185 It’s Getting Harder and Harder to Defend

competition is over.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Thunder 115:102.

After the game, Westbrook hugged Zhang Jun warmly, and the two did not need to exchange pleasantries.

Durant, who was on the side, snorted slightly in displeasure as he watched the two people making out.

Russell Westbrook never thought highly of him, which annoyed Durant.

Seeing Zhang Jun suddenly look over and extend his hand enthusiastically, Durant cursed, "You said you were going to introduce Scarlett to me. I don't even have her mobile phone number now, so go away."

Zhang Jun said speechlessly: "You want my help if you want a phone call? Why don't you ask me to pick her up for you?"

Westbrook said from the side: "Ignore him. This guy likes to hide in the locker room all day long and open his trumpet to give likes to female celebrities. He can't win any of them."

"Go to my house tonight?"

As soon as Westbrook got his salary, he bought a house in Oklahoma and settled down. As his best brother and friend, Westbrook naturally wanted to invite Zhang Jun to visit his new home, and Since Zhang Jun left for the NBA, the two have always been together less and more apart.

Childhood friends always face this dilemma.

Zhang Jun shook his head and said: "Tomorrow we have back-to-back games against the Timberwolves. The team will have to fly out tonight. Maybe next time."

Westbrook nodded regretfully. He has now realized how cumbersome a professional player's schedule is, so it is clear that except for the off-season, he and Zhang Jun will not see and stay together for too long unless they are teammates. .

...........

The entire month of November ends.

The Trail Blazers have a record of 13 wins and 2 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference and first in the league.

Zhang Jun's sudden burst of ultra-long three-point shooting set off a wave of exclamation throughout the league. Luo Yin's physical condition in the new season also helped him perform very well. Aldridge continued to evolve and scored in the game against the Timberwolves. Scored the first terrifying 20+20 data in his career.

The name of the Trail Blazers Trident has been in the fans' mouths since I don't know which game started.

Zhang Jun also temporarily leads the league's scoring list with an average of 34 points per game, and ranks second in the regular season MVP list.

First game in December.

The Trail Blazers challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers away from home.

CCTV commentary station, Su Qun analyzed: "The Cavaliers' record this season is very good, and James' dominance on the court has been further improved. This is why Zhang Jun has such an excellent performance but can only be ranked second in the MVP list. bit reasons.”

Yu Jia nodded in agreement and said: "The Cavaliers' current record is 12 wins and 3 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference."

"James averaged 29 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was as high as 49%. His three-point shooting percentage has also improved significantly compared with previous seasons. This season it has reached 35%."

Yu Jia likes the player James very much. He has been paying attention to the opponent's games since he entered the NBA with the reputation of being the favorite of heaven.

From less than 30% three-point shooting in his rookie season to 32% three-point shooting last season, this season has seen very significant progress.

The Spurs' defensive method against James in the Finals has been imitated by other teams in recent seasons. James is a very serious player who faces his own shortcomings, and can turn his own into a player in just two seasons. It is not easy to improve the three-point shooting ability to the league average level, and it must take a lot of hard training in private.

"James also has a certain level of three-point shooting this season, which forced other teams in the league to defend further outside when encountering the Cavaliers, giving James more opportunities to hit the basket."

Su Qun is very optimistic about the Cavaliers this season.

And immediately listed their lineup for this season and said: "Inside, there are big Z Zajunas Yilgauskas and Brazilian actor Anderson Varejao, and outside there are Delonte West and Joe Smith. , plus Maurice Williams on the point guard line, and LeBron James, the Cavaliers’ most important offensive and defensive weapon.”

"This Cavaliers team has been the best Cavaliers team in recent years."

Especially the player Maurice Williams. When talking about this player, Su Qun feels that he is a perfect match for the Cavaliers and James.

James is a standard ball-handling core who can score, assist, rebound, and defend. Therefore, the ball-handling ability of his teammates is often not very important. On the contrary, what James needs most is the kind of teammates who can attack tough situations.

Maurice Williams fully meets this standard. After all, when he was playing for the Bucks, Maurice Williams was nicknamed by local fans.

