January 10.

Today, the Thunder, which has ended its four-game losing streak, will head to Phoenix today to challenge the Suns away.

In this game, this game is the first game after "Martial Saint" Jackson was traded to the Thunder.

Although Jackson is not a highly anticipated star in the league, Jackson this season is a top second-rate star who can contribute to an average of 2056 per game.

In addition, although "Martial Saint" Jackson is not a high-profile player in the league, the Thunder this season can definitely be regarded as the focus of the league.

So in this situation, this game attracted a large number of fans to watch.

In addition to fans, other teams that will have direct competitive relationships with the Thunder in the West have also turned their attention to this game.

I want to see what role Jackson will play after he arrives at the Thunder.

Similarly, I also want to see what kind of state Jackson can achieve when he runs in with this Thunder team.

After all, before introducing Jackson, the Thunder had been in the Western Conference playoffs.

Even after entering January, the Thunder's performance opened high and ended low, and was about to fall out of the top eight in the West.

But before the Thunder truly fell out of the top eight in the West, no one dared to underestimate this dark horse.

Before the game started, many cameras outside the court pointed the lens at the benches of the two teams.

Because the Thunder and Suns' record this season is similar, the rankings of the two teams are also relatively similar.

So if nothing unexpected happens, then the Thunder and the Suns can definitely be called direct opponents who want to enter the playoffs.

In this case, whether it is the Suns or the Thunder, they will definitely hope to win this game as much as possible, and while improving the team's record, they can also suppress their opponents.

At this time, the Thunder coach Yang Fan seemed to not have much pressure before the game. He just sat on the sidelines and talked with the new Thunder player Jackson.

Looking at that look, it is better to talk about small talk than discussing tactics.

On the other hand, before the game started, Suns head coach Porter and his assistant team kept analyzing.

The whole person held the tactical board while communicating with the assistant coaches and explaining with the players.

After all, after the start of the new season, although the Suns' lineup looks very luxurious, the team's record is somewhat unsatisfactory.

At this time, it was only ranked ninth in the West. Although there was not much difference with the Mavericks, which ranked fourth in the West, the season was almost half over, and the Suns were still in the last bus of the playoffs, which undoubtedly made the management feel very dissatisfied.

So at this time, Suns head coach Porter was already half a foot on the verge of the get out of class. In this case, Porter could not lead the Suns to sing all the way.

Then it is definitely a foregone conclusion that his get out of class will be dismissed this season.

After all, in addition to retaining the core lineup of Nash, Stoudemire, Richardson and others this season, the Suns also introduced the former No. 1 center "Sharks" O'Neal.

Regarding the introduction of this deal, the Suns management hopes that the team can achieve something in the new season. Not to mention that they will immediately enter the championship competition, but at least it should not be that even entering the playoffs will become a luxury.

It’s just a pity that although Steve Cole, as the general manager of the Suns, has been smooth sailing in his future coaching journey, his operation will obviously be worse if he becomes the general manager.

Because the arrival of "Big Shark" O'Neal this season not only did not make the Suns better, but O'Neal's slow movement speed also dragged down the counterattack efficiency of the entire Suns.

In this case, in order to accommodate the "Big Sharks" O'Neal, head coach Porter was forced to slow down the team's speed.

As we all know, Nash was born for running and bombing tactics. In addition to the "little bully" Stodmeier, who has excellent movement speed, these two people are definitely the king of taking the lead in fast attack.

When the Suns choose to give up their sharpest fangs in order to accommodate O'Neal, this is undoubtedly equivalent to breaking the tactical system of the entire Suns.

In addition, since the arrival of "Big Shark" O'Neal also diluted Nash's control on the court, Nash's personal data this season also fell to the lowest level in recent seasons.

As the game is about to begin, both sides announced the starting lineups of this game respectively:

Suns:

Nash, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Stoudemire, and O'Neal.

Thunder:

Westbrook, Hamilton, Durant, Jamison, and Collison.

In this game, the Suns continued their regular lineup.

Although O'Neal's playing style with the entire Suns is completely incompatible, O'Neal is the top center in the league after all.

So it is somewhat inconsistent to ask him to play as a substitute. At least neither the management nor O'Neal will agree.

In this case, it would be a pain to the role of head coach. Even though he knew that O'Neal's overall style was not in line with the Suns, he still had to do everything possible to integrate O'Neal into the team.

It has to be said that, except for a few senior head coaches in the league who are highly skilled and well-behaved, the situation of the Suns at this time is definitely the most troublesome thing for all head coaches.

After all, in order to sign a player of O'Neal, the team has paid a heavy price, so once the team's record is not good, someone must stand up and take on the blame.

Often in this case, the head coach is definitely the best candidate to take the blame...

For the Thunder, in addition to using Collison as the starting center in this game, Yang Fan, a star "Martial Saint" Jackson, who just joined the Thunder, did not appear on the starting lineup list.

In fact, many people have been talking about this matter before, discussing what role Jackson will play after coming to the Thunder.

Is it the sixth person who leads the substitute lineup to grab points, or is it the starter who is regarded as the core offensive character?

Even no matter which one it is, people will not be surprised. After all, the Thunder's forward lineup this season can be said to be full of talents.

Especially Durant and Hamilton in the starting lineup, the chances of these two being replaced by Jackson are really slim.
Chapter completed!