NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 613 "Excel" Ambition (No Protagonist Chapter)

On Sunday, March 2009, 2, the NBA announced the Player of the Month for February:
Lee Woo of the Eastern Conference and Kobe Bryant of the Western Conference won the award for the first time in the new season.

Although they failed to widen the gap in wins by too much, the Knicks' record is still the best in the league. The Lakers have experienced some fluctuations, with a record of 1 wins and 12 losses in January.

With 36 wins and 10 losses, compared with the three teams in the Eastern Conference, the Lakers can only rank fourth in the league. Kobe has also been surpassed by Howard in the MVP rankings and currently drops to fifth place.

In this regard, the fans of the Lakers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the core of the main team, but Kobe's Excellence and record are not good enough, and he can't even touch LeBron James.
In the first week of February, the Lakers started their road trip in the East. After the away victory over the Pistons that night, James, who was attending the press conference, was asked about the MVP and mocked his opponent:

"If the individual data and team record are lagging behind, I don't know why people still keep discussing this issue."

"The MVP is to select the player with the best performance in the regular season, not to give the trophy to the more popular candidate."

"I just want to work hard to lead the team to get the home advantage. As for awards, I don't care. I am not interested in speaking for my performance because the results and data will not lie."

At the press conference, James was very calm, which was also related to Li You's data. He really wanted the trophy, but Excel really couldn't compare:

场均出场33.7分钟，场均36.9分5.1篮板10.7助攻2.3抢断0.8盖帽1.8失误；

He averaged 21.3 shots per game, with a shooting percentage of 62.6%, a three-point shooting percentage of 54.2%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 92.8%.

After Li You's data was released, many players in the league exclaimed that it was outrageous. The Knicks had 1 games in January, a relatively tight schedule, but their individual scoring efficiency increased significantly.

Considering that some weak teams are lagging behind, otherwise Li You's personal data would have risen. In this regard, most of the players on the MVP list, except Kobe, are numb.
After acquiring Iverson, the Pistons' record was mediocre and seemed to have completely lost their competitiveness. After losing this game, their record dropped to 25 wins and 21 losses.

Although his results are not very good, Iverson is still very popular. In the previous All-Star voting, he ranked third among all backcourt players!

Unfortunately, Li You and Wade firmly occupied the starting lineup, and the son of Philadelphia was unfortunately not selected. When asked about Iverson's absence from the All-Star Game, Howard, who was selected as the starting center, was not polite and laughed on the spot:
"Surprising? I'm not surprised by this result! You know, times have changed. In the past, no one paid attention to advanced statistics, so people chased after those stars."

"Now everyone knows about their inefficient performance. Check the data and you will understand why the fans voted for us!"

"."

Recently, New York fans have started to boomerang again. Before Kobe is about to come to Madison Square Garden, some professional fans dug out the performance of Mamba before and after the 40+ consecutive times;
The result is that Kobe was in a slump for many games. Combined with the opponent, it is not difficult to find that the opponent always scored points against the weaker players. After completely breaking the "impression flow", we finally came to a conclusion:
"From the statistics, Kobe is just slightly better than Arenas. Washington's big mouth is right!"

In order to win the MVP, Li You and O'Neal's personal data inadvertently raised the standard. Later, Duncan, Garnett and Nowitzki's awards were controversial, and these three Excels lacked dominance.

As for Kobe, who was trying his best to win the trophy, in-depth analysis showed that his performance was too poor. Unless he broke out after the All-Star Game, he was doomed to have no chance of winning the award.

Howard likes Excel very much. Although his rebounding data has declined, his influence on the game can be reflected at the data level, which proves that he is better than his teammates!

"Go check my data" has become the Beast's recent catchphrase. James is a little helpless about this. His shooting percentage in the interior is already high, and his teammates often make baskets, which maximizes his efficiency.

After transforming into a ball-handling forward, James did not expect to be "surpassed" by his teammates in the new season. Not only did his popularity lag behind, but his statistics did not have much advantage either.

At the end of the press conference, James was a little depressed when he thought about the fact that his team was beaten by a team with a record of 39 wins and 7 losses. Seeing his teammates happy, he couldn't help but complain a few times:

"We lack exposure. They would rather talk about Kobe and Shaq than cover us."

This is almost the best record he has ever achieved as a team in his career. James feels that the trophy is within reach, but he just can't get recognition. This feeling is not pleasant.

I also read the news. Since the end of last month, some media have announced that Kobe will visit Madison Square Garden tomorrow. Although Howard is unhappy, he is secretly happy that his partner can't win the trophy:
"If you can score 50+ in New York, maybe they'll write a story about us!"

"Bro, I support you, let's do something big on Wednesday!"

The Knicks have three games this week, and their opponents are the Lakers, Cavaliers and Celtics. The three focus games will attract full attention. If you want to win an award, this is indeed the best time to show yourself.

Looking at his teammates who were laughing, James, who was dressed in formal attire, tugged at his collar and said meaningfully:

“Maybe we can try another approach!”

Howard didn't understand and shrugged his shoulders casually. He felt somewhat pleased with himself because his popularity surpassed that of his teammates. The fans obviously liked him more. He was not interested in adding more drama to himself. After all, he was still young and would have many opportunities in the future.

James made up his mind and did not reveal his plan. He did not need to perform better than Li You. As long as he could suppress players like Kobe, the trophy would be his sooner or later.

