Sam Amick's voice was not taken seriously because the Knicks were so hot that no one wanted to question it.
Even if everyone knows that the Knicks lack a qualified sixth man, no one would think that this is a far-reaching problem for the Knicks.
Lionel Hollins' theory applies here: no team is perfect, so it's acceptable that the Knicks have some problems that are difficult to solve.
After all, a qualified sixth man is not so easy to get.
Time has entered 2009, and the results of the first phase of the All-Star voting have been released.
"All-Star voting, the first stage, Lin, you got 2.11 million votes, first in the league."
Early in the morning, Amanda Gray, who appeared at Lin Yu's house, told Lin Yu the news.
Lin Yu is not surprised. Since last season, as long as there is a competition for popularity, he has been the No. 1 player in the league without any rivals. After all, he has many bonuses.
The most important ones are the three bonuses, the bonus of Chinese nationality, the bonus of the big city of New York, and the personal ability that ranks first in the league.
Basically, he is the only one in the entire NBA who can achieve these three things at the same time.
For example, Kobe can only achieve the latter two at most. Los Angeles' bonuses and personal abilities are the best in the league.
For example, Dayao can achieve the bonus of Chinese nationality, plus at most the bonus of Houston, which is not a small ball market. However, Dayao is much worse in terms of personal ability.
For example, LeBron James can only achieve one personal ability that leads the league. He does not have Chinese nationality and does not have a big city...
However, what surprised Lin Yu was that the second-place vote in the first stage was not any of the above three people, but... Dwight Howard.
"Orlando is a small ball market, I don't have Chinese nationality, and my personal ability... is basically at the peak, well, it's probably the best in the league."
To sum up, Howard, like James, is an American from a small ball market. His personal abilities are the best in the league, and he became the second pick in the first stage of the All-Star voting.
This involves another factor, entertainment.
I have to say that Howard is so entertaining. Last year's slam dunk contest made him gain countless fans. On and off the court, he is like another Shaquille O'Neal, a super center, extremely entertaining, a happy beast...
…
"In the first stage, you and Kobe were ranked first in the East and West, followed by Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and after that, Tim Duncan and Yao."
Lin Yu frowned, Dayao was only ranked seventh in the league, which was obviously not normal.
But soon, Amanda Gray handed over the first-stage voting rankings to Lin Yu. Lin Yu saw the complete rankings and understood the reason.
"The United Arab Emirates is actually ranked third among forwards in the Eastern Conference?"
He immediately understood that Dayao's votes were few because his votes were divided by the Arab League.
As for the UAE being ranked so high, one thing is certain, that is, this season, the league is included in the All-Star voting for the Chinese region.
If it were not taken into account, it would be impossible for the UAE to rank so high.
Shaking his head, Lin Yu also felt a little emotional. The domestic fans were so awesome. On the one hand, they voted for him as the top vote-getter. On the other hand, they ensured Yao Yao's position as the starting center in the Western Conference. Finally, the Arab League also had the opportunity to go.
Competing for a starting forward position.
However, I have to say that the competition is still too difficult.
LeBron James is undoubtedly the number one forward in the Eastern Conference. Therefore, what the UAE can compete for is the second forward position. At this position, he has two competitors, one is Paul Pierce and the other is Lin.
Yu's teammate Zach Randolph.
Compared with these two well-deserved star players, the only thing the United Arab Emirates can rely on is the group of domestic fans. The outcome is only between the two.
But now, he is still behind Pierce and only ranked third among the forwards.
If the United Arab Emirates cannot enter the top two forward positions, no matter how many All-Star votes it gets, it will be difficult for the UAE to enter the All-Star Game.
Because in order to prevent fake stars like UAE from entering the main game, the league has formulated a rule for the head coach to select substitute players for the main game.
In other words, unless the head coach of the top team in the Eastern Conference selects the United Arab Emirates as a substitute, the United Arab Emirates will never truly enter the main game.
Lin Yu also knew that in the following seasons, in order to prevent fake stars like Arab League from actually breaking into the top two and locking in the starting lineup, the league introduced another rule, the All-Star Candidate List Rule.
Before each season, an All-Star candidate list is drawn through media voting. Each team only has a few fixed players who can be selected for this list, which can be regarded as completely eradicating the hidden danger of the UAE entering the All-Star game.
