Zhang Guan's super triple-double shocked the entire NBA. At this time, everyone suddenly discovered that Zhang Guan could not only score, he could also pass the ball like a point guard, help his opponent score, and even grab more than a dozen rebounds.
There is no shortage of scorers in the NBA. If they have enough ball rights and enough playing time, many role players can easily score 20 or 30 points. Some "splitting shooter" players can even score as high as 40 points. . But in the NBA, players who can help teammates score are very rare.
Before this, many people in the league only regarded Zhang Guan as a super scorer who was good at scoring, like Kobe Bryant. After this game, people realized that Zhang Guan was much scarier than imagined. Originally, everyone thought that as long as they could limit Zhang Guan's scoring, everything would be fine. But now it seems that it is not enough to just limit Zhang Guan's scoring, but also to limit Zhang Guan's passing. And this is basically an impossible task, no player has this ability.
The biggest headache is obviously the opponents in Los Angeles. They have no idea how to defend Zhang Guan.
On March 7, local time in the United States, the Lakers came to Denver on the Colorado Plateau to challenge the Nuggets away from home.
The final score was that the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 126-114 with a 12-point advantage.
This Nuggets team lacks the ability to score inside. They mainly rely on Lawson. As long as Lawson is restricted, the Nuggets will waste more than half. And Lawson is the kind of player whose stability is not high enough. When he is in good condition, he is as fierce as a tiger, and he can fly all kinds of large double pairs; When a player like this encounters such a strong defender, he will basically be defeated.
Challenging the Nuggets away from home is just an appetizer for the Lakers, but after returning home, the Lakers face a real challenge. In the next four games, two against the Thunder and two against the Spurs!
Before visiting Los Angeles, the Thunder had just lost to the Phoenix Suns and were surpassed by the Spurs in the Western Conference rankings, becoming second in the Western Conference. However, they have led the third-placed Clippers by many games. Judging from the current situation, it is impossible to fall out of the top two.
In terms of team personnel, Westbrook has returned from injury and is in very good shape. In recent games, he has become a "triple-double man." However, Thunder starting center Perkins and starter Sefolosha were both injured. The Thunder could only let first-year freshman Adams replace Perkins at the center position.
From the perspective of future generations, Adams is a very good inside player and can definitely assume the starting position, but now Adams is much more immature. In the Thunder's interior, veteran Collison and last year's rookie Perry Jones got more performance opportunities than Adams.
Perry Jones occupies another starting position. This is also the new lineup that Thunder head coach Scott Brooks tried after Sefolosha was injured. He asked Perry Jones to partner Adams as the inside, and Ibaka played. Small forward, Durant plays the shooting guard position. This starting lineup has played in a total of three games so far, and the Thunder's record is two wins and one loss.
The Thunder can be considered a tall lineup. Adams is 2.13 meters, Perry Jones is 2.11 meters, and Ibaka is 2.08 meters. I won’t say much about Durant’s actual height.
The Lakers still have a lineup with one big man and four small men. Except for Gasol, the other four are all small men.
Facts have proved that the Thunder's formation was a failure.
The popular trend in the NBA is to play small ball, and there must be a certain reason for it. In the future, the NBA will be dominated by small ball, with the pace of offensive and defensive transitions getting faster and faster, and more and more three-pointers being shot. If you go against a group of big men who run slowly and can't shoot three-pointers, they will most likely be beaten.
Coach Brooks' change of formation had the opposite effect. Players with excellent athletic talents like Perry Jones were better off, leaving Adams to run back and forth.
…
Westbrook's shooting percentage today was relatively average, and he only hit one of his four three-pointers. However, Westbrook still worked very hard on defense, especially when he faced Zhang Guan, he was even more motivated.
Since the shooting rate is not high, Westbrook simply transforms into Beverley, and does not need any scoring or assists. He just pesters Zhang Guan desperately. No matter whether Zhang Guan has the ball or not, Westbrook will pounce on him.
"Come on! With me here, no matter you are breaking through or shooting three-pointers, you can't score easily! I am not the Westbrook I was four years ago!" Westbrook is extremely focused and does not want to give Zhang Guan any points. Opportunity.
"Whoosh!" Zhang Guan passed the ball to the basket.
I saw Gasol take the ball, fake a move, go around Adams, and then go straight for a layup. But the energetic Perry Jones rushed over and made an irrational foul.
"Beep!" The whistle sounded, the ball was scored, and a penalty was added.
