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

Chapter 179 Matthews vs. Bully?A victory for the team!

On the evening of the 9th, the Seattle Arena was still full.

Even though the Supersonics have a mediocre record due to injuries after the start of the game, and the current ranking has slipped to fourth in the Western Conference, the fans still support them as always, and the home tickets are sold out every day.

The Sonics' opponent tonight is the fifth-ranked Suns in the Western Conference. The difference between the two sides is only 0.5 games. They both want to win this game to motivate the team, and they are destined not to be soft-hearted.

During the warm-up, Lu Yong called the players to his side and ordered the defense again.

He can't guarantee that this game will be won, the Suns are not weak.

The team's point guard is two-time regular season MVP Steve Nash. Although Nash's athletic state has declined slightly in the past two years, for a guard who relies on his brain and technology to play, the impact of the decline in athletic ability On the contrary, it's not that serious.

So far this season, Nash has averaged 16.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 11 assists per game, shooting 50.7% from the field, 42.6% from three-pointers, and 93.8% from free throws. He is expected to be selected into the "180 Club" for three consecutive years.

Another All-Star player "Small Overlord" Stoudemire is also powerful, averaging 24 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block per game this season. He is a beast power forward with both speed and explosive power. .

In addition, the Suns also have Richardson, the former Warriors' core perimeter "slam dunk king", a swingman with a height of 1 meters and a weight of 98 kilograms. He averaged 100 points, 15.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

As an outside scorer who was just traded from the Bobcats last season, Richardson has outstanding athletic talent. He plays like a fish in water next to Nash, and his shooting percentage is much higher, close to 50%, setting a new career high.

Boozer and Noah's injuries caused the Supersonics' internal strength to plummet. No one at the power forward position can match Stoudemire. This is the biggest headache for the Supersonics tonight.

Lu Yong stood on the sidelines frowning and pondering. He decided to make a bold change. Instead of starting with PJ-Tucker, who was not fast enough, he chose to go slanted forward.

After warming up, the players stood on the field, the Sonics five: Jackson, Budinger, Durant, Matthews, Gasol Jr.

Suns: Nash, Richardson, Grant Hill, Stoudemire, Robin Lopez.

Commentator Charles Barkley's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the Sonics' starting lineup tonight. "God, what did I see? Lu Shuai actually arranged for undrafted Wesley Matthews to be the starting power forward, and let him go against Amare Stoudemire? This is crazy!"

Kenny Smith sighed: "No wonder the outside world always says that Lu is a lunatic. His employment is full of confusion. Just when everyone thought that PJ Tucker would become the starting defense of Amare, since Lu arranged for the undrafted rookie Starting, there is no second coach in the league who dares to be as crazy as him."

Lu Yong did not let Tucker start to defend Stoudemire, because "Little Overlord" is an explosive insider, and most of his points are cuts after pick-and-rolls. many.

Tucker's strength lies in his strength and enthusiasm, but his speed and explosive power are too poor, and he suffers a serious disadvantage against Stoudemire.Although Matthews is only 1 meters tall, his weight has reached 96 kilograms. He has good explosive power and speed in his rookie season. With Gasol sitting at the basket, let him pester Stoudemire again. It's just right.

It's just that this group of matchups is too disparate in the eyes of others. One is the 4th All-Star who beat Yao Ming to win the best rookie, and the other is the undrafted pick in this year's draft. Fans couldn't help but sweat for Matthews.

Assistant coach Tony Brown also has no idea, but compared to letting veteran Juwan Howard guard Stoudemire, Matthews doesn't seem to be so miserable?
At the power forward position, no one in the Sonics can match Stoudemire. Boozer, who is the only one who can fight, is still out due to a shoulder injury. Lu Yong's adjustment is a last resort.

In fact, Tony Brown thought about letting Durant play the fourth position to guard Stoudemire. The height difference between the two is not too big, and their speed and explosive power are also top-notch. Even if they cannot defend, they will not be beaten helplessly. However, the proposal was quickly rejected by Lu Yong.

Letting Durant defend against Stoudemire undoubtedly greatly increased his risk of injury. The Sonics are now full of injuries. If Durant is injured again, he really doesn't have to play this season.

Tony Brown always felt uneasy, and sat aside and asked in a low voice: "Lu, do you think Matthews can guard Stoudemire? I always have a very bad premonition in my heart."

"It's fine to limit his acceleration after the pick-and-roll. It's not a big problem for Amare to rush in and Gasol to defend him." Lu Yong said calmly.

Lu Yong’s main purpose of arranging this set of matchups is to limit Stoudemire’s air cut after the pick-and-roll. As long as the bully can’t rush, his offensive threat will be greatly reduced. The strong and strong Matthews is only at a disadvantage in height , it is really impossible to be crushed in terms of strength.

