Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 201 Certificate of Surrender

In fact, both Westbrook and James could tell that Han Sen was trying to sow discord.

But just like the alienation tactic Hansen used against Paul last season, being able to hear it and whether it works are two different things.

James can't back down, because if he does, he'll be acknowledging that this is Westbrook's team.

The same goes for Westbrook. The management has always favored James. If he doesn't fight for it himself, his final outcome will also be to be traded.

The two were in a difficult situation for a while.

Brooks saw that something was wrong and called a timeout.

The new season has only been underway for two minutes. If the team has an internal conflict, he, as the head coach, will probably have to pack up and leave immediately.

The Grizzlies fans at the scene also wanted to watch the fun and started to make a wild noise.

Just as Stan analyzed, the Thunder's strength is not weak, but how well they can perform depends on how well the two ball-handling cores can work together.

The current situation doesn't look like it can be fought well.

During the pause, Sacre and Livingston were looking at Hansen intentionally or unintentionally.

Han Sen's actions just now brought them a great shock.

There is such a thing as character setting in the NBA, and it's not just James. There's also Jordan the God of Basketball, Kobe's 4 a.m., Mamba Mentality, and so on.

It feels like they are not humans but gods.

They were given "divinity" by the league and the media.

In order to maintain their divinity, they even act very high-handed both on and off the court.

In comparison, Han Sen is more like a human being.

He just applauded the operation that he performed. You can't imagine how Jordan, Kobe, and James would perform it.

They seemed to understand why the Grizzlies, with so many people with strange personalities, would be led by Hansen, who had not even finished his rookie contract.

God makes people keep their distance, but people are naturally close to each other.

Han Sen noticed their gazes and when he turned around, he was attracted by the scrolling advertisement on the technical desk behind them.

"King Adi of Dongda..."

Not many people at the scene knew those Chinese speakers, but they still stunned Han Sen.

You know what, he bought a pair of these counterfeit shoes in his previous life.

You see, it doesn’t matter how capable the Grizzlies management is. After they won the championship, major Eastern companies lined up to send money.

Return from the timeout and the game continues.

Westbrook started to hold the ball and James was placed in the bottom corner.

Han Sen was surprised by this. He didn't know what magic Brooks used to make James make concessions.

Westbrook continued to play pick-and-roll with the ball. This time Conlet moved inside. Westbrook saw the opportunity and made a zombie pull-up shot.

Randolph was double-teamed in the low post and passed the ball to Gasol Jr., who received the ball from mid-range and made a fake pass. After forcing the help defender to retreat, he made a mid-range shot in response.

The Grizzlies started the game in hot form, fully demonstrating the strength of the defending champions.

Looking back, Hansen and Guy switched defense and went to chat with James.

"How come you've gotten worse and worse, and now you've ended up playing second fiddle to Russell?"

Hansen's trash talk was still as deadly as ever, but James didn't react at all.

It can be seen that ever since the trash talk with Han Sen in the finals, he automatically blocks any words from Han Sen.

The Thunder's ball was still in Westbrook's hands, and he continued to play pick-and-roll with Lopez Jr.

This time Conley chose to go around, but Lopez Jr. blocked him. Facing Gasol Jr.'s fake move to look at the basket, Westbrook successfully blew up the opponent and broke into the inside, and then scored the ball after confronting Randolph who was assisting in defense.

Westbrook seemed very excited after scoring the goal, shaking his hands left and right and making his signature "baby cradle" motion.

In this section, he fully demonstrated the characteristics of an "emotional player".

When he's not confident enough, he becomes hesitant, which makes you feel like he's a burden to the team, the player who has the most success defending Durant.

But when he is confident enough, he only thinks about how to put the ball into the basket, and can perform well with his excellent physical fitness.

No matter what Brooks did, the situation on the court is that Westbrook stole the ball from James and he is now in hot form.

