The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 48 Internal Strife?

For the next three minutes, Tang Bei didn't touch the ball again, and Kendall Gill and Larry Johnson took over possession and the attack.

But all three players were in good form today. Five minutes into the first quarter, the Hornets led by 5 points at 8:13, prompting the Bullets to call their first timeout.

Michael Breen warned, "The Hornets are up by 6 points, but there hasn't been a single play between Don, Larry Johnson, and Kendall Gill. That's not right. Once the Bullets get into form, we'll be in trouble."

Tom Tolbert nodded and said, "If the three of them are the Hornets' Big Three, then right now they are playing individually and haven't formed a cohesive unit. When one of them is on offense, the other two can't help."

Michael Breen suddenly laughed and said, "A fifth overall pick in the first round of '90, a first overall pick in '91, and a second overall pick in the first round of '92."

Talented young people will not easily submit to others, so a leader needs to emerge from among the three of them.

"It's related to personality, and there may be opportunities for them to coexist."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But if no leader emerges and they can't coexist, the most likely outcome for the three players is that one of them will leave after their rookie contracts expire."

Tom Tolbert nodded seriously and said, "Even if there are no problems between them, after their rookie contracts expire, their market value will increase significantly. The Hornets, who already have a $100 million contract, will face enormous salary cap pressure and will not be able to sign three players at the same time."

I can say with certainty that the Hornets won't be able to keep all of them; they'll be lucky to keep two, or even worse, they might not be able to keep either of them.

Michael Brin nodded and said, "Don and Larry Johnson have another problem: neither of them has a good mid-range shot, nor the ability to clear the paint. Their offensive zone is the paint, which means they are not complementary, incompatible, and have little synergy, which greatly limits their tactical use."

"Yes."

Tom Tolbert said, "Because their attacking areas overlap, they are very likely to engage in fierce competition in the penalty area."

In fact, this situation has already just occurred, and it foreshadows the future, that one of them may leave.

The timeout ends and the game continues.

"brush!"

Chapman dribbled the ball up to the right wing three-point line, suddenly stopped and jumped, sinking a three-pointer over Kendall Gill's head.

"Oh, Chapman is really playing well against his old team, he's already made 2 of 3 shots, he's in really good form," Michael Breen said.

"Bang!"

Kendall Gill tried to retaliate, but he was out of three-point range, so he pulled up for a jump shot and missed a mid-range jumper for a three-pointer.

Gugliotta grabbed the rebound, and the Bullets went on offense.

"Kendall Gill made 1 of 3 shots, his performance was mediocre," Tom Tolbert said.

Tom Gugliotta positioned himself in the low post on the right wing, received the ball, and then went one-on-one against Larry Johnson.

Tang Bei currently lacks the ability to seize opportunities for defensive support. His defensive support level is only 80, and he only has a second-rate level of defensive support ability thanks to his top-notch athleticism. In particular, his ability to read the opponent's offensive tactics is very poor.

In addition, his defensive positioning was also wrong; he failed to block the passing lanes of Tom Gugliotta and Ellison behind him.

As he quickly moved behind Larry Johnson, Gugliotta swiftly passed the ball to Ellison, who had found himself in open space.

"brush!"

Ellison received the ball in an open position, quickly cut to the basket, and easily made a layup.

Larry Johnson said angrily to Tang Bei, "Rookie, mind your own business. I don't need your help here."

"I'm playing by the tactics. If you don't want my help defense, go talk to the coach yourself. You're not the coach." Tang Bei retorted immediately after being criticized.

He was only drafted one position higher than him and played one more year in the NBA. He wasn't even the team's leader. What right does Larry Johnson have to criticize him?
"you?"

Larry Johnson glared angrily at Tang Bei.

Kendall Gill, who was not far away, was dumbfounded. He had played with Larry Johnson for a season and was more experienced, and they had never had any open arguments. This rookie had a conflict with Larry Johnson in his very first game.
“Oh, are they arguing? Are they fighting amongst themselves?” Michael Brin asked in surprise.

"This is Tang's debut? This personality is very assertive!" Tom Tolbert exclaimed in surprise. He continued, "I said earlier that one of them might leave, and now I can say with certainty that one of them will definitely leave, even before their rookie contracts end."

On the Hornets' bench, head coach Bristol and general manager Twitchick both frowned upon seeing this.

Fortunately, the two only said one sentence each and did not continue arguing.

13-13, the Bullets tied the score, and the Hornets went on offense.

Tang Bei moved to the low position on the left wing and squeezed into the penalty area.

Ellison already knew that Tang Bei couldn't be allowed near the basket. Once Tang Bei got close to the basket, even a double team couldn't stop him, so he did his best to defend him.

The head coach made the same request to him during the timeout just now.

"ball!"

Tang Bei squeezed in two feet, then stopped pushing in and immediately blocked Ellison, then reached out for the ball.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go directly to the basket to establish position, but rather that Ellison's strong defense slowed down his speed to the basket.

Passing the ball from the outside also depends on opportunity; it's not possible to pass the ball in at any time.

Generally speaking, passes from the outside start from the inside players entering the low post, and don't wait for the inside players to get to the deep post before passing the ball.

Of course, top-tier point guards are on another level when it comes to choosing the right time to pass the ball.

Therefore, Tang Bei cannot use all of his three seconds on offense to establish position. If he cannot receive the ball within three seconds, even if he squeezes under the basket, it will be a waste of energy and he may even be called for a three-second violation.

When you're trying to establish position, you should ask for the ball while simultaneously establishing position. You should never ask for the ball only after you've completely established a deep position.

In fact, the position he's in now is already deep post, and he's only about 1.5 meters away from the basket.

With his ability, if the defender isn't too strong, he generally doesn't need to dribble in this position, or at most dribble once, and can turn around and attack the basket.

At this moment, Larry Johnson was in the low post on the right wing, also calling for the ball.

This situation resulted in both Ellison and Gugliotta, the two interior defenders, being positioned closest to the basket, providing the tightest protection for it, and allowing them to double-team or help defend whenever they turned around.

Bogues, who controls the ball, chose Larry Johnson this time, not wanting to offend the person most valued by the management.

Larry Johnson received the ball, knowing he couldn't attack the basket and would be double-teamed under the rim, so he backed down the ball and immediately turned to shoot.

Moreover, he was very smart; instead of turning upwards, he turned downwards, close to the baseline, and made a jump shot from a zero angle.

Ellison had already covered Gugliotta's upper side, and Larry Johnson's downward turn just avoided his double-team.

"brush!"

Water splashes, two points hit.

"Not bad, Larry Johnson also went 2-for-3," Michael Breen said.

"The Hornets' interior defense is suffering from some internal friction! One of them is just wasting energy," Tom Tolbert said pointedly.

On the sidelines, General Manager Tvercz said to Head Coach Bristol:
"Don't have the stiffness of a big man's wrist. I believe he can develop a mid-range shot. His shooting is already better than before the draft. Then he and Larry Johnson will be compatible."

Bristol said thoughtfully, "But they both have very strong personalities and seem a bit difficult to deal with!"

Tvercic nodded with a headache, not knowing what to do. He hadn't expected that Tang Bei and Larry Johnson would run into problems in the very first game.

Bristol didn't mention one thing: it's not advisable to have a big center give up offensive space under the basket to the power forward, and given Tang Bei's personality, it seems a bit difficult.

(End of this chapter)