Chapter Fourteen Some Major Events in the Alliance
After beating the Raptors, the conflict between Carter and Bosh in the fourth quarter became the focus of everyone's attention.
Although Carter alone has been supporting the team's record and maintaining the market for the past eight years, it is his jaw-dropping dunks that have allowed the Raptors, who have always had a poor record, to maintain a high attendance.
rate. But now that he is older, his arrogant playing style has left a mark on his knees, and he has changed from a representative of the flying class to a floor-class player.
But as the saying goes, "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, Huang Yi was forced into a corner by the third young master, and a new generation replaced the old." The Raptors' management now does not miss the old feelings at all, and does not want Carter's silent contribution at the beginning, but is determined to do it.
Reconstruction. So at the subsequent press conference, the head coach severely criticized Carter's lack of cooperation at the last moment and never mentioned Bosh, who had the same problem.
Seeing such cruel and inhumane behavior by the Raptors, Edison couldn't help but sigh. He kept asking himself, "What will I do if I encounter this kind of situation in the future? What will I do if one day Howard is old?"
But this kind of question is destined to never get an answer. Who can say accurately about the future? Just like when Teacher Chen and Mr. Xie chopped off the chicken heads and burned the yellow paper, who would have thought that Cecilia Cheung would end up using her own
His physical body helped the two of them build a closer bridge.
After the trip to Orlando, everyone returned to Orlando and had a day's rest before playing against the Knicks at home.
But several big things happened in the alliance during this day.
First of all, Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown finally resigned due to physical reasons. For an old man in his seventies, let's not say that the head coach arranges tactics and brainstorms every day and leads the team in training. You just let him fly here every day.
He couldn't bear to fly away.
Brown's resignation is undoubtedly an earthquake for the Grizzlies. It also has a significant impact on teams competing for playoff spots in the Western Conference. Teams such as the Nuggets and Rockets are overjoyed.
When Edison heard the news, he was also very sad. Another respected old man left the game. "The Grizzly Bear is finished."
Thibodeau also nodded, "It's true that the Grizzlies are finished."
Historically, Brown Sr. also announced his retirement in November. It can be said that the change in this incident is not that big, but another thing is a huge change.
Nelson seemed to have discussed it with Hubie Brown and announced his resignation the next day.
The reason why Nelson resigned was very simple. The conflict between him and Mavericks owner Cuban suddenly intensified. In the original history, Nelson resigned in March 2005 because of the conflict with Cuban.
Now the time has been advanced by half a year. Although the specific reason is not clear, the result is the same as history. Johnson, the young general who has just retired, took over the Mavericks' coach.
If Hubie Brown's resignation only affects the 7th, 8th, and 9th players in the Western Conference, then the Mavericks' changes affect the entire Western Conference playoff team.
The Mavericks are currently second in the Western Conference, only one game behind the Spurs. If they perform well, they can compete with the Spurs for first place in the Western Conference. If they perform poorly, they should be able to enter the playoffs. Specifically, the Mavericks can go
To what extent Johnson's coaching can reach remains to be tested in the game.
But teams such as the Rockets and SuperSonics are ready to replace them.
In addition to changes in coaches, there are also undercurrents in player transactions.
After each team has played more than 10 games in a month, the flaws and loopholes in the team's lineup have gradually emerged, and at the same time, internal conflicts in some teams have also begun to break out.
First of all, the management of Bearded Davis and the Hornets completely broke up. The Hornets have begun to contact other teams to prepare related transactions...
Another potential trade target is the Kings' Chris Webber. Because Stojakovic's performance is getting better and better, when Webber was injured, he actually played at an MVP level, so the two began to compete for the top spot.
.Everyone can see clearly that if nothing else goes wrong, the Kings will choose to trade Webber away. Now many team managers have begun to contact the Kings.
In this dire situation, magic is not immune.
Uncle Huo's agent has made it clear to Edison that he hopes the team can trade Uncle Huo to a team where he can play as the main player.
After thinking about this, Edison agreed. Originally, Edison kept Uncle Huo mainly for two reasons.
First, I hope that Josh and others can learn offensive skills from him. After all, the second uncle was famous for his hooks and mid-range shots. But the actual situation is that Josh and others are actively training every day, but the second uncle has begun to feel a little retired.
I feel it. Although he still worked very hard in the competition, he was not particularly focused on training, and the impact was not good, which made Edison very dissatisfied.
Second, retaining Uncle Huo, Edison still has tactical considerations. First of all, Uncle Huo is tall enough, and he is the second-highest level in the Magic's current team (not counting De Klerk, who cannot play). Edison is still more traditional.