Durant shook his head helplessly. Compared with the cunning Gasol, Adams was still too young.
But Westbrook looked at Zhang Guan unwillingly. He thought Zhang Guan would play one-on-one singles like he did at the World Championships in Turkey four years ago, but he didn't expect Zhang Guan to pass the ball directly.
The Thunder attacked and Ibaka hit a mid-range shot. When Zhang Guan held the ball again, Westbrook pounced again.
Zhang Guan faked a breakthrough and passed the ball to Gasol for an assist.
"Passing the ball again! Zhang Guan is completely different from four years ago. Zhang Guan four years ago was a scoring machine. He rarely passed the ball. But now Zhang Guan is addicted to passing the ball?" Westbrook I thought to myself.
In the World Championships four years ago, Zhang Guan didn't have a few teammates he could trust. Instead of passing the ball out, he would have a higher chance of scoring by shooting the ball himself. But now it's different. This is the NBA. Even the players with the lowest level are better than the starters of the national team, not to mention stars like Gasol and outstanding players like Meeks and Nezmore. Role players.
Now, Adams of the Thunder is obviously a loophole on the court, and Zhang Guan will certainly not miss this good opportunity.
…
Westbrook pestered Zhang Guan throughout the game, and the Thunder's offense and organization fell to Durant.
Durant's shooting percentage can only be considered acceptable, but his free throw hand feels bad. He made 8 of 19 shots and 7 of 11 free throws. He scored 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, a triple-double.
Ibaka also scored 21 points and 8 rebounds. In addition, the Thunder's top scorer was Reggie Jackson on the bench. As for Westbrook, he has been struggling with Zhang Guan. He can hardly talk about scoring or assists, but he has 10 rebounds, which is the highest in the Thunder team.
For the Lakers, Gasol had a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Meeks hit a high percentage of 4 of 6 three-pointers, plus he made 10 of 10 free throws, and also scored 28 points. Bazemore once again assumed the role of bench bandit. Zhang Guan only scored 18 points today, but contributed 15 assists, which is considered standard point guard data.
The final score between the two sides was that the Thunder lost to the Lakers 106 to 114. The Lakers continued their winning streak, while the Thunder ushered in two consecutive losses.
In summary, the main reason for the Thunder's defeat in this game does not lie with the players. The biggest blame should be placed on head coach Brooks. With the trend of small ball becoming more and more popular, and facing a master of running and gunning like D'Antoni, Brooks created this lineup of four big players and one small one, and was naturally overwhelmed by one big player and four small players.
There is no problem with Westbrook fully guarding Zhang Guan. Westbrook's defense is as strong as his offense; there is no problem with Durant doing the work of two people by himself. He already has this ability.
There is no problem with Adams appearing as the starting center. Adams is a good inside man. All he needs is some experience. The young Adams will definitely not be able to stop Gasol alone, and he needs someone to help defend him. And Ibaka is a good candidate.
Ibaka can be called the Thunder's inside pillar. In order to renew Ibaka's contract, the Thunder even gave up Harden, which is enough to reflect Ibaka's value to the Thunder. But today, coach Brooks made a stupid move. Instead of letting Ibaka partner with Adams, he chose Perry Jones. Perhaps in Coach Brooks' view, Adams and Jones, one tall and strong, the other excellent in athletic ability, can just complement each other.
But the final result was that both Adams and Jones became a burden to the Thunder, completely beaten by Gasol and unable to play their due role. Although Gasol has always been said to be a softie, he is top-notch in terms of experience, golf intelligence, and awareness. Perhaps he does not dare to stand up to such a tough insider, but he is more than enough to bully newcomers. , especially a first-year player like Adams, who is also a white player, has the greatest appetite for Gasol.
After the game, many sports commentators also believed that Coach Brooks' formation was a bad move. Fortunately, the Thunder's record was good enough, and they had plenty of opportunities to try new lineups.
…
Although the Lakers won the game, the whole team knew that this was just the first round of the contest between the two sides. This time it was the Lakers' home court, but in the next game, the Lakers will go to the Thunder's home court to continue playing against the Thunder. Have a second round of competition.
On March 13, local time in the United States, the Lakers came to Oklahoma City to challenge the Thunder away from home.
This time, coach Brooks finally did not continue to insist on his "four big and one small" lineup. He chose to change the lineup, and Perry Jones returned to the bench.
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(End of chapter)