"I don't know what happened. I just couldn't exert my strength today and couldn't make any shots."
Wang Zelin spread his hands, looking as if he was so shocked that he doubted his life.
"this……"
Coach Terry suddenly felt guilty.
He almost forgot that the young man in front of him was not yet twenty. It was normal for young people to have ups and downs in their condition.
But he subconsciously ignored Wang Zelin's age because of his outstanding performance last season.
"Okay, Wang, when the opportunity comes next, you can decide whether to attack based on your feel. However, your main job is to defend the penalty area. Do you understand?"
Now knowing that Wang Zelin is in poor condition, Coach Terry has made some adjustments to this game and no longer requires him to attack and defend.
"Got it, coach."
Wang Zelin nodded.
Alas, he couldn't say that it was actually caused by having too much fun with his new comrades in the morning.
"Damien! LaMarcus!" Coach Terry roared and said: "Next, I need you to put the damn basketball into the basket on purpose. We must not lose this game!"
"receive."
"clear."
Lillard and Aldridge stood up and shouted in unison.
It is true that Wang Zelin is the most popular player of the Blazers, has the greatest potential, and is the most loved by fans, but this does not mean that other players are hopeless idiots.
To be able to stand out from countless basketball players around the world and enter the NBA, the top league where only a few hundred people play, they are all one-in-a-million basketball geniuses.
Someone like Aldridge who can make the All-Stars is a genius among geniuses.
Geniuses all have their own arrogance!
When forced, they can admit players who are more talented than themselves, but this does not mean that they will give up their ambition to make progress.
The intersession pause ends.
Lillard and Adridge are gearing up to give the Detroiters a tough lesson.
Due to falling behind, the Trail Blazers only replaced two main players, Matthews and Batum, and Wang Zelin reappeared with Lillard and Aldridge.
At this time, the team's backup shooting guard is Connett Lee, and the backup small forward is Will Barton.
On the Pistons side.
The two main players, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith, are still on the court, and the three backup partners are Will Bynum, Rodney Stuckey and Cole Zinger.
Josh Smith, who can play three or four, plays the fourth position. With a height of 2.06 meters, he may not suffer a disadvantage when playing the fourth position.
Now, Andre Drummond plays the five position and Josh Smith plays the four position. There is no doubt that this is an adjustment to strengthen interior defense.
With Josh Smith in charge of assisting defense, Andre Drummond doesn't have to take care of Greg Monroe's defensive holes like he did in the first quarter. Now he only needs to stay in the three-second zone and play his best.
Frame protection function.
The Pistons attack first.
Backup point guard Will Burnham passed the ball to Josh Smith and cut back to the weak side to stretch the Blazers' defense.
At the same time, substitute shooting guard Rodney Stuckey dropped to the left corner, which also stretched the Trail Blazers' defense, allowing Josh Smith to get a single opportunity.
This arrangement made him very excited.
When he was with the Eagles, Josh Smith, who was known as an all-around warrior, played more of a role on the defensive end, which made him dissatisfied with the ball status assigned to him by the coaching staff.
This is how the conflict between him and the Eagles came about.
Time will prove that the Eagles' arrangement is correct.
Josh Smith, who is 2.06 meters tall, is indeed extremely talented. He has a pair of spring legs and can shoot, hit, block shots, and even pass well. His ball control and outside defense have also reached the standards of outside players.
Ability to continuously advance and provide accurate guidance;
Can't guard the pick-and-roll, but can protect the basket;
There are points in the low post, and deductions when taking off;
This 13-year-old has the opportunity to become an explosive, luxurious, and enhanced version of the original Draymond Green... with running and jumping abilities.
However.
He became obsessed with archery.
He began to have a fanatical hobby for ultra-long two-pointers and three-pointers. He called himself the "Central Shooting Boy."
Last season, he shot 201 three-pointers from the outside, in exchange for 61 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of only 30.3%, which became the trigger for the Hawks management to no longer tolerate him.
Wang Zelin remembers very clearly that this season, Josh Smith will shoot 256 three-pointers, only scoring 70, and his activity rate is only 26.4%.
Among players who have taken more than 200 three-pointers in a single season, the only player who is more promiscuous than him is Anthony Walker, who made 73 of 285 shots and a disastrous shooting rate of 25.6%.
