The Legend of the Hungry Wolf in Basketball

Chapter 224 [Running Showdown]

Doing things according to David Stern's will means being hyped and praised.

The schedule is very favorable for the Clippers, with the Phoenix Suns at home on the 31st, the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on November 11st, the Dallas Mavericks at home on November 1rd, the Golden State Warriors away on November 11th, and back home on the 3th , back-to-back opponents are the Memphis Grizzlies.

Among them, the Suns and Mavericks are the teams that have a chance to hit the playoffs, separated by an easy-to-handle Timberwolves, and after the game on the 3rd, they can rest for 3 days before playing the Warriors away.With such an arrangement, if you don't pay attention, you won't see any problems, but if you observe carefully, you will find that as long as you win the first two rounds, it is equivalent to booking a 7-game winning streak.The following teams can't cause any trouble for the Clippers.

As soon as the regular season schedule was announced, Ye Feng, Thibodeau, and Ariel analyzed it to predict the winning rate.The Clippers' schedule this year is fairly stable. Unlike last season, when they often played back-to-back strong teams, some strong teams will experience a "back-to-back" when they play them again.

Such an arrangement was actually secretly helped by the Alliance.Stern has this ability. Last season, the teams with favorable schedules were the Lakers and Cavaliers.The three came to a conclusion that the Clippers had entered Stern's eyes, and Stern hoped that they would play a good record and enter the playoffs, gain home court advantage and go straight to the championship.

The NBA is a sports league, and it is a league that entertains the public. The audience is the bread and butter of this league. Therefore, no matter how you think about it, you can understand the importance of ratings to the league. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why some weak teams and Strong teams in the same district play only three games a season.Stern is even more disgusted with rigid, conservative, rigid, defensive, starless, marketless, and hopeless teams.For example, the Spurs and Pistons, the freezing ratings of the 2005 Finals made the league unbearable, and began to do everything possible to limit the boring defensive villains such as the Spurs and Pistons.

The ratings of the Clippers have been on the rise. There are many dunkers and new stars in the team. This season, veteran Kidd has been added. They have become the team most wanted by the audience, and they have more market than the Lakers.In China, the Clippers games are broadcast as frequently as the Rockets, surpassing the Nets, which can explain everything.

The game against the Suns is broadcast live across the United States. The Clippers have become the well-deserved TV darling this season with 31 live broadcasts. The No. 2 Celtics have 29 games, and the Cavaliers have 25 games, beating the Lakers' 24 games.On the live broadcast of the show, problems have also been shown, the Clippers are too popular.

The game against the Suns is particularly interesting because of their scoring ability, which will be a super scoring battle.The Clippers scored 134 points and 118 points in two games respectively, with an average of 126 points per game in offensive power leading the league.Ranked second is the Suns. They scored 116 points and 123 points in two games respectively, defeating the Thunder and the Nets.

Last season, the Suns introduced O'Neal, put Terry Porter, who advocated defense, in office, and began a painful transformation from offense to defense. As a result, the Suns became completely different.After the All-Star break, general manager Steve Kerr announced that Terry Porter had been fired, and assistant coach Alvin Gentry was transferred to head coach.

Since then, the Suns were liberated by Gentry and scored 140+ points in three consecutive games, setting an NBA record.However, due to the poor record led by Terry Porter and the fierce competition in the Western Conference, Gentry could not change the consequences of being out of the regular season.

Now that O'Neal has gone to the Cavaliers, the Suns have resumed the run-and-gun tactics, and Nash can play to his full strength.If the two teams use bombardment to attack each other, it must be extremely exciting.

In the traditional voting that NBA general managers participated in a year ago, many people would vote for the "Pacific Division Champion" for the Suns.But this year, they were forgotten for the first time, and not many people were optimistic about them making the playoffs.Ye Feng knows this is wrong, don't underestimate the sun!
The loss of Porter and Shaquille O'Neal is not a heavy blow to the Suns, the former never really affected this team, and the latter never really integrated into the team.Similarly, the Suns biggest gain this summer is not Channing Frye, Earl Clark or Taylor Griffin, but a sense of relief.Without O'Neal, the Suns no longer have to bear the false name of a "strong team" with a big inside killer. In the first full season led by Kim Terry, they have enough time to try a more suitable style of play.

That joy is why nine Suns returned to US Airways Center for informal practice back in August, and why they can go bowling like brothers when they leave the field.This is also the reason why the 9-year-old veteran Nash often smiles recently. One month after O'Neal was traded to the Cavaliers, Nash renewed his contract with the Suns for two years. He believes that the Suns still have a future.

Nash accepted an interview before the game. He was not worried about playing against the Clippers, even though Ye Feng once broke the record at home with the Suns.

