Chapter 79

Not long ago, the fisherman saw a photo of Barkley's daughter. Her hips, tsk tsk, were astonishing, not a bit worse than her father's.

Although the first NBA Thanksgiving Day game has started, the Jazz team has been under some pressure recently, especially because of Lin Han and the upcoming match against the highly popular Phoenix Suns. The public opinion pressure on the Jazz is not small.

However, after a series of four away games in the East, although they won all of them, the team exposed many new problems. For example, the ball distribution issue between Lin Han and Malone. Although one is an inside player and the other is an outside player, and the team's tactics require one to play pick-and-roll with Stockton, while the other plays individually, their offensive styles are too similar and their attack ranges overlap. Sometimes, Lin Han invades Malone's territory, and Malone unconsciously invades Lin Han's territory.

This directly led to the Jazz's messy first half against the 76ers during their Eastern trip, almost losing to the 76ers. These two guys' overlapping offenses and unwillingness to yield to each other caused problems. In the end, Malone stepped back to focus on defense, and Lin Han stepped back to focus on three-point shooting, which made the game look a bit better in the second half.

In the NBA, teams with good offenses often have a layered offensive structure. The Jazz currently lack this layering. Although they lead the league in average points per game, in the playoffs, other playoff teams could easily teach the Jazz a lesson with their current offensive style.

Even a master-level point guard like Stockton can't solve the conflict between Lin Han and Malone. Lin Han, except for three-point shooting, mostly plays in the mid-range, and Malone, after setting screens for Stockton, also stays in the mid-range rather than going to the basket. The mid-range attack positions of these two players are very similar. If the Jazz's starting point guard were not Stockton but someone else, these two would have been at each other's throats on the court long ago.

Stockton uses his passing to try to keep Lin Han and Malone from overlapping, but this is not a sustainable solution. So, Sloan has been thinking about countermeasures since returning to Utah.

In fact, in the NBA, it is quite common for two players to overlap on the court, and it is relatively easy to solve. If one is a star and the other is a role player, the role player's tactical value can be sacrificed, tilting the balance entirely to the star. If both are role players, it's even easier to handle: one starts, and the other comes off the bench. The best way to solve such problems is to sacrifice one of them. Sloan has done this before. For example, when Jeff Malone, a mid-range offensive specialist, joined the team, his average shots per game dropped from 21 in Washington to about 15 in Utah because of Malone's presence, forcing him to make sacrifices.

However, Lin Han's performance has been so outstanding that even Malone feels awkward asking him to make sacrifices. Moreover, Lin Han seems to lack this awareness. He won't stop until he takes 20 to 30 shots per game, even forcing shots when there are no clear opportunities.

This directly led to Malone increasing his shot attempts and forced attacks to maintain his position as the team's primary scorer. Since the start of the season, Malone's shot selection has been problematic, which is why his shooting percentage this season is much lower than usual. This is largely due to Lin Han's influence.

What's even more frustrating for Sloan is that while Malone gets tired from his excessive shooting, Lin Han shows no signs of fatigue. It seems he won't stop until he distorts the rim. Sloan is very tempted to comment that if Lin Han has such good stamina, why does he play with such lackluster defense?

Of course, Jerry Sloan now feels that the situation with Malone and Lin Han is just a bit frustrating. They are winning the games they should win, and both Malone and Lin Han are too strong. Imagine Jordan and Malone together with Stockton—what kind of team would that be? Although Lin Han is not Jordan and is far less skilled, his performance in the first nine games is not much worse than Jordan's, at least in terms of scoring. So, Sloan's current problem is more of a happy one.

But what about the rest of the team? Apart from Stockton, who doesn't like to score, and Russell and Aaron Williams, who can't score, the other Jazz players can't say much publicly because of the team's winning streak. However, privately, they are already grumbling. So far this season, the team averages about 95 shot attempts per game, with Lin Han and Malone taking up about 60 of them. Although Stockton doesn't like to shoot much, he still takes about 10 shots, leaving only about 20 for the role players. Among these 20, Jeff Malone and the newly acquired All-Star forward Chambers take up most of them. How are the others supposed to get by?

