On May 4th, Edison came to the training ground early to prepare for the fifth game against the Wizards in the evening.
When Edison returned to his office after the morning training, the team staff sent a fax from the league.
Edison took a look and saw that it was the selection notice for the Best Defensive Team, Best Rookie Team, Sportsmanship Award and Best Manager of the Year Award. The Defensive Team and Best Rookie Team were selected by the team's head coach, that is, Edison
It was voted for, and the best manager should have been voted by the team's manager, but Old Pat also asked Edison to choose it, and then put his name on it. As for the Sports Style Award, it was voted for by the players, so it worked.
The staff also gave it to Edison and asked him to find time in the afternoon to let the players choose.
After every NBA regular season, there will be this kind of selection. In addition to the above items, there are also the familiar mvp, best lineup, etc., but those are all selected by reporters and media experts. But the ones selected by media experts
It is often easier to be influenced by factors outside the game. It is not as fair as letting NBA insiders vote, so it often makes jokes. For example, the most common situation is that the best defensive player selected by the media cannot enter the best defensive team.
.
Edison has helped players get these votes before, so he still knows what's going on. But after all, this is his first time voting, so he is still a little excited, especially when it comes to asking players to vote. Edison is also very responsible.
"Isn't it a bit too hasty to choose like this? Do you think we should get a boat on Nanhu and then hold a meeting before making a decision?"
"…………"
None of these awards could be awarded to people in his own team, so Edison thought about it and decided to choose the best manager so that he could send it to Old Pat quickly.
"I remember that this year's candidate was supposed to be Brian Colangelo of the Suns, but with the Suns' record, he will definitely have no chance this year. And since we can't choose our own guy, we have to do this." So Edison wrote after thinking for a while.
"Pat Riley." Needless to say, the Heat's results this year are the result of Riley's generous move to replace O'Neal in the summer. No one can say anything about him.
After selecting this one, Edison called Thibodeau over and asked him to help him with the other two selections. It's not that Edison couldn't make the selection himself, the key is to make Thibodeau make him take him seriously.
The selection of the best rookie team is actually very cheating. Both Edison and Thibodeau really wanted to write their names on all five players, but unfortunately they wouldn't let them. So after the two people added up, they came down and said, "Okafor, Edison."
Jefferson, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Josh Childress.
As for the best defensive team, there is no such tangle. Although the Magic's defensive efficiency is now among the top five in the league, most of them rely on team defense, whether it is Howard, Iguodala or Gerald Wallace.
None of them reached the personal level that they achieved later.
Moreover, Edison was originally an academic who paid more attention to defense. He had carefully studied the defense of everyone in the league. So he wrote down the name "Uncle Bao" without thinking. Edison felt that if he didn't write three
It's not a matter of conscience, but a matter of regret to the insurance company. How many people had their salaries paid by the insurance company because of him?
The first defensive lineup was easy to decide. The two people easily reached a consensus and wrote down the five names "Bowen, Ben Wallace, Duncan, Garnett, and Kidd" on the form.
But the two members of the second team began to have disputes. In the end, Thibodeau and Edison discussed it again and again and wrote, "Camby, Kirilenko, Prince, Wade and Billups." Thibodeau gave up.
Larry Hughes, whom he was optimistic about, and Edison gave up on Shane Battier, whom he liked very much...
As for the Sportsmanship Award, that is not something they can decide. It was given to the players in the afternoon and they can choose as they please.
…………
That night, the Washington Wizards, who had no retreat, came to the Waterhouse Center Arena again under the leadership of Arenas to compete with the Magic in Game 5 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
As a result, the General once again scored a game-high 36 points, but it still failed to save the team's fate of losing 95-88. The Magic defeated the Washington Wizards with a total score of 4-1 and became the first team in the Eastern Conference to reach the semi-finals.
team.
Because it was a match point match, both sides played more carefully at the beginning, putting defense first. The scene was dull, and passionate dunks and lightning quick hits were rare.
Due to tight play, neither side scored many points. Only 4 players of the Magic team scored in double figures today. Veteran Hill and Frenchman Diaw jointly scored a team-high 23 points. After Howard returned to the home court, he swept away all the opponents.
Washington had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds and 7 blocks. Marion had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Nash only had 9 points and 9 assists.
It is said that after the Magic changed their lineup, because the team had two more organizational points in Hill and Diaw, the pressure for the ball was no longer on Nash. Although Nash played more easily, the data has shrunk.
, but Nash's role is still obvious and he is the helmsman of the Magic. Among other substitute players, Josh Smith scored 8 points and Varejao also scored 7 points, but Martin turned in a blank.
And there was a very interesting scene in this game. As long as Nash made a free throw in this game, Edison would lead the entire Magic bench to shout MVP, and then set up the rhythm of the whole game, and won regular season awards for the media.
Selection and voting to build momentum.
You must know that the atmosphere in the NBA at that time was not as impetuous as it is now. As long as a person scored 20+ in a few consecutive games and won a few consecutive victories, someone would shout MVP for him. At that time, the audience was still relatively rational and could make the fans happy during free throws.
Except for a few people in the league who are shouting MVP, such as Duncan and Garnett, others are simply not qualified. For example, when Webber was injured, Stojakovic performed astoundingly.
He once became a strong contender for mvp and a hot figure in the league. But under such circumstances, almost no one at the Kings home court shouted mvp when he took free throws. Unless he killed the opponent, the fans would forget their feelings.
chant.
Although Nash is very good and his performance this season is indeed outstanding, his style is too team-oriented and he is not a lone hero, so the response among fans is not enthusiastic. But now Edison leads the substitute players to shout, and the fans can't help but
Where did the reaction leave Edison? So all the fans in the audience joined in the shouting. Inadvertently, Edison added a handful of firewood to the subsequent MVP craze and dug a pit of impetuousness.
