$1,679. Potential of the Best Defensive Player

Depend on!

Sun Ce played with Klay Thompson, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Aldridge, and Gobert, and ten thousand alpacas were racing in his heart.

Looking at the opposite lineup of Westbrook, Waiters, Durant, Ibaka, and Nick Collison, Sun Ce was so sad. Just before going on the court, coach Hollins asked him to face off against Durant on the defensive end!

Sun Ce suddenly discovered that the team had reached the state of "looking to the lord for problems that cannot be solved".

However, although he was sad and his balls ached, Sun Ce was still a little excited!

He learned defense with Payton and Jordan in the summer. After training in the Basketball World Cup and preseason games, he has made considerable progress in single defense.

Of course, it is impossible to say that these two people will be as good as these two people right away. This will take time to settle. Just like Kobe was beaten by Iverson in his rookie year. He started practicing defense in the summer of his rookie year, and he only started practicing defense when he was 22 years old, which is his fourth grade. It was the first time I was selected for the first defense, and I was mainly on defense. When I was selected for the first defense in the fourth grade, I only made three teams. It also took several years to study, practice, and accumulate.

But dueling with Jordan... Being challenged by Jordan so many times, Sun Ce was already good at defending against skilled players, but now he has made obvious progress, and he definitely wants to face off against top scorers like Durant.

It's just that after the start of the new season, Sun Ce has not had such an opportunity. When he encounters top-notch players such as Irving and Ellis, Paul George, Klay Thompson, and Tony Allen will defend him. Use his physical strength to do what he does best - connect the team's offense and defense.

He naturally knows what is important and what he is best at, and he must take what the team needs most as his first goal.

But he really wants to go one-on-one with the top scorers. Although it is a bit against the trend, if no one can guard him, the Thunder will not let Durant guard him. In this era, the functionality of players He is getting stronger and stronger, and players who can combine offense and defense are becoming more and more rare...

However, when he defended the strongest outside players who were not his opponents, he defended very well. His single defense efficiency was close to that of Paul George. When the discussion for the best defensive player began in December, Sun Ce ranked higher than Paul George and Adams. All are high.

This means that his single defense effect is indeed better, but he has not yet accepted the challenge of a real top scorer.

The referee blew the whistle to start the second quarter, and the game started in the last 5 minutes and 37 seconds of the first half. Sun Ce put away his messy thoughts and finished the offense first!

The Grizzlies are working very hard to improve the rhythm.

But the rhythm was still suppressed by the Thunder. Suppressing the rhythm is always easier than raising the rhythm. In the past 6 minutes and 23 seconds, both teams only scored 10 points.

Sun Ce received the referee's serve and sent it to Paul George. After reaching the frontcourt, he received the ball again and continued to attack with the ball.

With the experience in the first quarter, Sun Ce's task became simpler in the second quarter, singles and singles defense, these two goals.

Watching Sun Ce advance, Durant also knows his own importance, limiting Sun Ce's scoring and scoring himself. His task this season is also very simple, guarding the opponent's big-headed outside players with high skills, and switching to guard the opponent's inside players with bamboo poles. , and then he scored, and his playing time was reduced. He took a full 9 minutes of rest in the first half, just to maximize his role.

Observing Durant's defense, Sun Ce decided to play the pick-and-roll. The Thunder seemed to have an idea, wanting to block the mid-range between Sun Ce and Aldridge, and then limit the three-pointer between Klay Thompson and Paul George. Points, Gobert's cake.

This defensive tactic is to not stick to Sun Ce's three-pointer, take a gamble, and use conventional defense.

This is a good idea, and it must be tried, otherwise the rhythm that the Thunder finally suppressed will be useless. If the Grizzlies can score stably in positional battles, the Thunder will have no way to play and can only play like before the first quarter. Attacking the Grizzlies like that for more than 9 minutes was too detrimental to the Thunder. Although it was difficult to beat the Thunder by suppressing the rhythm and forcing the Grizzlies to the point of defending, the Grays played an integrated offense and defense. The Bears are scarier.

