more than a month of playing, the Suns have slowly found their new rhythm, which is different from the rhythm led by D'Antoni under Leon. They didn't come up and fight together at the beginning, but slowed down and let the players slowly get into the state. Everyone participated in the attack, accelerating little by little, until they exerted their strength in the second half, by which time they were already like a flying machine. With the Saturn 5 in mid-air, nothing could stop them.

As the controller, Nash knew this very well. He was semi-invisible in the first quarter again and handed over the responsibility of organization to Diaw. Diaw assumed the responsibility of point guard in the positional battle and cooperated with Stoudemire. Nash Looks more like a shooting guard.

Diaw didn't play very well in the first few attacks in the first quarter. He made mistakes in both of his passes. He saw the gaps in his teammates, but his technique was too weird. At the same time, the Jazz players were highly focused. , was intercepted twice.

Williams took the ball and launched a counterattack directly. He was as strong as a small tank, and a point guard acted as a forward. This is only Deron Williams' third season. Last season was his second season. He has already shown strong potential in the playoffs. From the first round to the Western Conference finals, he The more he plays, the better and better he gets. This season his statistics and strength have gone further.

Of course, Nash couldn't catch up with such a small tank. If he caught up, he couldn't stop him. He could only watch Williams succeed in layups twice. The Jazz had the advantage in the first quarter.

During the break, the two sides rotated their lineups. Diaw sat back on the bench sweating profusely. He tried his best in the first quarter, but he felt a little uncomfortable no matter how he played. Sure enough, just one or two simple special trainings still had no effect. He couldn't defend defensively and didn't perform well on the offensive end, which made Diaw feel frustrated.

The game continued. Leon saw Dio's frustration. He squatted next to Dio and said, "Tell me what works best on you?"

Dio looked at Leon, gasping for air, and shook his head to express that he didn't know. His mind was a little confused now, and he was really out of shape recently.

Leon reached out and patted his face and said: "Are you fast, are you powerful, are you shooting accurately, are you passing superbly, answer me."

Dio said: "No, none."

Leon then asked: "Then tell me, why can you stand on this field and get millions in salary? Is it because the general manager is a fool?"

Diaw said: "No, because...because they say I play...playing very smart."

Leon patted Diaw's face again. He could see that Diaw was a little confused now. He wanted Diaw to clear his mind, otherwise his condition would get worse and worse this season.

Some players are like this. At a certain period of a certain season, they suddenly fall. Sometimes it’s because of their poor form accumulated over a long period of time. Sometimes it’s just because they can’t get over it all at once. They fall behind in the extremely competitive NBA, and then was eliminated and finally disappeared from people's sight.

This league is so cruel, and Leon doesn't want to watch Diaw become such a player. He also points to Diaw playing a huge role in the team's offense and defense. He must activate this guy.

"Use your brain more and play with your brain. I know you are very smart and you know how to play best. Don't give up your thinking. If you are not playing well and don't like your opponent, you can do Order something, cheer yourself up! OK? I'll give you another five minutes to rest and think, and you'll come on stage for me in the second quarter." Leon shouted at Dior.