Chapter 497: Overnight Popularity (Two in One)

After the Lakers ended their 25-game winning streak, it seemed that they had adapted to the referee's penalty standards. The defensive actions of various teams against the Sonics' outside line began to become more and more serious. It has become commonplace for several outside shooters to be pulled.

Seattle fans also cursed at the beginning, but they could not curse anymore because the league occasionally calls other teams like this. In fact, the intention is already very obvious.

Now the league has only the Sonics' outside three-pointers with the most shots and the highest hit rate. This is what the league wants to suppress. Not to mention that the referees are targeted. Even if it is really a one-size-fits-all approach across the league, and the penalty standards for all teams are the same, the Sonics will still be the ones who suffer, are weakened, and are most affected.

And if you want to dig into the inside line, the Sonics' inside line is actually not weak.

The combination of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Chandler can compete with any center in the NBA today, even Yao Ming and O'Neal. With Sakuragi's rebounding ability, no one can say that the Sonics' inside line is weak, but that is mainly reflected in the defensive end.

Although both of them can score on the offensive end, it is basically against weak teams. Facing the level of Yao Ming and O'Neal, it is up to Lin Dong to create opportunities for them.

And if Lin Dong wants to do that, unless there are some special circumstances, it is actually safer for Lin Dong to attack by himself most of the time, and the consumption is almost the same anyway.

Therefore, blocking the Sonics' perimeter is equivalent to putting all the Sonics' offensive tasks on Lin Dong alone.

Playing against weak teams, this is really not the case. They can't block the Sonics' perimeter or Sakuragi and Chandler's scoring, so it doesn't matter how they play.

But if it is against a strong team, Lin Dong really can't take care of all the points in a targeted situation.

Just like the previous loss to the Lakers, Kobe was allowed to defend Lin Dong alone in the first three quarters, with a hit rate of more than 70%, basically in a state of loss. Losing the ball is just a matter of Lin Dong's luck and concentration. After all, no one can guarantee absolute concentration for 48 minutes.

But Kobe's defensive strategy was not to stop Lin Dong from scoring, but to consume Lin Dong's physical strength.

More importantly, after the other players of the Supersonics were blocked for three quarters, they basically had no touch in the last quarter and could not make shots even if they were given opportunities.

At this time, the Lakers would slightly give others some opportunities and use double-teaming to limit Lin Dong.

Facing the defense of Kobe and Doug Christie at the same time, plus the consumption in the first three quarters, Lin Dong's hit rate in the fourth quarter really couldn't be pulled up, and he didn't even have many opportunities to shoot. He felt cold from the outside and couldn't make shots, so it was natural to lose.

He has physical potions and status potions, but he has won three consecutive championships. After breaking through himself by "giving up taking medicine" at the beginning, today, Lin Dong really has no idea of ​​taking medicine.

Unless it was when he was representing his country in the 2008 Olympics and faced a desperate situation and had to fight for his nation, otherwise he would drink these potions to win the game just for personal honor...

He already had enough personal honors, so he didn't need to rely on them to prove anything, and he didn't care about them, so it was better to lose cleanly.

So in the final analysis, the Sonics still had to solve the problem of pressure resistance on the outside line.

Throughout January, the Sonics' record was somewhat lagging compared to their previous winning streak.

On the 12th, they lost to the Spurs, and lost by a large margin.

The opponent used the same tactics and strategy as the Lakers, using the double towers to ensure the confrontation with Sakuragi Hanamichi and Chandler, striving to grab more rebounds and minimize the Sonics' second attack opportunities, and the outside line was interfered by various foul levels to lock the Sonics' outside line feel.

On the Sonics side, Lin Dong deliberately reduced the number of shots and made more balls to the outside line.

Frankly speaking, Lin Dong felt that with Ginobili's one-on-one defense against him, he could actually break through the Spurs by himself.