However, Sun Ce used Gobert's pick-and-roll and found that Ibaka was not approaching. Sun Ce directly pulled up a three-point shot...Ibaka quickly pounced on him. If it were other defenders, Ibaka's defense would be enough, but in the face of Sun Ce, this is not going to work. Ibaka's defensive shot was not high enough after the regular defense change. Sun Ce hit a three-pointer after the pick-and-roll!

"Splash Wave is triggered at level 4. The teammate named Klay Thompson will be more confident when he takes a three-point shot in the next offensive round. If his three-point shot is a catch-and-shoot, it will be easier to find his shooting touch..."

Seeing the system prompt that appeared, Sun Ce retreated excitedly. This was his first three-point shot in this game. He had never had a good chance before, and the opponent's pick-and-roll also blocked his three-point shot. The shot goes in, which can definitely put more pressure on the opponent's defense!

But the most important thing now is defense!

Sun Ce retreated to the backcourt. Westbrook didn't care about the triple-double in this game. He didn't lack a triple-double, and Sun Ce didn't compete for triple-doubles this season. Westbrook didn't care about this even more. After playing against each other for several years, he knew that sometimes it was really because he wanted to get a triple-double against Sun Ce that led to the loss. Now that they are in the championship period, he put this matter aside.

Westbrook goes to the bottom line to prepare for the rush. He still has a certain mid-range shooting ability at this position. Coupled with his excellent physical fitness and rush ability, Paul George dare not let him go.

Klay Thompson is guarding Dion Waiters, Gobert is guarding Nick Collison at the basket, and Aldridge is chasing Ibaka.

After Durant served the ball, when he saw Paul George leading the defense against Westbrook at the top of the arc, he felt something was wrong. When he arrived in the frontcourt, he immediately understood because Sun Ce was coming to guard him!

Durant's body was shocked. Even if he defeated Tony Allen, Paul George, and Klay Thompson in the first quarter tonight and easily scored 11 points on 4 of 5 shots, he was not as excited as this moment. !

When Sun Ce faced Durant, he felt his palms were sweating. In the past, he was not the main defensive player on the perimeter. Even when he switched defenses to players such as Durant, Kobe, and Harden who were difficult for him to guard, he did not feel any pressure. , if you can guard against it, guard against it, if you can't guard against it, you will be knocked down.

But now, the coaching staff and teammates expect him to be able to limit Durant!

Durant came to the left side of the free throw line and leaned on Sun Ce to ask for the ball.

"This despicable and shameless guy who lied about his height actually beat me from behind!"

There was a wave of slander, and Sun Ce carefully stayed behind Durant. When Durant received the ball, Sun Ce did not stick to Durant like other defenders. He is of sufficient size, with a wingspan of 220 centimeters. Although he is not as long as Durant's 228 cm wingspan and is a few centimeters shorter in height, he has enough size to defend Durant compared to other outsiders.

Durant didn't feel any resistance after receiving the ball. He felt that Sun Ce was very smart defensively and was worthy of being an All-Defensive Team player. If Sun Ce had been close just now, he could turn around and break through after receiving the ball and standing firm, let alone Sun Ce. , players like Tony Allen and Jimmy Butler who compete fiercely can't stop them.

Facing Sun Ce, Durant stepped out with his right foot and clicked.

Sun Ce was not fooled, but he was very confused. This position was not Durant's test position. The Thunder's play style is very traditional, or Thunder head coach Scott Brooks is very traditional. The center position always maintains a high level, at least. , which means that the Thunder's opponents also maintain a high level inside. Now that Gobert is under the basket, even if Durant goes in, he will encounter a lot of pressure. The opponent is bigger than him.

Suddenly, Sun Ce understood what the opponent was thinking. When Durant took a step again, Sun Ce pretended that his center of gravity was shaken, stepped his foot, and took half a step back with his left foot. Durant immediately retracted his foot and made a shooting motion. .

Seeing Sun Ce making up for it in a hurry, Durant retracted his second fake move, then moved towards Sun Ce and lifted the ball!

