After beating the Hornets, the Magic didn't get any rest and would face the challenge of the Bobcats again the next day. Although they were consecutive games, at least they weren't back-to-back away games, so they were lucky.
Because it is a continuous game, the team's training volume this morning is very small, focusing on muscle recovery, and in the afternoon they practice tactics.
"Tonight's opponent is the Bobcats. They are not very strong, but I value this opponent very much. Do you know why?" Edison explained the tactics before the team drill.
"Because of Okafor." Seeing Edison staring at him and asking this question, Howard thought for a moment and gave the answer.
"That's right. Everyone is questioning my choice in the draft. I believe you all know Dwight's strength and the personal sacrifices he has made for the team, but these media experts don't know. Their eyes
I only saw that Okafor now averages higher points per game than you, Howard. To be honest, this makes me very unhappy. Don’t they want to look at the data? Well, I plan to let them see what Howard and Okafor are like tonight.
Whose data is better?"
Howard is the life treasure of the team and has a good relationship with everyone. Even Varejao, who is in competition with him, admires Howard very much.
Because Howard, as the No. 1 pick, under Edison's tactical arrangements, rushed to do the dirty work in every game, based on defense, and laid the foundation for other players' offensive performances. Now the Magic can create 95 times in a game under normal circumstances.
As a main force, Howard took less than 9 shots per game. But Howard didn't complain. He still went to grab rebounds and cover for his teammates with a smile every day.
When someone misses someone, he comes over immediately to make up the defense.
Everything Howard has done for the team is seen and remembered by other players. In this impetuous society where personal interests come first, Howard's spirit of silent dedication to the team is admired by everyone.
So now when Edison said that he wanted to brush up the data and have a good test with Okafor, the Magic generals not only had no objection to this, but also strongly supported it. Especially Josh Smith, he knew best that as long as Howard was willing, he would completely
He could get the right to fire that he currently has and average more than 20 points per game. But Howard did not earn it, but gave the opportunity to himself. Although Josh didn't say anything on the surface, he was still very moved in his heart.
So during the evening game, Howard adjusted the starting lineup, starting Varejao at center, Howard at power forward, and Nash, Marion and Iguodala remaining in position.
The Bobcats' starters are Gooden, Okafor, Steve Smith, Kapono and Bogans. Gooden and Bogans were traded from the Magic in the summer, as everyone still remembers.
Because this game was a collision between two hot-button rookies, all TV stations arranged for a national live broadcast, and TNT sent out the signature golden commentary team of Barkley and Kenny Smith.
Howard and Okafor stood in the center circle as soon as the game started, and the head-on collision between the two started with a jump ball.
The jump ball is to compare the player's jumping ability, and the jumping ability mainly includes two aspects, one is height and the other is speed. Everyone understands that height refers to the speed at which you jump from take-off to the highest point. It can also be understood simply as
explosive force.
Although Okafor had a slight advantage in height, Howard had longer arms, and the two had almost the same height difference during the rookie physical test. However, Howard still relied on his amazing jumping speed to defeat Okafor and help the Magic win the jump ball.
"The Magic's starting lineup today is a bit strange. In the past, Howard was the Magic's starting center, and the power forward was Josh or Juwan Howard. But now the Magic's center is Varejao, and Howard is the power forward. I don't know why.
Think about it." Kenny Smith looked at the Magic's formation and was a little confused...
"Perhaps Stern called Magic head coach Paul and asked him to arrange a direct collision between Howard and Okafor in this game to increase ratings. You know that old guy will do anything for money." Buck.
The advantage is to interrupt the conversation.
"No matter what the purpose is, it is still good to see the direct dialogue between the No. 1 pick and the No. 2 pick in the draft. But judging from the previous games, Okafor undoubtedly has the advantage. He won the last game against the Wizards.
25 points and 11 rebounds are good results, but Howard did not score more than 20 in the two games he played."
The commentator here is still introducing, but the Magic people have already stood in the V shape, waiting for Nash to start.
Then there is a routine that everyone is familiar with. Howard comes to cover. After the pick-and-roll, Nash takes away Okafor, who is switching defense. Howard cuts in, then receives Nash's ground pass and dunks, giving the Magic the first two points.
point.
"Kenny, you know what? I like watching Magic games more and more now. Their offense is so smooth. Nash is really a very good point guard. He can always find the opponent's defensive gaps, and then
Send the ball in time."
"Well, I think so too. And the Magic's tactic itself is very interesting to watch. They stand in a V shape every time, wide open and occupying a lot of space. This tactic maximizes the use of space.
, giving full play to Nash's wide vision and game reading ability, it can be said to be tailor-made for him. It can be seen that Magic's head coach Paul is a very thoughtful person." Kenny Smith made a pertinent analysis.
.
