Chapter 68 Do you want to play for the Suns?
The fans expected the two teams to be tied at halftime, after all, they had played well in the previous few games.

At the same time, the wonderful performances of both sides in the first half also made the fans look forward to the second half of the game. Although they all hoped that the Suns would win in the end, they also hoped that the game process could be more exciting.

After the "long" half-time break, both teams missed two shots at the start.

In the next offensive round, Nash passed the ball to Stoudemire, and the latter, who got the basketball, immediately accelerated and rushed into the inside.

Dampier was distracted for just a moment when the opponent rushed in. He quickly raised his arms and tried to block the shot, but Stoudemire made a physical confrontation and then dunked the ball directly.

He couldn't stop him at all!
Although Stoudemire is of standard power forward size, he possesses the speed of a small forward, strong physical confrontation ability, the first step of his breakthrough is domineering and fierce, and his explosive speed that ignites instantly is the best in history.

He is one of the best inside players in NBA history who combines speed and strength, and he also has proficient face-to-face offensive skills.

When everything comes together, he becomes the most impactful and lethal power forward player in face-to-face offense in NBA history, no doubt about it.

Facing this kind of player, Dampier can only constantly confront him physically, forcing him to slow down or lose his strength.

Looking back, Nowitzki also relied on his personal ability to beat Shawn Marion.

Nowitzki has made great progress in the past season!
Don't ignore Nowitzki's age just because he is famous. In fact, he is only 26 years old. According to the normal career of a basketball player, he has not yet reached his peak.

He continues to learn and improve every season.

It's impossible for the Suns to defend him alone!

……

After the third quarter, the two teams still hadn't widened the gap. During the intermission, old Nelson frowned and looked at the Suns, thinking of a way to break the gap.

The Mavericks are mainly young players with quick feet, so they can defend against the opponent's fast breaks.

But the pick-and-roll between Nash and Stoudemire seems to be really unsolvable and cannot be defended no matter how hard you try.

While thinking, Old Nelson suddenly glanced at Zheng Yang. This kid has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Maybe he has some tricks that will work...

"Hey Zheng, how do you think we should defend the pick-and-roll between Steve and Amare?"

Zheng Yang was confused when he was suddenly asked this question. Aren't you the coach? Why are you asking me?
I haven't been alive as long as you have been playing basketball...

How could I possibly...

Wait, after being asked this by old Nelson, Zheng Yang actually remembered something.

As mentioned before, Zheng Yang has always liked to follow NBA news, so he once tried to understand why the Suns were swept 04:05 by the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals of the 4-1 season.

The online analysis is that Popovich broke the pick-and-roll between Nash and Stoudemire.

The way they defend this pick-and-roll combination is to shrink the inside and switch defense.

Focus on attacking Stoudemire in the interior and cut off his connection with Nash.

Although this would give Nash space to shoot mid-range shots, does it matter?

Nash's strength lies in his ability to connect the team. As for scoring, you can score more points if you want, because they will all come from his teammates anyway.

It was precisely because Popovich set this "gentle trap" for Nash that when Nash's number of shots soared from 11.4 in the regular season to 18.4 in the Western Conference Finals, and his points rose to 23.2 points per game, their team's offense plummeted.

The original effect of blossoming in all directions is gone. Marion, who was originally the second highest scorer in the team, can only get 7.8 points per game!
In the end, the Mavericks easily won the series 4-1.

The Mavericks are fully capable of replicating this defensive strategy. After all, they have Nowitzki and Dampier in the interior, and Zheng Yang and Dachou on the outside.

It is completely sufficient to defend against this combination.

After hearing what Zheng Yang said, old Nelson immediately understood the mystery and then cursed.

"Damn it! You must have studied tactics a lot, right? You actually found a way to crack it so quickly!"

"Hehe, there's nothing I can do about it, this is called talent, you can't learn it, coach! Haha!"

Zheng Yang said proudly, and Old Nelson pretended to hit him, so the former quickly ran away.

Old Nelson smiled and began to tell the players the next defensive strategy.

In the fourth quarter, after the starting players of both teams returned, Nowitzki and others began to defend Nash and Stoudemire's pick-and-roll according to the method just mentioned.

When Da Chou was defending Nash and was picked and rolled, Zheng Yang immediately defended Nash, and then Nowitzki and Dampier retreated to the inside to prevent Stoudemire from breaking through.

Nash didn't realize something was wrong at first. He just wondered why the Mavericks' defense was much lax in this game, giving him so many mid-range opportunities.