As the season progresses, the Jazz's rotation is increasingly dominated by Lin Han, Malone, Aaron Williams, Stockton, Russell, Jeff Malone, Chambers, and Spencer. Even former starters like Humphries and Tyrone Corbin, who earn over a million dollars a year, have few opportunities, let alone the other players. In this situation, no one would be happy. Why did they come to the NBA? For money and championships, of course. The Jazz have a chance at a championship, so the only pursuit left is money. But without data or playing time, how can they earn money? Will they leave the NBA with zero data after their contracts with the Jazz expire?

Therefore, even though the Jazz are on a winning streak, Coach Sloan and General Manager Rayden have been dealing with the frustrations of the Jazz's role players' agents, who are either demanding more playing time or more shot attempts. If these demands are not met, they want trades. To be honest, Sloan has long wanted to trade these players whose styles overlap with Malone and Lin Han. They are no longer suitable for the Jazz. The reason Malone and Lin Han are taking so many shots is because of their own limitations. Why do they only play the same way as Lin Han and Malone? If they could shoot threes, drive to the basket, and break down defenses, would Malone and Lin Han be taking so many shots?

In the end, these role players are unhappy with Lin Han and Sloan, but Lin Han is also unhappy with them. The only problem is that it's not yet the right time for trades. Although trades are allowed now, most involve rookies, who have a protection period after signing their contracts during which they cannot be traded. Additionally, the season has just started, and many teams haven't yet become dissatisfied with certain players. The best time for trades is after January, when teams that won't make the playoffs are clear, and teams aiming for the playoffs can start their pushes. This creates a high demand for players and easier trades, with a good chance of finding the desired players.

Therefore, despite all the frustrations, Sloan must endure and find a way out for the team, designing special tactics for Lin Han and Malone, especially for Lin Han, such as having him play more on the three-point line.

"No, no, still no."

What frustrates Sloan the most is that Lin Han, despite playing so many NBA games, still lacks tactical awareness and cannot run plays properly.

Can he be any more of a liability? Watching Lin Han run around the court during practice, often colliding with teammates and stumbling, Sloan finally understands why his hair has been falling out so much lately.

The current Jazz team is a hellish challenge for any coach!

...

...

"Charles Barkley arrives in Utah, reigniting the battle for the NBA's top power forward. Charles states that he must win this game to defend his MVP title. In response to the challenge, Malone dismisses it."

"In the last nine matchups, Malone has a 7-2 record against Barkley. Will the new MVP face his nemesis and relive the Golden State nightmare?"

"I am very interested in Lin. I might play the perimeter in this game. Barkley shows no interest in facing Malone and instead targets Lin Han, the league's new sensation, aiming to regain his pride from Chris Webber."

"Who is better, Barkley or Lin Han? It seems Barkley can dominate. In front of Charles, Lin is just a kid."

When the Thanksgiving Day game on November 25th arrived, the media hype was so intense that even Lin Han was taken aback. He remembers that when he played against Hardaway and New York, the American media weren't this excited.

Is Barkley that charming? Is it really necessary? And what does he mean by playing the perimeter in this game? Isn't he an inside player, a power forward? Hey, what's a power forward doing on the perimeter?

So, when Malone dismissed Barkley's MVP challenge, Barkley directly stated that he had no interest in facing Malone and instead targeted the league's new sensation, Lin Han, seemingly wanting to regain his pride from Chris Webber. In the Jazz training facility, Lin Han looked at Malone with a strange expression.

Why do all these inside players suddenly want to play the perimeter? Barkley is one thing, with his suitable height, but even Malone, who often plays small forward in practice, has dribbling, ball-handling, and driving skills that are no worse than the team's starting small forward, Brian Russell.

Malone, feeling a bit guilty under Lin Han's gaze, is also frustrated. While Lin Han complains about these power forwards playing the perimeter, Malone himself is frustrated that the league's top centers, like Olajuwon, Ewing, and the Admiral, not only dominate the inside but also play small forward better than he does. Who can he complain to about that?

It must be said that in this era of the NBA, if a super inside player can't play the perimeter, they can't even call themselves a super inside player. This should be blamed on Magic Johnson, who, upon entering the league, played center in the Finals and won the Finals MVP, taking the bread out of the inside players' mouths.

With point guards who have the heart of centers and centers who have the heart of point guards, this is indeed a very challenging era.