On October 26, 2000, the Supersonics ushered in the last preseason game with the Jazz at home.

When the Supersonics' opponents in the past six games are staring at their two players when they see them - Jordan wearing the No. 23 Supersonics jersey and Zhang Hao wearing the No. 24 jersey.

The same is true tonight. The two evil spirits stared at Zhang Hao, feeling that the world is too unfair!

'Is this kid so lucky? Go to the Lakers, sign O'Neal naked, go to the Supersonics, and join Jordan at the minimum salary...'

Unlike in the original time and space, Malone and Stockton's hatred was all about Zhang Hao.

Because of the Jazz's peak two years, although they were not defeated by the Lakers in the playoffs, they won the Lakers in those two years, and Zhang Hao won the FMVP.

Horacek went to say hello to his old teammates, Malone turned around and left, Stockton was quite enthusiastic.

Looking at Horacek who was standing with Jordan and Zhang Hao after saying hello, Malone was very dissatisfied - 'You must hold your thighs, you can't hold your enemies. I just defeated O'Neal two years ago. Can't I go and hold O'Neal's thighs?'

Although it is just a preseason, the last game of the preseason is quite important. This is to check whether the adjustments in the previous few preseason games are effective... This is for the Supersonics.

The Jazz side hardly need to consider these things, their playing style has almost no change. Hornersek left the team and they introduced John Starks of the Warriors, Rex Chapman of the Mavericks, and Donyere Marshall of the Hornets, all players introduced according to their tactical needs and maintained stability as always.

After 7 preseason games, the Jazz are also the only opponent to Zhang Hao before he can see the player detection report before he reaches the preseason.

"Karl Malone, 37 years old, 206 cm, 120 kg, ability evaluation 94..."

"John Stockton, 38 years old, 185 cm, 78 kg, 88 ability evaluation..."

These two people are too much...

According to TV news, Zhang Hao saw that David Robinson, 35, declined quite seriously and was still a best-ranked player last season. The state he showed in this preseason is not to mention his old age, but it is almost impossible to maintain an average of 20 points per game.

And Ma Long, he must maintain an average of 20+ per game, which is like playing.

But Zhang Hao thinks that the most attractive thing is Stockton. From the 1997-98 season to the present, there has been almost no change. Stockton has performed 12+2+8+1.6 in the regular season in the past three seasons, and has averaged double-double performances per game in the playoffs.

However, the trend of the Jazz's overall downward decline is very obvious. The strength of 55+ wins last season is steadily. If you compare the Jazz's overall player detection report seen by Zhang Hao last season with the overall player detection report seen by him now, it can basically be confirmed that the Jazz has a strength of 50-55 wins.

The Supersonics are well prepared for today's game. The Jazz are a good opponent, their playing style has not changed for many years and their strength is stable. They are good opponents to test their progress in progress and attach great importance to this game.

The Jazz also attaches importance to this game, not for anything else, just because their opponent has Zhang Hao.

The Supersonics sent Cassel, Jordan, Artest, Zhang Hao and Ben Wallace to start.

The Jazz sent Stockton, Rex Chapman, Brian Russell, Malone and Alden Polynes to start.

At 7 p.m., the game began.

Ben Wallace easily won the jump ball from Alden Polynis, and the Supersonics attacked first!

Zhang Hao attracted a pincer attack, Kassel made a long pass, and Artest entered the basket like a bull and scored two points.

Stockton looked at Artest's body of tendon flesh and decisively moved out of the way, not going up to cut the ball.

When the Jazz attacked, Stockton encountered Artest's defense and basically couldn't play singles at all, so he looked for Malone to pick-and-roll.

Ben Wallace and Jordan switched defenses when Malone went out to pick-and-roll. When Stockton and Malone completed the pick-and-roll, Artest, Jordan, and Ben Wallace had completed the three-man defensive rotation.

Artest defended to Malone, Jordan replaced Stockton, and Ben Wallace was in the right position to cut off Stockton and Brian Russell's pass and receive route.

Artest's physique is much stronger than last season. The effect of Jordan's destruction on him in the summer can be seen from his body shape, but even though Malone lost about 3 kilograms this season, Artest still couldn't stand it.