"Speaking of Paul, I remembered something. It seems that a movie he participated in is very popular now. Have you seen it?" Buckley suddenly digressed.
"No, you know the movie you're starring in is a horror movie. I've seen enough of you every day, why would you go to the cinema to watch it?" Kenny Smith teased Buckley unscrupulously.
"Kenny, you are discriminating against black people. I can definitely sue you."
The two live actors in the commentary box were still mocking each other, while on the court the players were fighting fiercely.
Unlike the Magic, who open up space inside, attract the opponent to shrink their defense, and then frequently take shots from the outside, the Bobcats mainly attack inside.
Although the Bobcats have three-point shooters like Steve Smith and Kapono, they take very few three-pointers. Their average number of three-pointers per game is the third to last in the league, with only the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers shooting.
has fewer three points than him.
When it was the Bobcats' turn to attack, Bogans handed the ball to Okafor as expected, allowing him to single out Howard in the paint.
Okafor and Howard are very similar. Their advantages are tough bodies, amazing jumping ability, and good passing ability to deal with double teams. But the disadvantages are also the same. The main scoring defense is at the basket, with dunks and layups.
, mainly shooting in the penalty area, and the mid-range shooting ability is of the type that can be shot, whether it is scored or not is another matter.
But at this time, Okafor had an absolute advantage in strength, especially the strength of his lower limbs. He carried Howard on his shoulders and squeezed towards the basket. Howard's thin legs could not withstand Okafor's resistance at all. Little by little,
Step back. When he entered the three-second zone, Okafor suddenly turned around and shot. Unfortunately, due to Howard's interference, he hit the basket and missed. Varejao got the rebound.
"Okafor's strength is definitely at the upper hand, but his flexibility is not as good as Howard's. The two of them can be said to have their own merits."
"In the offense, the Magic fully utilized Howard's flexibility. The Magic's advancement speed is very fast. Traditional centers in the league cannot keep up with this advancement speed. But Howard can, he moves very fast and has plenty of physical energy.
, capable of turning back and running at high speed throughout the court. Moreover, in the offense, the Magic also emphasizes running. Unlike Princeton's full-body running, the Magic's V-shaped offense runs around the point guard on the strong side, which also allows Howard to play
Due to his strong athletic ability, ordinary insiders cannot keep running with him. But Okafor's offense is much simpler. He asks for the ball in the low post, then uses his strength to rush into the inside and attack the basket directly. Although it is very simple, but
It works very well a lot of the time.”….
"The Magic are also very interesting on defense. Unlike many teams, their defense relies on speed rather than hardness. First of all, their defense speed is very fast. From the center to the point guard, they can run immediately after their attack.
Come back and don't give the opponent a chance for a fast break. Secondly, their rotation speed is very fast. Whether it is defender Iguodala or Tony Allen, small forward Marion and Wallace, their feet are very fast and can follow anyone.
He has a strong individual defense ability. Moreover, these people can defend three positions, so when rotating, the opponent has much fewer opportunities to cause mismatches. The inside line led by Howard always puts pressure on the strong side and compresses the opponent.
Of course, there are disadvantages to this: the defense tends to the strong side, and the weak side will expose space. But Orlando people are not afraid: Howard, Josh and others press well, and at the same time they rotate quickly, and the opponent comes out
If the ball goes wrong for a moment, the weakness on the weak side will disappear as soon as it appears. Even if you find an opportunity and the Magic opens up, it will only be from the outside. Howard can rely on his super lateral movement ability to get out of the paint in the first place.
Defend from one side of the zone to the other to ensure that the restricted area is safe."
"Of course, this does not mean that the Magic's defense has no weaknesses. There are two problems in the Magic's defense. The first is experience. There is no way, this team is too young, so they will always make unnecessary fouls in defense. They have obviously already
You are about to force your opponent to make a mistake, and as a result, all the efforts made before the foul are in vain. This problem is actually difficult to solve, but it is also easy to solve. It is difficult to solve because you cannot find a specific solution and cannot quickly get rid of this problem.
. It’s easy to handle because you don’t actually have to do anything. It will be solved naturally after these players play for one or two seasons. The second is Nash. If the opponent’s point guard has a strong scoring ability, Nash will be as undefended. You can directly start from the arc.
Attack the Magic's inside line, but be careful about the shot-blocking abilities of Howard, Varejao and Josh. Maybe drawing fouls is the most reliable idea. Compared with the team's lack of experience, this problem is the Magic's defensive flaw, you
It is impossible to remove Nash, and the team's offense will be in chaos. So Paul's current approach is to try to make up for this loophole through the athletic ability of others. This can work for ordinary teams, but for top teams,
It may leave hidden dangers.”