Yes, I think height is a necessary attribute for the team's inside line. But with the actual game, Edison found that the height of starter Josh was enough, and substitute Edison discovered Wallace, and his hardness can completely rush in.
Fighting in the paint.
To sum up, Edison suddenly felt that Uncle Huo was of no use to his team, so there was nothing he couldn't trade.
So I told Uncle Huo and his agent directly that you can leave if you want, so that everyone can get together and relax. As long as it can free up salary space, you can contact the next one yourself.
The two parties also cooperated happily and had a great conversation.
Of course, it's not all bad news. Before the game against the Knicks, the league announced the best selection results for the first month of the new season.
First up is Rookie of the Month.
The Mavericks' Devin Harris became the Western Conference Rookie of the Month in November. Among all the Western Conference rookies, Harris can be said to be unique and the best choice.
Compared with the West, which has no suspense, the East is different and the competition is extremely fierce.
After a month of competition, everyone is sure that this year's promising young people are all in the East.
The Bobcats' Okafor currently averages 16.2 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Although the Bobcats' record is very bad, Okafor's performance is remarkable and outstanding, and he is the core of the Bobcats' interior.
The Bulls' Ben Gordon, as the team's sixth man, now plays about 25 minutes in each game and can score 17 points. He is quite efficient and has even become the choice of many people for the best sixth man of the season.
Luol Deng of the 76ers also performed very well, averaging 19.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, becoming Iverson's right-hand man.
Then people like Childress of the Eagle also performed very well.
But the most powerful one is the magic youth army.
Howard scored 12.8 points, 13.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks. Although he didn't score much, he beat O'Neal, Duncan, and Garnett and led the league's rebounding and blocking charts. He was regarded as "Mutombo's second".
Josh Smith averaged 18.9 points per game, which ranked second among all rookies. The first was Luol Deng. In addition, he also had 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.1 blocks. His performance was very comprehensive. Current experts
Everyone thinks that the Magic made a huge profit by selecting him at No. 17. If this trend continues, his future achievements will surpass Okafor. Especially his playing style is very beautiful, and he will contribute explosive dunks and volleyballs in every game.
The smash-like blocking is simply the second "Rain Man", guaranteeing the future box office...
If you think Josh's statistics are already very comprehensive, then Iguodala will tell you what true comprehensiveness means. He averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. All statistics have been achieved.
Among them, steals currently rank third in the league behind Hughes and Iverson.
This is not over yet. In addition to the three rookies who are the main players, Martin is also performing very well on the bench. He can now score about 14 points per game, and compared to Ben Gordon, who is also the sixth man,
, Martin has less playing time, fewer opportunities to attack with the ball, fewer shots, and higher efficiency.
Because there are so many rookies in the Eastern Conference who have outstanding performances, normally, it would be awarded to players from the Magic, because the Magic currently have the best record, but there are too many outstanding rookies on the Magic team. Who do you think gave the award?
effect.
Then Stern asked Edison for his opinion, and Edison said, couldn't they give it to several people at the same time? There have been cases in the league where they teamed up to win the Rookie of the Year, such as Hill and Kidd back then.
But Stern felt that he should be more stable, so he awarded the best player to Luol Deng, because the 76ers' record was also good and his performance was also outstanding. Although Edison was very angry and scolded him at home.
The ground was clear, but there was nothing I could do. The alliance had already announced it, so I had no choice but to endure it. However, I secretly warned myself, "It seems that I can't go too far in pretending to be bad in the future. Being too greedy is not a good thing."
Compared with the tangle of selecting the best rookie, the selection of the best player is much easier.
Duncan is in the West. The Spurs have won 10 of 14 games in the first month of the season. Duncan averages 20.5 points and 11.1 rebounds per game and is the mainstay of the Spurs.
Naturally, Nash is the one in the East. The Magic have won 11 of 13 games and have the best record in the league, which has surprised many experts. He even averaged 14.2 points and 12 assists per game. Although the points are not impressive at all, the assists are far higher than the second-ranked player.
Kidd. And anyone who has watched the Magic game knows that Nash's contribution cannot be reflected in the statistics. Now the Magic's offense is completely supported by him. With timely passes, the series is connected.
The whole team pointed the way for the Magic's young players.
The selection of the best of the month is not only for players, but also for coaches.
The best coach in the Western Conference is SuperSonics coach McMillan. Last season, the Sonics were third to last in the Western Conference. With almost no signings, their record is now ranked third in the Western Conference, only behind the Spurs and Mavericks. Because
McMillan was elected Western Conference Coach of the Month due to the SuperSonics' rapid growth.
