This Forward is Not Serious

Although it is only a preseason game, the attention it has received is still unprecedented.

Let's put it this way, the reaction of the major media and fans was like the scene when Jordan came back for the first time with the Bulls.

And that’s not counting the Chinese ones.

After the Nets' trip to China, the appetite of domestic fans has been completely whetted and they can't wait to watch the first show.

Another thing that reflects the attention of this game is that TNT directly sent the Big Three plus guest Reggie Miller to commentate on this preseason game.

The venue was packed with people, and the media area on the sidelines was also crowded with people.

If you hadn't known it in advance, you would have thought that what was about to be played here was a playoff or even the finals.

When the Nets players appeared at the scene, there were already bursts of cheers.

Durant looked excited when he saw the fans' reaction.

They say New York fans are hard to take care of, but the fanaticism in front of me is even worse than that of Oklahoma City fans!

With James going to Cleveland, the Knicks' popularity has dropped a lot, and now most New York fans support the Nets.

Lin Ying took Durant and chatted for a few words.

In the preseason, Karl didn't put too many demands on the two of them. He basically asked them to play according to their usual training methods.

As for the specific details of which tactics to use in which round, Karl let them decide for themselves. .

In fact, Karl is not worried about the performance of the dual-core. He is more concerned about the performance of others, especially Jokic.

He is as excited as Walken Dean, but at the same time he is under tremendous pressure. If he can't achieve results despite commanding such a lineup, he will be criticized by thousands of people.

Over at the commentary box, four people have also started to warm up before the game.

"Shaq, if you were Casey, how would you defend the Nets?"

Kenny Smith looked at O'Neal seriously.

"I will continue to create physical confrontation for them, both offensive and defensive ends, which can consume their physical energy. We can't focus on a single round. You know the game is 48 minutes long."

O'Neill also answered seriously.

"So when you were playing for the Lakers, that's how they defended you and Kobe?"

O'Neill nodded.

"Well, Charles, what would you do if it were you?"

"What?"

"If you were Casey, how would you defend the Nets?"

"No, no, I won't think about such a problem. Shaq just said his method, right?"

"Yes."

"So did they guard the Lakers in the end? Man, the Lakers won three consecutive championships!"

After Barkley said this, O'Neal couldn't help laughing.

After he entered TNT, the two have been fighting for the effect of the show.

But this compliment from Barkley made him feel like he had drunk honey. After he finished laughing, he said immediately:

"Okay, I take back what I said, that really doesn't work."

"Maybe they can adopt an attack-for-attack situation. If the defense doesn't work, it would be a good choice to put more energy into the offense."

Miller, who was on the far left side of the commentary box, spoke.

"You mean, you're going to compete offensively with Lin and Durant?

Reggie, I don't think Casey would be that stupid unless he got kicked in the head by a donkey! "

Miller smiled and said nothing. Lin Ying and Durant are both players who have the ability to score 40+ or ​​even 50+.

And more importantly, they are technically versatile and have no areas to target offensively. This is also the biggest difference from the Knicks' Big Three.

If we count the time since the beginning of modern basketball, there has really never been such a combination.

"So Charles, what do you have in mind?"

Kenny Smith turned his questions to Barkley.

Since he has denied so much, Buckley must have his own theory.

"Enjoy the game."

"What?"

Not only Smith, O'Neal and Miller also turned to look at Barkley.

"Facing such an opponent, show your own characteristics and enjoy the game. The rest depends on the opponent's performance."

Smith was stunned for a moment before he realized what Barkley meant.

Isn’t this just lying down!

So in the end, Barkley didn't resist the milk anymore, he just blew it hard!

This is understandable. The reason for the anti-milk is that the two sides are equal in strength and need some off-field factors to create metaphysical power.

But if the strength itself is much stronger, then it is O'Neal's classic statement: My grandma can even win the championship with her team!

There is no appearance ceremony in the preseason, and the starting lineups of both sides will be announced quickly.

Raptors: Lowry, DeRozan, Carroll, Scola, Valanciunas

Nets: Bradley, Ariza, Durant, Lin Ying, Jokic

The starters on both sides are exactly the same as ESPN predicted before, and they are all the main players.

This has a lot to do with the attention paid to the game. If there are so many people watching you and you don't play with all your strength, you will definitely get scolded after the game.