But when there were only two minutes left in the game and the Mavericks were already leading by 10 points, Nash realized something was wrong.

Before they knew it, the Mavericks had quietly widened the gap.

Nash realized that he didn't have as many assists in this quarter as before, and he had to get back to his original state.

He wants to reconnect the team!
But it is not possible to go back just because you want to.

The Mavericks' defense cut off the connection between Nash and Stoudemire, leaving them with opportunities to play one-on-one, but Nash and Stoudemire playing one-on-one were not a big threat to the Mavericks. When they were together, they could play 1+1, which was far greater than 2, but when they could not connect together, they were only 1.

The reason why the Suns were able to keep up with the score and even lead the Mavericks in the early stages was because of their offense. When their offense was not working, it was normal for the score gap to widen.

Nowitzki was unstoppable in their interior, and neither Stoudemire nor Shawn Marion could stop him. Dampier's main job was to shout "666" on the sidelines, but he would occasionally seize the opportunity to steal two.

After all, the Suns' defense is really bad. Among the five starting players, four are defensive loopholes.

With Dampier's ability, it would be good to occasionally play two players in the interior.

And their perimeter defense seemed like paper to Zheng Yang, and no one could keep up with him.

Joe Johnson, who was the team's main defender on Zheng Yang, felt that his ankle was going to break after the game.

This guy is really good at breaking through. He makes so many changes of direction. Doesn’t his ankles and knees feel anything?
Can't you just calm down for a while and let someone else play the ball?

The game was eventually won by the Mavericks. The two teams were evenly matched in the first three quarters, but in the fourth quarter, relying on the defensive tactics provided by Zheng Yang, the Mavericks took the lead.

The final score was 118:109. Nowitzki scored a game-high 35 points and 9 rebounds, and he alone blew up the Suns' inside line.

Zheng Yang scored 29 points and had 9 rebounds. He didn't have many assists, but he still got 4 assists thanks to his passing when leading the bench lineup.

Dampier only scored 8 points, but he got 13 rebounds, including 4 offensive rebounds. This guy does have some talent in rebounding.

At the same time, he did a good job defending Stoudemire in this game, especially in defending his dribbling breakthroughs, the effect was quite good.

It seems that this second-best center in the Western Conference still has some value.

On the Suns side, all five starting players scored in double digits, with Stoudemire scoring a team-high 25 points, but he only scored 4 points in the fourth quarter.

Nash also scored a lot, with 20 points and 8 assists. After coming to the Suns, he really felt like a fish in water. Not only did he provide assists, but his offensive talent was also fully tapped.

Although they lost to the Mavericks today, neither the fans nor the players felt pessimistic.

Because they all know that they, who only won 29 games last season, will have an amazing performance this season.

One or two losses don’t mean anything. The regular season is not a 100-meter sprint, but a long-distance race!
What they need to do is to learn from their failures and then make them stronger.

After the game, Zheng Yang said with a smile as he hugged Nash.

“Hey Steve, you played really well tonight, but the win is still ours.

I'm looking forward to the midnight snack later, but I have to go back to the locker room to change clothes first."

“You played beautifully tonight, and we didn’t lose!
You are so damn strong now, it seems like no one can defend you."

Nash said helplessly that he had defended one or two shots from the opponent in this game, but they could not keep up with his speed at all.

He is only 19 years old and in his second year as a rookie!
I can’t imagine how high he can reach in the future.

……

After leaving the locker room, Zheng Yang got into Nash's car and drove to the agreed restaurant while chatting.

They kept chatting on the way.

"Hey Zheng, our head coach, Coach D'Antoni, asked me to ask if you have any plans to play for the Suns. Although everyone knows that this is impossible, he still wants to know the answer.

It can be seen that he likes you as much as old Nelson does."

Zheng Yang didn't expect D'Antoni to ask him this, but he shook his head immediately.

"Forget it, I want to win a championship with the Mavericks first, and then... I want to go to my own team and continue chasing the championship.

The Phoenix Suns already had Amar'e, and that wasn't the right place for me."

If Zheng Yang really wants to leave the Mavericks, he will definitely become his own boss.

He is not that interested in winning so many second place championships.

"I support your idea. With your strength and character, you are indeed suitable to go to a team of your own.

As for the Mavericks... I don't mean to offend anyone, but everyone understands that Dirk will always be the boss of this team.

And... don't speak too soon! My goal this year is also to win the championship!"

Nash said with a smile.

"Then let's see who can get the championship trophy!"

Zheng Yang also smiled!

(End of this chapter)