Chapter 502: Easily Defeat the Grizzlies
The Grizzlies had the ball, but before the ball was sent out, all the Sonics were in action.
Lin Dong locked Atkins, Payton defended Jones, and Iguodala watched Damon. Mike Miller was the one who sent the ball, but he found that he couldn't even send the ball out.
If Pau Gasol hadn't realized the problem immediately and rushed back to the court to respond, he would have been punished with a 5-second violation.
The Sonics were man-to-man defense!
Before the 5 seconds, the ball was thrown high to Gasol, but the next second...
Whoosh!
A figure suddenly rushed out from the side of Pau Gasol, as if it brought a hurricane to Gasol's ears, and then jumped high and intercepted the ball directly.
Gasol was surprised. This guy's speed was too fast. Just now, he was clearly two steps away, but in just a moment...
No. 10! Sakuragi Hanamichi!
Before he landed after stealing the ball, Atkins rushed up to steal the ball, but he didn't expect that Sakuragi, who landed, held the ball firmly with both hands, and turned his back, passing Atkins in one step, and then rushed to the basket with three steps.
Boom!
An unguarded dunk.
6:0!
——OH! OH! OH!
—— Sakuragi is very excited today! Hahaha, the red-haired monster is finally going to show his power!
—— Who said that our Sakuragi can't attack? Did you see the back-turning pass just now? This is called technology!
Doris opened her mouth and was a little speechless.
No. 10 Sakuragi Hanamichi actually stole the ball, dribbled the ball, and dunked it all in one go? Doesn't that guy have no independent offensive ability?
She has been talking about the advantages of the Grizzlies and the shortcomings of the Supersonics, but they were beaten 6:0 by the Supersonics at the beginning, and what she said was the opposite.
They said the Grizzlies had an advantage inside, but they lost the jump ball and the rebound. They said the Grizzlies were accurate outside, but they missed the shot right away. They said the No. 10 of the Supersonics had no independent offensive ability, but this guy came up with a one-stop attack...
She subconsciously glanced at Barkley next to her, but saw that big mouth looking at her with a calm smile, as if he was just watching if I didn't say anything.
This is a mockery! Mocking her own evaluation and professionalism!
Doris was also a little angry. She had finally prepared enough to get rid of the title of vase, but she didn't expect...
"Open up the space, it won't be so easy to be intercepted if you open up the space, how can you not be able to pass the ball... That's right! Look, that's it!"
As soon as the voice fell, the Grizzlies finally passed the ball. After Gasol returned to the court, he quickly turned around and got rid of Chandler and rushed to the front court, and threw the ball directly to the front court.
Snap!
Gasol held the ball in his hand, with fire burning in his eyes.
It was said that he would give the Supersonics a warning, but in the end, he was given a warning by others.
The momentum has been suppressed by the Supersonics, and the Supersonics are the best at seizing this kind of momentum.
This can't go on any longer, the Grizzlies need morale and goals!
At this time, Gasol's eyes were only on the basket in front of him, and he rushed into the three-point line and started directly with the ball.
He took two big steps and jumped high.
The basket was right in front of him, the ball was already in his hand, dunk it!
But the next second...
Bang!
A figure jumped up behind him, faster and taller than him!
A slender arm stretched out from behind and actually hooked the basketball.
Gasol was startled, and felt an unreasonable force coming from that hand, and in just a moment, the basketball was hooked directly over.
Bang!
Boom!
The basketball instantly changed its owner, and Gasol dunked on the basket, and when he turned around, he saw Sakuragi Hanamichi already holding the ball and rushing to the front court.
Mike Miller immediately came up to defend and wanted to stop him.
But the 203cm guy is not as flexible as the 209cm big guy, and was actually played by Sakuragi Hanamichi with a back dribble.
Ball handling ability? Basic skills? Scoring ability?
Perhaps these were the shortcomings and loopholes of Sakuragi Hanamichi in the past, but that was only because he had not played for a long time.
In fact, whether in the US high school or the NBA in recent years, his ability in this area has been improving with each passing day. In the 2004 season, he had already reached the level of 13 points per game, and his dribbling was already very skillful, but it was just because of his excellent rebounding ability and under the basket technology that covered it up.