But it was just a regular season game, and it was an ordinary game that had already broken a 25-game winning streak. Compared to relying on himself to win, Lin Dong would rather let the team's outside players feel and adapt to the troubles from foul-level defense.

If they develop the habit of solving everything by themselves, if they cannot break through this problem when facing the Lakers and Cavaliers in the playoffs, they will be quite passive at that time.

The focus of the training in the Supersonics gym every day is to resist interference three-pointers. Rukawa Kaede, Iguodala, and Chandler are the main echelons of training.

In addition to 500 open shots every day on rest days, there are also 100 anti-interference shots, and the anti-interference targets are Lin Dong, Payton and Sakuragi Hanamichi...

Three on three, take turns, rely on strength to crush your defender, rely on experience to play with your defender, rely on physical strength and burst to eat your defender, you have to try all types, one person first shoots 30, and then see who has the worst defense, let that person come over to shoot 10 more... It's not to train the defender, but to make these guys more confident!

It's a perfect arrangement, but the result is a little imperfect.

The three pitchers were a little autistic because of the defense. Facing these three people, how many people in the entire league can successfully shoot 3 points when they are defending your 3 points? Not to mention scoring!

Lin Dong's all-around defense is painful, and Sakuragi Hanamichi's predictive defense is even more desperate. On the contrary, Payton, the best defensive point guard in history who once won the DPOY, became the weakest link among the three defenders, so that he had to play 10 more balls with these three people every day.

Payton was still laughing at the beginning, but later he got a little angry.

These three beasts!

When playing against Lin Dong and Sakuragi Hanamichi, they were nervous as if they were facing a great enemy, and when playing against me, they were laughing and relaxed. The states are completely different, so how can the results be the same? !

Are you treating me, the best defensive point guard in history, as a soft persimmon?

Payton was forced to use all his strength. Every time he trained, his old face turned red and he swore that he would not let these beasts score any goals, but the results were often counterproductive.

After all, he is old... Sometimes the consciousness can keep up, but the body can't keep up, there is nothing he can do.

This further made the three players relaxed when playing against themselves, and they played well. They had already entered a vicious cycle and could not get out of it.

At the same time, it was not only Payton who was depressed.

The pitcher was even more depressed. These three players were already the top defensive experts in the league. Not only did they defend you from 3-pointers, but they also restricted you to 3-pointers. How could you play like this?

The hit rate was completely terrible. When playing against Payton, you could basically score seven or eight out of 30 balls. Rukawa Kaede even scored eleven that day. But when playing against Sakuragi and Lin Dong, you could basically score one or two balls or even none.

If you jump up, you will be blocked. If you get rid of it, you will be physically confronted. Under the restriction that you can't pass the ball or break through, this is really a hell-level difficulty.

But McMillan also said, don't feel unfair or difficult, when you face the Lakers and Cavaliers in the playoffs, you still won't have a chance to break through, there is no space for you to squeeze into the inside of those two teams, and you can't even pass the ball, because when the ball is given to you, it's for you to finish, what can you do...

Everyone knows that if you can get a 30% hit rate in such a strong confrontation, it will definitely be enough, so even if you feel desperate, you are still working tirelessly to find a shooting method that suits you better.

Chandler's 3-pointer basically relies on the height and wingspan advantage of the mismatch, and the players who can pull to the outside to defend him can never be taller than him, so the emphasis is on stability.

Iguodala's 3-pointer relies on flexible movements to get rid of it, which is the most standard and professional "solution" among the three when facing outside defense.

Rukawa Kaede relies purely on the word "fast". Aiming at the basket seems to be a non-existent thing for him. He can shoot by twisting his waist after catching the ball in the air. He even has the position of the basket welded in his mind. Aiming at the basket is unnecessary!

The characteristics of the three are steadily improving under targeted training, but their performance on the court is also steadily declining.

After all, being blocked every day is too depressing. It has become the norm to have a bad touch when playing. McMillan and Lin Dong plan to end this special training plan before the All-Star Game at the end of February. No matter how much they have improved, they will have to stop it at that time, otherwise they will not be able to get back to their touch in the playoffs.

