: Blocking the African Mountains

Author: Dong Wangyi

: Blocking the African Mountains

On the night of the 8th, Delta State Center Arena.

At 7:30, both sides announced the starting lineup.

Jazz: Felton Spencer, Karl Malone, David Benoit, Jeff Malone, John Stockton

SuperSonics: Sam Perkins, Rodman, Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Zhou Quan

There was no national live broadcast of this game, only a regional television broadcast in Salt Lake City.

At 7:30, the home team became a little more active, and the two starters met in the tunnel.

When Rodman saw the postman, he laughed and whispered to Zhou Quan: "Iron Fist, here comes the pig head."

"Ha ha……"

Zhou Quan couldn't control himself and laughed.

Rodman's voice was actually quite loud. The postman heard it and kept a straight face, neither speaking nor looking at Zhou Quan or Rodman.

"Detrev, I heard that boxing in Germany is very popular?" Zhou Quan didn't bother to pay attention and turned to Schrempf.

When Schrempf heard this, he immediately nodded proudly and said: "Yes, Iron Fist, boxing is very popular in our country."

Having said this, he said with a look of admiration: "Iron Fist, many of the sports you are good at are among the most popular sports in our country."

"Oh, those?" Zhou Quan asked curiously.

"The number one favorite in Germany is of course football, then golf, third is ice hockey, and then boxing," Schrempf said.

Rodman screamed: "Oh, Iron Fist, you account for three of the top four most popular sports in Germany. You go to Germany to develop, and don't take our jobs here."

"Haha..." Zhou Quan and others laughed.

Seeing Zhou Quan and others chatting and laughing, Karl Malone, Stockton, and Jeff Malone looked at each other with unlucky expressions on their faces.

They were unlucky to meet the Sonics in the first round of the playoffs last season. In the final round, the Mammoths retired after playing last season, but the team got Tom Chambers from the Suns and another from the Timberwolves.

Felton Spencer has added strength inside, the Jazz are getting better and better, and their ambitions this season are even greater.

However, this guy Iron Fist actually ran from the East to the West just after winning the championship. Although the SuperSonics is equivalent to reconstruction, who dares to underestimate this rebuilt SuperSonics?

There is no doubt that the arrival of Iron Fist has increased competition in the Western Conference. At the same time, John Stockton has never taken advantage of Iron Fist. It can be said that Zhou Quan is Stockton's nemesis, and the Jazz are also likely to be affected by this team.

The new Sonics are restrained, that's why they feel unlucky.

"Shh!"

When the away team came out, the fans in Salt Lake City were not polite to Zhou Quan. After all, they had just beaten the postman in a professional boxing ring. When they saw him come out, they all booed.

"hehe……"

Such a lively away game and such active fans make Zhou Quan like it very much. He hates lifeless stadiums the most.

"Shh!"

Seeing Zhou Quan waving to them repeatedly, is this a provocation? The Jazz fans booed even more violently.

…

At eight o'clock, the game starts.

"Guys, what do we want tonight?"

"victory!"

Zhou Quan shouted, Rodman and others responded in unison, and then walked onto the court.

There is no height inside, jump ball is the weakness of Sonics, Jazz offense.

John Stockton entered the frontcourt with the ball, and Zhou Quan defended in front.

One is 77 kg, the other is 92 kg, one runs slowly, one runs fast, one cannot jump high, one can jump very well, vision, confrontation, passing, offense, defense, organizational skills, Zhou Quan has advantages in all aspects.

.

If we talk about advantages, John Stockton barely has a slight advantage in game experience. Nothing else can be mentioned, they are all disadvantages.

Since his rookie season, Zhou Quan has never been at a disadvantage when facing Stockton. He has always had the advantage. Against this 5-time assist king, two-time steal king, 5-time All-Star, 3-time second team defensive player, 6-time

The superstar of the best second team, no matter from the physical, technical, psychological and other aspects, he now has a crushing advantage.

And this was also an important reason why the postman and others felt unlucky after he came to the east.

Facing Zhou Quan's suffocating defense, especially his crazy steals, John Stockton was under great pressure and his nerves were tense.

At this time, the postman came to the top of the arc and made a pick-and-roll.

But when Zhou Quan heard the scuffing sound of sneakers getting closer and closer behind him, he realized that the pick-and-roll was coming. He immediately stepped up to close up, forcing Stockton to change his position. In this way, with a simple close-up, he broke the postman and Stockton.

Tocton's pick-and-roll tactics.

John Stockton took advantage of Zhou Quan's close contact and quickly broke through, but two steps later, the faster Zhou Quan was close to him again.

However, over the years, the pick-and-roll tactics created by Jerry Sloan have reached their peak. The Postman's first pick-and-roll failed, and the second pick-and-roll immediately followed.

Small forward David Benoit on the left wing came over to pick and roll, and Stockton finally got rid of Zhou Quan.

But Schrempf's defense is also pretty good. He is 206 centimeters tall and can play as a center. He uses his tall body to block and buy time for Zhou Quan's pursuit.

