Chapter 601 James Harden and Mr. Great’s New Prey

The Western Conference semifinals between the Seattle SuperSonics and Phoenix Suns are the last of the four NBA semifinals.

Before the first game between the Seattle SuperSonics and the Phoenix Suns started on May 6, the other three groups of matchups had all played at least one game.

Even the Celtics, who are first in the Eastern Conference, and the Magic, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference, have already finished their second game.

The game between the Seattle SuperSonics and the Phoenix Suns is about to start, but the entire public opinion is still focused on this matchup between the SuperSonics and the Nuggets.

"Now public opinion all over the world regards this matchup between the SuperSonics and the Nuggets as the victory of the final round of the playoffs for Yes this year!"

Public opinion across the United States and even the world is still frantically reporting on the Sonics' first round game just as the Sonics' second round game is about to begin. This is indeed very abnormal and very normal.

The whole world knows that the NBA is a league where the waves behind push the waves ahead.

No matter how classic a game, it's hard to stay motivated by such a large number of games for long.

Therefore, from this aspect, it is naturally abnormal that the second round is getting ready to start, but the media around the world are still reporting on the first round.

But on the other hand it's normal.

After all, this series between the SuperSonics and the Nuggets is so classic.

It's a classic that may only happen once in NBA history.

At the same time, this year's SuperSonics playoff schedule is too difficult.

Beating the Nuggets in the first round was a narrow escape. In the end, with Yes's magical performance, the Seattle SuperSonics seized the opportunity of a lifetime.

But facing the sun?

This is not a narrow escape opportunity!

This is a dead end!

This year's regular season record for the Seattle SuperSonics was 69 wins and 13 losses. They lost a total of 13 games in a season, four of which were to the Suns, four to the Rockets, and two to the Celtics.

Suns, Rockets and Celtics,

Three opponents considered impossible for the Seattle SuperSonics to beat.

And these three opponents are exactly the three strongest teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences remaining in the playoffs.

For the Seattle SuperSonics, entering the Western Conference semifinals, whether they play against the Suns or Rockets, is a dead end.

Therefore, for many media, before the playoffs start, they have already drawn the end of Yes' playoff road this year.

Before the playoffs started, most people felt that Yes would be eliminated by the Nuggets in the first round despite losing.

A small number of people think that the Seattle SuperSonics can beat the Nuggets, but everyone thinks that the Seattle SuperSonics will definitely be eliminated when facing the Suns.

Before the game between the SuperSonics and the Nuggets started, 70% of ESPN experts were optimistic about the Nuggets.

Before the game between the SuperSonics and the Suns started, more than 90% of ESPN experts were optimistic about the Suns!

The reason why it is not 100% is not because these experts are optimistic about the Seattle SuperSonics, but simply because they think it is not easy for the Seattle SuperSonics and Yes to get to this point, so give a little consolation vote and don't make Yes look so Ugly.

After all, Yes had just staged an epic historical moment.

It's just obvious that there is no problem with sympathizing with Yes and the SuperSonics, but the reality is that in the game between the SuperSonics and the Suns, the SuperSonics cannot advance.

Since it's impossible to advance, why focus too much on it?

It is precisely because the outcome of this round between the Suns and SuperSonics is so disparate that even those coconut fans are more willing to immerse themselves in the beauty of the first round.

As for the second-round game between the Sonics and the Suns, well, let’s pretend it doesn’t exist for now.

The Seattle SuperSonics' first game of the Western Conference semifinals, an away game against the Suns, is about to begin. However, the public opinion outside is not pursuing this game very pitifully, as if it does not exist, completely indulged in the beauty of the past. .

For the media and fans, this is understandable.

But for Leafs and the Seattle SuperSonics players, they can't do that.

In the game against the Suns, the whole world is not optimistic about the Seattle SuperSonics.

Just like TNT's No. 1 coconut flour Pippen said.

