NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 625 The Trail Blazers' Terrible Defense

The Clippers quickly took the lead, 3-4.

Without the cheers of the fans, Jia Fei stepped up to the free-throw line and calmly made the free throw!

On the sidelines, Clippers substitutes like Art Mayork were waving towels around. Even though they weren't going to play, they wanted to create a lively atmosphere, otherwise the arena would be too deserted and quiet, almost eerily so.

Lillard brought the ball over and passed it to Carmelo Anthony, who was in position in the midfield.

Gabriel even set a screen for Carmelo Anthony, sending him to guard the defensively weaker Gallinari instead of Paul George, which was a very thoughtful move.

Carmelo Anthony's career has been a journeyman, seemingly entering a nomadic phase after leaving the Knicks, moving from the Thunder to the Rockets, and then from the Rockets to the Trail Blazers. It's unclear whether the Trail Blazers will be his final destination, but it's clear that while his form is still good, his career is indeed nearing its end.

Carmelo Anthony's physical condition is different from that of the Running Man player. Although they were considered two of the best players in their generation, their playing styles are completely different. The Running Man player has always focused on driving to the basket, although he also has shooting ability, but at his core he is a 203cm point guard with a body of steel. Carmelo Anthony has always been a pure scorer on the wing, known as an "offensive kaleidoscope." When he was with the Nuggets, he often drove to the basket and attacked hard, grabbing consecutive offensive rebounds, which was very dominant. When he came to the Knicks, he attacked the basket less and less, and his offensive methods were concentrated on pull-up jumpers after a triple threat in the post.

Compared to other scorers in the league, Carmelo Anthony, while known as an "offensive kaleidoscope," actually lacks a truly lethal weapon. Compared to Dirk Nowitzki's one-legged fadeaway, Kobe Bryant's pull-up jumper, Kevin Durant's crossover dribble followed by a jump shot, and LeBron James's driving to the basket, his triple-threat jumper is less effective. He can indeed do everything, and his offensive versatility is far superior to LeBron James's, but his offensive efficiency and consistency are not as good, which still indicates that he lacks a killer offensive weapon.

Carmelo Anthony's most consistent scoring method is his triple threat followed by a pull-up jumper, but compared to Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, his jump shot isn't as lethal. Moreover, as his career progresses, he relies more and more on jump shots and rarely attacks the rim anymore, making him easier to defend. You just need to find a tall forward to stick to him and try to prevent him from shooting.

Carmelo Anthony's ball-handling ability is relatively average even among top scorers, at least far inferior to Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and even Dirk Nowitzki and Allen Iverson. Therefore, even when he is in good form, opponents are not that afraid of him; they can simply double-team him. After all, he can't truly ignite the team's offense like the legendary scorers.

As for defense, Carmelo Anthony managed to hold his own with the Nuggets because of his youth, but after that...

It's just a complicated story...

A forward without defense is more damaging to a team than a defender. Relying solely on offense will visibly diminish a team's attacking threat as they age and their physical abilities decline.

The reason why Carmelo Anthony can still play a stable role in a team today is because of his shooting ability.

That's right. Even without the ball, Carmelo Anthony standing in the corner is more than capable of being a stretch forward who can catch and shoot, much like Novak of the Rockets back in the day. The older Vince Carter was similar; he was a stretch forward with a three-point shot but no scoring ability.

Guardiola is playing against Gallinari; the two are similar in stature, both being tall and imposing forwards.

Melo tried to sit back down repeatedly, but it wasn't easy. However, he wasn't the type to rely solely on brute force; after a few attempts, he immediately attempted a turnaround jump shot… but the ball missed!

Gallinari is afraid of fast guards and physically explosive forwards, while Anthony's power-based style of play is exactly the type of defense he prefers...

"Even Anthony has a tough time against Gallinari!" exclaimed Wang Zixing in the Tencent studio.

“Anthony is getting old and doesn’t have the explosiveness he used to have. Gallinari isn’t afraid of him playing like this!” Yang Yi explained.

However, the ballista grabbed the offensive rebound under the basket, but his hook shot missed!

Pickled peppers collected the board, and the crossbowman's counter-attack was a foul...

Nuka-Ji complained to the referee that he hadn't fouled, but that the opposing team had fouled him when he was shooting. He even shrugged...

It's hard for a person to learn to be good, but it's easy for them to learn to be bad...

Since someone started frequently shrugging, more and more players in the league have started doing the same.

It's not fair to blame the Nuggets for trading him away and keeping Jokic; their management made the right decision. Now it seems the two are simply not in the same league as centers. Their only similarity is that they both like to shrug...

The Clippers are on offense. Beverley brings the ball over and passes it to Jia Fei.

Jia Fei received the ball and immediately passed it to Pao Jiao.

Paulo dribbles the ball, facing Gabriel.

After a series of jab steps, Paul George broke through, his silky dribbling teasing Gabriel's nerves, who finally couldn't resist committing a foul...

Gabriel lacks experience, despite his exceptional physical talent. Many African players possess remarkable physical attributes, including Jia Fei's close friend, Art Mayok, yet very few purely African players achieve such success. Basketball in Africa is underdeveloped; there are few professional coaches and a lack of specialized facilities, making them even less developed than China in this regard.

There are definitely a lot of basketball courts in China now, but many of them are used as parking lots or square dancing areas. Even so, you can still easily find a basketball court.

The Clippers inbound the ball in the frontcourt, Paul George receives it, and continues to face Gabriel.

Olynyk came up to set a screen, and Paul George dribbled the ball out of position, then accelerated past his opponent and drove straight to the basket!

Gabriel came over to help defend, and Paul George passed the ball to Jia Fei, who was cutting in!

Jia Fei received the ball and immediately completed a powerful two-handed dunk!

Wow—a spiky connection!

3:7, the Clippers are leading by 4 points!

"Jia Fei's off-the-ball movement was really beautiful, and Paul George's dribble was also beautiful!" Wang Zixing exclaimed.

"The Trail Blazers have a big problem with their defense. Once Nurkic goes out, he can't get back in. If you don't go out, the opponent can just shoot using a screen," Yang Yi explained.

The Trail Blazers can't defend, but their offense is still decent. Here, Melo receives a pass from CJ and hits a corner three-pointer, 6-7!

But then, the Clippers set a double screen at the top of the key, and Jia Fei scored through the back door, making it 6-9!

The Trail Blazers were double-teaming Jia Fei, but once he switched to playing off-ball, they simply couldn't contain him. CJ sometimes couldn't even find Jia Fei; his off-ball defense was a disaster.

The Trail Blazers' offense is actually quite good. Gabriel, though rough around the edges, can still shoot and attack the paint. The two stars and Carmelo Anthony all have excellent shooting abilities, giving the team a lot of offensive spacing. Nurkic's post moves are average, but he can score against Olynyk a few times.