By this season, Sakuragi Hanamichi's basic skills and scoring ability have actually achieved a substantial improvement after a long period of accumulation, and it can be said that he has finally achieved great success, but he was hidden by the Supersonics because he had to pass the ball to the outside this season.
His offense may still not be as good as his defense, but if someone thinks he can't attack or control the ball, then they are wrong!
Sakuragi Hanamichi, who passed Mike Miller in one step, did not stop, and Atkins in front rushed over again.
It's a pity that Sakuragi Hanamichi was in good shape at this time.
The limitations of his scoring ability do exist. For example, his mid-range shooting, except for the mid-range shooting at a 45-degree angle on the right side under the training of Coach Anxi, which can maintain high efficiency due to some inexplicable feeling, the mid-range shooting rate in other positions is really not high.
But so what...
Brother Gaoren said, today is my stage, I can play the way I want!
At this time, Sakuragi was still near the free throw line. Facing Atkins who was blocking him, he chose to throw the ball directly to the basket.
No. 10 is going to shoot a mid-range shot?
Atkins was startled and turned his head to look at the basket. The whole audience was also startled and looked at the basket subconsciously.
But after being startled, he couldn't help but laugh. How could this guy shoot a mid-range shot! If there is an analyst in the team, he can see that Sakuragi Hanamichi's scoring points are almost all concentrated in the paint area under the basket, not in the mid-range position.
And looking at his "shooting" posture at this time, it's like "hugging" it up. Is this considered a shot? Then you can shoot it, just shoot it!
Bang!
Sure enough, if this kind of ball can go in, it must be a ghost, and it didn't even touch the frame!
The basketball hit the backboard directly and then bounced out.
Backboard!
There was no one else under the basket, and Atkins' first reaction was to grab the rebound, but the next second...
He felt a hurricane rushing out from his side, and then jumped high in his surprised sight, leaving him with only a huge jersey number.
Supersonics No. 10! Sakuragi Hanamichi!
Snap!
Sakuragi Hanamichi stretched his body to catch the ball with both hands in the air, and then followed the inertia of his body rushing forward and jumping, his body seemed to have bent into a 'C', and then suddenly bounced back from the 'C'.
Bang!
A powerful two-handed dunk, and it was a self-throw and self-dunk after passing two people!
Not to mention that all the Grizzlies opened their mouths wide, at this moment, even the God Arena, the home court of the Supersonics, fell into stagnation and silence.
Since entering the NBA, Sakuragi Hanamichi has left everyone with the impression of a defensive type. This guy can only defend and not attack, and occasionally eats a cake.
But just now...
The score on the electronic scoreboard changed again, 8:0!
The God Arena didn't react until this moment.
——Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Has Sakuragi Hanamichi changed? The Sonics are actually led by Sakuragi Hanamichi? !
——This is an attack and defense all in one! The Red-haired Demon King finally showed his power!
——Sakuragi Sakuragi!
——Ohohoh! Hanamichi Hanamichi! Look here!
The cheers in the whole stadium almost overturned the roof in just a moment. The Sonics fans at the scene went crazy, while the Grizzlies players on the court, the Grizzlies bench and coaches sitting on the sidelines, and even the coaches of all the teams in the league who were not on the court but were paying attention to this game, were all silent and stagnant at this moment.
Especially the Lakers' Zen Master Phil Jackson and the Cavaliers' head coach Mike Brown... One was far away in Los Angeles and the other was far away in Cleveland, but the two people sitting in front of the TV showed a solemn and uncomfortable look on their faces at the same time.
Sakuragi Hanamichi actually has such offensive ability? !
Oh my god...
To be honest, for the Sonics' offense, both teams and coaches have done a lot of homework and preparation for this, and have basically identified a defensive core, which is to block the Sonics' perimeter, and then force Lin Dong to play singles, so that Lin Dong can't find other support points on the offensive end, so as to consume Lin Dong, and then delay the victory or defeat to the end when Lin Dong's physical strength is greatly depleted.
This is currently the most feasible tactic, and it has indeed defeated the Sonics in the regular season, but...when Sakuragi Hanamichi has such an offensive ability, then this tactic is almost equivalent to being directly declared useless!
You block the Sonics' perimeter? Then Lin Dong can find Sakuragi Hanamichi in the inside on the offensive end to respond.
You close the defensive circle to consolidate the basket? Then the Sonics' perimeter will have to teach you a lesson.