"This series between the SuperSonics and the Suns is a well-known series. There is no secret between the two teams. The Suns are the team that knows the value of Yes best in the world, and Yes is also the team that knows the Suns best in the world. players.”

"The showdown between two teams without any secrets is all about hard power. Unfortunately, even with Yes, the Suns' hard power is higher than the SuperSonics. The reason why the Suns dare to use such crazy defensive tactics against Yes is because The sun has enough hard power to support it."

"I know very well that as long as Yes appears on the court, he can do anything, but the Suns will not let him appear on the court for a long time, and the Suns will try to minimize Yes' influence in the game. .”

"I don't know the future. In the current SuperSonics, no player can bring Yes into the game from outside the game. In the current SuperSonics, no player can truly help Yes break the shackles of the Suns!"

The confrontation with the Suns in the past two seasons has been the most painful thing for the Seattle SuperSonics.

The power of the sun makes it almost impossible for Supersonic to do anything.

In the past two seasons, the two teams have played against each other 14 times, and the Seattle SuperSonics have a record of 2 wins and 12 losses.

Lost 12 games in two seasons.

What is the concept?

The statistics are similar to those between the Spurs and SuperSonics in the past two seasons.

The Spurs also lost 12 games to the Sonics in the past two seasons.

For SuperSonics head coach Nelson, facing such an almost impossible opponent is a very stressful and challenging matter.

In last year's playoffs, he enjoyed playing against the Suns.

In last year's playoffs, he shockingly put Yes in the paint on the defensive end, and Barea and Rondo in the paint on the offensive end. It can be said that he pushed the Suns into a desperate situation.

In the end, the Suns and D'Antoni, who is not very good at adapting, were forced to come up with the tactic of sending Yes gifts out of the game.

After the SuperSonics and Suns series ended last year, many people said that his use of Yes and Rondo Barea in this series was a genius.

At the same time, D'Antoni's tactical evaluation is also quite high.

Generally speaking, last year's game between the SuperSonics and the Suns was a highly tactical game that Nelson liked very much.

But this year...

In the training hall of Arizona State University, Nelson's brows were always frowning.

A famous brand!

To be honest, the most unfriendly thing for coaches is that there are no secrets between the two teams.

Neither the Seattle SuperSonics nor the Suns have changed much this season.

The two teams did play quite brutally in the playoffs last season.

So much so that the familiarity between the two teams has reached a level that is quite jaw-dropping.

In this series, his creative space is very limited.

As the head coach of the Suns, D'Antoni may have more limited operating space than he does.

He is also a coach who likes to toss and think of solutions.

D'Antoni is a famously adaptable coach.

The Suns have used the tactic of taking Yes out of the game for six consecutive games during the regular season and playoffs. D'Antoni, who has always been conservative, has no reason to prepare other tactics.

It can be expected that in the next few playoff games with the Suns, he will continue to endure at least four games of D'Antoni's tactics, which are very inhumane to the Sonics.

The Seattle SuperSonics' practice session at Arizona State University was very low-key.

Nowadays, public opinion experts across the United States are chasing news about the game between the SuperSonics and the Nuggets, and are not that interested in preparing for the game between the SuperSonics and the Suns.

This gave the Sonics a rare few days of silence.

The Seattle SuperSonics are very happy to be so quiet.

But the same can't be said for Arizona State's leading player, James Harden.

As the 20th ranked high school student in the United States last year, isn't the reason why he has a good reputation in the United States because he defeated the Internet celebrity player Rondo in a one-on-one?

Beating the NBA assists leader as a freshman is a big enough gimmick.

It was with such a gimmick that he came into the eyes of the national media, and the national media noticed that he was the boss of one of the top 65 teams in the NCAA playoffs.

There are so many teams in the NCAA, and even the teams that made it to the championship are ranked 65th. It’s so difficult to get ahead!

You can't get ahead without using some means. The difference between being famous and not being famous is indeed very big. It's probably the difference between the first round and the second round.

Of course he doesn't want to fall into the second round. According to many media predictions for him in this year's draft, he has a chance to enter the lottery.