In addition, although Stoudemire is the scoring leader of the Suns team, the real core of this team is Nash.As long as Nash and other players can be restricted from scoring, even if Stoudemire scored 30 points himself, the Suns may not be able to play an advantage.

Brooks on the side smiled and said, "Don't worry, Tony, it's not the first day you know Lu. He never does anything he is not sure about. Since he dared to arrange Matthews to be the main defense, he must think it is feasible."

"Well, maybe I'm blind." Tony Brown scratched his head.

Stoudemire and Gasol jumped the ball, obviously more athletic, and gave the ball to Nash.

Nash came to the frontcourt with the ball, and after the pick-and-roll, he went to the right to break through, attracting the help defense and giving the ball to Richardson on the outside. 0 to 2.

Budinger's athletic talent is very good, not losing to Richardson, but he lacks defensive experience. The ball failed to get stuck in the position ahead of time and was easily scored by Richardson. It still needs time to grow.

Lu Yong is very aware that rookie players must have weaknesses in the starting lineup, so he seldom complains. This is the only way for young people to grow up, and even Durant couldn't avoid it back then.

Supersonic attack, Jackson passed the ball to Gasol Jr. to organize in the middle, took Nash away and moved to the weak side, and Matthews made an off-ball screen for Budinger on the left.

Stoudemire kept up with Matthews, but Budinger managed to get rid of Richardson's pursuit.

Gasol found the opportunity to split the ball immediately, and Budinger moved to the left 45 degrees to catch the ball, facing the defense and pulling up a jumper.

The trajectory of the ball was very positive, and Richardson reached out from the side with almost no interference, and he hit the three-pointer steadily, whoosh! 3 to 2.

The Suns attacked, Nash and Stoudemire played pick-and-rolls, Matthews' advantage was brought into play, and he was very fast around the pick-and-roll, blocking Stoudemire's offensive line in time, preventing him from raising his speed.

Nash failed to pass Jackson with the help of the pick-and-roll, and suddenly attracted the defense with a sudden step, so he could only return the ball to Stoudemire at the free throw line.

Facing Matthews' single defense, Stoudemire made a strong face-to-face attack, and was assisted by Gasol Jr. in the three-second zone.

This is the defensive position that Lu Yong arranged before the game. As long as Stoudemire does not go to the basket, Matthews can only pester him close to him, restricting his shooting and speeding up.Once Stoudemire held high and hit the basket to kill, Gasol immediately let go of Lopez to help defend, and raised his hands to that stop was an insurmountable mountain.

Stoudemire encountered a double-team stop and moved the ball to the bottom corner in a hurry. Grant Hill caught the ball with a three-pointer from the bottom corner and was interfered by Durant stretching out his long arm in front of him. The ball missed the basket .

The former "Jordan successor" fell to the altar due to injuries. As a result, Hill's attendance rate suddenly improved after joining the Suns. He played more than 70 games for two consecutive seasons. Last year, he played 82 games, breaking his career attendance. rate record.

This season, Hill averaged 11.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 43.8%, which is also a career high.

It's a pity that Durant's wingspan advantage is too great, and the limit interference interrupted Hill's shooting rhythm, and he successfully defended it.

Gasol turned around to protect the backcourt rebound, glanced at the frontcourt, and immediately sent a second pass to launch a counterattack.

Budinger has a good sense of fast break. When Hill missed a shot, he quickly turned around and ran away from Richardson. He received a pass from his teammate one step away from the free throw line and faced no one in front of him. Defensive basket scored with a one-handed dunk.

"boom!"

5:2.

Lu Yong sat on the sidelines and applauded Budinger. After the opening, he scored 5 points in a row. Budinger's confidence became more and more sufficient, and he was one step closer to becoming a star.

The Suns attacked, and Nash played a pick-and-roll pass to Stoudemire in the middle. The latter took advantage of his height to single out Matthews. He suddenly stopped in the three-second zone and missed a jumper. I got it.

Looking back, Durant played one-on-one with Grant Hill and easily broke through. After attracting double-teams, he distributed the ball to Matthews who was ambushing outside the three-point line.

Matthews received the ball from the top of the arc and made an open three-pointer, scoring the first point of the Supersonics' starting career.

With Matthews scoring a three-pointer, the Supersonics' offensive firepower was completely thrown away.

In the next few rounds, "Martial Saint" Jackson relied on his physical advantage to win Nash in a row. Durant also had an advantage in one-on-one singles against Hill.

Two minutes later, Suns coach Alvin Gentry requested a timeout with a headache.