The collective state of the outside line is a mystery, and Lin Dong deliberately reduced his shots in order to hone the team. So next...

On the 23rd, they lost a game to the Mavericks, and on the 28th, they actually lost another game to the Pistons. The Sonics, who have always been invincible, seem to have suddenly lost their prestige, which makes many black fans surprised and happy.

When they played the Cavaliers on the 31st of the month, it was probably because of the long-cherished wish of the two teams, and because the three invincible strengths of the Cavaliers against other teams were all targeted and restrained by the Supersonics, coupled with the Cavaliers' weak bench, which led to the sudden hot touch of the Supersonics' outside line. The Supersonics' outside line actually exploded, and they made 19 of 29 three-pointers in the whole game, with a hit rate of over 60%, and they pressed the Cavaliers into the mud.

And this friction gave the Cavaliers a new small forward...

Ron Artest!

Artest, who was previously packaged by the Wizards to the Magic in exchange for McGrady, was actually given up by the Magic in exchange for Varejao of the Cavaliers, plus two future first-round draft picks.

The Magic's deal really caused a stir when it first came out.

According to various commentators and even the Magic themselves.

This is to exchange existing assets for a future, and there is a sense of breaking up the team and reorganizing it.

Although Artest is one of the strongest defensive players in the league, he does not have the role of a core cornerstone of the team. In addition, the three countries in the league are competing for hegemony, and other teams have long given up the idea of ​​competing with these three teams this season. It is a wise move to use it to exchange two future first-round draft picks while the Cavaliers are in urgent need of a fifth player. After all, there are three major obstacles this season. A team like the Magic is destined to be unable to overcome any of them, and even the playoffs are hanging this year. Don't let Artest's value be destroyed by then.

Not to mention Artest himself, the simplest reason: I want the championship, I want to beat the Supersonics, beat Lin Dong, and step on them is my lifelong wish. I am willing to retire on the spot the next day after winning the championship!

As the first player in NBA history to be hit on the back by the Supersonics' tactical board, he obviously has every reason to say this.

However, the three-pronged process of the players' words, the team's words, and the experts' words did not have the desired effect of calming public opinion.

Fans across the United States were dumbfounded.

Not only did Varejao and Artest not match in salary, but their strengths were also seriously mismatched. The two future first-round draft picks seemed to be very valuable, and it was also the Cavaliers' desperate gamble to empty the future. But to be honest, a first-round pick in 2007 and a first-round pick in 2008, which will take at least more than a year and next season to be redeemed, you use them as bargaining chips to exchange for a tough guy like Artest?

You are not the first pick! With two first-round picks outside the lottery zone, do you have a chance to get another Artest to train you again? The probability is very small!

This is not cost-effective for the Magic at all.

In addition, Lin Dong recently terminated his contract with Nike, Nike is committed to building a team that beats the Supersonics, and the previous transaction between the Lakers and the Cavaliers also had the shadow of Nike, etc., which have been exposed one after another, which undoubtedly adds more conspiracy theories and suspicions to this matter.

Artest is the endorsement signed by Nike, and Nike has threatened Battier to leave the Supersonics with the endorsement. So now the Magic have traded Artest to the Cavaliers in an extremely unreasonable deal. Is Nike behind the scenes?

——Of course! The owner of the Magic has a business cooperation with Nike. If Phil Knight really asks, wouldn’t it be a matter of words?

——Otherwise, the Magic are crazy. Seeing that they have a chance to enter the playoffs this season, they send away the main generals at the critical moment to exchange for a rookie who is nothing?

——The Cavaliers are a bit awesome this time. Their vacant fifth man is filled...

——Protest Nike for interfering with the league! Influencing the team’s decision!

——Forget it, brother, you have no evidence. It’s consensual. What are you protesting about?