There is no suspense about the selection in the Eastern Conference, Paul Edison. Some experts have even asserted that if nothing else happens, this year's Coach of the Year will definitely be Edison.
Generally speaking, if you want to become the best coach, you only need to have good results, make significant progress, or have no big names internally. But Edison took these two advantages to the extreme.
The Magic were the worst in the league last season, right? Now they are No. 1 in the league, right?
The span between this level is too big. If the progress of supersonic speed is called rapid progress, then Edison's kind of progress is really from the earth to the sky.
Moreover, this team currently does not have a top player in the league. Nash and Marion can only be regarded as role-type All-Star players. Neither of them is the team's core scorer.
At the same time, because it is December, this year's All-Star voting has begun. The media has selected a shortlist of 120 people. Fans can vote at will, and fans who are not shortlisted can also vote according to their own preferences.
For the Magic, all five starting players including Nash were selected, so everyone is happy.
Before the game against the Knicks, the award ceremony for the best players and coaches of the month was held. Although the ceremony was simple, the home fans were very enthusiastic. They kept cheering and shouted the names of Nash and Edison loudly.…
.
Fans are always the cutest people in the stadium, cuter than the team's mascot. They are very simple and simple, and their requirements are not high. You don't necessarily have to win a championship or get any awards, as long as you
If you work hard, they will cheer for you. They will cry when you lose, and they will laugh when you win. Even white-collar executives who are usually gentle and polite are like a big child who has not grown up in the stadium.
After the awards, the game between the Magic and the Knicks officially began.
The Knicks are very strong on paper. Point guard: Marbury, shooting guard: Jamal Crawford, small forward: Alan Houston, power forward: Kurt Thomas, second power forward, Tim Thomas. This
The team does not have a certified center.
Historically, the Knicks' record this season was very bad. That was because Houston started recuperating after playing 20 games and then retired. As a result, an amnesty clause was introduced.
But today's Knicks lineup is complete, and Houston's body is still very good, he can run and shoot, and he's jumping around.
Coupled with the fact that Crawford, who arrived in the summer, has already adjusted well, the Knicks can be said to be in their strongest form now.
After the Magic's Nash received Howard's jump ball, the game officially began.
Before the start of the game, Edison carefully explained the tactics regarding the Knicks' situation, "Dwight and Josh played more proactively today. The opponent's starting inside line was of average height and their defense was very poor. For some unknown reason, the Knicks used wooden barrels.
Bob was replaced by Crawford, and their current internal frontal defense is useless. Kurt Thomas is better at low-post defense, and there are not many ways to break through him frontally, while Tim Thomas's defense is useless. So today we have
Focus on attacking inside."
"Defense must pay attention to protecting the perimeter. The opponent's lineup shoots very well from the outside. Marbury won't mention it. You all know his strength, so DeWalt, you must be prepared to cover up for Nash at any time. Crawford
DeWater's three-pointers and behind-the-back layups are also very powerful. His layups are particularly easy to cause 2+1, so DeWater, you must be careful and try to avoid fouls. If it doesn't work, Andre, you foul early. Houston, league shooting
The textbook, Marion, you also have a very heavy task. Tim Thomas is also a Robert Horry-type player. Although he has a power forward figure, he likes to roam outside the three-point line and has a very high shooting percentage from long range.
High, so you must follow Josh and not give him any space. Their main tactic is to pull the inside players into danger, and then rely on the breakthroughs of Marbury and Crawford to kill the inside. So today Germany
Walt, you must be especially careful not to commit too many fouls."
After Nash dribbled the ball and created a pick-and-roll with Josh, he didn't even look at it and just threw the ball to the basket.
Then the whole audience stood up and got ready to watch the show.
Sure enough, Josh hit the ball and took a step forward, making the jersey rustle. Then he jumped high and dunked hard with both hands. The powerful impact lowered the basket frame by about 5 centimeters, making a "crunching" sound.
It seems like it's about to collapse.
The Magic took the lead in the opening game with a stunning dunk. This goal also set the tone for the Magic's style of play in this game.
The Magic's dunk made the Knicks players feel very humiliated, so they planned to retaliate.
The Knicks used to be a typical inside team. It is said that the Lakers have a tradition of super centers, and the Knicks are similar. From Reid back then to "Gorilla Ewing" later, and then to Bob last season, New York
It has always been a strong inside team in people's minds. Even now, it has the league's top combination of Stoudemire and Chandler.
But New York this season is a surprise. The Knicks now mainly shoot from the outside and rarely attack in the low post...
Although New York's previous leader was Houston, due to very inconsistent appearances in the past two seasons, the team traded for Marbury at the end of last season. Now Marbury is the team's top player.
