Chapter 38

On November 7, 1993, the Utah Jazz, who had just secured their second consecutive win of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves, left Minnesota and arrived in Seattle.

The Seattle SuperSonics were now one of the strongest teams in the league. They finished third in the Western Conference during the regular season last year and made it to the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs. Since the current SuperSonics head coach, George Karl, a former head coach of the Golden State Warriors, took over from the previous SuperSonics head coach, KC Jones, the team seemed to improve every year.

KC Jones, the legendary former coach of the Boston Celtics, was no ordinary coach. As a teammate of Bill Russell at both college and the Celtics, he won two NCAA championships and eight NBA championships with Russell. He was one of the key players in the Celtics' eight consecutive championships and was also an Olympic gold medalist in basketball. He could be considered one of the rare "grand slam" players in the history of American basketball.

Not only was his playing career outstanding, but his coaching career was equally impressive. He led the Washington Bullets to the Finals and also led the Celtics to the Finals, winning two NBA championships. In the nine seasons he coached the Washington Bullets and the Celtics, he led the team to the Finals five times. If you add up the championships he won as a player and a head coach, he has 10 championship rings, and 12 if you include his time as an assistant coach, during which he also won a championship with the Lakers.

What about George Karl? When he was coaching the Warriors, his last season ended with a 16-48 record, a win rate of just 25%. He was fired by the Warriors before the end of the season, and the current Warriors head coach, Don Nelson, took over his position.

A failed head coach taking over from a very successful head coach, and not just any team, but a strong team. The SuperSonics had been a regular playoff team in the West for the past decade since Bill Fitch became the head coach. Moreover, the SuperSonics had just won the NBA championship in 1979. Under these circumstances, George Karl faced significant pressure to succeed. In the end, this outstanding coach not only surpassed his two predecessors, KC Jones and Bill Fitch, but also nearly led the team to the Finals again last season, replicating the team's former glory.

More importantly, the SuperSonics' success in the playoffs last season came at the expense of the Utah Jazz. In the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last season, the Jazz, ranked sixth, faced the SuperSonics in a best-of-five series. The Jazz won one game on the road in the first three games, making the series 2-1. If they won the crucial fourth game, they would have pulled off an upset. The fourth game was at home, and Sloan and the Jazz were in high spirits. Although the team's regular season performance was poor due to Stockton and Malone's Olympic commitments, a strong playoff performance would have made up for it.

However, the Jazz were extremely disappointed when, in the crucial fourth game, Stockton, one of the top three point guards in the league, was shut down by a young point guard named Gary Payton. Malone, arguably the second-best power forward in the league, was also embarrassed by a young power forward named Shawn Kemp, who recorded three steals and five blocks in the game, while Malone had six turnovers. With their two stars performing poorly, the Jazz had no chance of winning. In the end, the young SuperSonics completed a comeback in a favorable situation.

The Western Conference playoffs last season made Gary Payton, who challenged two of the league's top point guards, Stockton and Kevin Johnson, earn the nickname "The Glove." It also left Jerry Sloan's reputation in tatters. One could say that Sloan was completely outmatched by George Karl in the playoffs last season.

Therefore, when Lin Han arrived in Seattle with the team, he could clearly sense that the atmosphere was different from usual.

For example, the mid-career players like John Humphries, who would usually tease Lin Han, were unusually quiet and diligent, almost to the point of being unbelievable. Lin Han later found out that the team's loss to the SuperSonics in the playoffs last season was not just due to the poor performance of the two stars, but also because the mid-level players were completely outplayed. Although Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were like the rising sun, they were still not as good as Stockton and Malone. The two stars performed normally in most games except for the crucial fourth game, but the other players were consistently underperforming.

This is why, despite knowing about Lin Han's various shortcomings, the Jazz were unwilling to give up on him. Last season, Sloan was severely let down by the role players, who could usually contribute some stats but were unreliable in crucial moments. This is why, after bringing in Lin Han, they also brought in a former All-Star offensive big man, Tom Chambers. The Jazz's two most important acquisitions this season were both offensive players who sacrificed defense. While Sloan knew that the retired center, Mark Eaton, was one of the best shot-blockers in league history and a Defensive Player of the Year, he chose to replace him with offensive players, which was a surprising move.

After the failure last season and being reversed by George Karl, the Jazz head coach had already changed his coaching philosophy. Defense is important, but without offense, there is no final victory. In the five playoff games against the SuperSonics last season, the Jazz only scored over 90 points in two games and over 85 points in three games, which was terrible. The Jazz averaged over 106 points per game in the regular season last year, but in the playoffs, they averaged only about 86 points per game. This significant drop was enough to make a head coach lose faith in many players.

Of course, Jerry Sloan wanted revenge in this game. The Jazz's strength this season had improved significantly compared to last season. The team's firepower, boosted by Lin Han in the first two games, was almost insane, giving Sloan a lot of confidence. Lin Han, the player he advocated for, had brought him a lot of pride. Although it was unclear how long Lin Han's hot streak would last, he had already surpassed the team's third star, Jeff Malone, in Sloan's eyes. Even when Sloan considered adding a defensive player to the starting lineup, he was thinking about benching Jeff Malone rather than Lin Han.

"Jerry, I think we shouldn't give Lin any special plays right now?"

At this moment, Jerry Sloan was lost in thought, watching the Jazz players on the training ground. The assistant coach, Phil Johnson, who had been observing the team's training, suggested helplessly.

After Lin Han's breakout, the Jazz naturally wanted to give him some star treatment. In the NBA, a star player gets special plays where the entire team supports him. This is a very good treatment.

However, this treatment changed with Lin Han. The Chinese-American rookie couldn't understand the complex plays that required multiple players to coordinate. His positioning on the court was terrible. It seemed that this Asian kid only knew how to play one-on-one and simple pick-and-rolls. Even in pick-and-rolls, his jump shots, though beautiful, had a shockingly low accuracy.

According to Phil Johnson's evaluation, this rookie would probably always play one-on-one, and it would be almost impossible for other players to coordinate with him.

However, Lin Han's one-on-one success rate in the first two games was very good, and he had beaten the rookies Marshon and Laettner. But what about the future? Could he beat Payton or Pippen one-on-one? Besides these players, which NBA team doesn't have a dedicated perimeter defender?

In such a situation, even Jordan initially went through a series of one-on-one battles, only to be beaten up. It was only after he met Phil Jackson, the master of one-on-one tactics, that his triangle offense allowed the entire team to support Jordan's one-on-one plays.

However, while one-on-one plays do have tactics, Phil Jackson knew them, but Jerry Sloan did not. Moreover, making Stockton and Malone play one-on-one with Lin Han could work for one or two games, but would they be willing to do it for long? Although they were not young, they had not yet achieved MVP or championship status, and they would not sacrifice their stats for Lin Han.

Therefore, Jerry Sloan, who was originally thinking of avenging George Karl, suddenly realized the significant crisis and problems within the team.

If Malone and Stockton remained at their peak for a long time and Lin Han continued to play "toxic" basketball, the team would eventually face a showdown.

Headache, Sloan was extremely troubled at this moment.