KeyArena in Seattle at night.
Li Yan leads the Knicks to face the Seattle SuperSonics away from home here.
Since the Sonics were purchased by Oklahoma City tycoon Clay Bennett, Clay Bennett has said that if Seattle does not give the Sonics a new arena, he will take the team to Oklahoma City.
The wheels of history are rolling forward, and Li Yan knows that this should be his last game in this arena.
Although the SuperSonics' record is terrible, Key Arena's attendance this season is still good.
Perhaps knowing that the team is likely to leave Seattle, fans here have greatly improved their support for the Sonics compared to previous seasons.
Human nature is like this, only when you are about to lose it, you will know how to cherish it.
Durant received warm cheers from the fans at the appearance ceremony. It can be seen that the fans in Seattle like Durant very much.
After the appearance ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides remained on the court.
Knicks starting lineup: Li Yan, Quentin Richardson, Ron Artest, Yi Jianlian, David Lee.
Randolph was absent, and David Lee was promoted to the starting position.
SuperSonics starting lineup: Earl Watson, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Kurt Thomas, Chris Wilcox.
Durant played the shooting guard position in his rookie season because SuperSonics head coach Carlesimo believed that doing so would help Durant maximize his strengths and avoid weaknesses, take advantage of his strong shooting ability and cover up his weaknesses in poor confrontation ability.
"In my opinion, shooting guard is the most suitable position for him at this stage," Carlesimo said, "because of the way he shoots and holds the ball, and also because his confrontation ability is not strong enough at this stage."
Carlesimo believes that Durant can play multiple positions, but his weakness in confrontation has limited him to the second position for the time being.
"He's not like Magic Johnson at all, but in the sense that he can play the other four positions except the five, he's a bit like Magic Johnson," Carlesimo said:
"When he plays shooting guard, he doesn't have to be knocked around by his opponents, and he doesn't have to spend the whole game trying to get stuck with his opponents."
Yi Jianlian is actually in a similar situation to Durant. Yi Jianlian's confrontation ability is also untenable among NBA insiders.
In his previous life, the UAE was too hasty to gain weight, which resulted in frequent physical injuries, loss of touch, and some off-court factors. Eventually, he left the NBA in his good years.
However, this season, the Knicks coaching staff did not give Yi Jianlian the task of fighting the opponent's "muscle stick" in the paint.
Next to Randolph, Yi Jianlian's defense mostly focused on flank defense; and on the offensive end, the Knicks did not let Yi Jianlian take on the task of posting up.
Yi Jianlian's offense is mainly off-ball. He mainly relies on layups, catching the ball around screens, and fixed-point shooting. The total proportion of face-to-basket singles and low-post singles is only 15%.
Yi Jianlian's finishing methods are mainly jump shots and air cuts. With the support of Li Yan, Yi Jianlian's offensive efficiency is very good.
In addition, Artest often switches positions with Yi Jianlian because of his strong confrontation ability.
Yi Jianlian swings between the 3rd and 4th positions. His height and athletic ability allow him to move easily.
This is also in line with Li Yan's expectations of the Arab League, not to blindly gain weight, but to practice shooting well while maintaining mobility.
UAE will definitely have a place in the NBA in the future.
…………
The game starts soon.
David Lee lost a jump ball to Chris Wilcox.
Earl Watson took the ball to the frontcourt. Watson's control of the ball was very stable, and he successfully handed the ball to Durant.
Durant's impressive height and wingspan are a mismatch killer. Li Yan originally wanted to directly let Ah Lian and Xiao Shuai face off.
It's just that directly letting Yi Jianlian come to the No. 2 position is indeed a bit shocking. Even though the head coach Isiah Thomas has always been good, he was a little embarrassed this time.
Isiah Thomas gave Durant the greatest respect and asked Li Yan to confront Durant directly.
Li Yan's height and wingspan are already outstanding among outside players, but he is still a head shorter than Durant.
However, Li Yan clearly understands his own advantages and Durant's shortcomings. He sticks closely to Durant and constantly puts pressure on Durant.
Durant took a step with the ball to get rid of Li Yan, but Li Yan's hands were too fast.
"Snapped!"
Durant passed by, but the ball stayed.
Li Yan completed the steal.
In the transition between offense and defense, Li Yan took the lead, leaving the SuperSonics players far behind.
"Shua!" 2 to 0!
Li Yan made an easy layup.
"Wow! Kevin Durant was defeated by Li Yan in the first round. It was a very clean steal. Kevin tried to pass Li, but Li directly completed the steal." Barkley said: "This is the top player."
"Hahaha, Li Yan should say to KD, welcome to the NBA!" Smith also smiled.
Supersonic round.
After half the basketball, Durant was still given.
Everyone knows that Durant can't take advantage of Li Yan at all, but they will still fight around him.
This kind of training is enough to make many rookies envious. You must know that there is no shortage of anything in the NBA, but the most lacking thing is opportunities.
According to statistics from the NBA's official website, the average NBA player's career is only 4.8 years; players who average less than 12 minutes per game have an average career length of only one season.
Even high-ranking rookies will be ignored by everyone because they have no chance to play.
The most obvious example is Milicic, the second overall pick in 2003.
Milicic is definitely not a "parallel import". He is tall yet flexible, has solid feet, accurate shooting, and is good both inside and outside. At the age of only 18, he is already well-known in Europe.
Being ranked second in such a big draft year is an affirmation of Milicic's strength and potential.
However, it was such a piece of jade that gradually went into the abyss after coming to the NBA.
In the 2003-04 season, Milicic played only 4.7 minutes per game; in the second season, he only played 6.9 minutes. The rookies in the same class in 2003 have all emerged and grown into the league's signatures, but Milicic can only play on the bench. He looked at the field with dull eyes, as if he had nothing to do with any of this.
The taciturn Milicic became the big man that coach Larry Brown said was never ready.
It wasn't until Larry Brown was fired that Billups, the team's eldest brother, came forward to speak publicly for Milicic:
"The kid was impeccably talented and he tried his best, but Larry destroyed his confidence with such a gruff attitude that we never saw him smile and his heart was broken and may never be repaired. ”
Compared to Milicic, Durant is undoubtedly lucky.
He has the unconditional trust of the Sonics. Even if Durant's performance is a bit clumsy in many cases, it does not affect the team management's belief in establishing him as the cornerstone of the team.
Durant still wants to beat Li Yan, but he is too thin now.
Li Yan gave Durant a physical confrontation before he could dribble, "Bang!"
In this moment, Durant almost flew over. Durant was completely suppressed by Li Yan on the court.
Fortunately, Durant's head was not strong enough. He gave the basketball to Jeff Green and then ran an off-ball screen.
Li Yan was a step too late when he bypassed Kurt Thomas.
Durant finally completed the shot.
"Whoa!" The basketball fell into the basket accurately.
2 to 2!
Durant clenched his fist hard and scored.
The Key Arena burst into warm cheers. Seattle fans were so fond of Du Xiaoshuai.
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