NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 76
As expected, what Wang Chao worried about happened.

On November 11, the Suns played against the Memphis Grizzlies at home, beating the Grizzlies 11:96 to win the fifth game of the season. Star power forward Paul Gasol made 87 of 5 shots and 14 of 10 free throws. He scored 8 points and 6 rebounds, leading the team to win the game.

紧跟着太阳队在主场继续迎战非常76人，斯塔德迈尔18投12中再砍28分13篮板，帮助太阳队106：94击败76人，拿下三连胜。

Stoudemire's real outbreak came from the away game against the Jazz on November 11.

In this game, Stoudemire broke out completely. He made 21 of 14 shots and 9 of 7 free throws. He scored 35 points and 15 rebounds in a large double-double, officially declaring the return of the bully who dominated the league back then!

The fans of the Suns rejoiced. When Stoudemire's hips were stretched in the previous few games, they were really worried whether Stoudemire could not return to his peak state due to injuries.

But the good performance in the last three games is finally reassuring.

Stoudemire's body has recovered very well. The main reason for his mediocre performance in the previous game was that he didn't adapt to the rhythm of the game. This is normal. After all, Stoudemire didn't play at all in more than a year last season. , Returning to the game will definitely take time to get back to the state.

With Stoudemire returning to normal levels, the Suns are truly in full shape.

This is definitely a good thing for the Suns, but not for Wang Chao.

Exactly as he had thought before, Stoudemire's recovery was accompanied by a surge in the number of shots.

From 15 times to 18 times and then to 21 times, Stoudemire's score is getting higher and higher, and the number of shots is getting higher and higher accordingly. Among them, the reduction of Wang Chao's number of shots is inevitable.

In the three games, Wang Chao averaged 12.4 shots per game and scored 18.6 points. Although it is not low, it is naturally a little worse for Wang Chao, who aims to score 20+ points per game in the regular season.

After these three games, Wang Chao's scoring average has dropped from the previous 21.8 points to 20.7 points.

If this continues, I am afraid that when the schedule enters December, his scoring average will drop below 12 points per game.

Wang Chao knows that going on like this is not an option, but the recovery of Stoudemire's state is something the whole team is happy to see, including head coach D'Antoni, who is more inclined to give Stoudemire more possessions .

After all, now is not the future in 2022. Although Wang Chao's performance outside the three-point line is very stable and impressive, but the general perception in this era is that scoring from the inside is more stable and efficient.

Especially in the playoffs, instead of looking forward to the player's touch outside the three-point line, the safer approach must be to give the ball to strong players inside to attack, so that it is more likely to win the championship.

Looking at the championship winners in the league in recent years, since the second Bulls dynasty created by Joe Gang, almost all the winning teams have top inside players, Duncan of the Spurs, O'Neal of the Lakers' three consecutive championships, including not long ago Although Wade was the FMVP of the Heat's championship, O'Neal's contribution at the center position cannot be ignored.

The only exception may be the Pistons in the 03-04 season. Although the Pistons do not have a strong center, they have Ben Wallace, the top defensive player in history.

And the drafts in recent years can also be seen that the team is optimistic about the inside.

Since the golden generation of Iverson was elected as the No. 96 pick in 97, the NBA No. 98 picks over the years have all been inside players without exception. Duncan in 99, Michael Olowokandi in 00, Brand in 01, and Brand in 02 Kenyon Martin, Kwame Brown in [-], Dayao in [-].

It wasn't until 03 that James, the Chosen One, broke the monopoly of inside players, but after James, the league's top picks in the next few years were also inside players, such as Howard, Bogut, Barryani, Oden...

The league's tradition of emphasizing insiders will continue, not only because they value insiders, but also because the league lacks high-quality top insiders at this stage.

……

Wang Chao began to realize that at his current level, he couldn't compete with Stoudemire.

After hard training in the summer, Wang Chao has been able to perform well even when he bears the burden of offense and is taken care of by the opponent's players, but it is obviously unrealistic for him to compete with Stoudemire.

Stoudemire, who was at his peak at this time, had an overall rating of 2 in the NBA92K game, which was the highest in the entire league. Wang Chao, who had an overall rating of only 66, was by no means the best.

Wang Chao had to think of another way.

……

On November 11, the Suns went away to challenge the Golden State Warriors.

Facing this Warriors team, which is also based on running and bombing tactics, and even runs more crazily than the Suns, the two sides staged an offensive battle.

The Suns finally defeated the Warriors 113:110 to win the game.

斯塔德迈尔这场比赛继续延续状态，全场19投9中，罚球5中4，得到22分11篮板。

And because the opponent is the Warriors who are good at running and bombing and don't pay much attention to defense, Wang Chao also got more open opportunities in this game than before.

He made 14 of 7 shots from beyond the three-point line and scored 21 points. After a long absence, he scored more than 20 points again.

This is the first time since Stoudemire's recovery.

In fact, to be honest, 10 games have passed since the regular season. Wang Chao’s average of 20.7 points per game can be described as amazing, which greatly exceeded everyone’s expectations. He has been completely regarded as an important scorer for the Suns. point, the status in the team is also second only to Nash and Stoudemire, almost tied with Marion, and the average number of shots per game is almost the same.

Wang Chao felt that his performance was affected by Stoudemire's recovery, but in fact, in the eyes of others in the Suns team, Wang Chao was the one who suddenly came out and stepped in.

Wang Chao averaged nearly 13 shots per game, which were completely picked out from other players. Among them, the most affected players were naturally those other players in the Suns, such as starting shooting guard Raja Bell and Wang Chao. Dior squeezed out from the starting position.

Since joining the Suns, although Bell mainly exists as a defensive vanguard, as a shooting guard, he also occupies a large proportion on the offensive end, with an average of more than 10 shots per game.

(End of this chapter)