Who is this gentleman?
One of the league's famous bums, the No. 6 pick in the first round of the 1996 golden generation, played for 6 NBA teams in his career. But he was luckier. He won the NBA championship with the Heat in 2006 and was selected to the NBA All-Star three times.
On April 8, 2012, Fat Tou Tuo officially announced his retirement.
But one of his famous sayings is still passed down to this day:
"Why do I shoot so many three-pointers? Because there are no four-pointers, man!"
TMD!
Who dares to believe what a player who entered the league in the 1990s said.
Even in the later small ball era, I am afraid that few people will be as obsessed with perimeter shooting as Anthony Walker, and he can always go beyond the range...
Starting from the Pistons' first attack in the second quarter, Aldridge probably didn't expect that the guy in front of him who averaged 17 points per game last season... would be so easy to defend.
The method is also very simple and clear. As long as you let him two steps away, this 13 will definitely choose an outside shot, but he still can't make it.
It's the Pistons' turn to attack again.
When Will Bynum dribbled the ball just past half-court, Josh Smith immediately ran back from a 45-degree angle from the left to the top of the key and actively stretched out his hand to signal.
As if to say: Give me the ball and I will take you home!
Prior to this, Josh Smith had made 0 of 4 outside shots, which directly gave the Trail Blazers 4 more quick counterattack opportunities, resulting in the Pistons now being 5 points behind.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! 27:22, three minutes passed, and the Pistons did not score a point.
Wilbottom turned his head aggrievedly and looked at head coach Michael Curry on the sidelines.
Michael Curry was also making a difficult decision in his mind at this time: the team management beat all other players this year to acquire Josh Smith in order to strengthen the team's flank defense and allow the team to return to the playoffs as soon as possible.
.
If we don't make the playoffs, how can we sell tickets?
If we can’t sell tickets, everyone is just waiting to eat dirt!
Therefore, Smith, who is in his prime, is undoubtedly the strongest player on the Pistons...
The strongest~ often represents privilege!
"That's it, let's take a look again. If you still can't get in..."
Michael Curry remembered some of the requirements from the team management and could only tolerate Josh Smith's continued misbehavior.
Of course, there is a limit to tolerance.
If what Josh Smith does affects the team's winning plan, deal with it how you want it to be dealt with.
The team is currently only 5 points behind, which is not too important. Once Josh Smith can hit this three-pointer, it will be 2...
"Duang~"
Another shot came, and I heard the boos from the surrounding audience. This shot seemed to hit Michael Curry in the face, and he turned blue instantly. I remember that he wanted to call a timeout on the spot.
"Alas~"
The raised hand was lowered again.
Because it's not their turn now!
Under the basket, Wang Zelin spotted the position of the rebound, stretched out his hand to grab it, and got his fifth rebound in a single quarter.
If he continues at this pace and plays two more rounds, he will be able to get double figures in rebounds.
Thinking of this, watching the back of Pistons No. 5 player getting further and further away, Wang Zelin couldn't help crying: "Brother Xun is indeed right, there are still many good people in this world!"
"Wang, can you give me the ball?"
On the side, Lillard said sourly.
Josh Smith's aggressive behavior was noticed by the Trail Blazers players. For Wang Zelin, a rebounder, everyone felt envious and jealous.
When will I have such an opportunity to be able to fly without having to work hard on my data!
Very comfortable!
At halftime of the Pistons, Josh Smith looked like he was still unsatisfied: It's so cool, that's how geniuses should play. My talent was really wasted in the Hawks.
When he came to the frontcourt, he saw Will Bynum let him go. He held the ball and called Wang Zelin's pick-and-roll.
Wang Zelin's layup provided a high-quality screen. Lillard took two steps to the left and immediately took the shot.
"Whoosh!"
He shot this goal with full of depression, but fortunately, the ball went in.
At 30:22, the Trail Blazers led by 8 points at home.
The next second, Pistons head coach Michael Curry couldn't sit still at all and called a timeout on the spot.
"Smith, look what you've done?"
Josh Smith returned to the bench, and before he could sit down, he was greeted by a barrage of questions from the head coach.