"Compared to the Magic, the Bobcats' defense is rudimentary. The team defense is completely unsystematic, and only Okafor and Bogans are reliable in individual defense. Steve Smith is too old and cannot keep up with the young people; Capo
Nuo's strength is not good and his ability to fight is too poor; while Gooden has a psychological problem. He is not active enough in defense. It is said that with his physical fitness, he can become a wall inside, but he seems to deliberately avoid physical contact. I don't know why.
What do you think?"
"So from the perspective of the game, the Magic have the upper hand on both offense and defense. Of course, the game is not about statistics, it is always about the performance of the players, and the game is always full of all kinds of surprises. So now the first quarter is over for the Magic.
Leading the Bobcats 26-21 at home, this is the same as our previous analysis."
After the first quarter, Howard had 8 points, 2 rebounds and a big block for Okafor, while Okafor had 6 points, 3 rebounds and a block, but not for Howard. The two people can be said to have different statistics.
They are comparable.
"I was very dissatisfied with the game in the first quarter. Do you know why? You were too unnatural in your offense and created opportunities for Howard too deliberately. Our tactics, as long as Howard comes to pick and roll in the high post, as long as he appears in the corner
Position, he will naturally get a lot of opportunities, but you think too much. We moved around Nash to create opportunities, but what about you? You just moved around Howard. Yes, I said
Create more opportunities for him, but you went a little too far, which affected the normal operation of our offensive system. Nash and Howard's pick-and-roll did not exert its maximum power." As soon as the players sat down, Edison's hair dryer started again.
.….
It's no wonder he was angry. The team was really not very good offensively. In order to give Howard a chance, there were many times when the players were already open, but the players still didn't shoot and threw the ball back to Howard again. This not only wasted the opportunity, but also disrupted the game.
Determine the team's offensive rhythm.
After Edison finished spraying, he looked at the players carefully. The players who played in the first quarter lowered their heads and drank Gatorade, listening to Edison's lecture. Howard and Marion felt the moisture on their heads and couldn't help but feel it.
Thought, "Maybe I should have Varejao's hair."
"So, in the second quarter, we have to be more natural, understand, naturally. Just like in normal training, just do what you want to do. Except that the main attacker inside becomes Howard, everything else remains the same. What should you do?
Just run the position, shoot the three-pointer when you need to, don't think too much, and don't care what Howard's data is. If you try to let Howard get good data, and we lose the game, what's the point?
Even if Howard wins, it won't be convincing, but it will make those experts have more to say, right?"
The players all nodded in agreement after listening to Edison's words. Indeed, other people did it so obviously that everyone could tell that they were helping Howard to brush up the data, so Howard's victory over Okafor was not very convincing.
Seeing that the players had already figured it out, Edison clapped his hands vigorously and said, "Okay, don't think about it anymore. Just play normally when you get on the field later. I won't say any more. Now you all have a good rest.
Restore your physical strength."
When the second quarter started, the Magic players obviously adjusted and became more fluid in the offense. Iguodala and Marion took frequent shots from the outside. For a while, it rained three-pointers in the Bobcats' half.
"After the start of the second quarter, the Magic gave up the idea of attacking Howard inside and shifted their offense to the outside. In just 2 minutes, the Magic had already scored three three-pointers, 38-27, widening the score.
To more than 10 points.”
When Edison saw that the game was back under his team's control, he felt much relieved. However, he suddenly thought about Howard, so he waved his hand and replaced Marion with Diaw.
"Boris, when you go up, you help Nash organize, focus on support, and use quick conduct to help Dwight create space. But don't be too deliberate, just focus on him a little bit."
Dio nodded to express his understanding.
Marion is a good player. He is both offensive and defensive. He can shoot and grab and is athletic, but he is not a player who can create opportunities. His offense with the ball is a joke, so he is good for himself in the offense, but he cannot be allowed to
A better type of teammate.
And Diaw is known as the "French Magician". The ball can do all kinds of tricks in his hands. His ability to read the game is extremely strong and he is the best support player in the league. On the offensive end, he can shoot and pass, and can provide players with great opportunities.
Teammates create space and create opportunities.
Sure enough, Diaw formed a line with Nash after he came on the field. The two ran in and out. Steven Smith and Bogans couldn't guard at all. Okafor was forced to come out to help defend many times, and then the two were sent into the penalty area.
Howard dunked twice in a row.
Edison originally planned to use this period of time to let Howard show off his power, but Bobcats head coach Backstaff did not give him this opportunity.
The Bobcats replaced the main players one after another and let the substitutes play. Seeing that Edison had no chance, he also replaced Howard and others, allowing the main players to take a rest.
Edison was originally worried that he would put Varejao in the starting lineup, and the height of the substitute lineup would be a problem. The highest among the Magic substitutes was Huo Ershu's 208, and then Josh's 204. Although De Klerk is taller,
But he didn't make the 12-man roster at all, and the Bobcats have three 211 big men...