As a genius who is not a chosen one like Mayo Beasley-Rose, it is very good for an ordinary genius like him to have the prospect of hitting the lottery in the first grade.

If he can really enter the NBA as a lottery pick, he will certainly be satisfied.

But obviously, his lottery prospects are not very stable.

He needs more people to see that he is valued.

Such as Yes!

He needs influential people to build momentum for him.

And Yes is the one who is easiest to deceive. How many Jordans and magicians did Yes produce last summer?

The Sonics do not have any top draft picks this year. For example, they will not continue to hold large-scale training camps, and there are very few people who can be selected by Yes.

The Seattle SuperSonics can defeat the Nuggets and advance to the second round, so coming to Arizona to play is a godsend for him.

He can be so close to Yes, and he can be so close to let Yes, who is very talkative, build momentum for him.

Yes is indeed as easy to talk to as he imagined.

"James is one of the best NCAA players I have ever seen. He has great potential. I see the shadows of Ginobili and Kobe in him. He will become a very good NBA player."

Ginobili + Kobe!

This is the template Yes gave him.

Although it's not Jordan + Yes, it's not Magic + Pippen, and it's incomparable to last year's Russell + Duncan.

But today, when there will definitely be no inflation, his model of Kobe + Ginobili is already very good!

I'm afraid it is second only to Rose, who is modeled after Yes, and is similar to or even better than Beasley, who is modeled on McGrady, and Mayo, who is modeled on Wade.

What makes James Harden very depressed is that he doesn't know if Yes's big hit last year affected his reputation in the draft or something else.

Although many draft media in the United States have changed his template to Ginobili + Kobe, their pursuit of him has not reached the level of Kobe's successor at all, not even the level of Ginobili's second!

Now James Harden is really sad. He wants to prove his strength to more media and let them see that Yes is not joking when he says he is Ginobili + Kobe.

But there are far less media here than he imagined, and they don't seem to be interested in him.

"The young player who is favored by Yes? Yes said he is Jordan + Yes or Russell + O'Neal? What? Just Kobe + Ginobili? What else is there to say? Of course it is what to do or what to do!"

This is what James Harden overheard.

Very sad.

After failing to follow Yes blog, he has already started preparing his recruitment resume.

No joke, he has submitted a job to the SuperSonics, and SuperSonics general manager Presti is quite interested in the "big butt" advantage noted on his resume.

He even expressed his willingness to do whatever the Sonics can do to keep him in Seattle.

Harden is very satisfied when he submits his first resume and gets recognition. At least he is guaranteed to be No. 28 in the first round this year.

But it’s not enough!

He still needs to be more forward, and he still needs to use his big butt to win Yes's love. Yes's love for him is real, he can feel it, but it needs to be turned into his draft pick!

at Arizona State University's practice facility.

James Harden and Ye Si are fighting fiercely.

Rondo and Durant were gritting their teeth at this time.

Bitch!

James Harden was so capable that Durant was in a bad mood, and the joy of his breakthrough in strength in the game against the Nuggets was also reduced a bit.

And Rondo is definitely the most unhappy.

James Harden is his new and old hatred!

He really doesn't like this guy, but this guy is worse than Durant!

The head coach is having a headache preparing for the Seattle SuperSonics and Suns game, but the players are actually in a very relaxed mood.

On the other side of the Suns, the head coach and players were quite relaxed.

The opponent is so familiar that he knows how to play the game without any preparation.

"Teacher Da seems to have spotted a new prey at Arizona State University recently."

"James Harden, I know that. He is very famous recently, both Kobe and Ginobili, but he is indeed big enough, haha, it is the taste of a great teacher."

Nash was speechless when he heard Stoudemire's mean laugh.

Everything about Daishi is good, but this taste is really unique and makes people wonder what to say.

This James Harden is probably the next Rondo or Durant...

But that's fine, I've found a new prey, and the sadness caused by losing to the sun will be less.

Well, I feel much better mentally!