Moreover, Westbrook's emotions began to infect his teammates, and the Thunder's defensive enthusiasm on the court was obviously improving.

Gasol's shot under the basket was blocked by Ibaka, who also grabbed the rebound.

In an instant, two figures from the Thunder team rushed out of the three-point line one after another.

Hansen chose to make up for Westbrook who received the ball.

However, what he didn't expect was that after passing the midfield, Westbrook chose to pass the ball to James who was ahead.

James scored a fast break dunk.

8 square meters.

The Thunder made a small climax and successfully tied the score.

Han Sen looked at Westbrook at this time and corrected his perception.

Because of his identity as a time traveler, in the "history" he knows, Westbrook and James played together on the Lakers.

The scene is hard to describe. It's like a two-pin plug connected to a three-pin plug. It's not a question of whether it can be plugged in or not, but that both people are plugs, and if you force them together, it will end up being a short circuit.

But it's clear that Westbrook now is not the same Westbrook back then.

Now he is not at the stage of pursuing statistics, what he wants more is to win.

In other words, even without James, this team can still be quite competitive with Westbrook as the only core.

Han Sen also knew that the psychological warfare strategy had come to an end, and it was time to pick up the sledgehammer and begin the real "siege".

When Randolph's low-post tactics failed again due to the Thunder's help defense and there was little time left for the offense, Hansen leaned against Afflalo and reached out for the ball.

The fans at the scene began to cheer.

The other members of the Grizzlies are strong enough to handle most situations, but when faced with a problem that cannot be solved, it is time to bring out Hansen as the trump card.

Afflalo's defensive tendency was more obvious at this time. He stuck to Hansen and defended sideways, forcing Hansen to Ibaka's side.

It’s the same way Hansen defended Durant/James last season, setting up a pocket formation to force you in.

With little time left to attack, Han Sen took advantage of his defensive position and quickly broke through him.

Ibaka did not rush to assist in defense, but waited until Han Sen reached the three-second zone before coming to assist in defense, in order to prevent Han Sen from passing the ball inside.

The space inside is small, so even if Han Sen can pass the ball in, he can quickly return to defense.

Afflalo also blocked Hansen's space to step back.

The two top defenders played a superb defensive role.

At this moment, Han Sen increased the strength of his right hand to control the ball.

"boom!"

The basketball hit the floor with a dull sound and bounced back towards Hansen at a faster speed.

Han Sen used the rebound force to turn around and quickly distance himself from Ibaka before shooting.

The ability of [God's Lean Back] was brought into play at this moment, with both the turning speed and the ability to stay in the air being perfectly demonstrated.

Ibaka seemed to be frozen in place.

"Shh!"

Han Sen made the fadeaway jump shot steadily.

The FedEx Center was instantly filled with the cheers of fans.

This ball can be summed up in one word: cool!

At this moment, not only Ibaka, but other players on the Thunder team couldn't help but widen their eyes.

At that moment just now, they vaguely saw the shadow of that man.

No, it's not quite the same, because Hansen's jumping ability is not as good as Jordan's.

It feels more like a big Kobe, because both the taller height and bigger hands make Han Sen look more stylish and stable than Kobe.

But whether it was Jordan or Kobe is not the point. The point is that Hansen basically did not use the turn-around and fade-away move in any game last season!
In other words, Han Sen only needed one summer, a shortened summer at that, to develop the shooting guard's top killer move!

Moreover, he has reached this level?
“My greatest talent is the ability to learn.”

The value of what Han Sen said during his time at the NCAA continues to grow.

He really brings a surprise every season, and it's the kind that can make people drop their jaws.

Westbrook continued to hold the ball and play pick-and-roll. This time his breakthrough attracted Gay's double-team, and he passed the ball to James.

James received the ball and adjusted the three-pointer, scoring the first three-pointer in his Thunder career.

He has to thank himself for playing with Wade for two years, as his grasp of three-pointers has improved significantly.

