Chapter 484 The Hidden Sixth Person

How to defend against a fadeaway?

This is an unanswered question in the basketball world.

There are only three ways to defend against a shot. Either you use physical confrontation to force the opponent to change his movements, or you use close-fitting stealing and entanglement to change the opponent's jump and shooting rhythm to reduce the hit rate, or you use a block or face-blocking to block the shooter's line of sight.

But facing such a large fadeaway, you can't get close to him, you can't confront him, and you can't even block the opponent's line of sight.

For ordinary defenders, this move is unanswerable.

But for Kobe Bryant... he himself is an expert in fadeaways. Although he can't reach the exaggerated degree of Lin Dong's nearly 45-degree angle at this time, he knows all the things that are feared when fading back.

If you want to affect the opponent's fadeaway of this degree, you can only try to jump higher, reach the maximum height through the extreme stretch of your body and arm span, and force the opponent to adjust the arc height of the shot at the moment of shooting.

You still can't block the opponent, and it's even impossible to touch the ball, but forcing the opponent to make an arc adjustment will inevitably affect his shooting rhythm and feeling, which is actually a success.

At this time, Kobe didn't do anything extra. He jumped with all his strength and stretched his body and arms to the extreme, making people feel that his maximum reach at this time even exceeded the top of the backboard!

The resolute jump and the shadowy figure were obviously beyond Lin Dong's prediction. For a normal block, Kobe couldn't jump so high, but...

Huh!

Lin Dong had to temporarily adjust the arc of his shot and threw the basketball high before his body was about to lose balance.

At this moment, fans all over the United States held their breath, watching the arc drawn by the basketball in the air, and were extremely nervous.

Go in? Not go in?

Bang!

The basketball suddenly bounced out of the frame.

The Zen Master on the sidelines was so excited that he clenched his fists.

This means more than just that Lin Dong missed a shot. It also means that this guy who has been invincible in the NBA for three years finally has someone who can defend him one-on-one!

——Wow!

——Kobe! Kobe!

The fans in the Staples Center suddenly stood up in excitement.

Only God knows what kind of psychological shadow American fans have had under the rule of that Asian devil. During the Olympics, the US team directly used two super giants to defend!

But now, we finally have a king who can challenge Lin Dong one-on-one!

——Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! Kobe...

The cheers at the scene were like a tide, and Yao Ming under the basket had already blocked the rebound position, but the next second...

The bounced basketball actually fell straight back to the basket.

The arc of the shot was high enough, which meant that the ball almost "fell" on the basket instead of hitting it, so the angle of the rebound was straight, and the moment it fell back, it scared the cheers of the whole audience.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

The basketball kept bouncing on the basket, and every bounce seemed to hit the hearts of all American fans hard, until it bounced for seven or eight times.

Swish!

The basketball finally slid out of the basket, and Yao Ming, who had been waiting for a long time, jumped up and grabbed the rebound.

Lin Dong was blocked! The rebound was also taken!

This should have been a time for cheers, but it was inexplicably quiet.

There was no way, the bounces just now really scared the fans at the scene, and they hadn't even breathed yet, so they quickly took a few deep breaths to recover.

At the same time, the Lakers' counterattack had arrived.

Kobe and Nash, who were closest to the backcourt, ran back immediately, and Lin Dong and Rukawa followed closely.

Needless to say, the former's defense was excellent, and after experiencing the shock of Lin Dong being "blocked" just now, Rukawa seemed to have forgotten his worries and nervousness for a while, and his reaction and speed improved a lot. His close following left Kobe and Nash with no space to catch the ball.

Payton woke up with all his energy and hung Doug Christie, and even Odom was desperately entangled by Iguodala. Although Iguodala may have no way to deal with him in positional warfare with a height of 10 cm, Iguodala's full-scale defense in mobile warfare is enough to make it difficult for him to find a safe space to catch the ball.

The sudden full-court man-to-man defense made the Sonics' defense almost perfect this time. Seeing that the Lakers' counterattack seemed to have no chance, everyone ignored another person - Yao Ming!

Yao Ming, who got the rebound, saw that there was no passing route, and actually chose to dribble the ball himself.

Chandler was obviously not used to seeing this 226cm tall man controlling the ball. He was stunned and subconsciously rushed to the right side of Yao Ming's ball, trying to steal it.

A 226cm tall man controlling the ball? What the hell!

Your dribbling height is at least one meter. Your dribbling speed, ball control route, etc.... It's too easy to steal!

But Chandler just rushed out, and saw that the 226cm tall man actually moved his right hand behind his back when rushing forward, playing a trick of controlling the ball behind his back. Not only did he control the ball forward at the same speed, but he also directly threw Chandler, who had made a rash move, behind him.

A 226cm tall man playing tricks!

The Sonics bench was stunned, and the fans who had just caught their breath and had not had time to cheer for Kobe were also dumbfounded and delighted. This was really exciting. Before the previous one had time to cheer, the next one had already caught up.

Chandler missed and immediately turned around to catch up, but Yao Ming, who had lost weight, was not much slower than him in speed. At this time, he had taken the lead and left Chandler two or three steps behind, and there was no way to catch up.

But seeing Yao Ming rush across half the court in a few big steps, Iguodala, who was closest, had to give up Odom and come up to defend.