Regarding the mindless voting of domestic fans and the NBA league's response, Lin Yu doesn't know who is right and who is wrong. He can only say that they each made their own choices from their own perspectives.
When talking about Zach Randolph, we must mention the improvement that Chinese players have made to their teammates.
So far this season, in more than two months of regular season, Zach Randolph has averaged 20.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.9 blocks per game. His playing time is the highest among the Knicks, averaging 37.8 minutes per game.
With this kind of statistical performance, coupled with the league's first record, Randolph deserves a spot in the All-Star Game no matter where he is placed.
And his current votes rank fourth among forwards in the Eastern Conference, second only to James, Pierce and the United Arab Emirates.
Even if he fails to enter the top two, the head coach of the All-Star Game will definitely choose him.
It seems that Randolph is about to usher in his first career All-Star trip.
The Knicks' All-Star Game will basically consist of Lin Yu and Zach Randolph.
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Lin Yu became the top vote-getter in the first stage of the All-Star voting, and naturally dominated the front pages of major media.
The voice of the media is basically the same, that is: Lin Yu deserves the honor.
"In the more than two months since the start of the game, Lin Yu has won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in November and December, and was elected the Player of the Week five times. He ranks first in the league in points per game, and all data exceeds the league average.
The team's record is also No. 1 in the league, and he is well-deserved to win the All-Star vote crown!"
Such publicity made Lin Yu deeply moved.
He recalled the battle for the top vote in the previous two seasons. At that time, he was still questioned. Some people always thought that he was not worthy of the honor of the top vote.
But now, he is quite recognized.
Looking at these reports, in January 2009, in the Knicks' first game, Lin Yu scored 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, leading the team to defeat the Pacers.
Last year's winning streak has continued into the new year.
However, after winning this game, they will immediately face a crucial battle.
On January 4, the Knicks met the Celtics again after the Christmas Day game.
This time we meet again, the mentality of the two teams is completely different.
The Celtics are eager for revenge and eager to prove themselves again.
The Knicks are completely different. At this moment, they have made rapid progress in the regular season. They defeated the Celtics last time, so they have neglected this Celtics.
Then, when the game started, they were almost shocked into a cold sweat by the Celtics.
Just like the previous match between the two teams, Lin Yu switched to guarding Ragnarok Rondo. As a result, something happened with this switch.
It wasn't Rondo who broke out, but Pierce who broke out. In the opening game, Pierce withstood Wilson Chandler's defense and succeeded in consecutive singles.
After he scored seven points in a row, the Knicks took notice.
Hollins replaced James Posey and conducted targeted defense, which achieved results.
But Pierce began to lead his teammates instead, and he was led by none other than Ray Allen, who had been disappointing since joining the Celtics.
Pierce began to attract the Knicks' zone defense, and then distributed the ball to Junzi Lei.
Junzi Lei seized two quasi-open opportunities and hit three-pointers.
Then, he made a throw.
In this way, the game became Lin Yu, who was in good condition, versus Pierce and Gary Allen.
Randolph's performance was average because he needed to screen and roll Lin Yu at the top of the arc, which made it difficult to perform.
The game has become very difficult, at least, that's how Lin Yu feels.
At halftime, they were even 9 points behind the Celtics. They were only 1 point behind, and the deficit reached double digits.
"We can't continue like this, we have to win this game!"
At midfield, Lin Yu stood in the center of the locker room and roared.
Then, in the second half, the Knicks changed their style of play.
Lin Yu chose to switch defenses, handing over Rondo to Lowry and Mario Chalmers, who were not bad defenders, and handing over Ray Allen to Wilson Chandler and James Posey.
And he himself directly defended himself in front of Pierce.
Then, Dpoy-level defensive ability was immediately reflected——
"At the beginning of the second half, Paul Pierce missed two consecutive mid-range shots. All of this came from Lin Yu, who started to work hard on the defensive end!"
Pierce hit two consecutive shots, Rondo couldn't get out of the Knicks' zone defense, and the Celtics' offense suddenly stalled again.
As a result, the Celtics, whose morale was high in the first half, languished in the second half and were beaten 11:4 by the Knicks. The score gap was immediately reduced to 2 points.
And the last two points did not last long and were quickly wiped out.
At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks completed the lead and expanded their lead in the following fourth quarter.
