The Fifth Point Guard

In the post-Marlon Stockton era, the team is eager to find a new pick-and-roll duo.

This is a team obsession.

It's as if the Houston Rockets are very keen on finding a tall center.

Even with outside combinations like Francis and Mobley, Houstonians have never forgotten their "tradition."

So when Sloan felt that Boozer could be tapped, the Jazz spent a lot of effort to "steal" Boozer from Cleveland to Utah.

Here, Boozer grows a beard.

His mid-range shooting and personal image do have some of the style of Karl Malone back then.

It's just that the current Arroyo does not meet the point guard role in Sloan's mind.

The point guard he hopes for is a player who shoots steadily, mainly assists, and is keen on pick-and-rolls, not a crazy knife like Arroyo.

So far, Boozer is the team's core player who has been focused on cultivating.

In fact, this is one of the reasons why he came on a free transfer.

Even Kirilenko, who played the most brilliantly with the Jazz last season, had to give up his No. 1 spot on the team.

Boozer's style of play is a little different from last season when he played for the Cavaliers.

His low post game has become more than impressive.

There is no doubt that this must be Sloan's role.

Playing Gooden from behind, Boozer easily knocked away his opponent and gained space to shoot.

Lean back slightly and drag the ball above your head.

Boozer showed his signature shooting posture and hit the ball steadily.

After scoring the goal, Boozer opened his hands and kept raising them, signaling for the cheers and cheers to be louder.

From this goal alone, Shentong knew that Boozer had indeed improved.

The relatively thin Gooden was no match for the muscular Boozer in physical confrontation.

On the Jazz side, Bell is pressing closely.

When he was in Philadelphia, he watched with his own eyes how Iverson used his height of 1.83 meters to fight against a group of tall and powerful men.

It was there that Bell developed his tenacity and unyielding character.

After playing 9 minutes in 2001 and scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, Bell began to transform.

After winning the Eastern Conference championship with the Philadelphia 76ers, Bell joined the Mavericks and helped the team reach the Western Conference Finals.

After that, Bell came to the Jazz, the fourth team in four years.

Here, Bell gained Sloan's trust, improved his performance in all aspects, and became a trustworthy defensive player on the outside for the Jazz.

Bell bent his right hand and put his elbow on Shentong's back. His left hand was fully open, constantly testing forward, wanting to steal the ball at any time.

However, Shentong's dribbling at this time was not the first time he entered the league.

When Bell reached out to try to steal, Shentong felt the change in the opponent's center of gravity through his back, immediately turned to the right, and instantly dodged Bell's defense.

Still 2 meters away from the basket, STO took off!

He knew that neither of the Jazz's two post players had much jumping ability.

So Shentong took off early and wanted to complete a slam dunk directly from the air!

Just when Wagner had stretched out his hands to celebrate, Shentong suddenly felt a shadow behind him.

Then, a big hand pressed on Shentong's ball!

A side glance.

It's Kirilenko!

STO ignored this all-around Russian hero.

Wagner's face was solemn, while James was preparing to rush for the first spot.

Just when everyone thought Kirilenko had given Shentong a big hat, something surprising happened.

Shentong actually controlled the basketball that was pressed by Kirilenko with both hands, and then used force to dunk the ball into the basket!

Kirilenko is too thin, and his aerial combat capabilities are no match for the "Chinese Little Steel Cannon" Shentong.

Amid the exclamations of the home fans, Shentong hunched over and dunked the ball into the basket with both hands, behind him was Kirilenko who lost his center of gravity in the air.

"Click."

A photographer captured this scene!

This photo is enough to make today's headlines and will definitely fetch a good price.

As for the home team's Kirilenko being dunked, who cares.

After scoring the goal, Shentong retreated.

He raised his chin and looked at Kirilenko, who was being pulled up from the floor by Boozer and Okur, as if he was a hegemon who was looking out for his ministers.

I originally thought it was a big hat, but it turned out to be a big hole. Kirilenko was angry!

On the offensive end, he relied on his shoehorn face and slender body to cut vertically from the outside. As a result, Boozer's pass came, and he grabbed the ball with one hand and dunked it toward the basket.

An octopus-like wingspan.

The basket is in sight.

For this goal, Kirilenko planned to use all his energy as a response to the previous goal.

"Roar!"

