Chapter 72: Worship the God of the Basket
“Beep!”
At about the 9th minute of the first quarter, the referee blew the whistle.
“Fuck!”
Once again, he was knocked to the ground by two people in a wrestling match under the basket. The three of them fell into a heap. He pushed Sean Lux away in frustration, climbed up, and in anger tried to step over Lux.
In anger, Lux raised his leg and tripped him to the ground again. When he fell, he pinned Doug Smith, who was just about to get up, down on him, and the three of them fell into a ball again.
"Calm down, Old K, they're cutting you."
Buckley ran over, pushed Lux aside, and pulled him up.
"What?"
He was shocked. He was playing basketball and he had a knife on him. How could he not notice it?
But he immediately realized that Barkley was probably talking about foul tactics, so he asked, "Cut my foul tactics?"
"Yes, your success rate in the basket is too high. As long as you enter the basket, you will be sent to the free throw line immediately. Your hit rate is not high, so they will definitely make money." Barkley explained.
"What should we do then?"
He asked, then stepped to the free throw line.
The whistle had sounded twice before, and he had already taken four free throws, but only made one. Today he dunked twice and pulled a basket, and his touch was worse than usual.
He had two dunks at the beginning, and then he focused on the basket, where he was frequently fouled and had few opportunities to get up, so he didn't score any goals. Including free throws, he only has 5 points now.
Because of his inefficiency, the team is now tied with the Mavericks, 16:16. For the Suns, who are two levels stronger, this is already a loss.
However, his lethality under the basket came out. The Mavericks' two inside players had already committed two fouls each, and the whistle was a bit off, otherwise there would have been more fouls.
However , the referee watched him very closely and he received two fouls, one of which was even an offensive foul.
"boom!"
He missed the fifth free throw and threw his hands in annoyance.
"Calm down, Old K."
Kevin Johnson was present and gave a loud reminder.
Before the sixth free throw, he looked at the basket and suddenly muttered, "God of the basket, God of the basket, I pulled your predecessor down so that you have a chance to take the top spot. You have to bless me! Don't reject me, or I'll pull you down again."
After saying that, he actually clasped his hands together and bowed towards the basket.
"What is he doing? Is he worshiping God?" Barkley's eyes widened.
Like him, countless people were confused and didn't understand what it meant.
At this time the referee threw the ball over and Wang Tiejun caught the ball. He had just worshipped the basket god and now his confidence was soaring. He didn't even dribble the ball, just took a glance and threw it out.
"boom!"
The ball hit the rim and was short.
"The dog entered the basket god!"
Comrade Lao Wang felt cheated and started cursing.
Fortunately, the ball was grabbed by Barkley, and this guy actually flew over Sean Lux's head. The nickname of the Flying Pig was indeed not wrong.
"here."
Lao Wang strode into the paint area from the free throw line and shouted loudly.
Barkley acted as a reflex. As soon as he landed after grabbing the rebound, he heard a shout from behind him, immediately threw the ball over his head, and then dodged to the side.
"call!"
A strong wind blew past him, and his figure flew up. There was a bang, and at the same time as the basket exploded, Sean Lux under the basket fell down and slid backwards.
"yeah!"
Both the Suns players on the court and the Suns bench cheered instantly.
“That’s too bad. That’s too bad…”
In the dead silence of the American Airlines Center, the commentator lost his voice.
In the TNT live broadcast booth, Dolem and Dortmund looked at each other in bewilderment.
Dort said disappointedly: "The Mavericks' inside line is too bad. I have to say that as a rookie, the performance of the desert fathead fish Sean Lux was not as good as that of Old K. He was crushed by Old K under the basket."
Lighter shook his head and smiled bitterly, "In terms of height, strength, and weight, he is far inferior to K. How can he compete with him? You know, K. scored 20+10 on Dream's head. Even with Dream's top defensive ability, he couldn't limit K. under the basket. K. made 4 of 5 shots under the basket.
I have to admit that this is a giant under the basket. Only a stronger low-post giant like O'Neal can limit him under the basket. "
The two commentators who discriminated against Wang Tiejun now have to admit that they can no longer criticize him, because Wang Tiejun's strength is there. They can indeed continue to criticize him mindlessly, but their professional commentary level is questioned. No one wants to listen to two idiots commenting nonsense. This is related to their jobs and future, and they cannot afford to act recklessly.
"Mr. Referee, he committed a foul. He just hit my hand. Why didn't you call the whistle on him?" After a successful dunk, Wang Tiejun was not satisfied and shouted at the referee.
"Don't do that." Barkley quickly pulled him away.
But it was too late. The referee puffed his lips, blew the whistle, and made a technical foul gesture towards Wang Tiejun.
“Pah pah pah…”
The scene was immediately filled with cheers and applause from Mavericks fans.
"ah?"
Lao Wang was stunned for a moment. Why was this happening?
"You are not the captain on the field, and you are still a rookie. You are not qualified to negotiate with the referee. I have to do this." Barkley said with a wry smile.
"This is discrimination against rookies and contempt for human rights."
Lao Wang was very depressed. This was his third foul and it was only the first quarter. He probably wouldn't be able to play for much time today.
Sure enough, next, before the Mavericks took free throws, he was substituted out.
When Oliver Miller came on the court, the Mavericks immediately canceled the hack-and-slash tactics, but the double-team tactics remained. They turned to double-team Barkley, using weak-side help defense to leave Oliver Miller open.
Miller's mobility is not as good as that of Old K. Although he is not tall, he is heavier and cannot keep up with Sean Lux. His appearance caused some difficulties for Barkley.
However, at this time, Barkley showed the style of a superstar, scoring the ball continuously under double-teaming, stabilizing the Suns' scoring ability.
In the 8th minute of the second quarter, the score was 44:38. The Suns relied on 6 points and Wang Tiejun regained the chance to play.
"Don't go to the basket, they will cut you again, just use hook shots from the outside, pay attention to the open teammates and pass the ball in time."
Assistant coach Lewis gave instructions before going on the court.
"clear."
Lao Wang nodded.
He is at the edge of the paint area, and it is difficult to double-team him because the low wings are difficult to be double-teamed. That position is close to the baseline. If double-teamed, open opportunities will easily appear in other positions.
So in this era, not to mention the inside players, many outside players will sometimes go into the low post to play one-on-one with the help of tactics, because it is not easy to be double-teamed there.
For example, Jordan is particularly good at one-on-one play on the low wing.
In the 1986 playoffs, the Bulls played against the Celtics, and Jordan scored 63 points in a single game, setting the NBA's latest playoff single-game scoring record.
Larry Bird famously said after the game: "God was playing in No. 23 tonight."
In the following season, Jordan averaged 37.1 points per game.
The reason why Jordan scored so well and was impossible to defend against was because he used isolation tactics. The others moved away and he played against the opponent alone.
His one-on-one plays are often done in the low post on either wing, because it is difficult to be double-teamed there when others are moving away, and it is not far from the basket.
Subsequently, in order to achieve balance, the league introduced an anti-isolation rule in 1988, which is known as the Jordan Rule.
In the past, Wang Tiejun was useless on the low wing because his scoring ability there was too poor. He could only be threatening if he played under the basket. If he was on the weak side, the defender could just let him go a step or two and go back to defend the basket and help defend the strong side.
Now that he has the ability to score near the basket, he is threatening there. Even if the ball is not in his hands, not only can the defender not leave him open, but other defenders have to pay attention to him.