Of course, excluding this factor, the Raptors have received reinforcements this season and want to test their strength.

This can be seen from the pre-game footage, Lowry and DeRozan have longing in their eyes.

They've been in the first round two years in a row, and they don't want to be a supporting player this year.

"Du~"

A long whistle sounded from the sidelines, and the starters from both teams began to appear.

There were huge cheers from Nets fans.

It's coming, it's finally coming!

Jump ball from Jokic and Valanciunas in the center circle.

Contest between Serbs and Lithuanians.

Then, the fun begins.

Because Jokic might be a little too nervous, as soon as the referee raised the ball, he was doing a forceful jump.gif.

As a result, the continuous movements were like pushing a cart, which made the referee laugh.

Intense competitions, this little fat guy always seems to find different fun for people.

After the referee controlled his emotions, he threw the ball, and Valanciunas gave the Raptors the first opportunity to attack.

The Raptors advanced to the frontcourt, directly let Valanciunas sink to the bottom, and then fed the ball in to play.

Valanciunas is an insider trained by the Raptors and a rookie in 2011. He has developed his skills in four years and just renewed a four-year, 64 million contract with the Raptors this summer.

He is different from the blue-collar team like Chandler. He has strong low-post singles ability.

Casey is indeed not stupid. There are five people on the Nets court, and Jokic is indeed a breakthrough on the defensive end.

Jokic's low-post defense was a disadvantage last season. He was bullied a bit miserably by Nene. Now facing the larger Valanciunas, he...

The defense turned out to be pretty good!

"The results don't lie." Jokic's efforts this summer were well reflected in this defensive round.

Valanciunas' back-up didn't achieve the expected effect, and his strength couldn't match Nene's. In the end, he chose to turn around and hook toward the free throw line.

His skills are indeed delicate, but Jokic has already predicted his choice after withstanding his strong attack.

Although it was not blocked due to the bounce, the ball was seriously interfered by Jokic's long arm.

"Dang!"

The basketball hit the front of the basket and popped out, and Jokic stepped out of position to collect the defensive rebound.

Then, it was a long swing with one hand.

Bradley quickly broke the ball after receiving the ball, and after seeing Lowry chasing him, he threw the ball into the sky.

Durant had already followed up, jumped up and then glided for a one-handed dunk.

"Bang!"

The ball was hit hard into the basket.

The Barclays Center erupted instantly.

No one thought that Durant's first goal with the Nets would come so quickly!

Here I must talk about the position allocation of the Nets.

Although the distinction between the third and fourth positions in Karl's system is not so obvious, it is still there.

Because this involves on-field matchup issues.

The Nets' current lineup has Durant at the third position and Lin Ying at the fourth position.

The reason for this arrangement is also very simple, because Lin Ying's first pass is better, and as a power forward, he is also better at blocking positions and grabbing rebounds.

This is about fast breaks. On the defensive end, he can also quickly help defend when Jokic has problems with his single defense.

And his low-post defensive ability is much better than Durant.

That is to say, after this arrangement, the person who followed up on the fast break in the offensive round just now was Durant.

The first thing Lin Ying did was to block Scola to protect the rebound, and then turned around for a fast break. Durant was the first to follow up.

Of course, what can also be seen in this round is Bradley's improvement in passing ability.

The Raptors advanced to the frontcourt again, and Valanciunas pulled a high pick-and-roll.

The Nets' individual defense capabilities at the first and second positions are too strong. Even if the Raptors have an All-Star backcourt, their isolation efficiency will not be high.

The quality of Valanciunas' pick-and-roll was still very high, but Jokic pounced directly on him.

DeRozan had no chance to take a shot directly. He directly chose to change direction and break through Jokic to the basket.

A flying quickie.

But just before he took action, a dark cloud hung over his head.

This is a defensive trap!

DeRozan had no time to react.

"boom!"

The ball he shot was directly hit by a nail board!

Lin Ying!

The aforementioned Lin Ying's defensive ability at the fourth position is here!

In history, DeRozan has always been defeated when encountering James. In addition to the strength of the team, there are also technical characteristics.

His attack range is only within the mid-range, limiting his jump shots, then forcing him to break through, and finally using players with excellent assist defense capabilities to interfere.

Because his passing ability is relatively poor, this defensive method has failed time and time again.