This goal also allowed the Thunder to overtake the score.

Westbrook gave James a big high-five while retreating.

You know what, the two of them really had some chemistry.

"Whoop that trick!"

The situation was at a stalemate, and the Grizzlies' sixteenth man began to exert his strength.

Conley continued to look for Hansen.

There was a small detail in Han Sen's performance this time. He jumped up and caught the ball at the free throw line.

If the dream dance steps can be likened to a martial art, then this is the starting move.

Of course, this is also the most important part: resetting the pivot foot.

According to basketball rules, when you catch the ball while moving, the foot that is not off the ground at the moment you catch the ball is determined to be the pivot foot.

But if you land on both feet after taking off, there is no pivot foot, which means you can choose a new pivot foot yourself, which is what reset means.

After receiving the ball, Hansen made a fake move of half-turning and shaking his shoulders towards the free throw line, seemingly turning and leaning back with his right foot as the pivot foot.

Because Han Sen had just made a fadeaway, Afflalo instinctively jumped up, but Han Sen turned around and headed for the basket, shaking him off completely.

Ibaka had to help defend, and Hansen passed the ball to Randolph under the basket after the two of them got close.

Ibaka had no time to return to defense, and Randolph just took the ball and dunked it with both hands to score.

The scene was in a state of excitement.

James' expression at this moment was very interesting.

He was not familiar with the previous turn and backward move, but he was damn familiar with Han Sen's footwork just now!
At this moment, he was like someone who had attended a cram school and had finally improved his grades to a passing level, but suddenly found out that his classmates had gone to the same cram school and had scored full marks.

It turns out that the most frightening thing in this world is comparison.

11:12.

The Grizzlies took the lead again!
Now not only the fans were excited, but the Grizzlies' defensive enthusiasm also began to rise.

Westbrook continued to rush to the basket but was blocked by Gasol Jr.

Back on the offensive end, Conley continued to pass the ball to Hansen. The Thunder players were in a dilemma: if they didn't double-team Hansen, Hansen would score, but if they double-teamed Hansen, Hansen would have to pass the ball.

Of course, the most tangled one is Afflalo.

As a top defender, he must have studied Hansen's game videos before the game.

But the video did not tell him that Han Sen had such a skilled turning and leaning back technique.

This gave him a headache even more than when he faced Kobe. Although Han Sen's arsenal was not as rich as Kobe's, he was bigger than Kobe.

The good news was that Han Sen didn't give him too much time to hesitate and broke through directly on the right.

But unlike before, Han Sen did not penetrate too deep. He just took one step forward and then made a quick stop and jump shot.

Obviously, he felt it felt good and just pulled it out.

In this ball, Ibaka showed his top-notch assisting ability and successfully interfered with Han Sen.

Han Sen's backward shot hit the front of the basket and bounced out.

However, with Ibaka's help defense, the Thunder's ability to protect the basket weakened.

Lopez Jr. failed to steal the ball from the black and white duo, and Gasol Jr. was fouled on the second attack.

It should have been a shot call, but the referee signaled no free throw.

There was a burst of boos at the scene, and the photographer tried to find Stern, only to find that he had left early after presenting the rings.

However, this kind of whistle was completely expected. The Grizzlies made a big scene in the finals last season, which made Stern embarrassed. There will be no whistle this season.

Knowing that you are not easy to mess with, they dare not use biased whistles, but such biased whistles are inevitable.

The Grizzlies threw the ball in from the sideline, and Hansen caught it and signaled to move away.

Although the whistle was predictable, it was a bit disrespectful to do it on the night of the ring handing out.

The other Grizzlies players moved away, and Hansen challenged Afflalo directly.

After dribbling left and right, Han Sen suddenly broke through on the left.

This time he started very quickly, but Afflalo was flexible enough to catch up.

At this moment, Han Sen stopped the ball with a drop step to reset his pivot foot, then turned around and shot backward.