——Nike is so disrespectful. I heard people say that Nike helped to form the Cavaliers and the Lakers in order to put pressure on Lin Dong to accept a low-priced contract. Now that Lin Dong has rejected it, they are doing this again. It's all a stab in the back.

——Be more confident, remove the "heard", this is what Nike did!

——So what if they are making trouble? When will it be the turn of an Asian to rule the NBA? Support Nike, no problem!

——That is, those who speak for the Supersonics and Lin Dong, are they still Americans? Is the air in Longguo sweeter and the moon rounder?

——Don't they say that real gold is not afraid of fire? If Lin Dong is really the god of basketball, is he afraid of being targeted? What, is he afraid now?

——Afraid of your mother! Let's see who laughs last. In the finals, I will crush your Cavaliers' five eggs and leave five for you to burst!

The Internet is in a turmoil over this, and both sides have reasons and are extremely inflammatory.

Phil Knight was also a bit upset about this.

Those who spoke for the Cavaliers and the Magic were all led by some of his Internet trolls. They were a special public opinion team, and whatever opinions they put forward were well-founded.

But those who spoke for the Sonics and Lin Dong were able to completely take the trick. Every rebuttal was well-founded and clear. They knew all the rules of the NBA and even the grievances between Nike and Lin Dong...

It would be fine if it appeared once or twice, but these well-founded remarks and replies were everywhere. This was definitely not what ordinary Internet fans did.

Who did this?

Yang Dong from the Sonics?

That woman is indeed a master of public opinion. I saw it when I just joined the team a few years ago, but it's not quite like that. After all, although the public opinion this time is related to Lin Dong and the Supersonics, it didn't directly burn the fire to the Supersonics. Everyone is discussing the entanglement between Nike, the Cavaliers and the Magic. Yang Dong has no reason to choose to take the initiative to step into the battle circle at this time. It has no benefit to the Supersonics. Instead, it will further intensify the disgust of some Lin haters.

So, it's Under Armour?

When thinking of this possibility, Phil Knight couldn't help laughing.

A small workshop with annual sales of only 30 million is fighting such a public opinion war with Nike?

Is the brain crazy?

Not to mention whether it has the strength to stir up public opinion, just talking about motivation, what is it trying to do?

Lin Dong said that he wanted Under Armour to bite a piece of meat off Nike, but Phil Knight regarded it more as a 'ruthless word' and 'face talk'.

You bite it if you say so? Do you really think your influence is enough to control the US market?

The combination of stars and products is a natural match, but you have to understand that it is a two-in-one match. If you only have stars without products, you can only win a wave of praise, which cannot be converted into real money, let alone influence the brand market!

Expecting to bring down Nike by blackening Nike with a few words based on personal influence is simply a foolish dream.

So... who is it?

Just when Phil Knight was still thinking hard, on February 9, the Supersonics played against the Rockets at home.

The Rockets' record this season is in the middle of the Western Conference, and they are very likely to enter the playoffs.

Although they did not get the No. 1 pick of Yao Ming as in history, nor did they trade for McGrady as in history, they retained the Rockets' original most smooth core lineup, Francis + Mobley + Cato.

In addition, the Rockets' lineup has been further improved by bringing in David West from Jordan and Sean Battier, who left the Supersonics as a free agent this season.

Although they are far from the top teams, they can compete with most of the league's strong teams and even win or lose.

For Sean Battier's first return to the GOD Arena this season, both Seattle fans and the Supersonics themselves expressed a warm welcome, and the Supersonics' regular high-standard pre-game prelude before the game was particularly long.

The home court even played a BGM for Battier and some video clips of him when he was in the Supersonics, which made the atmosphere on the scene very touching.

Just when everyone thought that the Supersonics were going to have a warm theme and had been dragged into the plot, it was the turn of the Supersonics' last "king" to appear, and almost all the lights in the entire arena went out.

The entire arena became dark in an instant.

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

The scene suddenly became noisy, accompanied by the screams of some children, making the audience sitting in front of the TV almost think that Seattle had a power outage.