However, Malone cut into the ball and received the ball. Ben Wallace attacked very promptly, blocking Malone on the left side of the three-second zone and cutting off the space for the pass line.

Malone passed the ball. Brian Russell, and Brian Russell cut from the bottom line and just received the ball. Zhang Hao made up for it. Artest also retreated to the basket the moment Malone passed the ball and circled the front Alden Polynis.

Brian Russell had no chance to pass the ball again, chose to pull the ball horizontally, trying to break through Zhang Hao...

‘Pa’

Zhang Hao bullied himself, and cut it with one palm on the ball that Brian Russell slapped and bounced up, and then flexibly grabbed the ball first. Brian Russell missed the counterattack and fouled Zhang Hao.

The Supersonics' defense surprised the Jazz!

In the past few seconds, the Supersonics' defense gave the Jazz a feeling of suffocation!

Swift round-rotation defense, extremely strong sense of oppression, excellent execution, mutual trust and collaboration ability... The team that came to mind in the Knicks, Heat, Cavaliers, and Eagles before the suspension were the representative teams of the Knicks, Heats, Cavaliers, and Eagles!

When the Supersonics attacked and fell into positional battles, the Jazz's defense was still very stable. In terms of the diversity of tactical coordination and execution ability on the defensive end... The Jazz is much better than the Supersonics. The disadvantage is that the players as a whole are old.

However, the Supersonics' offensive style was once again beyond the Jazz's expectations, and Zhang Hao went to run without the ball!

Jordan received the ball at a high position and gave it to the receiver Wallace without the ball to Cassel on the right side of the three-second zone. Cassel received the ball very slowly, so slow that Alden Polynis, who had made up, drove crazy. Cassel found a gap in the slow rhythm and made a throw shot from the bottom line!

Zhang Hao's running position restrained, Jordan's back-playing from high position, Artest can shoot and cut, Ben Wallace's pick-and-roll without the ball, Kassel's main attack... The play is very simple, but Jordan's high position threat, Zhang Hao's running threat, Kassel's personal ability, and the Jazz's defense according to regular conditions, it feels too difficult to defend.

However, Jordan's efforts to do this work were indeed beyond the expectations of the Jazz.

Jordan can play without the ball, not only can he play, but also play very well. The Bulls won 70 back-to-back in the 95-96 season and 96-97 season, which is because Jordan plays without the ball, Pippen and Kukoc organize the offense and revitalize the team.

Zhang Hao is the new assist king, with top-level breakthrough and pass-through ability, first-class high-level support ability, first-class all-round set-up ability, and top-level vision... When preparing for the game, the Jazz should have believed that Jordan should play without the ball when he came to the Supersonics team and attacked around Zhang Hao.

But the fact is that it is an attack around Jordan and Kassel!

Of course, if you analyze it carefully, it is still very likely that performance analysis will lead to the performance analysis that when Zhang Hao and Jordan play at the same time, the Supersonics will use Jordan and Kassel as the tactical core and Zhang Hao will perform positional battle offensives as the basis for supporting the pitcher.

This can be analyzed. After all, Zhang Hao played like that last season for only one year, and Zhang Hao played without the ball for three years.

And theoretically speaking, letting Jordan serve as the back-up support point for high positions will be better utilized for Jordan's physical strength.

But it's just a preseason game, even if the Jazz pay attention to it, they didn't expect it to be so deep.

The main reason is that Zhang Hao relied on his ball-holding style last season. He just won the MVP, averaged triple-double per game, scored + assists. Who would have thought that Zhang Hao would give up his style of playing last season with help in the new season?

Normally, shouldn’t Zhang Hao emphasize his absolute core position more?

As the game deepened, the Supersonics quickly took the absolute initiative on both offense and defense.

Half past the first quarter, the Supersonics led the Jazz 14-8 by 6 points and entered the rotation stage.

Regardless of whether the Supersonics' style of playing is beyond the Jazz's expectations, the Jazz's on-the-spot adaptability is definitely the top in the league, which is also part of their stability.

But with such strong on-the-spot adaptability, they were hit in the first half of the first quarter when they encountered the Supersonics team who were more prepared for this game!