This time, no matter how agile Afflalo was, he couldn't keep up with Hansen's movements.

Although he lunged forward with all his might, he only served as a backdrop for Han Sen's attack.

The fans exclaimed at the scene. The technique that Hansen just used was one that Kobe often used, but Hansen made it look more effortless than Kobe.

But what is the same is the graceful shooting posture.

"Shh!"

The basketball flew over Afflalo's head and went straight through the net as if it was equipped with a targeting device.

At this moment, the FedEx Center was instantly filled with the cheers of fans.

Many fans' faces turned red with excitement.

There is no wine in your back, but I am drunk like a dog!
Sacre also ejected from the cabin again, waving the towel into the shape of a propeller.

After Han Sen started to attack with the ball, he made 4 of 3 shots, and all of them were difficult goals such as fadeaway shots.

Although this boss doesn't look like a good person, he is strong!

Nine minutes into the first quarter, the Grizzlies led the Thunder 9-23.

The two sides began to rotate one after another.

Hansen scored 8 points in the first quarter with 6 of 14 shots, and was substituted off the court for rest.

When he left the field, Sacre immediately handed him a towel and water.

Han Sen looked at this old show (a newcomer with an old-fashioned look) and nodded.

Although he couldn't play, Sacre was able to get a triple-double off the bench that night.

He also motioned for Thackeray to move to his side and started chatting with him.

At this time, the lineup of both teams is Thunder: Fisher, Afflalo, Sefolosha, James, Nick Collison
Grizzlies: Conley, Dahntay Jones, Gay, Jamison, Faried
In the first round, James scored by back-to-back against Jamison.

As he gets older, Jamison's already limited defense has become basically useless.

Fortunately, he was in good offensive shape. After turning around to receive the ball in the low post, he also back-pedaled and turned around to fight back against Sefolosha.

Why is Sefolosha defending?

James is defending Jones!

Joerger made some micro-management on the sidelines, and Gay switched back to defend James.

But James called for a pick-and-roll on Sefolosha, and after rushing forward, he passed Jamison again and performed his signature tomahawk dunk over Jones who was defending.

At this point, Brooks seemed to have found the reason why he was able to convince James.

When Durant was on the team, the Thunder always let Westbrook lead the transition period with the bench.

In other words, this was Westbrook's previous off-peak travel time, and now it belongs to James.

This makes sense. It is much easier to score during off-peak travel than to score during the high-difficulty period of the first departure.

After completing the dunk, James seemed a little excited and showed off his biceps in celebration to the camera.

And in the next round, James seized the opportunity and performed a volleyball-style block on Jones's cutting layup.

The Grizzlies had little time left to attack. Jamison received a pass from Gay on the outside and made a three-pointer against Afflalo who was defending.

The Thunder's lineup on the court is one big and four small, and James is not matched up against Jamison, so Jamison has a lot of room to play.

22 to 28, the score difference on the field did not change much, and the two sides played in a friendly manner.

After the offense and defense switched, the Grizzlies' defense adjusted again, and Jones switched to defend James.

However, this time it was not Joerger's signal, but Jones who took the initiative to switch defense.

Jones' rotation position in the Grizzlies is not stable. He has been dunked on and blocked in the past period. He wants to save some face for himself.

After seeing Jones, James immediately turned his back to ask for the ball.

Although Jones is also a defensive player, he is a guard after all, and there is a weight difference of more than 20 kilograms between the two.

There was no way he would not accept this act of offering his life as a gift.

But when he really caught the ball and started to post up, he found that the situation was a little different from what he thought.

Although Jones couldn't hold his own, he made a lot of small moves.

Jones has never been a clean defensive player. He can even be said to be the opposite of Conley, and even Phil Jackson complained about him back then.

James was made uncomfortable, and when he turned around he elbowed Jones in the chest.

The move was brutal, but the referee did not blow the whistle.

James pushed Jones aside and headed for the basket. When he saw Faried coming to help defend, he jumped up and confronted him directly.

