Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Of course Zhuang Yu didn't plan to go from 1 to 5, but he felt that having more skills is always better.

Some players think that it is useless to practice skills that you will not use. For example, many centers do not pay much attention to dribbling because they are not required to dribble at all during the game, and their offense does not require much dribbling. If they dribble too much, they may lose the ball and get scolded.

But this is not absolute.

For example, the emergence of players like Jokic.

In the Nuggets' games, Jokic can often be seen advancing with the ball in the backcourt, and he can also be seen dribbling through in the half-court positional battle...

In this day and age, the positions of players have become increasingly blurred.

Some players can play from position 1 to position 4, and some players are clearly at position 4 or 5, but serve as the team's offensive organizers.

Even traditional centers like Lopez have started practicing three-pointers.

Another example is Zhuang Yu. He started out as a No. 1 player, then became a No. 2 player, and won two scoring titles. He also played the No. 3 position at times.

In short, with the development of the NBA, the positions of players have become increasingly blurred, and players are also required to know more.

Therefore, Zhuang Yu felt that even if he didn't need to use them, he should still practice techniques such as inside footwork and close-range hook shots.

Of course, more is to hone the guard skills, such as floating shots, fadeaways, high rebounds, etc.......

Zhuang Yu discovered that when he wasn't always thinking about pursuing the transformation of his fadeaway jump shot, he actually got more than he expected, and the improvement in other techniques also made him happy.

"Okay." Zhuang Yu smiled and said, "Let's stop here for today."

A group of teammates' faces twitched, what can we say?

The gap is too big.

......

The next day, the Lakers faced the challenge of the Bucks at home.

The Bucks have played very well this season, showing extremely strong strength, which has made fans more excited about this game.

"Giannis is amazing."

"Yeah, it's a pleasure to watch him play. His style of play is so explosive. He's just like a monster."

"The Greek Monster, he is the Greek Monster..."

In the audience, some fans were discussing excitedly.

Some fans came just for Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks.

This season, Antetokounmpo has performed like one of the league's top inside players, and his style of play is very explosive, with explosive physical fitness, somewhat similar to Westbrook, but he is a No. 4 player with a height of over 210 cm, but has the same terrifying explosive power as Westbrook. He can even advance from the backcourt with the ball, pass the defender, and make a one-stop explosive slam dunk.

Yes.

He is a power forward, but plays like a small forward. Most of his points are scored by attacking the basket and then dunking it.

Someone has done statistics and found that so far this season, Antetokounmpo is the player with the most dunks in the entire league.

This explosive style of play has won the love of many fans, and people even gave him a nickname, "Greek Monster", because he is from Greece and has a monster-like body.

Soon, players from both sides came out.

On one side, there were boos, and on the other side, there were cheers, echoing in the Staples Center.

When the noise died down, the players began to warm up on the court.

A group of Bucks players kept looking at the Lakers. They were very young, including Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Brogdon, Connaughton...

This is a young team. Their hearts are full of energy and their eyes are full of fighting spirit.

Of course, the Lakers players are actually very young.

Zhuang Yu, Clarkson, Nance Jr., Holiday, Anderson, Zubac...

These players are all very young, but they appear much more stable. After all, they have experienced more and have even won NBA championships.

These experiences make them far more mature than players of the same age.

A group of Lakers players had calm expressions and were just warming up on their own, ignoring the aggressive looks of the Bucks players.

......

After the warm-up, players from both teams returned to the sidelines.

The Lakers here.

Coach Scott said: "We have to be careful of Giannis Antetokounmpo on the other side."

He frowned, his expression somewhat serious.

"This guy's physical fitness is very explosive. His playing style is not like a 4 position at all. He is more like a small forward. His outside shooting is not stable. His scoring mainly depends on attacking the basket, so we need to assist and supplement the defense, shrink the defense line, and don't let him rush."

The reason why Coach Scott is so solemn is that the No. 4 position is a disadvantage for the Lakers.

Although Anderson is 206cm tall and has an excellent wingspan, his physical fitness and technical characteristics are not suitable for the No. 4 position, but more suitable for the No. 3 position. His strength is not enough to compete with a real No. 4 player, and he will be at a disadvantage against a No. 4 player who is taller than him.

Letting Anderson face off against Antetokounmpo will obviously be a disadvantage, and this point will become a disadvantage for the Lakers.

When the Lakers played against the Nuggets and the Rockets before, their opponents knew about this weakness of the Lakers, but because they did not have a strong player at position 4, they were unable to turn this weakness into a breakthrough point.

