basketball pope

Chapter 716 [Four to five, publicized]

Last season, the Magic were out of the playoffs and seemed powerless to fight back. Howard was quite dissatisfied and bluntly said that "the team should reorganize the lineup."

"We have to learn from our failures. We have to find some players who will do everything to win and be willing to give their hearts to the team." Howard expressed his dissatisfaction with his teammates.

The results of it?The Magic's biggest signing was free agent Jason Richardson for four years and $4 million.

Richardson was a rookie in 2001. As the fifth pick in the first round, he has always been worthy of his worth. He has never scored less than 14.4 points in a single season in his career, and has also had a star performance of 23.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists in a single season. .

He averaged 19.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game with the Suns last season while shooting 47 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from 35-point range, and as a result, his contract was widely considered too cheap.It's just that when the contract expires, Richardson is already [-] years old, and there are some problems with the length of the contract.

In fact, signing Richardson is not only a problem with the age, but also a big pit.He's got good numbers in the Suns, and he didn't care about winning percentages last season.

After a few injuries, Richardson's athletic ability declined, and once the quality of those who played by the body declined, the effect would be greatly reduced.

In the Suns, there were Dragic and Evans who were good at breaking through. Richardson only needed to open the ball from the outside. The Magic team didn't have a breakthrough master to tear the defense. His shooting chances were poor. .

This season, Richardson averaged 30 minutes per game, only getting 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2 assists, shooting 40.8% from the field, 36.8% from three-point range, and 59.4% from the free throw line, averaging only 1.3 free throws per game.

Looking at the number of free throws, you can see what kind of game Richardson is. The Magic is a middle-class player who can only pull jumpers. He is even worse on defense.

Last week's Magic VS Celtics game took place in a very shocking scene.

The Magic lost to the Celtics 56-87 on the road. The team made only 65 of 16 shots, setting a record for the lowest scoring in a single game in team history and the lowest shooting percentage in team history, only 24.6%.This is also the record for the lowest shooting percentage of an NBA team in a single game since 2004. On November 11 of that year, the Trail Blazers lost to the Nets, and the team's shooting percentage was only 10% and 24.4 of 78 shots.

Magic lost very badly, why?Some people say it's four-on-five magic, but this is not a joke, it really happened...

The Celtics had a round positional attack. The Magic were present with "Q" Quentin Richardson, "Big Baby" Glen Davis, Nelson and "Warcraft" Howard, and there was one less person.

When the Celtics players took to the left bottom corner, Richardson, who was sitting in the audience, suddenly rushed into the court to steal and steal the ball, touching the ball over the bottom line. The fans were amused by this scene.

Richardson will definitely be able to compete for the top five MVPs this season. With this attitude and sense of humor, he can only guard against Korver.

The Clippers attacked, Paul and Chandler played a pick-and-roll in the middle, attracting Batum to switch and then pass it to Guy in the right bottom corner.

The weakness of the Magic's zone defense is too obvious. Howard is near the penalty area and two meters away from Gay. If his teammates are good at rotation, he can interfere with shots, but Batum dare not let Paul empty and stay in his own area honestly.

Guy made a three-pointer. Howard just stretched out his hand and turned around to grab a rebound. Guy made another shot without any interference. 8 to 2.

The opponent made two three-pointers in a row, and Hollins was anxious on the sidelines, shouting at the players, asking them to change to man-to-man in the next round.

Magic attack, Nelson and Anderson play a pick-and-roll in the middle, this time Griffin has a better sense of distance, neither let Nelson break through, after the ball, the middle also had time to interfere with Anderson's shot, forcing the opponent to pass the ball again.

Whether the Magic starts or comes off the bench, they don't have the ball to attack the core from the outside, which is the Achilles' heel.

It's hard to find stars who are good at ball-handling and attacking in the free market, otherwise the Magic wouldn't have risked trading for the famous cancer Arenas last season.It's a pity that "General" can't play anymore, he can only strike iron, but fortunately Lewis is also bad, so the transaction is not a loss.

Exhausted 24 seconds, Batum singled Gay, changed direction on the right and made an emergency stop jumper, which missed under the interference.

The two of the Magic rushed for offensive rebounds together again. Chandler blocked Howard and did not jump, so that Howard could not jump. Griffin retraced and stuck Anderson and grabbed the backcourt rebound.

The Clippers attacked, Chandler and Paul played a pick-and-roll in the middle, and Howard came out to switch defense.

Howard is capable of defending pick-and-rolls and cornering 60-pointers, but his defensive enthusiasm has declined this season after losing years in a row.The fiasco to the Celtics made him extremely frustrated. No matter how good the Magic's defense was, the offense couldn't score [-] points. How could he win?

The Defensive Player of the Year for three years in a row, Howard has unparalleled confidence on the defensive end, but on the offensive end, he knows his flaws, the Magic team he is the leading scorer, it is too sad.

If he wants to win the championship, there are only two ways in front of Howard. One is to trade the Magic for a super scorer on the outside, which is almost impossible; the other is that he leaves and joins a team with a super scorer.

The management also guessed that Howard wanted to leave, and the conflict between the two sides has been made public.

Paul traversed to find a little space, and passed it to Griffin who was cutting on the left side. The latter singled out Anderson on the receiving surface frame, forcibly broke into the basket and made a rebound shot. Under interference, Batum grabbed the rebound.

In the magic positional battle, Howard and Anderson both went out to cover, but they still failed to create an open space. Chandler was very active in switching guards, and Howard was no longer a threat when he left the penalty area.All Chandler wants to guard is Howard's empty cut, and he can't rush up when he gets stuck at any time.

After the pick-and-roll, Nelson made a pull-up jumper to avoid Paul's chase and block, and the ball bounced out of the frame again.

Griffin is a reliable rebounder. Today, Yang Rui's tactical core is defense and rebounding.

When the Clippers attacked, Paul did not look for cover. He waved to Chandler to let him go to the low post and involve Howard's defense. He directly singled out Nelson in the middle.

To break the man-to-man defense, the star one-on-one is the most concise way.Paul dribbled the ball under the crotch continuously, changed direction to the right and made a breakthrough, and made a jumper from the right horn.

Nelson was swayed halfway, jumped from the side and failed to cover, 10 to 2.

Paul is limited in height, and there are not many singles. If he is against a short player, he will also show his ability to attack.

Magic attacked, and there was no chance to shoot from the outside. After the screen, Nelson passed it to Howard who was cutting in the air. Chandler followed the top defense. Howard did not rush up. hand.

Howard's offense relies entirely on physical fitness, he turns quickly, and relies on his jumping force to press opponents to shoot. When encountering tall defensive players, this move is not very easy to use.

Chandler and Yao Ming's method of preventing the penalty area is very similar. He won't jump first, he just raises his hand to interfere. His prediction is better than Yao Ming's, and his bounce speed is faster. out.

Griffin scored another rebound in the backcourt and passed it to Paul to settle down.

Kenny Smith sheds light on Howard's offensive weaknesses. "His shot timing is easy to judge, and he rarely fakes in the penalty area because he can't shake opponents up to make fouls and doesn't like going to the free throw line."

Barkley said: "He still hasn't developed a stable mid-range shot this year. I don't think he will be the best center for a few years. Once his physical fitness declines, he will be finished."

(End of this chapter)