Block everything?
Sorry...Let's not talk about whether you can do it or not. Even if you can barely do it, it must be a change in the overall defensive strategy, and you can't achieve the goal of consuming Lin Dong at all.
If a lively and energetic Lin Dong is left until the fourth quarter, it will be an absolute nightmare for any team!
How did this guy suddenly evolve? How can we play against him? How can we limit the Supersonics? !
The well-prepared tactics have to be disrupted and restarted because of Sakuragi Hanamichi...
Mike Brown is better. Even if he can't think of a solution for a while, he can also look at the Lakers' defensive options and gain some experience since the finals are still early.
But for Zen Master Phil Jackson... the next round will be the Supersonics against the Lakers!
It's only half a month, and looking at the momentum shown by Sakuragi Hanamichi, the Grizzlies' only inside line in this series is completely exploded, so the result seems to be no longer necessary to guess.
Gasol and Sakuragi Hanamichi belong to the same type of players. They may be slightly stronger on the offensive end, but they are definitely not as good on the defensive end.
Mike Miller is the same type of player as Chandler. He may be more accurate in three-point shooting, but he is inferior in height, wingspan, etc., and is far inferior to Chandler in defense.
The reason why so many people think that Gasol + Mike Miller can compete with the Sonics inside is mostly because of their similar styles.
But they don’t know that the more similar the styles are, the more obvious the gap in level will be, and the more difficult it will be to resist, and there will be no variables!
The Grizzlies are doomed to lose, not just this game, but the entire series. As long as the Sonics don’t let up, it will definitely be a 4:0!
They can't even expect them to consume the Sonics. What the Lakers will face next will be the strongest SuperSonics in full condition!
Phil Jackson's tooth socket was almost broken. For the first time, he felt that it was uncomfortable to be in the big football market of Los Angeles.
Although the ball market is big, it is in the West. In the West, you must meet the SuperSonics in advance, MD...
While the Zen Master was cursing secretly, the game on the court was already continuing.
As Phil Jackson expected, the sudden outbreak of Sakuragi Hanamichi disrupted all the Grizzlies' rhythm.
Unable to defend the inside line, forcing the Grizzlies to shrink the defensive circle, the SuperSonics' outside line began to blossom.
In turn, the Grizzlies' inside line was completely suppressed, which made them even more inferior in the competition for rebounds.
Originally, if I performed well, I could only maintain 46 in rebounds and SuperSonics, but now it's directly at 37, or even 28!
It couldn't stop the Sonics' second attack, making the Sonics' outside shots more and more comfortable.
And not being able to get rebounds and not being able to get their own second offensive opportunity also made the Grizzlies' outside shots more and more constrained. They were completely out of shape and became a horse.
At 36:17, Hanamichi Sakuragi scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. He completely dominated both offense and defense, and Lin Dong didn't even take any shots.
The Grizzlies set a record for the most losses in the first quarter of the season in the first quarter, but this was just the beginning.
When the gap between the outside lines began to gradually widen due to their state, at the end of the first half, the SuperSonics led the Grizzlies by a full 52 points, 87:39!
Sakuragi Hanamichi's single-quarter scoring dropped, only scoring 17 points, but he grabbed a full 12 rebounds. In the first half alone, he had scored 36 points and 20 rebounds.
And Iguodala from the outside shot 9 of 11, scoring 27 points with a terrifying 81% shooting rate...
Lin Dong continued to be invisible, holding the ball and passing the ball most of the time, and hardly attacking. However, the SuperSonics' score in this quarter directly tied the NBA playoff single-quarter record set by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1962. !
Forget it if you lose, it will become a backdrop of historical shame. This...
In the second half, the Grizzlies were like a wounded, bleeding and angry beast, launching a crazy attack towards the SuperSonics basket.
In order to avoid injuries, the Sonics began to rotate the main lineup constantly, but anyone could see that the Sonics had already clocked out of get off work and were playing around. They also exercised the bench by the way so that they could adapt to the Grizzlies' violence. And the ferocity of the playoffs.
This water has been put into the Pacific Ocean, which really allowed the Grizzlies to recover a lot of points, but the score difference in the first half was really too far, not to mention that the SuperSonics did not completely give up the fight, there are always one or two The main force stays on the field to deal with it...
127:101, SuperSonics easily won their first victory and won G1!