But once the substitutes from both sides met, after two rounds, Edison realized that he was overthinking.
If the Bobcats' main force is quite distinctive and capable, then his substitute lineup is a piece of shit. It is composed entirely of the patron saints of other teams' water fountains last season. They want to attack but not attack, and they want to defend.
There is no defense. Although there are two big guys, they can't attack inside, move very slowly with their feet, and their confrontation ability is not strong. Even Uncle Huo can't squeeze in. If Bogans' organizational skills were not good, these two people would be purely
It's a pillar of human flesh.
On the Magic's side, the senior and junior duo of Huo Ershu, Diaw, Josh, Wallace, and Tony Allen worked together tacitly. Although they did not have a height advantage, they defended fiercely. Two minutes later, they stunned the Bobcats.
The substitute was a bald guy - no score.
The head coach of the Bobcats, Beckstaff, saw that this was not the way to go. The main team was already more than 10 points behind, and the substitutes were overwhelmed again. They were behind by more than 20 points at halftime, and they couldn't win in the next two quarters. So.
Gooden was sent out again, hoping to continue scoring through his mid-range shot.
Not to mention, Gooden really did his best and hit two consecutive shots after coming up. Of course, this has a lot to do with the lack of height of Josh who is guarding him.
But even so, the Bobcats only managed not to be completely defeated. The Magic were still increasing their score advantage little by little.
"At halftime, the Magic led the Bobcats 57-41 by 16 points. No matter how good the Magic played in the first half, Howard had scored 14 points and 5 rebounds today. If this trend continues, he should be able to get 20+10.
Not bad data. The best performer of the Bobcats is Okafor. Although his 10 points and 6 rebounds are a little behind Howard, they are not bad. What do you think, Charles?"
"The main reason why Howard played well is that the Magic's overall strength is stronger than the Bobcats. We saw that the Magic's Nash sent many nanny assists to Howard during the game, but Okafor was not so lucky. But in this game
The game seems to have almost lost its suspense. The Magic are better than the Bobcats by a small margin. I think the game may end early before the fourth quarter." It was rare for Barkley not to talk nonsense or brag about himself.
During the halftime break, Edison didn't emphasize anything in particular. He just asked the players not to relax and to concentrate. In fact, with the current level of competition in the Magic, no one dares to relax. As long as they are on the court, they must concentrate on it.
The second half of the game went according to Barkley's script. As soon as Nash started, the team hit a 12-3 spurt, which directly expanded the score gap to 25 points. Then, although the Bobcats tried to counterattack, they succeeded.
The score was reduced to within 20 again, but Iguodala's two three-pointers completely extinguished the opponent's counterattack momentum.
After the start of the fourth quarter, Backstaff sent the main force early, but the result was that the gap in strength was obvious. Although Okafor fought hard, the score gap never returned to less than 20 points. In this regard, Backstaff
My husband could only look up to the sky and sigh, "Isn't it said that you are also a weak team during the reorganization period? Why did you fight so fiercely?" Then he replaced the main players in advance, and the game entered garbage time early.
The final score of the game was 122-98. The Magic won by 24 points at home and easily defeated the Charlotte Bobcats.
Edison expected to win against the Bobcats. What he cared about was the comparison between Howard and Okafor in this game.
As a result, Howard played 28 minutes and scored 25 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks, while Okafor played 31 minutes with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Howard finally overwhelmed Okafor in terms of statistics.
So at the press conference after the game, Edison was so proud of himself (of course it can be understood as a villain's success, it mainly depends on which fan you are). At the press conference, without waiting for the press officer to say anything, he kissed her
The beautiful reporter from ESPN came to ask questions. I thought to myself: "Boy, don't you always talk about Okafor's statistics? Don't you always say that our Howard is not as good as Okafor? Don't you always question my draft results?
Now it’s up to you what to do. Ask, I asked you to ask today, you can’t do it even if you don’t ask.”
What do reporters do? From the way Edison glanced at me when he entered the venue, I knew that he hadn't paid enough attention. Sure enough, he asked me to ask questions as soon as he came on. He wanted to surprise me. Do you think I would only ask Okafor and Howard?
question.
So the beautiful reporter said seriously: "In the just-concluded game between the 76ers and the Pistons, Luol Deng scored 24 points against Prince's defense. After three games, he averaged nearly 15 points per game.
His outstanding performance, but you missed him in the draft and chose Iguodala. So far, Iguodala's scoring average is barely in double figures. What do you have to say about this? Do you regret your original choice?
"After saying that, the female reporter calmly sat down.
Edison almost spit out blood when he heard this, "Nima, what about Howard, the promised No. 1 pick, why did it become Iguodala? You are unreasonable and a rip-off."
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I am sending you a large chapter, please recommend it.
But since I read a chapter every day, the number of clicks has been steadily decreasing.
