Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 123 Home Opening Game!Players' progress improved!Sharp offensive firepower!

On October 10, the Sonics' home opener against the Spurs was a nationally televised game full of gimmicks.

Before the start of the Supersonics season, they shouted the slogan of swordsmanship to the championship. Facing their old opponents in the conference finals last season, the Spurs naturally attracted attention.

The two teams met in the opening game, and no fan could refuse such a battle.

In the locker room of the home team, Lu Yong boosted morale as usual. "Don't worry, guys, this game is open to play. The Spurs are one year older this year, and they will definitely not be able to beat us. The rookie players may not understand the tradition of the Sonics. As long as they play hard enough and have a positive attitude under me, Everyone can get a chance to perform. There are always people who question our poor defense, and the offense is impossible to win the championship. This season, the Sonics will use practical actions to prove that the ultimate offensive firepower can crush all defenses."

The young people who joined the team in the summer breathed a sigh of relief. What they care about most is playing time. They are afraid that it will be difficult to get a chance to perform in this strong team in the playoffs. With the promise of coach Lu Yong, they feel comfortable too much.

Lu Yong glanced around, and then shouted: "The team has only one goal this season, and it will be a season of failure for us if we don't win the championship. Since last year, the outside world has generally questioned the Supersonics, and now it's time to fight back , Let us start the miraculous journey of the new season by killing the Spurs, do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" shouted the players, including veterans Francis, Bunche Wells and locker room leader Michael Finley.

They are the ones who created miracles with the Sonics last year. They have great confidence in this team. Whether on or off the court, they have set an excellent example for the young players in the team.

The run-in and observation of the preseason made Lu Yong more confident this season. He believes that the Sonics have the strength to compete for the championship.The depth of the team's lineup is very strong, and it can make up different styles of lineups to execute tactics, and its offensive firepower ranks first in the league.

In the locker room of the visiting team, Popovich is also emphasizing defense to the players, asking to strengthen the defense of outside three-pointers and earnestly defend against pick-and-rolls.

With the experience of playing against each other in last year's playoffs, Popovich has a better understanding of the Supersonic team, and made targeted adjustments before the game.

The pressure on the Spurs players is greater than that of the Sonics. If the opening game is massacred by the defeat of last year's playoffs, the hearts of the veteran players may not be shaken, but the external reviews will definitely be one-sided, which is not conducive to uniting the locker room.

In the summer, the Supersonics introduced a veteran and three potential rookies. Popovich is not sure whether the Supersonics will become stronger or weaker, but he is sure of one thing. Durant, Noah, Delfino, and The core rotation of Taylor Tovic must be stronger, and the situation is not very friendly to the Spurs.

The players showed up on time, and the supersonic's inspirational documentary of last season was played on the big screen, mobilizing the enthusiasm of the home fans.

Durant's finale debut won warm applause from the fans. The genius who was selected as an All-Star in a rookie season, Seattle fans are looking forward to what kind of performance Durant can deliver this year, and can't wait to witness it.

Noah received less applause. As a blue-collar center with poor statistics, he has great tactical effects, but his playing style is doomed to be difficult to attract fans like Durant. If you want to be selected as an All-Star, you must have the blessing of the team's record.

In the domestic CCTV5 live broadcast game, Director Zhang commented: "Today's opening game is a focus match even in the United States. Supersonics coach Lu Yong shouted the slogan of the championship in front of the media, saying that the new season will be dominated by offense. The league and the fans all want to see how the Sonics will perform when they meet the Spurs who eliminated them in last year's playoffs again, and the ratings have been high for a long time."

Yu Jia said: “The Supersonics lost four players in the summer, among which Delonte West and Wilcox were the core rotations of last season. Many people are worried that the offensive firepower of the Supersonics will be affected. However, the fans did not see any worries from the coach Lu Yong. The four new players introduced by the team all got the chance to play in the preseason. Except for the veteran star Francis, the other three are rookies. Whether the regular season can deliver an outstanding performance."

