The two teams battled to a score of 27:23 in the first quarter, with the Kings temporarily trailing by 4 points at home.
"Teacher Xu, judging from the current situation, DeMarcus Cousins' strength is really beyond everyone's imagination. Although the king has the upper hand, it is limited after all."
Wang Meng said.
"Yes!" Xu Jicheng nodded, "I haven't seen such a quality inside matchup for a long time."
Trail Blazers bench.
Lillard asked: "Wang, I haven't seen you so excited for a long time. Is DeMarcus really that strong?"
After he finished speaking, his teammates all looked at Wang Zelin.
This season, even when facing Howard, everyone can feel Wang Zelin's confidence and calmness. But today, in the matchup with Cousins, they found that Wang Zelin was as excited as if he had been on stimulants.
"Haha!" Wang Zelin laughed, looked at the Kings bench, and said seriously: "DeMarcus is a good opponent!"
"Can he be better than Howard?"
Garnett on the side didn't believe it.
When he was in the Eastern Conference and with the Celtics, he often faced off against Howard, who was at the top of the Magic era. The pressure the latter put on him reminded him of the great Shaquille O'Neal.
Of course, Howard can't compare to O'Neal on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, the pressure the latter brought to him was the first time in his career.
"Well..." Wang Zelin pondered for a while, "How should I put it? They are not the same type of players. At least it is impossible for Dwight to chop me on the head in a 1VS1 matchup in just one quarter.
Next 10 minutes..."
He added: "I have never seen Dwight at his peak during the Magic period, but I can confirm that the feeling DeMarcus brings to me now is on the same level as Dwight."
In fact, he also felt that what he said was correct. Cousins already has All-Star strength, and in the second game with the Mosaic team not long ago, he found that Howard's strength rating had dropped to 89. He said that Cousins now
He's the same level of player as Howard, he's just telling the truth.
After receiving Wang Zelin's recognition, everyone realized for the first time how powerful Cousins was, and then they became even more confused:
Judging from the strength on paper, the Kings currently have three players on the roster, Cousins, Rudy Gay, and Thomas, who have scored more than 20 points. Their offensive firepower exceeds that of most teams in the league. Although the substitutes are a bit bad, as long as
There is still hope for working hard and hitting the playoffs...
As a result, they are at the bottom of the Western Conference. Why is this?
Soon, they knew the reason.
"Bah bang bang!"
Coach Terry patted the tactical board. After seeing everyone paying attention, he coughed twice and said decisively: "Even if DeMarcus is as strong as Wang said, as long as we play well and perform at a normal level, it is impossible for the Kings to
They are our opponents!"
"Coach, don't you need to worry about Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas?"
Yi Jianlian asked everyone's doubts.
"The reason is very simple." Coach Terry raised his index finger. "First, the Kings lack an outstanding leader. Whether it is Cousins, Gay or Thomas, none of the three of them obeys the other, except for individual singles on the court.
,effective collaboration rarely occurs;”
"Second, since the last time the Kings entered the playoffs in 2006, they have changed seven head coaches in the next eight years..."
As soon as these words came out, Wang Zelin and others immediately exclaimed.
What the hell?
There have been seven head coaches in eight years, how can the team keep up?
"Haha," Coach Terry smiled after seeing everyone's reaction, "It's just what you think. Every coach has his own coaching philosophy. Changing coaches so frequently is undoubtedly a challenge for the King.
Bringing it back from scratch, how can the Kings talk about the team system?"
"What about the third point!"
Beverly stood up and asked.
Coach Terry gave him an approving look that said, "Boys are teachable!", which made Xiao Mo feel envious.
"The third and final point is that the Kings' lineup is extremely fluid. Role players are replaced almost every season, which means poor stability. And the poor stability of a team's lineup not only reflects the high-level operations of the team
Problems existing in this aspect will also greatly affect the combat effectiveness of the team's current lineup."
"Now, please tell me loudly, do you have anything else to worry about?"
Coach Terry raised his tactical board heavily and shouted loudly.
"No more, sir!"
The pioneer generals replied together.
"OK! Get ready to go out and kill those sons of bitches!"
After giving the order, the generals looked at the Kings players with eyes full of bloodlust and aggression.
In the second quarter, the Trail Blazers rotated on the bench first, while the Kings rotated on half the main team and half on the bench.