Replaced the sixth man "Brazilian Lightning" Barbosa, let Stoudemire top the center position, and started chasing points with a small lineup.

This hand adjustment is really effective. It not only strengthens the outside attack, but also improves the mobility of the lineup, flying fast.

Stoudemire has a speed advantage against Gasol Jr., and it is easier to go down after the pick-and-roll. He connected with Nash and staged two wonderful "overlords".

However, the defensive end of the Suns is also not very comfortable. Durant is relaxed and happy playing Hill in singles, and it is unreasonable for Jackson to play the first position and eat Nash alone.Coupled with Budinger and Matthews' hot shooting tonight, the Supersonics, which lacked three main players, did not fall into a disadvantage, and staged a battle against the Suns.

Lu Yong is not surprised by this. Matthews is a 3D player. It seems crazy to let him play power forward, but he is the man who defended Nowitzki alone in the playoffs.

It is not surprising that a strong body and explosive power occasionally appear in the fourth position. Teaming up with the inside gate Marc Gasol to deal with the "little bully" is very efficient.

Although Stoudemire is known as the "little bully", in fact, a large part of his scoring comes from the assists of his teammates. After leaving Nash, Stoudemire's offensive efficiency has dropped sharply, and he is obviously inferior to other top power forwards.

Stoudemire's slow inside play is more threatening, but it is not easy to score against an alternative like Matthews. Matthews has weight, speed and explosive power. There is Gasol Jr. on the inside to help defend, and there is not much pressure.

31 to 29, the two sides were evenly matched in the first quarter, and the Sonics led by 2 points.

In the second quarter, Dragic came on the court to organize the offense, and other players shot with the help of screens.

Gerald Green exploded in this quarter. The opponent Allendo Tucker first caught the ball and hit a three-pointer, and then staged a dunk in a fast-break counterattack.

The most exciting goal was when Green received a pass from teammate Dragic without the ball. Facing the 2-meter-tall substitute center Jaron Collins, he made an empty dunk and completed a head-to-head slam dunk. buckle!

Neal was in a bit of a slump today, and his two three-pointers with good chances missed the basket.

Fortunately, Gerald Green and Dragic on the bench were strong enough, scoring 11 points in a single quarter and sending 4 assists in a single quarter, helping the Sonics widen the point difference to double digits.

Seeing that the situation was out of control, Nash and Stoudemire returned to the court after only a 4-minute break.

Gentry realized that the Suns were no match for the bench. Even if three players were injured in the SuperSonics, it was not a soft persimmon to be slaughtered.

Stoudemire returned to the field and faced veteran Juwan Howard. After two pick-and-rolls, he scored all the downswept air cuts.

Lu Yong didn't make a substitution, and got up and shouted at Tucker, asking him to pester Stoudemire.

Although the speed is a bit slower, but relying on the candy-style defense can still cause trouble for Stoudemire, and there is no problem in dragging the main players of the Supersonics back.

This hand adjustment is also effective. It is not easy for Stoudemire to attack Tucker. After the pick-and-roll, he can only rely on speed to get rid of it. There is no advantage in head-to-head confrontation, and even his strength is not as good as Tucker. He rushed over to avoid being bounced away. .

Three minutes later, the main players of the Supersonics returned to the court one by one, and with their fiery shooting touch, they firmly controlled the point difference.

In the second half, the physical advantage of the supersonic youngsters began to show, gaining an advantage in this extremely fast and windy battle.

Matthews and PJ-Tucker took turns to defend Stoudemire well, and they did a few interference shots very well, limiting the frequency of "Small Overlord" air-cut dunks.

Budinger, Durant, and Gerald Green hit the outside line one after another. In the third quarter, they opened fire and played a real team attack.

In the final quarter, the Suns also launched a counterattack under the leadership of Nash.

However, as the Sonics responded with a wave of 11 to 2, Gentry quickly gave up the game and replaced the main force in advance.

At the end, 116 to 102, the Sonics successfully defended their home court without a major general.

Seven players from the Sonics team scored in double figures, and the substitutes scored 7 to 42, which was a complete sling.

杰拉德-格林替补登场砍下17分3篮板1抢断，三分球6投4中，手感热的发烫。

Dragic's performance was not bad either. He made 8 of 4 shots, 4 of 2 three-pointers, 10 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists. The most important thing is that he made no mistakes and played a good game in front of his idol Nash.

Durant, "Martial Saint" Jackson, Budinger and Gasol all scored in double figures, and the most surprising of the starting five was naturally Matthews.

He performed well as a starter for the first time in his career. He made 7 of 4 three-pointers, scored 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.

The commentator Charles Barkley sighed after the game: "This is a victory for the team. Coach Lu Yong led the team to write a new myth!"

(End of this chapter)