Chen Jie actually knows in his heart that this Nuggets team still has the strength to enter the playoffs. What they lack now is just a leader.
Carmelo Anthony can make buzzer-beating shots, score at critical moments, and become a key player, but he cannot be a leader.
The Nuggets need a leader. They need a head coach like Popovich or Sloan!
Chen Jie has always believed that NBA head coaches are divided into two categories. One is specialized in tactics, on-the-spot tactical adjustments, substitutions, etc. The other is responsible for motivating the team. Of course, this category
Coaches can also formulate tactics and make adjustments on the spot, but what makes them more powerful than the first type of coach is that they can become the team's leader and spiritual pillar, and can inspire the team to move forward and lead the team forward.
Such a coach is often like a speaker. Their encouragement in the locker room before the game and what they say during halftime can be the key to determining the outcome of a game.
It's a pity that there are not many such head coaches. Those who do are usually famous coaches.
In fact, Skiles is not very good at boosting the team's morale. But the Bulls have Chen Jie. Many times, Chen Jie can stand up, lead the team forward, and lead the enthusiasm of the players on the court. So Skiles
Just be responsible for on-the-spot tactical arrangements.
But the Nuggets don't have Chen Jie. To a certain extent, Anthony is not as good as Chen Jie in this aspect. He can score and shoot buzzer-beaters, but he has no leadership talent.
This is the reason why the Nuggets have a poor record so far. Because neither of their two head coaches can be leaders! [
It wasn't until George Karl took over in the second half of the season that their record improved significantly.
But now, George Karl hasn't come yet, and the Denver Nuggets can only struggle in the quagmire.
The Nuggets are playing back-to-back games. Although they are at home, their physical strength is still not as good as that of the Bulls who are waiting for work. In terms of strength and record, the Bulls have an advantage. In addition, the victory over the Rockets in this game has given the Bulls soldiers confidence.
Say, the Bulls have an 80% chance of winning this game.
The only advantage the Nuggets have is their home court in Denver. The Pepsi Center, the home of the Denver Nuggets, is known as the league's number one home stadium. After moving to this arena in 1999, the Nuggets have
The winning rate at home can remain above 70% every season. In some seasons, it is even 80%. Even if their record is not good this season, it is still difficult to beat them at home.
The reason is very simple, because the altitude of the Pepsi Center Arena is 1,606 meters, which is higher than the famous energy solution center. With such a favorable time, place and people, it is natural for the Nuggets to have a high winning rate here.
.(Denver’s only Colorado Plateau, a typo in the previous post. Apologies!)
So, in this game between the Bulls and the Nuggets, the only question is whether they can defeat the high altitude.
Home court advantage is the only way the Nuggets can defeat the Bulls!
The reason why we came from Houston a day early was because the Bulls had plans to adapt to the plateau climate.
However, Chen Jie is not used to this. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China is much higher than the Pepsi Center. Chen Jie once played there for more than a month. He had a little altitude sickness at first. But he gradually got used to it.
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Now that he has come to Colorado, Chen Jie really has nothing to adapt to.
But for Chen Jie, he is also very careful about this battle of revenge.
It's not that he's afraid that the Devils' home game will bring disadvantages to him and cause the Bulls to lose, but that Chen Jie's goals are very ambitious.
The so-called revenge does not only refer to defeating the Denver Nuggets, Chen Jie thinks about more.
He wants to completely defeat Anthony. He wants to completely overwhelm Anthony in terms of personal data and team victory. He even wants to have a personal 60-point performance that he has not completed before in this game!
This is still very difficult for Chen Jie.[
However, Chen Jie set such a goal, and even though he knew it would be difficult, he still had to do it.
He is such a player who gets more excited the more difficult it is!
After resting in the hotel that night, at nine o'clock the next morning, all members of the Bulls team rushed to the Pepsi Center for training after having breakfast.
Skiles still wanted to see if the team would be uncomfortable adapting to the plateau.
The result was pretty good. Although several Bulls players had a bit of altitude sickness the night before and their physical strength was a little bad, after a night's rest, most of them adapted.
Although the altitude of more than 1,600 meters sounds high, the altitude sickness is not as strong as imagined.
It can be said that the Bulls' approach of adapting one day in advance was very correct. This can be regarded as the Bulls gaining a little advantage before the game.
However, Scales did not take it lightly. After training all morning, at lunch, Scales specifically told his players to eat more fruits, vegetables and other vitamin-rich foods.
This is also a great way to prevent altitude sickness.
Although it seems that the Bulls players have no physical problems, and they have not experienced symptoms of altitude sickness such as dizziness. However, the intensity of the game and the intensity of training are very different. Skiles not only concluded that he would wait until night
In a game, especially in the final stage of the game, your players' physical strength will definitely be fine, and they will definitely have no reaction after intense exercise.
Therefore, for the sake of safety, he carefully asked his team members to take precautions in advance.
He even asked the team doctor to prepare some drugs specifically for the treatment of altitude sickness and gave them to the players when preparing for the game.
Although such medicine may not be effective immediately, it is much better than having no solution at all.
When the Bulls were training, none of the Nuggets players came to the Pepsi Center. The fierce battle last night consumed a lot of their physical strength. They spent the whole morning recovering in the weight room.
At noon, the Bulls players rested in the hotel until three o'clock, and then the bus took the players to the Pepsi Center.
Although there are still more than four hours until the evening game, many fans have already gathered in front of the Pepsi Center.
Denver's football market has always been very good, and the fans are very enthusiastic. In the entire league, except for Utah's Energy Solution Center, the Pepsi Center is the busiest place with the most enthusiastic fans.
Otherwise, it would not be called the devil's home field.
The Pepsi Center can accommodate approximately 20,000 spectators, but these 20,000 spectators can create overwhelming noise.
You know, a large part of the so-called home field advantage is because the away team players will be disturbed by the noise of the fans when they get the ball.
It feels very annoying, as if someone is talking to you when you are dribbling the ball and attacking, which can always distract you.
Of course, professional players actually already have very good psychological quality, but when faced with such an exaggerated scene, many professional players will still perform abnormally.
When ordinary people play basketball, they will be nervous if there are hundreds of people gathered to watch, let alone more than 20,000 people, and they will all boo you.
Therefore, the term home field advantage is definitely not something that can be ignored.
The referee is forced to make a decision in favor of the home team under the pressure of the fans, the noise caused by the fans to the away team, the familiarity with the arena, the familiarity with the urban climate environment, plus some small details such as the environment of the locker room, these
Added up, it's called home field advantage.
Although the game is still determined by strength, the home field advantage cannot be ignored.
Especially in Denver, known as the home of the Devils.
In the afternoon, Skiles kept explaining to his players the many situations they might encounter in the evening. He tried to prepare the Bulls' players mentally.
Although this game is also an away game, it feels very different compared to playing at Toyota Center.
Skiles used a vivid metaphor. Compared with the noise at the Pepsi Center, the boos from the Toyota Center fans are more like beautiful music! (To be continued...)
