Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 259 Ariza's Potential
Anthony sat off the court, watching Ariza enter the court, and he refocused his eyes on the court.

Anthony still doesn't know that Vandeweghe traded Bell, which guard he traded to fill his vacancy, or whether he traded the guard back, he doesn't know.

Although he also believes in Ariza and his ability, but if Ariza can't do well, or his performance does not meet expectations, then it is very likely that he will ask Kiki for a follow-up trade. After all, Ariza Anthony knows It was also at the time of the Lakers Finals that Ariza, as a rookie, was able to take on the important task of the team's perimeter defense, and he was also unknown.

Ariza has already played at this time, he replaced Korver, and his position is shooting guard.

The head coach of the 76ers is Larry Brown. This legendary coach is very stubborn, but his coaching ability is still very strong. In the season that reached the finals, although Iverson had a brave performance, he could not do without The old man's formation, he made Iverson the team's starting shooting guard, which was a breakthrough for Iverson at the time, because Iverson was short and played point guard all the time. Let him play shooting guard, not to mention that the possession of the ball may be reduced, and facing the opposing shooting guard, he will suffer a lot defensively.

But Brown did it, and he did it very well. After Iverson reduced the number of times he held the ball, his offensive efficiency became higher. As for defense, the team's single defense was not fixed. position, and Brown deliberately let the team trade for a tall point guard, so that in defense, Iverson is still facing the opponent's point guard, and there is no situation where he will be blown up. .

So, at this moment, the tall Ariza just matched up with the short Iverson, a seemingly unreasonable matchup, just like this.

At this time, the Nuggets maintained a slight lead of 5 points, and Iverson, in the previous game, made 13 of 6 shots and scored 18 points, feeling hot.

The Nuggets' offense, Dior's support after the breakthrough, assisted Okur to hit a three-pointer from the outside, and opened the point difference to 8 points.

Okur waved his fist excitedly after scoring a goal, but Iverson's expression changed.

Iverson is a very strong player. In his career, he has never admitted defeat. He is the endorsement of the league's rebelliousness. Sometimes he even dismisses all those who make suggestions to him. But he is capable, and he can turn the tide on his own, so he still has a high reputation and status in this alliance.

Seeing Okur's goal at this moment, Iverson was obviously angry. Just after halftime, he was about to pass the ball. He looked at the rookie defending him in front of him and accelerated forward. He believed in himself With such a high speed, you can easily take care of this rookie in front of you.

When Ariza was in college, he was the core of the team who scored and defended, but he also knew it, including Anthony reminding him before that his position in this league and the Nuggets is to be based on defense, so this will Well, his posture is very low.

When facing Iverson, he tried hard not to let himself be nervous, and then lowered his center of gravity to defend Iverson's breakthrough.

Ariza doesn't understand Iverson's offensive style, but he has a sense of being a defensive player, that is, short players are good at breakthroughs, so his first ball is mainly to defend against breakthroughs.

Iverson accelerated and found that Ariza hadn't been shaken off by him. He was a little surprised, but it was only a little bit. Facing such a tall player, he has a lot of experience. He flicked twice and took a step back jump shot.

Ariza's center of gravity sank at the moment, and he was relatively tall, so he couldn't react at all.

"Shh!"

With a sound, Iverson easily hit the middle distance, which brought the 76ers closer.

"Oh, the rookie of the Nuggets seems to be unable to react. Iverson is too fast." The commentator on the sidelines joked.

Ariza also looked a little frustrated, shaking his head uncontrollably.

Anthony saw Ariza's state, and he knew what was the most important thing for a player on the court, so he stood up and shouted: "Hey, Trevor, show your confidence, your task is to contain Allen. , not to guard Allen, you have to understand!"

Ariza listened to Anthony's words, nodded gratefully to him, and then ran towards the frontcourt.

Anthony's sudden move, D'Antoni looked back at him suspiciously, wondering when he cared so much about Ariza, a rookie.

The Nuggets' offense, this time Dior wanted to do the same thing again and broke into the inside line again, but Iverson predicted it. He quickly appeared on Dior's breakthrough route, and then suddenly reached out to his arms.

"Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, Diaw's breakthrough was successfully intercepted by Iverson.

After the steal, Iverson galloped forward like a group of running cheetahs, fast and fast, beyond the reach of the dust.

Iverson's fast break went straight from the backcourt to the frontcourt, passing several players in a row.

