The Legend of the Hungry Wolf in Basketball

Chapter 138 [Break Through the Rookie Wall]

After Christmas, the Clippers will be thrown into a new battle.Thibodeau called on the players to go all out to fight and end the losing streak.

Their next opponent is the Dallas Mavericks.This season, they have lost to the Mavericks twice. In the away game against the Mavericks on December 12, they had a chance to win, but they were reversed because Josh Smith was injured and left the game.Thibodeau is confident of winning this time. The Mavericks' lineup is not impeccable, especially on the outside. Borderline.

The following schedule also has a little advantage for the Clippers. The regular season arrangement is that the Clippers have to play at least 3 games with each team in the West and two games with each team in the East ( One home game, one away game).52 games in the West and 30 games in the East, for a total of 82 games.

The specific teams to play three games with will depend on the results of the two teams' confrontation in the previous year. There are many games played between teams with similar strengths. A strong team in the playoffs only needs to play three games, and it needs to play 16 games against the Thunder, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, and Kings. These 16 games are easy to win.

After the start of the regular season, the training intensity of the Clippers has been very low. Thibodeau knows that physical strength is more important for rookies.Only when the physical strength is good can the state be guaranteed, and too much training will only have the opposite effect.During the three-game losing streak, people have already started hitting the "rookie wall".

Chalmers is the most obvious, his state is not bad, can't attack, can't defend, Thibodeau had to make him the third substitute, and give Barea more opportunities.This is the third season for Barea. He has more game experience than Chalmers and knows how to adjust himself on the court.

On the 28th, after completing the simple training in the morning, Thibodeau asked the players to gather and said loudly: "After two days of rest, are you feeling better? Rookies, I have already said that the NBA is a marathon, not a sprint. Know how to allocate physical energy reasonably. Many of you are just 20 years old, and you should still be in college. The intensity of the game here is three times higher than that in college. I know it is difficult for you. Physical and mental pressure. But today , I have to continue to put pressure on you. For the playoffs, you must break through the rookie wall. Your role model is here. Ye Feng is also 20 years old. They are all taller than him, but he ignored the wall last season and knew how to use his best advantage to play. When he was in the Grizzlies, he had no friends and no one to help, and he still won the Rookie of the Year with his strength! This is a living reality! As long as you show perseverance, you will definitely be rewarded! Believe that we will make it to the playoffs, even if we fail, we will not get nothing. Trained a brave heart! Learned the way to win!"

Every guy hits the rookie wall, the question is how quickly you get out of it.

Chalmers has recently begun to feel unconfident.After playing, he didn't know what to do. He passed the ball and waited for an opportunity on the outside, but he still couldn't shoot correctly.Although his playing time was short, he still felt very tired, no matter how much he rested, he had no strength.

McGee also felt that he was in a quagmire, lagging behind Love and Gortat in playing time, and he really didn't play as well as those two.

Some people believe in the rookie wall, others don't.Generally speaking, thin-bodied technical rookies are more likely to encounter the rookie wall, and their bodies cannot withstand the high-density and high-intensity confrontation of the NBA. When the opponent understands his offensive methods and defensive habits, his state will be innumerable for a certain period of time, and his data will drop. .Love's current rookie ranking is second only to the Heat's OJ. Mayo, ranking second.He obviously does not belong to the technical stream, his strong body can adapt to the tough competition environment, and his tenacity is surprising.

After Thibodeau finished mobilizing, Love raised his hand.

Thibodeau asked: "Kevin, what do you want to say?"

Love said loudly: "Coach, I hope to get more chances to shoot back passes after the pick-and-roll. Recently, I feel very good. My mid-range shots can guarantee a [-]% hit rate. I have broken through the rookie wall!"

"Coach, I think I'm also very accurate." Dorrell Wright also raised his hand and said.

Thibodeau smiled and said: "Dorell, forget it, when can you practice the defense better. Kevin, if Ye is strictly guarded, you go to the high position to cover, the defender is responsible for the breakthrough, and returns the ball to the high position after the misplacement. You vote boldly."

Love is very satisfied with the coach's arrangement, and he is becoming more and more confident now.Even though he was born in September 88, his age is a few months younger than Ye Feng.

People will always influence each other.Thibodeau is an iron-blooded man. The two assistant coaches Tim Hardaway and Rick Mahon were well-known tough guys in the league back then.There is also Dikembe Mutombo, a real ancient creature, a living fossil of the NBA. He is also very tough. The iron elbow is a great weapon in the NBA. Almost all stars have been blocked by him and shaken by him.

An ethos has developed within the Clippers that they have thrown the word "humble" aside.The Clippers don't need to be humble. If anyone thinks he can do it and speak out boldly, no one will blame him.