"I..." Josh Smith glanced at the direction of the scoreboard with a guilty conscience, and naturally knew that everything was caused by himself, and instantly stopped saying anything.
"Just because you shot three-pointers like crazy, and because of your one-man operation, everyone's previous efforts were in vain. Are you worthy of us? You ****"
Seeing that Josh Smith had no intention of apologizing, Andre Drummond, who had been running back and forth for a few minutes on the court in vain, became angry at that time. He was so angry that he immediately started to curse.
"enough!!!"
Josh Smith is also a man with a temper. He believes that even if he made a slight mistake in the past, this cannot be the reason for him to be offended by a rookie.
After confirming to join the Pistons, he positioned himself as the boss of the team. How could he let a second-year rookie climb over him?
Josh Smith roared repeatedly, which attracted the attention of the audience in the front row. Some reporters quickly picked up their cameras and recorded everything that happened.
"Let me tell you, I came to Detroit to lead you to win, not to get scolded. Otherwise, who would be willing to come to this miserable place?"
Josh Smith looked around and felt that it was time for him to establish his authority as the boss of the team, otherwise there would be some crooked people who would provoke him for no good reason next time.
"asshole!"
"Who do you think you are?"
"Do you know what you're talking about?"
Those words completely angered all three generations of Pistons players, old, middle and young.
It's not just Andre Drummond who's angry this time.
Rodney Stuckey, who once used Allen Iverson as a substitute and was cultivated by the Pistons management as the core of the team, and later switched to the team's sixth man due to lack of strength, was angry.
Billups, who had just played four games back in Detroit, was also angry.
"What, what's the matter!" Josh Smith looked fierce at first, but as soon as he thought about the food the three people in front of him cooked, they were useless and old, and he immediately felt confident.
"Hmph! You two rookies and losers, and you, the old fool, do you think you are very good? Do you think you can lead Detroit to compete for the championship? Do you have the strength to fight me, Josh Smith?
Don’t look at who is in control of the Pistons now..."
Josh Smith smiled with disdain and made endless mocking words.
"Before you came, I was the champion! Now you dare to say that I am not qualified..."
For example, Puth instantly became furious and stood up to angrily attack Josh Smith.
Michael Curry also frowned a little. He couldn't understand why a good team suddenly had such big differences.
But he knew that he could no longer think about the situation in front of him. If he didn't speak, the situation would probably start: "Let's stop it right now!"
The scene suddenly fell silent.
Mike Brown continued: "Listen, the Detroit Pistons are a team, and it has never been anyone's team. What I want to see is the goals you make as a team, not individual heroism."
His words left Josh Smith, Andre Drummond and four other people speechless.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! But there is nothing to say if there is nothing to say. The four of them did not change their minds because of Coach Jia’s words.
The seeds of disagreement have been planted, waiting for them to bear fruit.
Chaotingtai live broadcast seats.
Yang Jian and Ma Jian looked at each other.
What is this!
Why did the scene suddenly become like this?
Didn't the Pistons still play well in the first quarter?
Isn't it just 8 points behind?
Why are they all so noisy all of a sudden?
Look at this scene, Josh Smith is ready to challenge three!
Yang Jian and Ma Jian looked at each other again, but instead of the weird atmosphere during the live broadcast, they chose to continue eating.
The same goes for the fans at the scene and the Blazers players on the other side, eating melon in silence, except for the peanut soda.
The argument cost the Pistons two long timeouts.
However, seeing that the situation calmed down, Michael Curry could finally let go of the huge stone in his heart: If the argument continues, a long pause will not be enough.
Now, he only hopes that the players can actively cooperate and get the score back as soon as possible.
Even now, he can see that Trail Blazers No. 36 is in obviously bad shape today. It's rare that the goddess of luck is on the side of the Pistons and has given them a great opportunity. If you don't take advantage of it, you will be punished by God.
Within the venue.
Michael Curry became increasingly angry as he watched the performance of his players. He felt like a fire was burning crazily in his body.
After the timeout, Michael Curry put on the full lineup in order to achieve the effect of the first quarter.
As a result, the team members had other ideas, and after receiving the call, they all played according to their own ideas.