As soon as Stockton bypassed Schrempf, Zhou Quan chased him again. Then Schrempf did not chase David Benoit, but directly double-teamed him on the spot.

At this moment, Zhou Quan's powerful vision observed the positions of almost all players on both sides and quickly made a prediction. Stockton only had one passing angle, which was David Benteno moving behind him. Only this backward

The passing angle is safe.

Sure enough, then he saw David Benoit running towards Stockton's back.

"Crack!"

The front and both sides were locked. Just when Stockton turned around and passed the ball, Zhou Quan, who was well prepared, quickly stepped in, stretched out his long arm, and poked the ball away with his big hand.

, and was taken by Schrempf.

"Oh, damn steal, be careful with his steal." The annoyed voice of the on-site commentator rang out from the Delta State Center.

Zhou Quan took the ball, immediately bypassed David Benoit in front, and started a fast break.

The Sonics' offensive speed is very fast. The highest heights on the court are Schrempf and Sam Perkins, both only 206 centimeters. Rodman is only 201 centimeters. This is the basis for fast breaks.

John Stockton was very self-aware and had no intention of blocking Zhou Quan head-on. He tried his best to defend and ran ahead, hoping not to let Zhou Quan rush forward.

But Zhou Quan is faster. Even if he holds the ball, he can run a little faster than Stockton. With a small change of direction, he can overtake the opponent. Once he overtakes him, Stockton can't hold him back.

Defender Jeff Malone is a 32-year-old veteran. He returned to the defense from the other wing and was unable to catch up with Zhou Quan.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan rushed into the penalty area, flew and dunked, and exploded the Jazz's basket with a powerful chop.

"John, hold the ball less and release the ball faster. Others should run more and do more pick-and-rolls." Jerry Sloan shouted from the sidelines.

He knew very well that if the ball was always in John Stockton's hands, he would definitely suffer a big loss against the iron fist defense.

But this is not a good idea. Without Stockton holding the ball, the Jazz's offense will collapse first. The Jazz's strongest strength is the pick-and-roll between Stockton and Karl Malone. Without Stockton holding the ball, the Jazz will lose half of its offense.

There is no basis for playing a pick-and-roll with the Postman, and Stockton's organizational skills can only be exerted with the ball. Without the ball in his hands, he has no threat.

So after playing for a while, the Jazz were in trouble, and Jerry Sloan had to call a timeout to adjust tactics and arrange multiple pick-and-roll tactics for Stockton in an attempt to get rid of Zhou Quan.

But at this time, another weakness of John Stockton was exposed again, and that was his lack of finishing ability.

No matter how the Jazz pick-and-roll, Zhou Quan never switches defenses, so Stockton will also get some open shots, but his finishing ability is limited, and Zhou Quan quickly catches up with him and takes shots in a hurry, which is not very efficient.

.

This game was still the same as when the Pistons played Zhou Quan before. The Jazz had no good solution. Zhou Quan just defeated Stockton, locking the opponent on the defensive end, and beating the opponent on the offensive end.

Of course, the Jazz also have their own strengths. The Postman is strong enough to defeat Dennis Rodman, who is not a top player in one-on-one defense.

But once Zhou Quan locked up Stockton, the Postman didn't have many chances to get the ball, and the SuperSonics' defensive system did not rely on single defense, but relied on quick rotations and fierce flanking attacks. This defensive system,

It's very effective against pick-and-rolls, and it's also very effective against mid-range shooting superstars like Postman.

Postman was not in good shape in the SuperSonics' double-attack defense. He only made 7 of 18 shots and his shooting percentage was only 38.9%. Rodman mainly defended Postman and he defended very well.

At the end, 124:102, the SuperSonics won their second consecutive victory.

Six players on the team scored in double figures, including Zhou Quan with 25 points and 15 assists, Kendall Gill with 18 points, Schrempf with 21 points, Sam Perkins with 13 points, Rodman with 10 points, and substitute forward and guard swingman Nate.

McMillan had 15 points.

However, the Sonics still made a lot of mistakes, with 17 turnovers and Zhou Quan's 4.

Last season, the Sonics averaged 15 turnovers per game, the Pistons averaged 13, and the Bulls had the fewest, only 12.9. Therefore, the Sonics' turnovers are not out of control now, and are still at a reasonable level during the running-in period.

If there are more than 20 turnovers in a single game, it means that the player is in a sluggish state. If there are less than 20 turnovers, the coaching staff will not be too harsh at present.

After the media conference, the SuperSonics rushed back to Seattle overnight.

It took two hours to fly 1,400 kilometers, plus the time to go to the airport and return home from the airport. Zhou Quan didn't get home until four in the morning.

The housekeeper Merlin Wellington is indeed a professional housekeeper and manages the villa very well. At this time, there is also a security guard who insists on patrolling the night and does not go to bed too lazy. When Zhou Quan returned to the villa, she got up immediately.

.

"Ms. Wellington, there is no need for you to get up. Go to bed quickly." Zhou Quan was startled when he saw Merlin Wellington and hurriedly advised her.
To be continued...