The Sonics' rotation defense was activated at the first moment, completely following instinct. Iguodala rushed to Yao Ming, Payton rushed to Odom, Lin Dong rushed to Doug Christie, and even Rukawa Kaede, who had always had difficulty integrating into the Sonics' rotation defense system, followed the rhythm and rushed to Kobe at this moment, while Chandler, who was slightly behind, rushed to Nash, who had been missed on the left side of the perimeter.

The perfect switching and supplementary defense made the Sonics' rotation defense almost flawless at this moment.

But facing Yao Ming... Iguodala was the loophole!

The huge difference in height made Iguodala have no ability to block Yao Ming at all, and he didn't even have to try. All he wanted to do was to block Yao Ming outside the three-point line and stop his speed so that Chandler could catch up and complete another wave of switching defense.

But Yao Ming didn't give him time and opportunity. At this time, Heqiu stood outside the three-point line, ignoring Iguodala's defense, staring at the basket, with his feet slightly raised... He didn't need to jump at all, it felt like an ordinary person shooting a free throw.

Snap!

Whoosh!

That was the sound of Iguodala's failure to stop and crashing into Yao Ming, and the sound of the basketball being thrown at the same time.

Foul!

Iguodala was shocked and angry. Who would have thought that this 226-centimeter big man would suddenly stop in a hurry? Who would have thought that this big man would not only play the trick of dribbling behind his back, but also shoot three-pointers? It's really weird...

The basketball flew steadily through the air...

Swish!

Beep!

The basketball went into the net, accompanied by the referee's whistle.

"The goal is valid! Supersonic No. 9 fouled, 1 free throw!"

The score on the electronic scoreboard jumped again, 11:2!

The scene suddenly became quiet.

9 points difference... and with Yao Ming's free throw shooting rate of 95.8% in the past two seasons, this free throw is obviously a free point, which means a 10-point difference.

And the fans at the Staples Center finally realized what happened. After a brief silence, they cheered for Kobe's previous defense, as well as Yao Ming's rebounds, dribbling, and three-pointers.

——Yao! Yao! Yao! Yao!

——Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!

——Fuck! Fuck! Woohoo, we are the strongest! We are the strongest!

——Invincible Lakers! Invincible combination! Long live Yao and Kobe! Long live the Lakers!

——We will win! We will win!

——The Sonics will lose! What a shitty dynasty, what a shitty invincible, today I will trample you under my feet, basketball is our game!

——Does that Asian know what the real basketball sanctuary is now!

The stands of the stadium, the Lakers bench, and even the American fans sitting in front of the TV at this time, countless people cheered wildly.

They have been riding on the neck of that Asian for too long, so long that they almost forgot that Americans are the best basketball players on this planet!

But now, from Kobe's single defense to the Lakers' unsolvable goals against the perfect defense of the Supersonics, the Lakers have shown enough dominance on both offense and defense. This is really the first time... The first time someone can check and balance that Asian!

The fans at the scene went crazy, and the fans all over the United States went crazy. The whole United States was celebrating, as if they had already won the game and defeated the arrogant Oriental!

In contrast, the Sonics bench was extremely quiet.

Not only the substitutes, but even McMillan was a little stunned at this moment.

In the past three seasons, this is the first time that the Sonics were beaten by their opponents by 10 points at the beginning of the game when Lin Dong was on the court!

This...

He couldn't help but look at the court at this time.

He thought he would see the surprise or astonishment on Lin Dong's face, but he didn't expect that he only saw a slight smile.

Lin Dong licked the corner of his mouth.

Kobe's effective defense is based on reading his own psychology. It seems that he has indeed found a way to defend himself.

However...

Lin Dong noticed Rukawa Kaede's expression at this time.

The confusion on that guy's face disappeared, and the worries about gains and losses also disappeared.

His breathing began to become balanced, his eyes gradually became firm, and the coldness of the past seemed to return to that guy's face.

In Lin Dong's eyes, Rukawa Kaede is a guy who has always been struggling in his heart.

He has a heart that pursues the peak limit, and is willing to make every effort for it. He even found his own shooting skills and rhythm because of his broken fingers.

But because of Lin Dong and Sakuragi's "omnipotence", Rukawa Kaede always fell into self-doubt. He always believed that he was not talented enough, and he always believed that he could not catch up with the pace of those two people no matter how hard he tried.

But in fact, if you can play in the NBA, how can you say that you don’t have enough talent?

Moreover, why do you have to catch up? Isn’t it good to be yourself?

This guy may not be able to become a superstar like himself and Sakuragi, but he can also be himself. Lin Dong feels that as long as this guy opens his heart and has less inner drama, he will become the strongest sixth man in the history of the Supersonics!

His self-doubt made the ridicule in the whole court unable to wake him up.

But when the whole court began to ridicule the Supersonics, when he saw that even the invincible Lin Dong was defended, when he saw that the team was now in trouble on both offense and defense and urgently needed someone to stand up and save it...

Not for his own performance, but for this team that once saved him when he was on the verge of despair!

Those things that made him worry about gains and losses disappeared completely in an instant.

This is the Rukawa Kaede that the Supersonics need!

The Supersonics without Sakuragi are definitely not the most perfect, but the Supersonics with an extra best sixth man will definitely surprise the league.

Lin Dong couldn't help laughing.

I thought it would take some time, I thought I would have to fight hard, but I didn't expect...

Thank you so much.

Thank you Lakers, thank you Kobe and Yao Ming, thank you for forcing out the hidden sixth man of the Supersonics!