With the end of the last 14 games on April 20, the league's regular season finally came to an end. As for whether this end is successful, every team, every player, and every fan has their own opinion.
The top eight in the Western Conference are: 1. Spurs, 2. SuperSonics, 3. Kings, 4. Mavericks, 5. Rockets, 6. Nuggets, 7. Suns, 8. Grizzlies.
The Timberwolves, who were originally the favorites to win the championship, were ironically kicked out by the Grizzlies by one game at the last minute and failed to enter the playoffs. This made many fans sigh and also set off an internal purge frenzy.
The top eight in the Eastern Conference are: 1. Magic, 2. Pistons, 3. Philadelphia 76ers, 4. Heat, 5. Bulls, 6. Celtics, 7. Pacers and 8. Wizards.
Compared to the West, which only has one upset team, the Timberwolves, the East is a complete subversion.
First, there was the Magic's great turnaround. In fact, it was not just a turnaround, but a leap from the bottom. They went from last last season to 60 wins and 22 losses this season, directly winning the league's first record. Of course, in the end
The Magic's main competitor, the Heat, has 59 wins. If O'Neal hadn't suffered a recurrence of his knee injury at the last moment and the Heat began to lose strength, it's not certain who would win.
But the arena is always a place where heroes are judged by success or failure. In the end, the Magic relied on a precious victory to kick the Heat to fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
The ranking method this season is that the top three are ranked first in each minor league, and then the next five are ranked according to record. Therefore, although the Mavericks in the West and the Heat in the East are ranked second in the East and West respectively, they
They all fell to fourth place. Similarly, the Kings' actual wins are actually behind the Rockets and Nuggets, but they are first in the Pacific Division, so they were mentioned in third place.
In this way, the Heat will not only have stronger opponents in the first round, but more importantly, they will encounter the team with the best record in the second round and start a strong dialogue in advance. For this reason, the league will be revised next season.
According to the rules, the top four are composed of the first place in the three minor leagues and the other team with the best record, but the ranking order among them is also based on the record. This avoids the situation of the conference finals being staged early and improves the performance.
ensure the fairness of the game.
In addition to the unexpected popularity of the Magic, the decline of the Pacers is also very surprising, but unlike the Timberwolves, most people's evaluation of this is just two words, "You deserve it!" I knew after reading this sentence.
There must be some Miller fans who want to chop me alive. In fact, I feel sorry for Miller, but no matter how many reasons or personal regrets there are, they are all pale in comparison to the malicious incident of beating the audience.
Another thing that people expected, but what makes David Stern very unhappy is that the Cavaliers led by James were once again blocked from the playoffs.
After the regular season, various season selections begin in full swing. Generally, the results will be announced after the first round. According to current public opinion analysis, the Magic will once again be the big winner.
However, at this time, Edison and others did not focus on those selections. Now the entire attention of Orlando is on the Washington Wizards, their opponent in the first round of the playoffs.
After the Magic played their last opponent, the Bucks, on the 20th, they took a five-day break and welcomed the Washington Wizards at home.
In fact, if Edison had to choose, he would prefer to play the Bulls or Celtics. Although the Washington Wizards are ranked lowest, their strength is definitely not inferior to them, and the players' configuration experience, etc. are superior, just because of various reasons
He unexpectedly fell to No. 8. Edison clearly remembers that the Wizards, who were ranked No. 5 in history, defeated the Bulls, No. 4, and entered the second round of the playoffs.
Although the rules are the same, the venue is the same, and even the players are the same, the playoffs and the regular season are completely two events...
The regular season is about comparing the strengths of each team and showing off your strengths to see who has more strengths and whoever has more advantages can win more games. The playoffs are about comparing the weaknesses.
Whoever has fewer shortcomings and whoever makes fewer mistakes will go further.
Another point is very similar to the relationship between football leagues and cups. Football leagues focus on offense. If you can score more goals with average defense, you will be the league champion. The same goes for the regular season, most of them
All teams rely on offense. Only a few teams such as the Spurs and Pistons rely on defense to win games. The cup competition relies on defense. If you can concede fewer goals, you can win the cup. The same goes for the playoffs, where defense surpasses
Offense has become the most critical factor in determining the game.
In fact, after our analysis, we found that this is entirely due to the nature of the game. During the regular season, a team can play up to 4 games with another team, and there will be a long time and many other games between them. So you
You can't lay out tactics for each team in detail, because that would be too inefficient, and time and space don't allow it. Think about it, you spent a day laying out a very targeted set of tactics for a certain team.
Strong tactics, the team has worked hard to practice for several days, but in the end it is useless to win this game. Now it is time to face other teams, and you have no time to arrange special tactics, and the previous game is useless.
It’s not certain whether you can win a battle.
Therefore, in the regular season, each team can only use its best configuration and continuously strengthen its strong points, because these can be continued. After today's game, they can continue to use them tomorrow, and then use these advantages to compete for a championship.
an opponent.
But it's different in the playoffs. We play the same team 4 to 7 times in a short period of time, which gives us room to deploy targeted tactics. Therefore, the more obvious the team's loopholes are, the more likely they will be targeted by their opponents.
It's great, both offensively and defensively, so we see that the championships in recent years are teams that have a relatively balanced offense and defense.
On the evening of April 25, the Waterhouse Center was packed, and there was a lot of noise outside the arena. People gathered in small groups. Half of them wore obvious signs of Magic fans, such as jerseys and team emblems.
And so on. Although the remaining people couldn't tell which team they were supporters of, when the reporter asked, they all started to cheer for the Magic. It can be said that 90% of the people who came here came to support the Magic, and the rest
They are just people who kill time, only care about the game process, and don't care at all. Of course, there are also a few Wizards supporters here and there.