Director Zhang smiled confidently: "Lu Yong is a coach with a good eye for people. The rookies he entrusted with important tasks in the preseason have performed amazingly. I believe the talent is definitely not bad."

After the warm-up, the starting players of the two teams stood on the field.

Supersonic Five: Francis, Delfino, Durant, Szczerbiak, Noah.

Lu Yong replaced Bunche Wells, the starting shooting guard of last season, in the opening game. He reused Delfino, a 3D pitcher with both offense and defense, and arranged for Francis to start. The impact of Tee West's departure from the team.

Wells' poor shooting is a recognized fact. He and Francis are easy to be emptied by opponents in the backcourt. The efficiency is definitely not as good as that of the international star Delfino.

There are quite a few people who can be used in the Supersonic No. [-] position, but Lu Yong still insists on starting Francis after careful consideration. Dragic is too young and inexperienced, Sessions is not powerful enough, and lacks the threat of a breakthrough. Considering the perspective, the veteran star Francis is the most suitable candidate.

When Dragic grows up, he can start instead of the boss, acting as a weakened version of Nash to improve the fault tolerance rate.

Five Spurs: Parker, Ginobili, Mason, Matt Bonner, Duncan.

The biggest signing of the Spurs in the summer was the signing of free swingman Roger Mason. He averaged 9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game for the Wizards last season, and made 39.8% of his three-pointers. He is a strong offensive and defensive shooter.

The 38-year-old Bruce Bowen's lateral movement speed is getting slower and slower. Last year's playoffs alone defended against Durant. Lost, can only come off the bench.

Noah won the jump ball and the game started.

The Supersonic positional battle still mainly plays high position support, Francis passed the ball to Noah who responded in the middle, and then moved to the other side to open up space.

Noah held the ball in the middle, and Duncan let him take a step to defend with experience, focusing on the Sonics' off-ball movement and air cuts.

However, after a summer of training, Noah's self-confidence and shooting stability have long been improved. Seeing that Duncan is far away from him, he suddenly made a jumper from the middle.

Seeing this, Duncan hurriedly stretched out his hand to interfere, but unfortunately it was too late, so he could only put on a show.

Noah's main practice in the summer is mid-range shooting and support. His ugly shooting action does not mean that he has no range. The three-eight thrust is just right, and the ball falls into the net hollowly, huh! 2 to 0.

Director Zhang shouted: "It's beautiful. Noah shot the ball very resolutely. He didn't hesitate to see Duncan take a defensive step. His experience and ability to judge the game are obviously more mature than last year."

In Lu Yong's previous life, as a center with a height of 2 meters, Noah's shooting percentage rarely exceeded 11%, because many of his offenses were mid-range shots.

With this "three-eight push" Noah once scored 30 points in a single game. Against "Zhuang Shen" Drummond, he pulled it near the free throw line and made a jumper. He shrank this guy to the basket and refused to come out. The three-time rebounding champion has no temper at all.

Playing in the offensive system arranged by Lu Yong, Noah's growth rate is very fast, and his strength is much stronger than that of the parallel world.

The Spurs attacked, Parker and Duncan played a pick-and-roll in the middle, broke through from the left to attract help defense, and distributed the ball to the center.

Duncan caught the ball and squeezed Noah to the basket, trying to be as strong as last year's playoffs.

As a result, as soon as Duncan jumped near the three-second zone, Noah judged that he was in the right direction. He stretched out his long arm and slapped the ball out of the sideline, giving Duncan a wonderful volleyball hat.

The failure of the playoffs is a good thing for young players. Noah's defensive sense has improved a lot this year. A trip to the playoffs allowed him to complete the rapid accumulation of experience.

The beautiful volleyball caps aroused the atmosphere of the supersonic fans on the scene. The shouts were louder and louder, and the scene was very shocking.