After all, Millsap of the Nuggets is old and not tall enough, and his fighting power is no longer at its peak, but the Rockets do not have such a person.

But the Bucks have Antetokounmpo.

As for the other players on the Bucks, Coach Scott doesn't care much about them. Although they are pretty good, they are not to be feared.

......

at the same time.

On the other side, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer was also making pre-game arrangements.

“The opponent is very strong.”

Coach Budenholzer paused and changed his tone: "But I believe you can beat the Lakers. I have confidence in you."

As he spoke, he spread out the tactical board: "First of all, we have to do a good job of defense. The Lakers have many scoring points, but the most important one is Zhuang Yu."

A group of players nodded.

He is a two-time scoring champion and should not be underestimated.

Coach Budenholzer continued, "Brogdon, you are responsible for defending Zhuang Yu. Jump up a little. It is better to let him break through than to give him a chance to shoot a three-pointer."

"Once he breaks through, Giannis, you have to go up and defend him. Only you can defend him."

"Zhuang Yu is too fast and has too many ways to score. Normally, if you try to defend him in the paint, he will just dribble past you in one step. You have excellent mobility, height, and jumping ability. I believe you can definitely cause a lot of trouble for him."

At this point, he couldn't help but smile.

The team is blessed to have Giannis.

Just as people gave him the nickname, Giannis is a monster. He is unstoppable on the offensive end and can also bring huge deterrence to opponents on the defensive end.

After some more arrangements, Coach Budenholzer clapped his hands and said, "Okay, that's it. Go on the court, come on!"

......

Players from both sides came to the court and the game officially started.

The Lakers still had their regular starters, while the Bucks sent out Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thon Maker.

Thorn-Mark is a third-year player. He was selected as the 16th pick in the first round of 10. His draft pick was very high, but his performance in the past two seasons has not been very outstanding.

This player from South Sudan has not received any college basketball training like the NCAA, but he has excellent physical talents and can run and jump. However, due to the lack of sufficient game experience and systematic training from the NCAA, he lacks game experience and awareness.

So Coach Budenholzer did not intend to let him be responsible for the backup defense, but arranged for Antetokounmpo to do the backup defense.

Antetokounmpo was also responsible for the jump ball.

When the referee threw the basketball into the air, Lopez and Antetokounmpo jumped up together, but Antetokounmpo's bounce was faster and better, so he touched the basketball first and hit the ball to the backcourt. Brogdon grabbed the basketball and threw it to Bledsoe, and the Bucks began to attack.

After coming to the frontcourt, Bledsoe first called a pick-and-roll, then tried to break through, but failed. He passed the ball to Brogdon, and Brogdon passed it to Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo stood on the three-point line, held the ball at his waist, glanced at the basket, then suddenly accelerated and broke through to the right.

Anderson was responsible for matching up with Antetokounmpo, and he quickly retreated and moved sideways.

However, Antetokounmpo immediately dribbled the ball between his legs, switched the ball to his left hand, and broke through to the left.

Anderson was just about to adjust his steps when he felt a blur in front of his eyes.

"Not good." Anderson's heart skipped a beat.

Although Antetokounmpo is 211 cm tall, his playing style is very powerful, with strong explosive power, fast speed and good jumping ability. The key is that such a big man actually has some excellent dribbling skills and can skillfully make this kind of change of direction breakthrough.

When he accelerated after dribbling between his legs, Anderson was passed by half a body length and it was impossible to stop him.

"Back up the defense," Anderson shouted.

Lopez immediately stepped forward to defend, but Antetokounmpo had already rushed up. He was too fast, and before Lopez could jump up, Antetokounmpo had already taken off. He paused slightly in the air, stretched out his left hand, and raised his fingers.

Swish!

The ball goes in.

Lopez looked a little depressed. They were all big guys, but this guy was too flexible and too fast.

Anderson turned around, looked at Lopez, and they both smiled bitterly.

"This guy is indeed stronger than last season." Zhuang Yu narrowed his eyes.

This is not the first time he has faced Antetokounmpo, but the two sides have only faced each other in the regular season. Antetokounmpo left a deep impression on him last season, but compared with last season, he has obviously become stronger.

The muscles in his arms are like pieces of rock. They are obviously stronger than last season, and his technique is also more mature than last season.

Yes, it's maturity.

Although Antetokounmpo has made the All-Star team, he was only 23 years old last season, still very young and not mature enough.

This season, he has become more mature in both physical fitness and skills than last season.