Because it was the Magic that made it to the playoffs again after a year, and their results in the regular season were so good. After all, no one wants to see their team lose. And the team's style of play is so beautiful, it's not boring at all.
, so early playoff tickets were sold out.
Many people stood outside the stadium holding signs asking for tickets, hoping for unexpected surprises. Of course, in this world, demand will lead to supply, and many well-dressed people quietly pulled these ticket buyers to the stadium.
aside, and then said mysteriously, "Brother, do you want a ticket?" "Do you have one?" "Yes, how many do you want?" "1 ticket. How much?" "xxx US dollars." "It's so expensive, it's sold at the stadium.
Three times that." "If you don't want it, you can go to the arena to buy it. I tell you, this is a seat ticket, because only someone inside can get it. Now you can't buy it from anyone except me." Then some fans were teased.
They were scared off by the ticket prices, and some gritted their teeth and bought the tickets.
In order to maintain the order of the game, the Orlando government first established the Water House Center Public Security Department, and then specially opened the 12306 Magic Online Ticketing Center. It also launched special campaigns to crack down on ticket reselling every now and then, but with little effect. The reason is still
There are people in magic who are undisciplined, colluding with others inside and outside, and shouting "Catch the thief"...
There were no changes in personnel when the current Wizards met the Magic at the beginning of the season. It was just that Jarvis Hayes, Arenas' substitute for Wizards, had an unfortunate knee injury with Manu Ginobili in February.
After a collision, a few games later, he dunked in a game against the Sacramento Kings and injured his right knee, and was forced to recuperate in the playoffs.
Although the Wizards are still weak in terms of personnel, they are actually more skilled in cooperation. Narenas, Larry Hughes and Jamison form an offensive triangle, while Jared Jeffries and Haywood
The internal cooperation has also become more tacit. The Wizards are now an organic whole, like a powerful war machine. On paper, they are strong enough to fight against any opponent.
"But the Wizards are not without their weaknesses. Their bench lineup is too bad. Originally there was Hayes, who was considered a gangster on the bench, but with his retirement, the Wizards' bench has been a tragedy from beginning to end. Do you expect Kwame to be there?"
Brown regained a new life and suddenly broke out? But this kind of thing will definitely not happen in the NBA, but on the competitive channel." Edison looked at the coaching staff in front of him and carefully analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the Wizards.
After hearing this, Thibodeau nodded and said: "I think so too. The Wizards' substitutes are too poor, but our substitutes are an advantage. In the regular season, our substitutes scored 38 points per game, ranking first in the league.
Wizards, we need to take full advantage of this advantage."
So under the keynote formulated by Edison that "the main force ensures the balance of power, and the substitutes determine the outcome", the members of the coaching staff began to use their brains and brainstorm ideas. You and I were thinking of tactics. Even the center coach You Yu, who usually didn't talk much,
Because of this, I also started to help with ideas.
Soon after everyone's discussion, Magic came up with a set of targeted tactics.
After the discussion, Thibodeau looked at Edison's worried look and was very surprised, "Paul, what's wrong? What are you still worried about? According to our deduction, the Wizards won't cause us much trouble."
"Tom, do you know this saying, 'Everyone has their own offensive tactics before the fist hits the face'. I have been worried about one thing until now."
"What's going on? The players are too young, are they afraid that they will be too nervous and perform abnormally?" Thibodeau immediately made a guess when he heard what Edison said.
After hearing this, Edison patted Thibodeau on the shoulder and said, "It seems that you are most worried about this issue. But don't worry, it is not a problem. We have always been the so-called favorites to win the championship. Even now, we have become the regular season favorites."
First, no media is optimistic about our playoff progress. Why? Because our previous record was too bad, and our record this year is not a continuation. And our team is too young, half of the players are
We are rookies, and there are only three players who have played in the playoffs before. Even I, the head coach, am a rookie. And everyone knows that the most important thing in the playoffs is experience, so no one is optimistic about us, not even ourselves.
fans all think that we have exceeded our current performance, and every game we play in the future is just a performance and a carnival for them. Therefore, even if we are swept in the first round, everyone will think it is normal.
What, actually some people within us think so. If you think back to the discussion just now, it was not serious at all, but was still joking, which explains the problem. And the worst thing is that the mentality has been transmitted to the players, so
What I’m thinking about now is no longer about reducing the pressure on the players, but how to increase the pressure on them and let them tighten the rope.”
"Don't tell me, it seems like this is the case, I feel a little relaxed."
"Yes. But it's not a big problem. It's easier to deal with relaxation than tension. As long as the pre-game agitation is good, there won't be any problems."….
"Then what are you worried about?"
"What I'm really worried about is the Wizards' explosive power. I'm sure we can gain an advantage on the bench, but I'm worried that the explosion of their personal abilities will erase this advantage. But in our previous discussions, no one came up with a way to suppress
Live the Wizards, especially Arenas' way of breaking out."
Thibodeau let out a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then said, "Some things are beyond your control, so you can ignore them, but you must control what you can control, and that'll be fine."
"That's what I said, Tom."
"Now I'll use it to persuade you."
Edison couldn't help but smile after hearing this, then packed up his things and left the training room. When Edison left, Thibodeau muttered, "Nothing is uncontrollable, I just haven't found the right method."
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To re-explain that vote, it is like this. If David Lee comes next season, then I can’t choose Aldridge next season. There are too many people inside. So in fact, it is David Lee and Aldridge.
Choose one of the 2, but there is a problem with the order of joining the team.
I will reset the voting later and everyone will vote again. It will be closed on the day I write the draft.