His choice of ball was very smart, and he made good use of it after discovering that the referee had biased the whistle.

This was indeed the case. The referee blew the whistle to indicate that Faried committed a defensive foul in the air, which was a direct opportunity for two free throws.

James looked happy, but his smile didn't last long.

Because just as he was falling, he felt his foot step on something.

This time he was caught off guard, and even though he had excellent physical fitness, he still sprained his ankle 90 degrees and fell to the ground.

The players from both teams immediately confronted each other. Fortunately, the referee reacted quickly, blew the whistle and entered the field to separate the two sides, avoiding a conflict.

Han Sen was still communicating with Sacre. Originally, he just wanted to chat for a few minutes, but he didn't expect that Sacre was very good at communicating with people. He couldn't stop talking once he started.

The quick whistle on the court made him turn his attention back to the court, and then he saw James lying on the ground, holding his ankle with a slightly painful expression.

The Thunder's team doctors are on the court.

What's going on?

Han Sen looked up at the large LED screen, where a video was being replayed.

Jones's little moves, James' elbow strikes, and...Jones's foot trip.

Wow, well done!

This scene was almost identical to the finals of last season, except that the scene where James went from being the one who tripped someone to being tripped made Han Sen couldn't help but exclaim.

He looked at Jones again and instantly felt that he was handsome.

You know, tripping James is just like KOing James, not everyone can accomplish it.

Because James himself would trip over others, he would definitely be on guard against others' retaliation, so his vigilance is very high.

But there was no way out, he met Jones.

Evildoers need to be punished by evildoers, and evil will be punished!

James did not perform the same trick as Hansen in pushing off the ground to continue fighting. Firstly, it must be more painful for him to sprain his ankle after gaining weight than before. Secondly, this was just a regular season game and there was no need for him to fight so hard.

However, his physical condition is indeed strong enough. He did not get into a wheelchair and left the court on tiptoe accompanied by the team doctor.

But when he was leaving the player tunnel, he seemed very angry and slapped the chair next to him.

Jones was also ejected after being called for a flagrant foul for stepping on the opponent's foot.

James' departure changed the balance on the field. You know, James' ability to travel during off-peak hours is still very strong.

Brooks had to substitute Westbrook early.

And you know what, the Thunder still played well.

At the end of the first half, the Thunder were only single-digit behind the Grizzlies.

Westbrook contributed 20 points and 4 assists in the first half, and was quite efficient with 14 of 8 shots.

Durant's early departure allowed Westbrook to complete his evolution ahead of time, which is actually a good thing for his personal development.

However, Joerger adjusted his defensive strategy against Westbrook during the halftime. When the game entered the third quarter, the Grizzlies began to exert their strength and scored a huge score of 28 to 15 in a single quarter, turning the last quarter into garbage time.

It is a pity that Sacre was not included in the active list, and the fans were unable to see the style of this player who did not play but had a strong presence on the sidelines.

Hansen and Randolph attended the post-match press conference together.

Randolph scored 18 points and 8 rebounds in three quarters, and his condition was obviously much better than last season.

After Hansen scored 14 points in the first quarter, he also sweated slightly in the next two quarters and scored 26 points in three quarters.

There are many topics tonight, including the awarding of championship rings, the championship speech, and of course James' injury.

Or the focus that should have been on the championship ring was forced away by James' injury.

"It was just an accident. Although I haven't known Deng Tai for a long time, I know he is a very hard-working player." Han Sen lied seriously.

Even the reporters in the audience couldn't help but wipe their sweat. Everyone knew what kind of person Jones was. Besides, playing dirty had nothing to do with effort. It was obvious that Hansen was protecting this kid too much.

No, not obviously, blatantly.

"If he gets fined for that, I'll pay for him. He just wants to win for the team too much."

Don’t ask him why, the reason is that I’m happy.

(End of this chapter)