But the next second...

Swish!

Two fluorescent lights came out from the dark player tunnel.

The entire stadium was quiet in an instant, and everyone, all the cameras, and even the eyes of countless fans across the United States were attracted by the two fluorescent lights in the darkness.

It was impossible not to be attracted...

Do you think that two fluorescent lights that are only as big as the soles of your feet can't be seen? It's useless! It is so conspicuous in this stadium, just like a firefly in the dark, so bright and outstanding!

Its light steps, shining fluorescence, magical pace rhythm, and the two glowing shoelaces have deeply attracted the fans in the stadium, and even fascinated more than 47 million viewers sitting in front of the TV in the United States!

At this moment, the pair of glowing sneakers, the pair of sneakers that seemed to represent the only light in the world, took only a few seconds to be deeply imprinted in the minds of every American fan, deeply imprinted in the soul, and could never be dispelled!

Ready? Go!

Accompanied by the passionate voice of the host and the sudden turn on of the lights, Lin Dong, wearing the pair of glittering new sneakers, appeared in front of the world like a king!

From this moment on, the game is no longer important...

There are no lines, no advertisements, and Lin Dong didn't even mention Under Armour, but after the game, the Internet was flooded with inquiries from fans.

——Concept shoes? Nike?

——Hasn't Lin Dong signed Under Armour? If there is one, it must be Under Armour!

——Will it not be the flashing shoes with LED lights in the past? The battery doesn't last long at all, and it only looks good for a few days after buying it.

——It's much cooler than that one, isn't it? Only the sole of the flashing shoes glows, and you have to step on them. But look at the pair on Lin Dong's feet. They glow from head to toe, and you don't have to step on them at all. They are definitely not flashing shoes, nor are they LED lights!

——That's right, there were a few close-ups during the game. Even his shoelaces were glowing. What kind of LED lights can be sewn into shoelaces?

——Fuck, what kind of shoes are these? Are they for sale? It would be great if they could be mass-produced. Wearing such a pair of shoes at night would be awesome!

——The news is out of date, right? Under Armour has even made an announcement! Those are fluorescent shoes that can automatically absorb light sources. They will be officially available on the official website on February 20th. The price is only $499, less than $500! However, it is said that the production capacity is limited, and only 10,000 pairs will be put on the market in the first batch. Hurry up and grab them if you want them. The quickest way is to get them.

——Watt? ! Aren't they available offline? Offline, I can still queue up a day in advance, but online, you have to compete with the speed of the Internet, how can you grab it...

-Offline, you can only wait until the end of February when it will be available in the Under Armour store, and then it will be 799 a pair!

-I'll give 630! Is there a brother with a fast Internet speed who can help me grab a pair online? I'll give 630!

-I'll give 650!

-I'll give 699!

-All of you get out of the way, I'll give 1000! What do I care about? What I care about is whether I can be the first one in the United States to wear it!

-Farm Elf? Aren't you a Lin hater? You're grabbing dragon shoes!

-I just like to collect shoes! It doesn't matter who endorses it!

The Internet went crazy...

The scene of Lin Dong's shining debut in the dark was so exciting. Needless to say, Lin's fans, Under Armour had just announced the first batch price of 599, and hadn't even started selling them yet, but the next day, crazy netizens had already sold them for 2,000 a pair on the black market.

The news reported this, and this caused another terrible popularity - that is, the whole United States was waiting for the official website to release the shoes on February 20, and the whole United States wanted to grab a pair!

No matter if he likes Lin Dong or not, no matter if he likes basketball or not, or even, no matter if he likes shoes or not!

Buy it for 599 and sell it for 2,000, and if you squeeze it a little more, with the small workshop production speed of Under Armour that everyone knows, it might be sold for 3,000+ in two or three months!

You only need to sit at home and click the mouse to make a thousand or two thousand dollars, isn't it great? Who the hell can't get along with money? !

It became popular overnight!

Now... Phil Knight is really getting a little impatient.