However, Ariza has been following him all the time, and he doesn't make any moves. He is just next to Iverson, sticking to him, which makes Iverson feel extremely uncomfortable.

Iverson's speed is very fast, and he killed the Nuggets' backcourt in a blink of an eye. Although Ariza was defending him, he didn't pay attention to him at all. At the free throw line, he moved at a high speed and asked for another Speed ​​up, get rid of Ariza in one go, and make a successful layup.

Ariza tried to block the shot, but Iverson's shot was very fast. Even though he predicted that Iverson would make a shot, his physical reaction couldn't keep up with his thoughts, and he could only watch Iverson helplessly. Hit the board to score.

After Iverson scored a goal, he made his iconic move, put his right hand to his ear, and there was a burst of boos from the audience. It was not because of Iverson's move, but because Anthony imitated it last season. This action, in a sense, has surpassed Iverson who invented this action.

Iverson didn't care, he really enjoyed the booing.

In the next few rounds, Ariza tried his best to defend, but Iverson's ability was really strong, and Ariza was difficult to defend. The Nuggets' points were almost eroded little by little until they entered the backward state.

Anthony couldn't help turning his head to look at D'Antoni. If the game had entered such an anxious moment last season, he would have played a long time ago, but seeing D'Antoni's expression at this moment, he didn't mean to change players. From the looks of it, he didn't seem to want to deploy the main force too early.

The Nuggets fell behind against the 76ers. The fans couldn't stop shaking their heads, and even a few people started to leave the field. These people are all "fake fans" who joined because of the crazy performance of the Nuggets last season. Seeing that the Nuggets were so vulnerable, and Anthony hadn't played, they obviously couldn't hide their disappointment, so they all left the game one after another.

The Nuggets slowly fell behind, and now the difference in points behind reached 4 points. In just a few minutes, the Nuggets were beaten to a 14:5 climax, and D'Antoni finally couldn't help calling a timeout.

Now there are still 8 minutes before the second quarter. It is also an option to replace the main force at this time, but D'Antoni seems to have no intention of changing. He just scolded the substitutes and asked them to improve themselves on the court attention.

Anthony looked at D'Antoni, knowing that it was unrealistic to actively ask to play at this time, so he went straight to Ariza's side and whispered a few words to him.

Ariza was out of breath at the moment, and defending Iverson obviously made him feel very strenuous. After listening to Anthony's suggestion, he nodded vigorously, and then appeared with other substitutes.

First up was the Nuggets' offense. Jefferson demanded from the inside, and after a few skillful inside moves, he successfully drove the ball into the basket, quenching the thirst for the Nuggets.

Looking back, the 76ers' offense, after Nocioni received the ball, was going to look for Iverson as before, but when he looked back, he found that passing Iverson had become a very difficult thing.

Ariza is indeed taller than Iverson, but his wingspan is very long, which is also his talent to become an excellent defensive player, so at this moment, he desperately opened his hands to stop Iverson, preventing him from receiving The ball, even if Iverson is looking for a pick-and-roll, he can quickly go to the other side. It is very difficult for Iverson to catch the ball now.

Anthony looked at Ariza's actions and nodded with satisfaction. In fact, as a defensive player, defending against other people's offense is the most effective defense, but if a player is really unable to defend, then he is still stubborn and defends. Other people's offense seems a bit meaningless, so at this time, cutting off the pass from others to this player is the best defensive option.

Iverson was a little impatient with Ariza's clinging, and he pushed Ariza directly. Soon, the referee on the sidelines called Iverson an offensive foul.

The moment the whistle sounded, Ariza vigorously waved his fist in the air, venting his excitement.

Iverson rushed to the referee to prepare a theory, but was quickly pulled back by his teammates.

Anthony nodded in satisfaction. Ariza does lack some defensive experience, but he still has potential as a defensive player. This gives him some potential to replace Bell. Of course, although it is potential, whether it can be fulfilled, It depends on the other performances in the future.

In this game, Ariza defended Iverson and prevented him from receiving the ball. Although he was out of breath, his defense did successfully contain Iverson's crazy offensive point, and Iverson's offensive After the opportunity declines, the 76ers are naturally not the opponents of the Nuggets.

In the end, the Nuggets ushered in a big victory at home.

After the game, the players from both sides shook hands and prepared to leave. Just before leaving, Iverson and Anthony gave a deep hug. As teammates who used to be in the Olympic Games, this is a hug that belongs to an opponent as well as a hug from a friend. Embrace.

(End of this chapter)