Of course, the fact that the defense in this round can achieve such an effect has a lot to do with the Nets' current configuration.

DeRozan's static talent is average. He is 1.98 meters tall but has a wingspan of only 2.06 meters. He is at a disadvantage playing the third position.

So last season, Casey moved him to the second position. This season, the management even traded a defensive Carroll to help him share the pressure.

The advantage of this is that DeRozan can use his body to hit back in the second position, and his turn and fade is his ultimate weapon.

This adjustment is definitely correct, because this is not the era of small ball yet, and the size of small forwards is too large. This allows DeRo to praise his strengths and avoid weaknesses and maximize his strength.

But no one expected that the Nets would hire Ariza to play the second position...

That height, arm length and speed, Tianke DeRozan's back play.

Jokic once again picked up a defensive rebound, but the Raptors were beaten by the Nets on a fast break. Except for Valanciunas, everyone else quickly retreated.

Jokic saw that there was no chance and handed the ball to Lin Ying.

Lin Ying took the ball to the frontcourt and directly signaled Durant to play a pick-and-roll for him.

There was a burst of whistles.

Just like they didn't expect Durant's first score with the Nets to come so quickly, fans also didn't expect the "Texas Twins pick-and-roll" to come so quickly!

The pick-and-roll between superstars is usually the team's trump card.

The fans didn't expect it, and the Raptors didn't expect it either.

So when the pick-and-roll happened, their first reaction was to flank Lin Ying.

This is an instinctive reaction. After fighting with Lin Ying in the East for so many years, they all clearly remember one thing:

If you don't flank Lin Ying in the pick-and-roll, you just give away points!

But in the next second, Lin Ying also performed a basketball disappearing technique, passing the ball without looking at anyone directly to Durant's hands after being opened and bounced out.

The two of them are so familiar with each other, they are like an old married couple, they can get into the mood directly without getting into each other.

When the ball was sent over, Durant was already ready to catch the ball, and after receiving the ball, he made a signature pull-up jumper.

DeRozan had already rushed over to help defend, but saw Durant jump and slowed down and gave up.

Durant's jump shot, unless it jumps earlier than him or a double attack forces him to take a difficult shot, otherwise the defense will result in an extra penalty.

"Uh-huh!"

The basketball barely missed the net and fell from the center of the basket.

If you don't flank Lin Ying, you'll get points, but if you flank Lin Ying, you'll also get points!

This is not the usual choice of two poisons, it is really impossible to prevent!

0 to 4!

You can't tell at all that this Nets team has just undergone a major overhaul.

The fundamental reason is that Lin Ying and Durant are too familiar with each other!

The chemical reaction and running-in time issues that the outside world worries about do not exist for them.

Lowry's three-point shot after picking and rolling with Carroll in the frontcourt was interfered with but still missed.

The Nets' defensive style is very similar to that of the Warriors. They switch when encountering pick-and-rolls and have unlimited defense changes.

Except for Jokic, everyone else on the field has enough individual defense capabilities to do this, or at least they can create enough time for help to defend and attack.

The Nets attacked the frontcourt again, and the fans at the scene couldn't help but started cheering with excitement.

Lin Ying then picked and rolled with Durant, and then returned the ball to Durant.

He is serving as a green leaf for Durant tonight.

This time DeRozan came to help defend in advance, and Durant had a one-on-one opportunity facing the frame.

At this time, the Raptors' help defense couldn't come up at all. Jokic stood at the top of the arc, opened several 3Ds, and Lin Ying sank into the basket. How could this be done?

They can only trust DeRozan's defensive ability.

Durant quickly launched an attack.

A triple threat, then a straight up and shoot.

DeRozan predicted Durant's choice, but his height and wingspan were too disadvantageous, and the interference caused by his jump was really limited.

"Uh-huh!"

Durant's jump shot hit again!

After scoring the goal, Durant took the initiative to high-five Lin Ying with a smile on his face.

0 to 6!

Durant made his debut in Brooklyn and scored 6 points in a row!

You know the Nets are consciously letting Durant score, but there's nothing you can do.

"Well, Charles, you are right. I think the best way to face them is to enjoy the game."

Kenny Smith watched the game on the court and finally agreed with Barkley's point of view.

Although, that may sound absurd at first.