Maurice Williams is indeed not a traditional point guard. He is not good at sorting out offenses and organizing teammates to play tactics, but he is a rare scorer on the back line and has very good personal offensive abilities. He can become James. Besides, the second one holds the ball to solve the offensive point.

For the Cavaliers last season, the team stopped playing as soon as James came off the court. Before, James controlled the ball and organized passes. When he came down, he no longer had a passer or breakthrough player, and could only let other Cavaliers players play one by one. Bite the bullet and attack.

The Cavaliers don't have a qualified singles player at all, so as soon as James comes off the court, his opponents have to chase points.

But now with Maurice Williams, even if James is off the court, the Cavaliers still have a good offensive point, especially in the bench scoring stage. With Maurice Williams' ability, there are few teams in the league. The substitute lineup can restrict him to death.

"Maurice Williams averaged 18 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists per game this season. To be honest, when has James ever had such a player who averaged 18 points per game?"

"That's why the Cavaliers have such a good record this season."

"In short, the Cavaliers do have a very good chance of reaching the NBA Finals again this season."

The big screen at the scene showed the starting lineups of the two teams at this time.

Regular starter for the Trail Blazers.

Cavaliers starting lineup: point guard Delonte West, shooting guard Maurice Williams, small forward LeBron James, power forward Anderson Varejao and center Zarhunas Yingos Cass.

Game start.

Big Z Zarjunas-Yilgauskas took the lead in jumping to get the ball, and the Cavaliers attacked.

Delonte West advanced with the ball and passed the ball to Maurice Williams, then quickly broke out from the center to the baseline to pull the Blazers' overall defense.

Maurice Williams singled out Luo Yin.

call!

The first step started well, but it didn't get rid of Luo Yin.

Maurice Williams is the kind of defender with good speed and rhythm, so he didn't pass Luo Yin in the first step and immediately pulled the ball under his crotch and moved to the other hand.

Although Luo Yin could not keep up with Maurice Williams in terms of physical agility, he had a huge physical advantage. Therefore, after discovering that Maurice Williams was about to pass him when he changed directions, he knew that he had already passed him. Luo Yin, who couldn't keep up, directly got up and used confrontation to prevent the opponent from continuing to hit the basket.

Maurice Williams has finally met his opponent. Although his current scores and statistics are enough to be selected as a player who has reached the All-Star threshold, there is still a clear gap between him and the real All-Star Luo Yin, especially In terms of physical talent.

When he saw that Maurice Williams had a bad chance to single out Luo Yin, James quickly raised the ball from the right side to the top of the key.

Maurice Williams quickly distributed the ball, and Zhang Jun also rushed over at this time.

James bent over Zhang Jun with the ball. He almost put his head on Zhang Jun's chest to prevent Zhang Jun from grabbing the ball and interfering. After all, this guy is famous for his excellent wingspan. of.

At the same time, James is also observing the movements of his teammates, looking for the most suitable breakthrough routes and passing opportunities.

After seeing a defensive hole in the Trail Blazers' defense, James immediately started to start.

boom! ! ! !

Zhang Jun was knocked and took a breath of cold air. James was really not slow.

Zhang Jun can be sure that James is definitely not weaker than him in terms of speed. Of course, the opponent will definitely not be able to match him in the first step of the explosion, so James did not pass Zhang Jun at the first moment of accelerating the breakthrough.

It's just that James' excellence has never relied solely on speed. During the breakthrough process, James took the initiative to find physical confrontation, relying on Zhang Jun to continue to kill at the basket.

Zhang Jun felt that his body didn't feel like his own, and he was pushed by James from outside the three-point line to near the free throw line.

"This is really a tank."

In this position, Zhang Jun would never allow James to go inside, so he increased his strength to restrict the opponent's movement.

As a result, James suddenly exerted his strength and Zhang Jun was knocked back again and again, and Aldridge had to step up to cover the defense.

"Let me in!"

James pulled the lever in the air, and the Overlord took the bow and sent the basketball into the basket against Aldridge's defense. At the same time, the referee blew the whistle. It was a 2+1.

"James, you are so arrogant."

Yu Jia couldn't help but sigh.

Nowadays, Zhang Jun is considered the hottest star in the league. He has also made great progress on the defensive end this season. However, Zhang Jun was still pushed to the bottom of the basket by James and had to ask his teammates to help defend.