Nash smiled: "Are you asking me if I am happy? Yes. Our future will be better, at least better than last season. It is difficult for a team that does not position itself to establish a good chemical reaction. Last season we It is such an elusive team. Now we clearly know our strengths and weaknesses, and know how to achieve our goals. More importantly, we have begun to trust each other. We were confused by the change of tactical style last season. Dizzy, not to mention the game, even in training we can't find the feeling of ease. This season, we have a strong desire, the right attitude and the attention to ignore the gossip. What we need now is clarity Tactical thinking. I believe that the team management does not reject fast-paced games, and fans also like more entertaining basketball."

Oddly enough, the Sun's current situation is so similar to early fall 2004.Nash defected from Dallas that year. Many people predicted that he had entered the twilight of his career. After winning two regular season MVP titles in a row, he is facing the same doubt today.

If history can be replicated, it is not difficult for the Suns to find solace from reincarnation, but they also have to face up to some facts: Nash is indeed a few years older, and Stoudemire was clamoring for a transfer not long ago.Sending away O'Neal is equivalent to a complete negation of the Suns' tactics last season. The exchange for Ben Wallace and Pavlovich are unusable players. Kerr's sending these two players away one after another also indicates that he will Prepare for the future with both hands.Stoudemire, Grant Hill, and Jason Richardson are all due to expire in two years without player options in their contracts, freeing up about $4000 million in salary space.With this money, the Suns can rely on the original team to give it a go in the last two seasons, and then completely overthrow and rebuild.

When people were all looking at the transfer market in 2010, Cole was taking a slant, aiming at the summer of 2011, even though there were no big names at that time.It's obvious he's an idiot...

That night, the fans poured into the arena early, even the appearance ceremony and warm-up of both sides were unwilling to let go.

Thibodeau knows exactly what people want to see.Nash vs. Kidd, Ye Feng vs. Stoudemire, they want to see the score and the offense.The Clippers' defense is better than that of the Suns. If you choose to play on the ground, control the rhythm and play slowly with the Suns, you will definitely win, but the game will not be very good.

Both Ye Feng and Ariel suggested to fight the sun before.Even if it is possible to score high points against the Suns in this way, it doesn't matter. Using fast breaks to solve the Suns will attract more fans and attract more attention.

The rest of the three are still Hayes, Wright, Mutombo.

McGee has improved a lot this season. Compared with Hayes, who has no offensive ability and is only 198cm tall, Thibodeau will definitely use McGee and Gortat more. Ye Feng and Smith can play the 4th position, and the number of insiders has reached 5. people.

Even if Hayes is on the roster, it is difficult to get a chance to play. In the Clippers, he is already the most marginal person.Height is very important for low-post defense. Hayes can succeed in the league not because of his invincible defense, but because today's inside players have too few offensive methods. Not only the fifth position, but also the number 4. There are only a handful of people who are good at low-post offense , almost all blue-collar workers.The big man can't shoot, making up for Hayes' lack of height.

As long as this group of blue-collar players stay away from the basket, they can't score. Of course, Hayes can easily prevent them.But while locking the opponent's offense, Hayes himself can't score many points, it can only be regarded as a mutual explosion.His career-best season averaged less than 10 points per game.

In Ye Feng's previous life, Hayes joined the Kings, got a middle class job, got injured every few games he played, and then sat on the bench, completely reduced to a marginal man.It is difficult to make a name for yourself by only defending.

Hayes accepted the arrangement and would play hard when he was needed.In normal training, he worked hard in the team to make mid-range shots.However, as a floor player, it is easier to be blocked, and the shooting is not particularly strong after practice. 198CM must be able to shoot backwards and break through to become a good offensive player. Hayes is unlikely to be trained in this life. Unless he was also struck by lightning and was reborn to travel through something...

Thibodeau put Curry in the starting lineup, facing dunk king Jason Richardson, Kidd facing Nash, and Anthony Morrow at small forward, the team's second-accurate three-point shooter.Power forward Ye Feng starts the main attack, and center Love.

This is the purest offensive lineup. Thibodeau said: "In this game, you have to show all your offensive power, defensively man-to-man, pass to Ye on the offensive end, and let him play singles. If the Suns help defend, pass the ball Take the outside shot. Last year we played a good game this way, don't hold back today."

Thibodeau is not worried about losing, and the Suns' bench is still weaker than the Clippers.Even if they are slightly behind in the first quarter, they can still take over the game when Barea, Thornton, and Smith play in the second half.Now the team can put together two lineups, the role players are strong, and Thibodeau's employment is becoming more and more casual.In the past, he tried his best to win the game, but now he wants to enjoy the game.

(End of this chapter)