Just in the middle of the roar, before the command of strength could be transmitted from the brain to the arm, a palm had already slapped the ball away in an instant!

It's James.

This guy directly sent a big block and slapped the ball in Kirilenko's hand onto the backboard.

Shentong jumped up to catch the rebound, and the Cavaliers immediately switched from defense to offense.

Dribbling without stopping to pass people.

This is Derrick Rose's change of direction without slowing down!

Facing Bell and Arroyo, Shentong threw the ball towards the basket.

Arroyo's first reaction was: James? He didn't keep up with this fast break!

Bell watched the ball being thrown high, gave up his defense, and stood there looking at the direction of the ball's flight.

In sight, a small man rose from the ground.

The 100% hot kid, DaJuan Wagner!

Raise one hand high, grab the ball in the air, and then dunk into the basket with one hand!

This goal caused a burst of exclamation from the scene.

Wagner, who is 1.88 meters tall, actually completed an alley-oop with Shentong.

Okku looked at it from a distance, feeling touched in his heart.

After all, the height of the ball just now was beyond his reach in his life.

As a 2.11-meter insider, this is really embarrassing.

After scoring the goal, Wagner was excited. He pointed at a beautiful woman on the sidelines with both hands and said loudly: "The Cavaliers not only have Shentong, but also I, Dajuan Wagner!"

James touched his chin, looked at Wagner who was swaying his butt, and muttered: "This kid is a little carried away. Don't you know who is the second in command of the team?"

As for the little beauty who was about 10 years old, she put her elbows on her knees and smiled. She didn't seem to resent Wagner's pointing at her just now.

"Dad, is this the team you are very optimistic about? It is indeed a very passionate and young team. I like them very much."

Jeff Hornacek, who was sitting next to the little beauty, said: "Hey, Abby, although I like this team very much, we are in the Energy Solution Arena tonight, and we still have to stand."

"OK, hey, that one named Dajuan, behave well!"

"."

He seemed to hear Abby Hornacek's cheering sound, and Wagner excitedly searched for the direction of the sound.

When he discovered that the voice came from a 10-year-old girl, Wagner's excited expression immediately disappeared.

"Hey, Dajuan, there is a little beauty cheering you on." James reminded.

Wagner shook his head vigorously and replied angrily: "She's just a young girl. She is probably only 10 or 11 years old this year."

James seemed to be thinking to himself: "But she is already a beauty, and Shentong's fiancée Nina Dobrev has only just turned 16."

James' words brought Wagner's smile back to his face.

Maybe the seeds of happiness sprouted at this moment?

The single Wagner couldn't help but imagine that when he reaches the top in a few years, like Shentong, he would marry a beautiful girl like Dobrev. That would also be a pretty good arrangement.

But the next moment, Wagner's illusions were shattered.

"Sentong, come on!"

Shentong, who had just completed a breakthrough dunk, ran past the sidelines and glanced at the little girl cheering him on.

Little beauty? !

do not know.

In the first half, the entire rhythm was in the hands of the Cavaliers.

The score was 60-47 at halftime, with the Cavaliers leading by 13 points on the road.

STO's momentum as the scoring champion this season has not diminished, scoring 25 points in the first half!

Shentong, who went into battle with a mission, certainly couldn't be careless.

But what surprised him was that the Jazz did not perform as well as before today.

In the third quarter of the second half, the situation on the court suddenly changed.

Jerry Sloan is indeed a veteran coach. After experiencing a headwind in the first half, the Jazz changed their tactics in the second half.

They used Raja Bell and Kirilenko to adopt a pressing double-team defense against Shentong.

Even though Shentong often dribbles with both hands to break the press, today's press was too tight.

Even the connection between Shentong and other players was completely blocked.

After losing their backbone, the Cavaliers began to feel weak on the offensive end.

The Jazz went on a 12-2 spurt, quickly getting close to the score and even evening it at one point!

With the home fans cheering, the Cavaliers began to face pressure.

Fortunately, Reggie Miller on the bench brought fire support to the team, and his two consecutive three-pointers stabilized the morale of the team.

Varejao also brings energy and passion to the team, as well as a desire to perform.

At the end of the three quarters, the Cavaliers only led the Jazz by 7 points.

Everything is still full of suspense.

In the fourth quarter, STO broke out!

