How about taking it easy?

Author: Feng Yuanhua

How about taking it easy?

290, should you be gentler?

To say that all the teams in the Eastern Conference are weak is definitely a bit excessive.

However, if you put it another way and say that the competitiveness of the Eastern Conference teams is not as good as that of the Western Conference, it is true.

Except for a few teams, the Eastern Conference is really not good.

For example, the next few opponents of the Sonics include the Heat and the Celtics.

Needless to say for the Heat, since Mourning was seriously injured last year, his condition has deteriorated sharply.

There is no way, no one can do anything about injuries.

At least judging from the current state, Mourning's ability to return to the game is a miracle in itself.

As for the current Heat star Eddie Jones, he is indeed a very good player.

However, he is considered a star player, but not a superstar. To put it bluntly, he does not have the ability to lead a team.

As for the Celtics, they look pretty good. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker are also a twin star combination.

The SuperSonics can rise under the leadership of Wang Hao and Gary Payton, why can't the Celtics?

In fact, in the past two seasons, the Celtics have been deliberately imitating the success of the Sonics.

From the team's lineup configuration to the tactics, there are actually some strong traces of imitation.

From the Celtics' point of view, they are both a duo of twin stars, and the Celtics are no worse than the Sonics.

However, it turns out that there is indeed a lot of difference.

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics' competitiveness is actually quite good, and they at least have a chance to compete for the top four positions.

It's just that the results of the Eastern Conference teams are just like that.

Basically, as long as we can win 50 games and guarantee the top four position, it is a sure thing.

But such results are equivalent to the second round of the playoffs in the Western Conference.

As for the reason, it is naturally a problem with the stars.

Let’s not talk about the gap in personal ability, let’s talk about the team tactics and personal playing style.

Whether it is Paul Pierce or Antoine Walker, they are actually the kind of players who focus on their own singles.

No matter what the tactical preparation is, at the end of the day, it’s all about singles.

Paul Pierce finished playing, Antoine Walker played, Antoine Walker finished playing, Paul Pierce continued playing.

As a result, the rest of the team had no sense of participation at all, and naturally, the tactics came to a standstill.

Antoine Walker is okay, after all, when playing in singles, once the opponent double-teams him, he can still pass the ball.

As for Paul Pierce, this is a black hole of ball rights.

You know, as of now, Paul Pierce has been playing in his fourth season in his career.

In the first three seasons, he averaged less than 3 assists per game, and this season he only averaged more than 3 assists.

You know, he is the core of the team's offense and has a lot of ball rights in his hands.

In this way, he averaged less than 3 assists per game in a season.

In addition to the issue of passing the ball, to put it bluntly, I just don’t want to pass the ball.

It is said that Kobe is a black hole in possession of the ball and is unwilling to pass the ball, but in the past three seasons, Kobe has averaged about 5 assists per game.

Taking out the data can explain the problem very well.

No, when facing the Celtics, the SuperSonics prepared a very targeted set of techniques.

Paul Pierce unwilling to pass the ball?

Well, when Wang Hao was defending Paul Pierce, he first blocked him from behind, and then someone immediately double-teamed him.

Not only is one person double-teaming, others are also blocking his passing lane.

As a result, after one game, Paul Pierce made 7 turnovers and made a huge contribution to the SuperSonics' victory.

The Celtics lost, and the Heat naturally couldn't win.

The SuperSonics won six consecutive victories in the new season and successfully topped the record list.

Of course, in addition to the SuperSonics, the Lakers also achieved 6 consecutive victories in the new season and tied for first place.

Next, the SuperSonics' journey to the east will be tested.

First, they will face a strong opponent, the New Jersey Nets, who have 4 wins and 1 loss this season.

It's just that the Nets' strength is only for Wang Hao.

Neither the SuperSonics nor the entire league thinks the Nets are that strong at this time.

What do the Nets have?

There is a Jason Kidd.

As for Nicky Van Horn and Kenyon Martin, to be honest, they are really not looked down upon.

So what if there is Jason Kidd? The Nets last season also had Stephon Marbury.

In any case, Stephon Marbury is also a very good point guard, and he has better scoring ability.

A team like the Nets needs a star with scoring ability to lead the team, not an offensive organizer.

No matter how well organized you are, your teammates can’t!

Of course, this is the view of the entire NBA. In their view, the Nets will not improve.

Only Wang Hao knew that this was not the case.

After Kidd arrived, the Nets not only improved this season, but also reached the Finals for two consecutive seasons.

Of course, the Nets this season are still in their infancy and have not yet fully grown up.

Not to mention, the current Nets team is actually pretty good.

Under Kidd's offensive organization, their offense is more reasonable, and the players will not feel at a loss when playing.

Kidd has enough prestige that when his teammates don't know what to do, they will think of him immediately and hand the ball to him.

More importantly, Kidd can complete the task well and distribute the ball to the most appropriate position.

Van Horn has shooting and range, and Kenyon Martin has the physical talent and impact.

Before this, both of them felt powerless and didn't know what to do.

Now, with Kidd, Kidd will tell the two of them what to do. This is the biggest change for the Nets.

It's just that change is a good thing, but change doesn't mean winning.

Just like this game, the SuperSonics launched a 37:20 offensive frenzy in the first quarter, directly defeating the Nets.

Previously, because of their good winning streak in the new season, the Nets were somewhat confident.

But this time, he was directly defeated.

Of course, this actually has little to do with the players. Whether it is Kidd or others, they are working hard to play.

Under such a huge disadvantage, Kidd could still lead his teammates to score 20 points, and it was under the SuperSonics' defense. It was actually not easy.

The most important thing is the issue of the head coach.

I don’t know what Byron Scott was thinking, but he actually arranged a huge lineup.

The starting small forward is Keith Van Horn, a small forward with a height of 208 centimeters.

Some people may say that Durant is more than this tall.

But the problem is, Durant can control the ball and play in isolation, which is indeed the style of a small forward.

But not Van Horn.

Faced with such a lineup, the SuperSonics immediately increased their speed and continued to accelerate.

The entire Nets team was simply exhausted and unable to effectively organize defense.

It is simply impossible to regain the field in offense even if the defense is not good.

Moreover, the Nets' lineup is too bulky, which gives the Sonics an opportunity to target.

Increasing confrontation and oppression, looking for opportunities to double-team, caused the Nets to make constant mistakes.

As a result, a huge score difference naturally appeared.

Byron Scott also showed his extremely stubborn side at this time by not changing the lineup.

I don't know what he thinks. Maybe in his opinion, it's not that his tactics are useless, but that the players are not effective.
To be continued...