Cousins played the first 7 minutes of the second quarter, but Garnett fell behind in his matchup, which made people sigh.
After all, boxing is afraid of young people!
At the end of the half, Cousins scored 7 points and 4 rebounds, and also sent 1 block and 1 steal. He led the substitutes 39:31 and temporarily led by 8 points.
After that, coach Terry replaced Wang Zelin and Lillard to lead the substitutes to chase points. At this time, Cousins had already taken a rest, which happened to be offset from Wang Zelin's playing time.
At 44:46, at halftime, the Trail Blazers trailed by two points on the road, but the Kings pulled back one quarter at home.
In the live broadcast of the Imperial TV station, Wang Meng had a strange look on his face: "Hey, do you think the opponent did it intentionally or on purpose? Cousins' playing time happened to be staggered with that of King Wang. Judging from the current data, he may have slightly exceeded it.
King."
"Maybe this is the head coach's strategy. Don't tell me, the Kings are still ahead temporarily." Xu Jicheng said with a smile.
"Teacher Xu, it seems that you are not worried about the king losing at all." Wang Meng said.
"Where are you? Xiao Wang, I'm not talking about you. The pattern and vision need to be bigger. The Trail Blazers are only 2 points behind. In the second half, when coach Terry Stotts replaces all the main players, will the Kings be able to withstand it?
Say something else!"
Wang Meng quickly replied with a smile: "Yes, yes, I really need to learn more from you."
Back from halftime, the game begins, and both sides return to their first-quarter lineups.
The king attacks first.
Cousins caught the ball in the low post and beat Wang Zelin in front of the frame.
"Wang, I already have 17 points, you only have 15 points, hehe..."
When he thought that he had scored more points than Wang Zelin, he smiled triumphantly.
"Stop looking like you're a villain, there's no telling who will win and who will lose!"
Who can bear this? Wang Zelin came out to challenge, then stretched out his hand and tried to steal it.
"Hey," Cousins quickly hid, "I can't stop it, I can't make money..."
"..."
Are you a primary school student?
If so, please stop your childish behavior!
"DeMarcus, stop playing and pay attention to the time!"
On the sidelines, Mike Malone reminded with a black line on his head.
Then, Cousins put away his smiling face, looked serious, and took a step forward with his left foot. Seeing that Wang Zelin's tattoo didn't move, he suddenly raised his hand and voted.
Are you so confident?
Wang Zelin was quite surprised.
According to relevant statistics, Cousins' shooting distance this season has basically remained within 7.9 feet, with the highest shooting percentage at the basket, reaching 67.5%.
Among the remaining close-range two-pointers, mid-range two-pointers and long-range two-pointers, the long-range two-pointer has the highest hit rate at 42.3%. On the contrary, it is the close-range two-pointer that shoots the most among the three shots, with a hit rate of only
38.9%, and he hit more than 5 times in every game.
What is this concept?
Take Aldridge, who is on the same team as Wang Zelin, for example. His career two-point shooting percentage from close range was as low as 39.7% in one season. In the other six seasons, his shooting percentage has never been below 44%.
The points and long-distance points also remain above 40% all year round.
The key is that Aldridge's mid-range shooting is already good enough, but he still doesn't take as many shots as Cousins, basically more than 5 times. He only takes about 3 to 4 shots in a game.
Therefore, Cousins' choice is very irrational in Wang Zelin's view. To put it bluntly, he is "both good and fun-loving!"
Sure enough, after reacting, he quickly intervened. Faced with a sudden yellow palm, Cousins hurriedly adjusted his hand shape, but with this adjustment, his entire movement had a weird tearing feeling and seemed unsmooth.
.
Seeing this, Wang Zelin knew that Cousins had hit the ball hard, and immediately turned around and rushed to the basket after landing.
"Rebound!"
Cousins also reacted quickly. He shouted to his teammates and hurriedly followed.
At this time, Aldridge blocked Jason Thompson, allowing Wang Zelin to easily pick off the rebound.
Just when Kings head coach Mike Malone wanted his players to quickly return to defense, Wang Zelin had already waved his hand and the ball was thrown away.
"Oops!"
Little Thomas waved his Scud and returned to defense in time.
But Lillard and Batum are not slow either, forming a 2-on-1 situation in the frontcourt.
In the end, Batum assisted Lillard and made an alley-oop one-arm dunk.