In the end, the game ended and the Knicks defeated the Celtics again.
"Double beat the Celtics this season. This time the Knicks struggled a bit, but the final result satisfied them. Although they lost to the Lakers once, at least the Knicks are unbeatable in the Eastern Conference and can't find an opponent for the time being.
."
As of this game, the Knicks' three losses have all come from the Western Conference.
In the East, we played against the Cavaliers once and the Celtics twice, and both ended in wins.
This performance can at least temporarily prove that the Knicks are invincible in the Eastern Conference.
After beating the Celtics, the Knicks immediately began a road trip in the Western Conference.
Before setting foot in the Western Conference, Lin Yu received a notice that he needed to decide which games other than the main game he would participate in during this season's All-Star Weekend.
"What do you think, Amanda?"
Amanda Gray glanced at Lin Yu and shook her head: "I am only responsible for your business, Lin."
"Okay, David, tell me."
Lin Yu turned to look at David Alexander, who spread his hands and said, "Lin, you should make your own decision on this kind of thing."
Lin Yu smiled. He was just asking. In fact, he already had an idea, but he still had a little hesitation.
This season will be a season where he reaps all the honors. He has to ensure that the regular season MVP belongs to him and compete for the best defensive player. In addition, the most important thing is this season's All-Star Weekend.
He wants to ensure that he gets the MVP of the main game. He has the help of Lionel Hollins, who is almost certain to be the head coach of the main game, so there should be no surprises.
In addition, there are several major single player events.
Shooting stars don't get much attention, but Lin Yu is the absolute king in the three-point contest.
Because at the All-Star Weekend the year before last, he set two records in succession. First, he broke the record in the preliminaries, and then in the finals, he raised the record to the point where he was only one goal away from the perfect score.
It can be said that in a short period of time, no one can compare with Lin Yu in the three-point contest.
Naturally, he would not choose to participate in such a lonely competition.
Calculating this way, there are only two competitions he will participate in, the skills competition and the dunk contest.
As long as Lin Yu registers for the skills competition, he will definitely be selected.
But he is not confident enough to win the skills competition. After all, in terms of skills, he is not particularly good.
Lin Yu's ball control and passing came from Jeremy Lin, and there is a huge gap between him and the real master of skills. His advantage is his shooting, which can be regarded as leading the league.
Therefore, in the skills competition, he can only have a chance to win, but the chance is not great.
Lin Yu was also hesitating whether to participate or not.
As for the dunk contest, he has already made a decision and will definitely participate. He is determined to win the honor of the dunk king.
Hesitant Lin Yu had not yet made a decision, but first received a call from Steve Mills.
The subject of the call, about the Shooting Stars Contest.
"Lin, it's like this. The league requires that the Knicks need to form a team to participate in this season's All-Star Weekend Shooting Star Competition. I contacted Downey and I think that if you represent the team in the competition, you should be the best.
Good choice."
There are not many teams and players who are interested in the Shooting Star Competition.
Therefore, every year, the league uses an assignment method to determine the participating teams.
This year, David Stern seems to have some special ideas. He assigned the Knicks and Lakers, plus the home Phoenix Suns and the defending champion Spurs.
The purpose of assigning the Knicks and Lakers is self-evident.
"So, Steve, you're saying that David Stern wants to see a 23 vs 24 game on the Shooting Stars?"
"That's right, Lin, I think we should take the initiative to cooperate with the alliance..."
Lin Yu understood what Steve Mills meant. He took the initiative to cooperate with the alliance and was David Stern's good boy. He didn't want to be Stern's good boy, but he didn't seem to have any reason to go against Stern.
So, he chose to agree: "Okay, Steve, then go ahead and participate. It's just your teammates' choice..."
"Do teammates still need to choose? Alan can just go directly."
Alan is naturally Alan Houston. Lin Yu is still very satisfied with this teammate. After all, what the mid-range shooting king is best at is shooting.
"Where's the women's basketball team?"
"How about Jessica Davenport, the head of the New York Liberty?"
Lin Yu thought for a while and seemed to have no other choice: "Okay, just her."
Being forced to participate in the Shooting Star Contest made Lin Yu make up his mind: "Then let's do the Shooting Star, Skills Contest, and Slam Dunk Contest together, and strive for a Grand Slam in one year!"