Durant's body is so big, and he can make such movements so smoothly, he is really talented. Seeing that Sun Ce, who hastily made up for it, was about to be fouled by Durant, the fans at the scene were already screaming. Suddenly , Sun Ce stopped his movements!

Not only did Sun Ce stop his movements, but Durant seemed to be stopped by the impact. He grabbed the ball and swung his hands upwards, but without the ball in his hands, he almost lost his balance and pounced forward. go out.

Sun Ce grabbed the ball that bounced off the floor and counterattacked!

Dion Waiters quickly caught up with him. The former high-ranking rookie of the Wizards is indeed in good physical condition and plays very hard. However, he has the reflexes of a standard black player. Sun Ce rushed to the frontcourt and stopped abruptly. Turn around, speed up and change direction while traveling!

Sun Ce took the first step out, and Dion Waiters flew away. Sun Ce took the second step out, landed on the ground, took off, and smashed the ball into the basket with one hand!

43 to 38, Sun Ce scored 5 points in a row to increase his personal score to 13 points, surpassing Durant to become the highest score in the game, and at the same time helped the Grizzlies' lead expand to 5 points!

In the past, Sun Ce would have forgotten about a fast break layup, but now, he will definitely dunk when he has the chance.

This counterattack was beautiful. The fans at the scene had already burst into cheers when Sun Ce counterattacked. However, most of the fans at the scene did not see clearly what happened just now, and the big screen did not have time to play the replay of Sun Ce's defense. Sun Ce changed direction on the fast break and cut and dunked, and the Thunder team had already served and attacked.

But the fans in front of the TV saw it, and it was a very clear close-up of the high-speed motion lens. The commentator analyzed Sun Ce's defense in slow motion just now - using a fake move to deceive Durant who used a fake move. Te thought his fake move had swung Sun Ce away and was about to use a big loop, but Sun Ce cut off the ball raised by Durant with a quick palm and completed the steal!

This single defense awareness has improved again compared to before!

"Is this an accident or has Lord's defensive ability really improved so much? I heard that Lord asked Payton and Jordan to learn defense in the summer. I don't know how he managed to get these two to teach him together. Maybe it was His unique personal charm... If the Lord's single defense really reaches the top level, he will definitely become the best defensive player..."

Time Warner Cable Sports commentator Hubie Brown started to praise the superstar of his old club again, and Bill Walton next to him didn't know what to say.

But Bill Walton also admitted that Sun Ce deserves any praise. This player is terrible!

For other stars, basically no clear progress can be seen in the sixth or seventh year of their careers, such as Durant and Westbrook. Both of them have improved this season compared to last season, which refers to what they know. It has become better, and it is no longer easy to develop new skills. Just like Gay, who has not improved qualitatively after joining the Spurs. The fastest improvement for players is during the rookie contract, and after that, they basically master the skills they have learned. Become more skilled.

Even Kobe, who said he went to learn back-to-back play from Olajuwon, was actually good at it originally, but he just strengthened his ability in this area.

Unless someone like Ibaka has impaired athletic ability and has to change from physical fitness to technical flow.

And Sun Ce, even though he has played for 5 seasons and is about to turn 25, has made great progress after one summer...

While Hubie Brown was praising Sun Ce, Durant received the ball and back-to-backed Sun Ce again at the game.

Durant and the rest of the Thunder felt that the interception just now was more like an accident.

Based on Sun Ce's awareness and reaction when he defended Durant alone last season, Durant felt that Sun Ce's interception should be a coincidence, otherwise Sun Ce's offensive skills have become more and more sophisticated this season, and he can still improve on the defensive end like this, Durant felt that he couldn't play anymore.

However, as the saying goes, what you fear will come true, and Durant immediately found that what he thought just now was true!

Although Durant then used a turnaround to force a close-range jump shot, it was a forced jump shot. He found that Sun Ce's defense against back-to-back and strong confrontation could bring him great pressure!