But even with assisting defense, James still has the ability to score the ball and cause extra penalties. This is not something most players can do.

"It doesn't matter that James is playing with his body, but there is a lot of finesse in his roughness. His ability to maintain body balance after encountering a foul at the basket, and his ability to continue shooting the basketball under confrontation has a lot of finesse."

"Players like James still need players whose physical strength can keep up to defend him."

Su Qun wanted to say that James's weight this season has reached 114kg, while Zhang Jun's weight is only 100kg. The gap between the two is obvious. James's weight is almost that of an inside player.

So it's no wonder that Zhang Jun couldn't withstand James' impact. There weren't many strikers in the league who could.

"If the Trail Blazers want to defend James, it's best to help defend."

"But looking at this situation, the Cavaliers should be worried about one issue on the court now, and that is who will defend Zhang Jun."

On the court, Luo Yin did not play singles as usual after receiving the ball. Instead, he took the initiative to pull outside the three-point line and looked at Zhang Jun and said.

"Brother, hit him and let him know how powerful you are."

Zhang Jun caught the ball and nodded. He stood two meters away from the three-point line. James obviously watched the game video before the season, so his defense against Zhang Jun followed him to about one step beyond the three-point line.

Although this position is not a close defense, as long as Zhang Jun chooses to shoot, James' height and wingspan will naturally be able to interfere in place.

Zhang Jun knew that his three-point shot must be an open shot, and shooting three-pointers against the defense was not his strong point, so at this time he had no idea of ​​​​making a three-point shot, but suddenly accelerated quickly while protecting the ball with both hands.

call!

James was raped, raped cleanly.

Now when Zhang Jun wants to rely on speed to surpass others, there are few players who can restrict him.

However, Zhang Jun, who passed James, still did not get a very good scoring opportunity, because James was right behind him and very close.

It is impossible for Zhang Jun to choose to shoot in this state, because James behind him will definitely cause defensive interference.

So Zhang Jun chose to continue to break through to the basket. The Cavaliers' Twin Towers Big Z and Anderson Varejao took a step towards Zhang Jun at the same time. Anderson Varejao even stood directly outside the reasonable collision area, protecting his hands with his hands. He held his crotch in preparation for Zhang Jun's impact.

"This guy is still trying to give me an offensive foul."

Zhang Junke knows that the Brazilian movie star is known for falling down and flying when touched, and James behind him continues to rush over. At this time, he needs to make an immediate offensive judgment.

Zhang Jun suddenly stepped on the brakes and came to an emergency stop. At the same time, he held the ball with both hands and looked into the sky. James took off, but Anderson Varejao had not yet reacted.

At this moment, Zhang Jun broke through to collect the ball and stepped forward. His excellent wingspan helped him find the angle for a layup behind Anderson Varejao.

Uh-huh!

The basketball hits the basket steadily.

Only then did Anderson Varaijo react. He was about to dive but was discovered by the opponent.

"This offensive pace is okay."

Su Qun couldn't help but praise: "In the past, Zhang Jun was only an excellent breakthrough player and mid-range shooting expert, but this season he added a lot of footwork changes during the breakthrough process. It can be seen that he has made a lot of progress in this off-season." A lot of hard training.”

"Not only the three-pointers, but also the offensive pace has been significantly improved."

After scoring the goal, Zhang Jun naturally stepped back. James was not used to Zhang Jun suddenly playing so agilely.

After all, Zhang Jun used to jump from the free throw line to hit the basket. Everyone knows how Zhang Jun will end the offense after breaking through. Last season, many centers in the league encountered Zhang Jun's riding. Insult.

But now Zhang Jun has started to play so cleverly, which makes the defensive players even more troubled.

"This kid is getting harder and harder to guard against now."

Zhang Jun really wanted to say that this off-season he and Kobe Bryant’s training was not in vain. He had watched many of the opponent’s offensive moves. Although Zhang Jun was not very good at some of the offensive moves, it did not affect him. Find the steps that suit you.

Now Zhang Jun has become more and more confident in his offense, and he has more and more offensive moves. He is an offensive threat in almost any position on the court. Opposing teams and opposing players are becoming more and more interested in defending him. It's getting more difficult.