Indeed, due to the stable play of the Jazz, the Supersonics can make better and more comprehensive preparations, but being able to play with the Jazz is beyond the expectations of other teams who came to watch the game on site.

The Jazz's steadily decline year by year can be seen by the media, experts, and fans.

Of course, this is a very admirable thing. With the two veterans at the age of 37 and 38 as the core, they still maintain the strength of 50+ wins. The Jazz are indeed worthy of admiration.

50+ win-win level, always stable performance, excellent on-the-spot adaptability... The Jazz, a strong team with many advantages, was hit by the Supersonics, and had almost no power to fight back!

Even the Supersonics fans on the scene were surprised!

The Supersonics players themselves are also very excited. Although they won 57 wins in the West and fourth in the league last season, they are hit by the Jazz almost every time they meet. Unlike the Lakers, Trail Blazers and Suns, these three Supersonics have a chance to win, but there is almost no match for the Jazz.

This time, the Jazz's performance is still stable, with a decline compared to last season, but not much, but this time they did not feel the sense of oppression from the Jazz, but instead they have the advantage.

This is a huge increase in confidence for many players of the Supersonics last season!

In the second half of the first quarter, Doug Collins replaced Jordan and Artest, and replaced Ruben Patterson, James Percy, Cassel, Zhang Hao and Ben Wallace.

In the score of 12 to 11 in the half quarter, the Supersonics still have the initiative, but the initiative and advantage did not immediately transform into the advantage in the score like in the first half of the first quarter.

Kassel, Ruben Patterson, James Percy, Zhang Hao, Ben Wallace, this combination has a tacit cooperation, strong defense, and can use defense to consume opponents.

But compared with the starting lineup, there is a clear gap.

After the first quarter, the Supersonics led the Jazz 26-19 by 7 points!

...

At the beginning of the second quarter, Zhang Hao and Jordan were not sent. The Supersonics team had tried both the strongest lineups in defense. Next, they would use the Jazz to test other lineup combinations.

Zhang Hao has been told that he will get more rest opportunities this season.

Although there is not much need for more rest opportunities for Zhang Hao personally, it is very necessary for the team and is also beneficial for him personally.

For the team, if he reduces his playing time, he will not average 42 minutes per game like last season, and other insiders will have more playing time, which is only secondary.

The main thing is that he no longer attacks with a high ball holding rate like last season, reduces ball holding, reduces too many singles scoring, evens out ball and shoot, allowing Kukoc, Dell Curry, Much Breckle, Jordan... and Artest, who has talent in ball holding, and James Percy can participate in the offense. This will be of great help to the future of the Supersonics.

It depends on the actual situation, but the direction is clear. Zhang Hao and Kassel will no longer be allowed to fight the whole game to avoid the same as last season. Zhang Hao was replaced and his strength dropped by half. Kassel and Zhang Hao were not there, so he was directly under the strength.

If this can be achieved, Zhang Hao's regular time consumption will be smaller and his role will be stronger at critical moments! Plus the bonus of "Peter's Physical Pool"...

Perhaps in the future, when the coaching teams of Doug Collins, Paul Westfal, Scott Collins and others are separated, they will not have such clear ideas, clear directions, and excellent execution.

But now, in the atmosphere of a "startup company" like the Supersonics, they jointly discussed the plan to build a team around Zhang Hao. When Zhang Hao first communicated with the coaching team after the Olympics, they were all shocking...

...

The game still lost 91 to 97, and the Supersonics ended with a loss in the last preseason game, with a preseason record of 2 wins and 5 losses.

But the Supersonics didn't take the victory or defeat of this game seriously, they valued the game itself.

The fans on the scene also could see that it would not be difficult if the Supersonics really wanted to win this game.

Zhang Hao only played for 21 minutes, Jordan only played for 16 minutes, and both of them only played in the first and third quarters.

In the other two quarters, the Supersonics coaching team is using the Jazz's stable and powerful first-class teams to test their various lineups.

The combinations that the Supersonics coaching team wants to try are naturally strong and weak. This game is a game that determines the rotational lineup matching and retains and abandons.

This game proves one thing - with Jordan, James Percy's role is not that big, and Artest's role is significantly improved compared to last season.

It’s not just Artest’s progress this summer, but the lineup matching issue.
To be continued...