The Wizards had a last-ditch battle today. Arenas also worked hard. He played for 48 minutes, making 15 of 30 shots and 5 of 6 free throws. He scored a game-high 36 points and had 7 assists and 4 rebounds.
.Especially at the beginning of the second half, he scored three consecutive three-pointers and once tied the score. Unfortunately, other players performed poorly. For example, Hughes, who returned to Orlando, was once again in no shape.
In fact, the Wizards' tactics today still follow the previous routine. Once Hughes gets the ball, he will open up the space and let him play singles on the weak side. As for breakthroughs, Hughes is very good, whether it is Iguoda.
Neither La nor Hill could do anything to him. But Howard was in great shape today. He had three big blocks on him in the first quarter, which knocked out Hughes.
In such a crucial game, coupled with the opponent's fierce inside, Hughes was afraid and timid. Although Eddie Jordan shouted at him countless times, he just didn't dare to rush to the basket, and instead imitated Ah
Renas played a pull-up jump shot. Larry Hughes shot from the outside, and you can imagine the result. He was made of iron. So, through this game, many viewers in front of the TV finally knew why the basket was
It’s the same color as a basketball, and they’re both printed...
According to the statistics after the game, Larry Hughes made only 4 of 16 shots and only scored 11 points. The lack of scoring is not the most critical thing. Because he couldn't score points, Larry Hughes was also very anxious, so he planned to defend.
He exerted more force and strengthened his defensive aggressiveness.
But this is not Hughes' usual defensive rhythm. Although Hughes has outstanding defensive ability, he is not proactive. He is used to being slow and waiting for his opponent to make mistakes before attacking. We all know that when a person suddenly changes his habits,
His body is often unable to respond, his consciousness and body begin to lose touch, his range of motion becomes uncontrollable, and he easily overexerts himself.
And who is Hughes facing today? Hill is a seasoned player in the league. When Hill found out about Hughes's problem, he didn't give up, but deliberately looked for him, and ended up hitting him five times.
Fouls. Larry Hughes's excessive fouls were also an important reason why Arenas did not get a minute's rest in this game.
Jamison's performance was still very stable, with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. However, he made consecutive mistakes at the critical moment of the fourth quarter, which led to the Magic scoring 4 points in a row and stabilizing the victory. No other Wizards player scored more than 9 points.
.The scores in the four quarters are: 25-20, 23-21, 19-22, 28-25.
When the bell rang to end the game, the entire water house center once again became a sea of joy.
You must know that the last time the Magic made it past the first round of the playoffs was in the 1995-96 season. At that time, Shaquille O'Neal was still on the team. It has been a full 9 years since that promotion. How many 9 years are there in a person's life?
Moreover, this time point is also very subtle. If it were one or two years earlier, the expectations may not be so great; if it is one or two years later, the fans who have experienced that period of history may become mature and stable because of their age, and their passion will no longer be there.
But now the 9-year card is stuck right in the middle. The fans' expectations have reached their peak, and at the same time they still retain the urge to vent everything.
So at this moment, the center of the water house boiled.
Ignoring the cheers of fans and players, Edison came to the visiting team's bench in a gentlemanly manner and shook hands with Eddie Jordan.
"Congratulations, Paul. You have done a great job this year. I hope you can go further." Eddie Jordan, who is over fifty years old, behaved very generously when facing a reserve and did not say anything harsh. Besides, people have magic nowadays.
Being so young, it is obvious that things will only get better and better in the next four years. No matter what harsh words I say, it will not make any sense. Instead, I may bring humiliation to myself.
"No, I just have better luck and the players are more balanced. Your command in the game, especially the adjustment to Larry Hughes later, I admire very much." Edison is still a Chinese at heart, and he still pursues what he believes in.
"Be a good person and keep a thin line, so that we can meet each other easily in the future", so no matter how much you look down on the opponent during the game, you still have to do the right thing after the game.
Originally, Eddie Jordan planned to leave as soon as he finished speaking. After all, he had seen too many people who lost their moral character after winning games. However, seeing that Edison's posture was still so low and he was not here to show off, he felt a lot better. So he
He didn't rush back to the locker room and started chatting with Edison.
After the two people talked for a few minutes, the beautiful Erin Andrews came to Edison again. Eddie Jordan saw that it was the winner's time below, so he quickly got out of the way.
Edison looked at Andrews, smiled mischievously, and then planned to hug him. But Andrews was already prepared and avoided it by turning sideways. Looking at the embarrassed Edison, the cameraman and the people around him all started to hug him.
Laughed.
After accepting the interview and everyone's blessings, Edison walked to the locker room with his head held high. By the time Edison returned to the locker room, the initial wave of excitement of victory had passed, and the players were no longer gathered in the middle.
They encouraged each other, but took a bath when it was time to take a shower and changed clothes when it was time to change as usual.
After Edison walked in, he first chatted with Hill and others for a few words. After all the players came out of the shower, he blew a long whistle and then started talking. "Okay, anyway, we are going to get through in the first round of the playoffs."
Passed, everyone did a good job." As Edison said, he took the lead in applauding, and the players also followed suit, but they who were familiar with Edison's style knew that this was just the beginning, and there would definitely be a turning point later.
"We have all worked very hard tonight, and I guess some of you must be too excited to sleep at night, so you don't have to come tomorrow morning and have a good rest at home. But the playoffs are not over. After the first
There is still a second round, so don’t relax too much. We still need to gather on time for training at two o’clock in the afternoon. Okay, that’s all I have to say. Grant, you will go to the press conference with me later.”
------------segmentation------
Someone has watched that short film. It is really good. I recommend "kiwi" again.