Sun Ce's choice of confrontation when defending back-to-back, grasp of the timing of confrontation, lateral movement when defending breakthrough, long arms that interfere with ball control at any time... It is true that Sun Ce's awareness and defensive skills are not as good as Tony Allen and Klay Thompson, but Sun Ce, like Paul George, has outstanding physical conditions on the defensive end. He can rely on his not-top-notch but excellent single defense awareness, coupled with his outstanding body shape and top speed among point guards, and his single defense is excellent!

And Sun Ce's wingspan is much better than Paul George's. Paul George's wingspan is 211 cm, two cm shorter than James, but Sun Ce's wingspan is better than James's 213 cm wingspan, reaching 220 cm, the same as Yao Ming!

This brought huge pressure to Durant. As long as Durant had good physical strength, it would be easy to play against Paul George, who had good physical conditions, and Klay Thompson, who had not so good physical conditions but good defensive skills. Tony Allen's condition began to decline. Durant thought that no one on the Grizzlies could defend him, and even those who could greatly restrict him were gone.

But Sun Ce's single defense has undergone a qualitative change! This quality does not mean how strong Sun Ce is for the time being, but that he has the possibility of becoming the best defensive player!

The most coincidental thing is that Durant is one of the best players to limit Sun Ce's singles. Now Sun Ce also has the possibility of becoming a defensive expert who can limit Durant's scoring!

When the Grizzlies attacked, Sun Ce found that the opponent's defense had changed slightly again. They were desperately blocking Klay Thompson's catch and shoot. Sun Ce was not surprised. As long as the team had good defensive discipline, they would do this. The alternative connection of the Splash Brothers has become famous in the league.

Nick Collison did a better job defending Aldridge's singles than Adams. Sun Ce didn't give Ibaka any space this time with the pick-and-roll. Ibaka came up directly. Sun Ce broke through to the mid-range. Ibaka still followed closely. His help defense was not as good as Sun Ce's, but Ibaka's single defense became better. He lost his explosiveness, but his flexible footwork was not lost.

Sun Ce broke through to the baseline and failed to get rid of Ibaka. He chose to force a hook shot... Ibaka gave enough interference, and Durant also doubled up after Sun Ce lost the space to pass to the basket.

But in addition to Sun Ce's breakthrough to the S-level on the right side of the three-second zone, his hook shot at the baseline has also improved a lot, especially the right baseline, which is the position that Sun Ce has improved the most in the past summer, except for the mid-range shot on the right side of the three-second zone. Relying on the bonus of the 5-level pick-and-roll expert with the ball to improve to the S-level mid-range shot ability at the baseline, Sun Ce hit a hook shot against two people!

Sun Ce, who is in a good mood, can't be stopped!

Sun Ce had physical potions to use, and he rested for so long in the first half, so he was even more carefree about his physical strength and played hard!

When the Thunder attacked, Durant's singles efficiency was still very good. He felt the pressure. It was not that he could not score, no one could really defend him, but he would be more tired. His physical strength was not particularly good to begin with, and his efficiency suddenly improved this season. The team used it better.

However, Durant did not hesitate and played several singles in a row at the expense of his physical strength. After taking Sun Ce away with his threat, Westbrook's breakthrough became smoother.

Gobert was also unable to defend Westbrook who rushed in directly after the breakthrough. He needed teammates to interfere with Westbrook in the mid-range, forcing Westbrook to slow down or change direction, so that Gobert could defend well. This was the role of Sun Ce, and Dion Waiters also did a better job of attacking the basket.

At the end of the first half, thanks to Durant's outstanding performance of 19 points in 7 of 10 shots, the Thunder led the Grizzlies by two points with a score of 55 to 53 and entered the halftime break. The Grizzlies did not have an advantage over the opponent's super four-man team.

However, Durant, who shot 70% in the first half, felt a huge pressure!

In the past 5 minutes and 37 seconds, he shot 6 times. Although he played for less than 15 minutes, he felt no different from playing for more than 20 minutes in the first half last season! Fatigue is coming!

And this is all because of the guy he regards as his "enemy of his life"!