After getting the ball, Shentong first boldly dribbled past Bell, then drifted sideways while running, and hit a very difficult two-pointer under the influence of Kirilenko's block.

Then, Shentong succeeded in beating Kirilenko in singles at the same place three times in a row.

For the first shot, he dribbled with Kirilenko's back, moved the ball from his left hand to his right hand, turned around, and hit a pull-up jumper.

For the second ball, he stepped down and dribbled the ball repeatedly while moving forward. As Kirilenko gradually retreated, he suddenly took off and hit a jumper.

On the third goal, STO made a fake shot. Due to the "experience" of the first two goals, Kirilenko jumped up to block the shot without hesitation, but in fact it was a fake shot.

Shentong easily passed the "Russian Shield" that the Jazz are proud of, and succeeded in a layup before the Jazz players could cover up the defense.

These three consecutive singles scores at the same position made Kirilenko lose face and his confidence was also destroyed.

The last bit of Jazz's fig leaf was torn off.

Shentong, James, and Wagner even sang a song naughtily.

Shentong: "My goal is always open. You can score as many as you want."

James: "You're welcome to one or two, no matter how many, you can afford to lose."

Wagner: "We are all friends in the world, please don't be formal."

Shentong: "Don't worry if you don't get enough, I'll give you more next time."

Showing the funny nature of a knight.

Since these three people deliberately sang to the Jazz players on the sidelines during the timeout, Abby Hornacek who was sitting on the sidelines heard it very clearly.

"Pfft."

Although she received professional training from her father Jeff Hornacek, Abby was still amused by the funny style of these three and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Old Jeff stared at his daughter speechlessly.

Hey, hey, this is the home court of the Jazz. Do you want to embarrass dad?

With 13 seconds left in the game, the Cavaliers led the Jazz by 16 points, 107-91.

The outcome has been decided.

STO also completed the task.

In addition, this is the home court of the Jazz, so the Cavaliers do not intend to make the final attack.

However, just when Shentong was casually dribbling behind his back and preparing to cross the midline, Bell stepped forward to steal the ball from Shentong and broke through to the basket in front of everyone's surprised eyes.

Maybe he couldn't stand the rim, because Bell's layup actually circled around the rim and came out again.

After Big Z grabbed the rebound, he threw it directly back to the dissatisfied Shentong.

This time, the famous scene comes.

I thought that Shentong would retaliate in the same way and attack another one in the end.

Who knew that after receiving the ball, Shentong directly put the ball on the floor, then stepped on the ball with his feet, his back straight, and his eyes looked directly at Bell, who missed the layup.

With his sharp eyes and domineering attitude, Bell was unable to resist. He could only pretend not to see it and walked directly to the sidelines, waiting for the whistle to end the game.

"Dad, this guy named Shentong is really awesome. Just this action, his whole body shows amazing domineering power."

Jeff Hornacek said: "Abby, your dad's vision is not wrong. The next ten years will definitely belong to his era."

Hornacek, who was pouting, just stared blankly at Shentong's back, not knowing what he was thinking in his little head.

"Didi-"

In a very awkward home atmosphere, the final whistle finally sounded.

Utahans, including Jerry Sloan, breathed a sigh of relief.

Those last few seconds were so excruciating.

This game also made Sloan re-examine Bell.

This guy may still be more suitable as the team's sixth man.

At the post-match press conference, someone raised the issue of STO stepping on the ball at the end of the game.

Reporter: "Can you tell us what happened in the last 13 seconds?"

Shentong: "I thought everyone had reached a tacit understanding and the game was over, but Raja may not have thought so. He completed a wonderful steal and then missed the shot under very strong defense. Big Z grabbed the rebound. , and I responded by tapping the ball with my foot."

Reporter: "Can you talk about Carlos Boozer? It is said that you are very dissatisfied with his departure."

At this moment, STO showed the temperament and mind of the team boss.

"I can't talk about dissatisfaction. I just think that since everyone has fought together, even when they leave, they should say hello instead of leaving silently. Carlos performed well today. He has a lot of experience here. There is a wide space to play. My point of view has never changed. If we are like-minded, then we can join forces. If we have different ambitions, then let’s meet at the top. I wish him good luck."

Boozer, who scored 20 points and 9 rebounds in this game, saw STO's speech in the locker room and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

It seems that I did something wrong.