Yang Yi: Four years after being abandoned by the Lakers, he became the strongest role player

In 2017, 23-year-old Caruso still had a circle of natural Mediterranean remaining. He and Dagenot, who were full of black hair, met for the first time in the Thunder. Caruso averaged the team's highest 2.2 steals per game as a undraft, helping the team to achieve the defensive efficiency of the Development League, and by the way, helping Degenut to set the team's victory record.

8 years later, 31-year-old Caruso used a hairband to circle out an artificial Mediterranean, and Dagenot's sideburns also had a few more gray hairs. The two met again in the Thunder. Caruso only took 17 minutes per game to win the team's third highest 1.7 steals, helping the team to play the league's first defensive efficiency, and once again let Dagnot break the Thunder's victory record.

Caruso is very clear that once he enters the playoffs, his brilliant performance in the regular season will be cleared. Eight years ago, they entered the playoffs with the No. 1 power in the Western Conference, but were eliminated by the Vipers, which had more offensive firepower. Now, facing the Nuggets who are bigger, have more prominent inside points, and are squeezing 6.5 players to rotate and drag the Thunder into the tiebreak, Degnot did not hesitate and sent Caruso to let him face Jokic.

At first glance, this arrangement has the temperament of "go and get rid of Tang Monk and disciples". In the two games of G5 and G6, Jokic has recovered his offensive form and scored 73 points in two games. But in the seventh game, Jokic only made 9 moves in 36 minutes, and made 7 assists, while gaining the most five mistakes in the team. Caruso, who came on as a substitute, completed this task of slapping the head, creating three steals, like a wire brush, rubbing the teacher with a rippling heart, almost red and warm.

In such a game, 5 of 7 is not the focus, and the highest plus and negative value of +40 in the team is not the same. It is misaligned to guard the core players on the opposite side, using their judgment, reaction and fighting spirit to create steals, force mistakes, launch a counterattack, and bring out the momentum of the whole team. This is the most distinctive impression Caruso left to the world.

This steal will definitely be cut into Caruso's career highlights, which is why Thunder did not hesitate to send out his young triple-double regular Gideon to exchange for him. As coach Dagnot said: "This big victory is a proof of his ability. He completed it very well in the face of the top task assigned to him. Let a 1.95-meter defender defender defending a player like Jokic, you have to continue to assist in defense and put pressure on him when passing the ball, and also take into account all aspects such as top defense. His efforts are amazing."

This is not the first time Caruso has become an X factor in the series. As early as the first game of the series, Caruso scored 5 three-pointers as a substitute, becoming the second scoring point in the team second only to Alexander. But the more exaggerated data on the defensive end - Caruso contributed 5 steals and 2 blocks in 26 minutes, and one person had more steals than the Nuggets' entire starting lineup.

Thunder have launched joint defense since the first game. As long as Caruso is present, he will always be in a state of "preparing for assistance". In this round, he even predicted the Nuggets' empty-cut tactics and Jokic's pass behind the head. At the moment Westbrook accelerated, he stood behind Jokic and cracked a potential wonderful pass.

From a defensive perspective, Caruso is very similar to Iguodala and Paul, and has accurate judgment and sharp attack skills. Facing Murray's back-to-back protection, he dared to shift his center of gravity and gamble-style steals, which is a reflection of this ability.

This ability is also the reason why the Thunder dared to let him face Jokic. Although Teacher Yo is invincible, he is a 2.11-meter-high center after all, and he can never put the center of gravity of the dribble as low as Murray. So Caruso can use the Dragon Cloud Explorer to continuously apply pressure, sticking to Jokic's soles like a piece of chewing gum, constantly increasing the difficulty of holding the ball, and continuously inputting interference information to the nearly overloaded CPU. In the end, with the cooperation of the entire Thunder team, the Nuggets' strongest brain was successfully destroyed.

Basketball defense is like a legendary good woman, it is true that you have your attitude. Compared with his defensive ability, Caruso's defensive enthusiasm is more amazing. After he was able to quickly rush from the bottom line to the wing after crossing the entire game, blocking the potential three-pointer opportunity.

can also chase after the steal, fly to save the ball, and then paddle and swim on the floor after the matter is done, and fight back the ball in the pursuit and interception of two Magic players.

It is true that Caruso's defensive effect against Jokic depends on the loose standards of the playoffs, and people's consistent psychological expectation that "the substitute defender will always take advantage of the inside line." This idea is similar to "the brother should give in to the younger brother" and "the strong always have to accommodate the weak." Putting aside its right or wrong, this is indeed a must-pass path for superstars and a way for players like Caruso to survive.

What's more, a smart player like Caruso has already understood the rhythm and scale of the game: "I try my best to make Jokic uncomfortable, and even deliberately foul on him. I understand the rhythm of the game, and know when to fight physically and when to reduce the intensity of the confrontation." When Caruso scrubbed Jokic in a crazily, I wonder if Dagenot recalled the same desperate figure 8 years ago. It was this wise fighting spirit that made him go from an unknown undraft to a perfect puzzle for managers of various teams to inquire.

8 years later, Caruso is already the only player in the team to win the championship. For this young team with an average age of just over 25, the championship background is obviously the most reliable experience book. Jaylen Williams admitted: "He knows how to win the championship, and he has brought the championship bloodline to this team."

This is true. If Alexander and Carson Wallace are the core of the Thunder's heist defense, then Caruso is the lubricant and universal spare parts for this defensive system (not even limited to the defensive system).. He can play the role of a center that breaks the joint defense on the offensive end, and he can also defend the center on the defensive end; he can defend the outside core like Murray, and he can also take advantage of card swiping to assist in defense while defending the weak side, and can also switch from No. 1 to No. 5 in the same round.

In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, Degnot used his same trick again and sent Caruso to defend Randall by mistake. Compared to Jokic, Caruso is better at defending such a face-frame attacker. He defended Randle twice in a row within 5 minutes, and caused an offensive foul this round.

In addition to Randall, Caruso also faced Reed in the first half. The Timberwolves wanted to use Reed to open the gap, but they were rubbed by Caruso's steel wool so that they could not take care of themselves.

In addition to the single-defense front line, Caruso also greatly restricted the Timberwolves' passes. The switch from Reed to Edwards made the Timberwolves' offense stagnate, just as he blocked the Nuggets' pass-cut system.

He is like the Warriors' dream chase and the Celtic White. Although he is not as strong as Gobert and holds up the entire defense line, he is also the firefighter and universal defense that every strong team dreams of. So far in the playoffs, Caruso has significantly reduced his opponent's shooting rate in every area, and even reduced his opponent's accuracy by 12.8% in three seconds, which is better than Homgren's frame protection effect.

What's even more exaggerated is that such a useful Caruso has an annual salary of less than 10 million this season. What is even more exaggerated is that before halfway through this season, the Thunder gave him a four-year, early contract renewal of 81 million yuan.

Lakers fans will of course repeatedly torture the management. Why do they still daydreaming about "renewing Caruso with 14 million in two years" after winning the championship, allowing him to enter the annual defense lineup for two years with the Bulls. But from another perspective, only in a young and powerful team like the Thunder can we maximize Caruso's value and do the best things we are good at. As Alexander said: "He is a player born for the big scenes, always taking control of everything he can control. No one can do better in this regard."

Caruso's fate with Dagenot and the Thunder is not over yet. He knew very well that in life, luck is sometimes more important than ability. Only by grasping what you can grasp can you find your own anchor in the wandering sea of ​​people, and in this way, you are qualified to climb to the shining trophy at a higher level.