Serving the sideline ball, Duncan came out to catch it and handed it over to Parker. The latter held the ball and forced Francis, went to the right and missed the basket. The backcourt rebound was protected by Noah.

The Spurs retreated quickly this round, and the Supersonics fell into position.

The player pulled away and the ball was given to Noah again.

Szczerbiak screened Durant off the ball at 45 degrees on the weak side, and Durant ran up the line to receive a pass from Noah.

Mason is 1 meters tall and weighs 96 kilograms. He is a bit reluctant to play a small forward. He suffered a serious disadvantage in defending Durant one-on-one. There is no place to match in terms of hardware.

Durant took the ball and dribbled a step in the middle, changed his direction drastically in front of him to open up space, and scored a two-point jumper. 4 to 0.

As a small forward with a height close to 2 meters, Durant is a freak.His speed is no slower than Mason's, and his dribbling is no worse than Mason's. Coupled with the advantages brought by his height and wingspan, it is almost impossible to block a pull-up jumper.

The Spurs attacked, Parker took it to the frontcourt, and after the pick-and-roll attracted the Supersonics inside to shrink, and transferred the ball to Mason, who was 45 degrees on the right, in a wide range.

Mason faked the ball and flew off the over-excited Durant, making a mid-range open jumper. 4 to 2.

Durant was a little excited this round, and was inspired by Mason's shooting fakes. Otherwise, he could easily lock Mason just because of his height and wingspan.

In the Supersonic offense, Francis took the ball to the frontcourt without a pass. He hit the pick-and-roll at the top of the arc and rushed to the basket from the right, attracting center Duncan to make up the defense and then pass back to the center.Noah received the ball for the second time, and the Spurs' defensive formation had been broken up by the boss. Noah took a step to pick and roll on the spot, handed over to Durant.

Durant caught the ball from the wing and quickly changed direction, moved to the corner and got rid of Mason's defense, jumped up and made a jumper! 6 to 2.

The pull-up jump shots in these two rounds showed Durant's terrifying physical talent. Eating Mason alone was as easy as training, which aroused cheers from the fans.

Director Zhang shouted: "This kind of pull-up jump shot is simply too unsolvable. No one in the league can do it except Durant. Even McGrady can hardly ignore defense like him."

Yu Jia said with a smile: "Durant's playing experience and rhythm have improved significantly this season. He can make indiscriminate jump shots by relying on his height and wingspan. This kind of player is too rare. There is no defense at all.”

The Spurs attacked, and Parker passed the ball to Duncan after a pick-and-roll. Duncan stepped near the free throw line and made a two-point jumper.

Noah reacted quickly, stepped forward to interfere effectively, and Duncan made a mid-range shot and missed the basket.

Szczerbiak firmly stuck Bonner and helped Francis, who shrunk to the penalty area, protect the backcourt rebound.

Francis, like Westbrook, is a guard with a strong ability to protect rebounds. He averaged 7 rebounds per game in his peak season. Considering that he is only 1 meters tall, it is hard for fans not to be surprised.

"Big Boss" grabbed the rebound and quickly launched a counterattack. He rushed forward to observe his teammates, attracted double-teams and passed the ball to Delfino who followed up on the weak side.

Delfino caught the ball at 45 degrees on the right side and pretended to break through to the basket. After flying Ginobili, he suddenly stopped and made a three-pointer.

He shot fast and had a lot of self-confidence. He tricked his teammate Manu Ginobili into a three-pointer, huh! 9 to 2.

When returning to defense, Delfino smiled, passed by the bench and slapped Lu Yong who was standing on the sidelines.

This quick three-point shot in the fast-break counterattack was so beautiful that it reminded Lu Yong of Curry of the Warriors in later generations.

Except for Delfino, there is no No.2 player in the Sonics who dares to shoot like this. The champion players who have experienced the baptism of the international arena are different, and the shooting rhythm is just right.

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(End of this chapter)