As Ma Hong's apprentice, Love is much tougher than at the beginning of the game. He still has some fat on his body, but his heart has become tougher.Every night, he will fight with the strongest player on the inside, and he has made a lot of progress on the defensive end. As long as he doesn't run into someone with fast speed, he can guard the inside.

Under Ma Hong's teaching, Le Fu learned to talk trash, and he was very imposing at first, and it was even a little funny with his white and fat body.In the end, Ma Hong thought of another way and taught him the "sonic skill".Don't talk trash, if the other party turns around and gets rid of it with speed, just yell.Those who are not mentally qualified will definitely take the next jump, and take this opportunity to seize a favorable position again.

Ma Hong taught him all kinds of small tricks. He should smile when he is fouled. If the opponent is irritated, he should hide if he is a blue-collar player and be innocent.It was the core of the opponent's inside line who provoked, and both of them were sent off when they got into trouble, which must be more beneficial to the Clippers.Few of Mahon's tricks are normal.But learning these things and using them is a shortcut for Love to quickly gain a foothold in the NBA, otherwise he is too easy to become a defensive loophole.Smart people always know what their weaknesses are.

Thibodeau looked at Barea again and said, "Jose, when you were in the Mavericks, you rarely had playing time. This time I want you to bring a substitute to grab points. Can you do it? You have done a good job recently."

Barea said sternly: "Yes, I did well during the Mavericks training. No one can keep up with my speed except Terry. If Terry starts first, he will rest in the second quarter. I will definitely be able to." Play the second quarter and cover for me."

Barea finally replaced Chalmers and he liked the result.Thibodeau dared to boldly use new players, but he also failed to defend. Chalmers' breakthrough ability is much worse than that of Barea, and he can't use his height if he has nothing. Now he can only be a marginal player.
In the evening, the Clippers played against the Mavericks at home. It was much easier than expected. They won 94 to 79. The Mavericks were so bad because their core player Dirk Nowitzki was out with a thigh muscle strain until the game started. Just announced the news, without Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks let James Singleton become the starting power forward.

The Clippers had the upper hand. Ye Feng brutally abused Josh Howard and Jason Terry. In order to defend Ye Feng, Mavericks blue-collar Diop and Antoine Wright all got a lot of playing time.But while restricting Ye Feng, their own offense was also wasted.With Diop and Dampier on the court together, the Mavericks' interior offense is just for show.

Ye Feng scored 36 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Facing the Mavericks insiders who lack scoring ability, Love ushered in a personal season explosion, scoring 21 points and grabbing 24 rebounds.
In his rookie season, he had a terrifying stat of 20+20. Love became famous in the first battle, and was called a dominant performance. The limelight even overshadowed Ye Feng.His rebounding is so good, it's a frightening ability, control the rebound, you can control the game.

In fact, Love is really a brush. He seldom defends out of the penalty area this season. He only cares about the opponent's low post. If the opponent lacks mid-range shooting ability, such as Dampier and Diop, then he has more reason to stand under the basket and get stuck at any time. Grab rebounds, assist in defense, and make up defenses are completely handed over to teammates.

If Love has been playing with the Clippers, according to the tactics arranged by Thibodeau, when Love retires, the historical rebounding record may be his.In his rookie season alone, he received a lot of praise, and fans felt that Love was more suitable to be the second head of the Clippers than Smith.People are so realistic, the Clippers have a winning percentage of more than half, and Love's statistics are good, so the evaluation is high. There are far fewer people who say he is a brush than Ye Feng in his previous life.There are even fans who say with certainty that Love's defense is very strong and he is the best defensively among rookies this year.The Clippers' overall defense this season is good and they have conceded few points, and the credit is also credited to him.

Love is a typical tactical beneficiary, but what the Clippers need is someone like him, who needs his rebounds, needs his pick-and-rolls, and needs him to grab the rebound and launch a fast break with a pass.Without him, it would be difficult for the Clippers to achieve such a good record. They relied on this pass to quickly counterattack and dragged down many experienced veteran teams. The role of experience will be greatly reduced when veterans face fast break teams.

Another insider, Gortat, has also been well received. He has a tough style of play and an active defense. He can often take the ball in high positions to break through and contribute dunks.He averaged 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The data is not obvious, but it boosts morale. The nickname of "Polish Hammer" also began to sound.

On the 31st, the Clippers won another away game against the Kings, which has the lowest record in the league, and achieved two consecutive victories, with a total record of 16 wins and 13 losses, still maintaining more than half of the winning percentage.

The most difficult days are about to pass. Josh Smith's ankle is recovering well, and he has started shooting practice. He will be able to return in a week at most, and the Clippers will be stronger by then.

(End of this chapter)