Chapter 73 I'll Pay
Entering the low post on the left wing, Wang Tiejun positioned himself with his back against Sean Lux and began to ask for the ball.
The ball came down quickly, and he saw that the Mavericks did not double-team him here, so he immediately started to back-up Lux.
He stood in the paint area for two consecutive post-ups.
Sean Lux pushed and headed, and made many small moves with his hands, almost entangled with him, and used almost foul moves, but he couldn't completely stop him, but he did slow down his advancement speed to a certain extent and wasted his offensive time in the three-second zone.
(Some brothers say that there is no offensive three seconds now. This rule was introduced in 1953 because of Macon George. The defensive three seconds was introduced for O'Neal because the offensive three seconds could not limit him.)
At this time, the Mavericks' defense had begun to shrink. As long as he continued to advance towards the basket, he would be double-teamed under the basket. Either the offensive three-second rule would be triggered and the ball would be exchanged, or he would be sent to the free throw line, which was what happened to him in the first quarter.
In the first quarter, he focused on the basket, hoping to improve his shooting percentage, but now he doesn't think so.
“Bang!”
The third time, when the three seconds were about to expire, when the double-team was approaching, and when he was still one and a half meters away from the basket, he jumped sideways and made a hook shot.
This is also because his turning and moving speed are a bit slow. If it were O'Neal, he could just turn around and attack the basket in this position. At such a close distance, it would be too late to double-team him. He might be able to make a two plus one, and it wouldn't trigger the offensive three-second rule.
“Swish!”
The distance was too close, it was already under the basket, and the basketball went into the basket.
"Double-team him early, don't wait until he gets close to the basket before going over." Mavericks head coach Kevin Durant shouted immediately.
After a few rounds, Wang Tiejun once again singled out Lux in the low post on the left wing.
This time, the double-team came earlier. After he made two passes and just stepped into the paint, the Mavericks' backup small forward Tracy Moore on the left wing had already pounced on him from above.
He grabbed the ball from the floor with one hand, raised it with one hand, and threw it to small forward Ceballos on the left three-point line.
"OK."
On the sidelines, Paul Westphal nodded.
From the way the ball was handled, he saw K's ability to calmly handle the ball when being double-teamed, his broad vision, and his good ability to distribute the ball. These are some of the best qualities of an excellent low-post player, and to become the team's low-post core, one must possess these abilities.
On the court, Ceballos did not rush to shoot after receiving the ball. Instead, he took a step forward and then shot calmly.
At this time, Tracy Moore, who was double-teaming, had not yet returned to defense and could only watch him shoot.
“Swish!”
A splash appeared and a long two-point shot was made.
This is why most players have a very high long-range two-point shooting percentage, even much higher than the short-range two-point shooting percentage, because in this position, they have used breakthroughs or other means to get rid of the defender, and at the same time, because the impact force has not yet been built up, the shooting stability is high enough.
If they break through again and get closer to the paint area, they will face stronger defense. Their breakthrough speed is fast and their stability in quick stop jump shots is poor, so their hit rate will naturally drop.
Many outside players only take one step forward before standing up and making a quick stop jump shot for this reason.
When Wang Tiejun changed his playing style, the Mavericks were helpless. They simply couldn't defend against such a Wang.
If you defend alone, you will be beaten. If you are double-teamed, you can either shoot or pass.
They can't just hack away meaninglessly from a position far away from the basket, as that would kill 800 and hurt themselves 1,000, and there simply aren't enough inside players to replace them.
Comrade Lao Wang's free throw shooting percentage is at least 50%, which is higher than the shooting percentage of most players near the basket. It only makes sense to cut him in the more efficient basket.
In the following games, Wang Tiejun mainly received the ball in the low post, but if there was an opportunity, he would also shoot close to the basket or break into the basket for dunks.
In this way, his number of fouls is controlled and he won't be cut under the basket. The Mavericks can deal with him under the basket, but they can't deal with him like this.
At the same time, he reduced his investment on the offensive end and increased it on the defensive end. With his height, he quickly blocked a shot for Sean Lux.
At the end of the game, the score was 109:88, and the Suns won by 21 points.
After defeating the Mavericks, the Suns surpassed the Mosaic by one win. The Supersonics happened to lose tonight, and the two teams have a tie in the record. The Suns are in second place in the Western Conference and are looking to move up to first place.
Wang Tiejun played for 33 minutes, made 5 of 10 shots, 5 of 10 free throws, scored 15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls.
His six assists even surpassed point guard Knight, who only had four, ranking first in the team in assists.
Even though his shots were cut and reduced, Barkley still scored 42 points and won the man of the game honors.
An hour after the game ended, the Suns' post-match press conference was held and Wang Tiejun once again got the opportunity to attend the press conference.
At the meeting, a local reporter angrily said, "Old K, you can't take our basketball hoop away. Please give it back to us."
“No.”
Lao Wang turned his head and added: "I will pay."
I can give you anything except the basketball hoop. That’s 200 points. If I give it to you, where can I get so many points?
"Ha ha……"
Barkley next to him laughed so hard that he lowered his head, leaned on the table, and his shoulders shook.
A reporter asked again: "Old K, you didn't play as well as you did in the last game. You reduced your shots due to the opponent's foul tactics. Does this mean that your ability to attack under the basket is not enough?"
"Yes, you are right, my ability is still insufficient."
Wang Tiejun nodded. He could not deny that what the reporter said was right. He indeed still lacked some strong attacking ability under the basket.
Now his absolute strength is not enough to allow him to escape double-teaming under the basket. Even if he can, he can only do it a few times before his physical energy is greatly consumed and he cannot last long.
Simply put, the dominance under the basket is not enough.
If he had the athleticism of O'Neal, plus his own strength, his dominance under the basket would skyrocket, and opponents would not be able to stop him from scoring under the basket even if they wanted to foul him. He would become a real behemoth under the basket.
He has already determined the solution, which is to continue to gain weight and continue to strengthen his absolute strength. This is currently the only way to increase his strength under the basket faster.
Qualities like flexibility and coordination are too poor now and their growth is too slow, so they cannot be his first choice.
After the press conference, the Suns set off overnight and flew to San Antonio, where the Spurs are located.
Like Houston, San Antonio is also located in Texas, but the problem of racial discrimination is not as serious as that in Dallas.
The two places are only 300 kilometers away. In the past, the team traveled between the two cities by bus, but now private planes are popular and buses have been abandoned.
It was only three o'clock in the morning when we arrived at the hotel.
When Wang Tiejun woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. It was already 10 o'clock in the morning on the 22nd.
I glanced sideways and saw that Richard Dumas, who shared the room with me, was still sleeping.
Because they were in the same room, he had gotten some idea of what was going on. There was something wrong with this bastard Dumas. One time, he found a syringe in the trash can in the bathroom. He often saw this kind of thing on the streets of New York, and it was always thrown away by those guys who took drugs.
He thought he should switch rooms. What if Dumas gave him a shot in the butt while he was sleeping? Too dangerous!