After Marbury got the ball, he faced Nash and said, "You guys beat my cousin very hard two days ago. I heard that you still look down on street ball. I'm going to show you today."
Nash was confused after hearing this. Your cousin despises street ball. What the hell are you doing?
But just when Nash hesitated, Marbury lowered his waist and accelerated, slipping past him like the wind. At this time, Marbury and Iverson were jointly known as the two fastest people in the league, and they were also good at crossover.
In Yao Ming's rookie season, he knocked Yao Huang to the ground with a standard crossover, and everyone on the Suns bench laughed.
Originally, Nash was very sleepy when he wanted to guard Marbury, but now his mind wandered and he couldn't even watch Marbury off.
After Marbury passed Nash, he went directly to the inside. Howard and Josh both jumped up to block the shot.
But Marbury made a leap in the air, and then pulled a backhand stick for a layup. The basketball rubbed on the backboard and then fell into the basket. This goal fully demonstrated his characteristics, powerful explosive power.
Excellent physical coordination and excellent ball sense developed on street courts. If his personality could be more peaceful, his achievements would not be lower than Allen Iverson.
Although Marbury's goal was also very beautiful and exciting, the Magic's home fans did not give face to it. Although they did not boo in response, they did not show any excitement.
The fans are not in a hurry because they know very well that their team can score better goals, like the first goal.
Magic attacks, Marbury defends Nash.
Although Marbury's offense is as fast as the wind and as fierce as fire, his defense is very poor. Most of his defense is to use his strong body to lean on the opponent and then force the shot. His defensive awareness is poor, and the opponent can throw him away with a pick-and-roll. After all,
On the street court, no one cares about defense.
Coincidentally, what the Magic are best at is the pick-and-roll. Josh used a high screen to block Marbury. Then Nash went down and Crawford came to cover the defense, leaving Iguodala open.
Nash licked his tongue and made a fake move, as if he was going to pass the ball to Iguodala. This deceived Crawford into rushing to the baseline, and then he broke through in reverse and made a layup.
"Stevenash~~~beautiful fake move, Crawford was confused by him."
Then the Knicks' Marbury responded with a pull-up jumper again.
"Is it better to let Iguodala defend Marbury? Steve is like air to him." Thibodeau suggested to Edison on the sidelines.
"But Jamal's offensive ability is also very strong, and compared to Marbury, his ability to attack the inside and draw fouls is more threatening, so we just maintain the status quo and let Howard and the others be more active in filling positions."
With that said, Edison shouted towards the field.
In fact, Howard also discovered a problem without Edison's command. Kurt Thomas's offensive ability was very poor, and he basically focused on secondary offense, so he put more energy into filling in for the outside.
Sure enough, after Howard adjusted his defensive focus, he blocked Marbury and Crawford consecutively, while the Magic still maintained a high shooting rate to open up the score.
At the end of the first quarter, the Magic led 26-21 by five points.
Wilkens, the head coach of the Knicks, is the league's first 1,000-win coach. He has gradually followed the path of athlete, athlete-coach, assistant coach, and head coach until today. It can be said that both on-field experience and tactical skills are outstanding.
He is the best in the league, but due to the strength of the team, he has been robbed of the limelight by his juniors in the past two years.
But this year's Knicks are different. The current Knicks are very good. As we just said, they have a lot of outstanding scorers on the outside. This gives Wilkens room to freely...
"Tim, when you attack, move a little further outside and completely give up the space inside. Marbury and Crawford, you two, break through more inside and attack inside. Their frontal defense is very strong and they have physical confrontation.
They are very strong, but they are inexperienced. Their current rotation is more about keeping up with movement, not how sophisticated their tactics are. We must use our strengths and avoid weaknesses to avoid head-on confrontation with them. We must move, run, pass, and pass the ball.
They all mobilized and looked for opportunities to score."
Wilkens had his own tactical arrangements, and Edison also had his own little calculations.
"We did a good job in the first quarter, but we can do better. In the second quarter, we started to rotate. Marion went off and Martin came on. After Kevin came on, we focused on Houston's side. Houston's knee injury
He has been unstable. I am not asking you to deliberately violate him or deliberately seek physical contact, but we must mobilize him. Once he starts running, his shortcomings of insufficient athletic ability due to knee injuries will be fully demonstrated. Kevin
You have to run more flexibly, mobilize Houston, and then look for opportunities to score."
The tactics deployed by the head coaches on both sides are exactly the same, which are to seize the opponent's weaknesses and strengthen running. But the result will still depend on the test of the game.
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I'm still having a fever. It was 38.4 just now, which was a bad year. Now that it's getting cold, everyone should pay more attention to their health.