Billups took the lead in involving players in the other three positions, vaguely separating Josh Smith from the team system, causing the latter to be completely unable to touch the ball.
You do the first grade of junior high school, and I do the fifteenth grade.
After being ostracized by his teammates, Josh Smith's attitude on the defensive end became obviously negative. On the offensive end, he grabbed rebounds and dribbled the ball from the backcourt. During this period, he also gave the Trail Blazers 2 steals.
High emotional intelligence: The Pistons suddenly played much more decisively!
Low EQ: What the hell are the TMD Pistons doing?
As long as there is a chance to take a shot, even if you see your teammates in a better position, no matter who is holding the ball, they will not hesitate to choose themselves.
The result is that after the second quarter, individual players' statistics were extremely good.
Josh Smith got 3 points and 4 rebounds. Compared with the first quarter, Billups took a lot more shots. He scored two three-pointers and scored 8 points in the half.
But at the end of halftime, the Pistons trailed by 14 points.
Can not Understand it!
I really can’t understand it!
Terry Stotts returned to the locker room at halftime and exclaimed, "I can't understand." The Pistons' playing style was too weird.
In the first quarter, we played as a team and everyone had a clear division of labor; in the second quarter, Josh Smith took the lead and Billups followed suit, shooting decisively and playing like a star.
Are the Pistons using Andre Drummond as prime Howard?
Or do they think they can beat the Trail Blazers with their star ability?
No matter which idea he had, Terry Stotts wanted to send a weak greeting to the Pistons coaching staff: "Do you have the strength?"
"Is it because of the argument during the timeout? The Pistons' playing style changed drastically..."
Several assistant coaches were just as confused as him.
David Vanderpool suggested: "How about we switch to double-team defense in the second half?"
Terry Stotts nodded first, then quickly shook his head and said: "No, let's maintain the defensive strategy of the first half and let them take turns playing singles."
In the new season, the Pistons only lost a few games against strong teams and won against weak teams, which shows that they have indeed become a lot stronger than last season.
But compared to the Trail Blazers, their so-called strength is actually limited.
If it weren't for the fact that Wang Zelin's condition was not clearly declining before the game, leading to the opponent being caught off guard, the Trail Blazers would never have fallen behind by 3 points in the first quarter.
Since the opponent wants to compete for stars, let's fight. Terry Stotts is not afraid at all!
For the Pistons, if Billups doesn't explode, they will only have one star like Josh Smith.
On the other hand, for the Trail Blazers, Aldridge is a solid All-Star player and an absolute league star.
Wang Zelin's condition declined today and he couldn't play offensively, but he still performed well on the defensive end, so it can be regarded as 0.5.
That is to say, the Trail Blazers have 1.5 stars, and the team atmosphere is obviously better than the Pistons.
1.5 to 1, so what are you afraid of?
Just maintain the current defensive state and let them fight against each other.
However, it should not be said that when Aldridge releases a lot of ball rights and concentrates all his energy on the offense, the firepower is really leveraged!
In the first quarter, he scored 8 points on 4 of 6 shots. He continued his efforts in the second quarter, scoring 20 points on 9 of 11 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 28 points in the half.
If it weren't for the leading brother Josh Smith who single-handedly made the game faster and faster in the second quarter, fans would never have seen Aldridge at full strength.
In this game, Aldridge convinced many people and refreshed many people's views on him.
At least, that's what Tristos is like.
He was really blown away by Aldridge's firepower tonight.
During the halftime break, Terry Stotts praised highly: "LaMarcus, you still play like this in the second half! Today the team has all the ball rights, you can do whatever you want."
"Um!"
Aldridge replied excitedly.
So far in his career, Aldridge's highest score in a single game is still 42 points scored by the Trail Blazers against the Bulls on February 8, 2011.
Everyone doesn’t want to get good data!
The same goes for Aldridge.
But as Wang Zelin performed better and better and the ball became more concentrated, Aldridge thought he would never have a 50-point night again in his life.
But he didn't envy or complain about Wang Zelin, because he knew that as a team leader, Wang Zelin did better than him. Leading the team to the Western Conference Finals last year was the best proof.
However, it was a rare occasion when the goddess of luck stood on his side and gave him a great opportunity. If he did not seize it, he would be punished by God.