Excel still needs to be strengthened. The Chosen One has already felt the pulse of the times, and those inefficient old guys will sooner or later be swept into history.

On Monday, February 2, the Lakers began their Eastern Conference road trip and visited New York for the first time in the new season. Kobe became "unhappy" on the plane.

The Lakers players had already gotten used to their boss's stern look throughout the whole process, and no one came over to sit next to Kobe on the plane. In order to ease the awkward atmosphere, rookie Sun Yue was finally arranged to sit next to him.

It is difficult to understand the inside story without entering the league. Sun Yue also played in the secondary league in the past and could not personally experience the influence of Li You. It was only after coming to the Lakers that he gradually felt the "oppression."

Since mid-January, the Lakers' video classes have been constantly analyzing the Knicks' games, and assistant coaches and video analysts even count the impact of Li You's left and right hands and feet on the offense.

The analysis of Li Youtian's position is also very outrageous, with a large amount of statistics only used to force the opponent into a weak position during the game.
Considering that the data is somewhat real-time, the Lakers have to follow up every week and observe at all times.

Sun Yue, who was recalled, was completely dumbfounded. After all the analysis, the team still produced outrageous statistics.

Kobe averaged 1 points per game in January, shooting 27.2% from the field, 48.0% from three-point range, and 37.9% from the free throw line;

With an average of 38 minutes per game and 20.7 shots per game, this data is already a very efficient performance for Kobe, but if it were Li You, the ESPN news headline would probably be:
"Li is in a slump, his shooting percentage is less than 5%, and his average points per game has dropped to 27 points."

After arriving in New York and checking in, although Sun Yue didn't speak the language very well, he still felt it was outrageous when he heard his teammates' introduction that Knicks fans were actually "criticizing" the home team players.

APM is a real-time plus-minus statistic that can objectively reflect the influence of players on the game in different combinations.

Currently, this data is only popular in New York. With the popularization of MSG programs and related sports media, more and more fans are participating in the discussion, which has led to Artest being "held in meetings" every day. With only 16 good shots in 3 games, plus Artest's recent return to music, he was naturally condemned by New York fans.

In fact, Artest just can't make a shot. The World Peace Club is very active, but he himself trains on time. As for how to arrange his vacation, it is the player's freedom.

However, with the instigation of the media, the poor performance became the fuse. After the game, every player on the team was asked related questions. This troublesome matter eventually affected the atmosphere in the locker room.

Phil Jackson is very familiar with this scene. The Bulls encountered the same situation. There was no social media at that time. In terms of discussion level, the Knicks' level was even higher this time.

Every reporter will tirelessly ask about the players' individual performance, their fluctuations in form, and whether a trade will occur;
During a training session, a large number of reporters would take photos from different angles just to better fabricate the news. During the competition, they would even interpret lip movements just to sell more newspapers the next day.

During the afternoon warm-up, the Lakers came to Madison Square Garden. The old man from KFC stood on the sidelines and observed. He noticed that there were more sports reporters and he was in a good mood for a while.

In an interview with reporters, Phil Jackson even joked:
"I like the statistics that New York promotes, which really allows fans to understand the status of the players!"

"But the Lakers won't use it. We believe more in the content of the game, and we won't blame teammates just for the data."

The white-haired and white-bearded old man from KFC slowly joked about the recent gossip. In the detailed data statistics, every time Rajon Rondo partnered with Artest, the corresponding data would decline.

Contribution value is like this. As long as Li You is on the court, the player data of the corresponding lineup will look good. This limitation is obvious, but sports reporters will not deliberately explain it.

"I can't ask everyone to make open shots. I just look for opportunities and pass the ball. Only God knows whether it can be turned into assists!"

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

With APM not looking good, Rondo recently complained on the MSG show, saying that the fans and the media were too harsh, but this was interpreted as him disliking his teammates.

The smiling Phil Jackson accepted all interviews and seemed to have come out of the shadow of the Christmas game.

When talking about becoming the Western Conference All-Star head coach and coaching O'Neal again, the old man laughed heartily and seemed very pleased with himself:
"Shaq and I are looking forward to the All-Star Weekend and getting together again, which reminds me of that great Lakers team!"

"We're going to face Lee again, it's going to be fun, isn't it?"

Compared with the coach's good mood, Kobe was still "unhappy" because he was lagging behind Li You in all aspects of APM statistics.

Although the data model is not perfect, the NBA has begun to consider this technical statistic. Once it is accepted, the "mortal enemy" will be almost invincible.
Even his "statistical honors" were about to be taken away from him. Kobe was furious when he thought of those reports. It was a shame to put him together with Arenas!
Duncan has already rushed to third place in the MVP rankings, but this low-key leader is actually more concerned about the situation of the Spurs.

After Bynum elbowed Gerald Wallace, causing his lung to collapse, he was suspended. The Spurs have recently suffered three consecutive losses and have fallen out of the top eight.

All these phenomena indicate that the Spurs are completely finished. Rookie coach Budenholzer has failed to lead the team to rise, which makes Duncan feel guilty every time he sees the news.

At the end of the warm-up, a reporter asked about the trophy. Duncan, who was in a bad mood, still had no expression on his face. He shook his head and said casually:
"For me, this award doesn't mean much, I just want to win a championship."

"As for the new statistics, I'm not interested in knowing the details. Li is still number one, right?"

"Basketball is not complicated. It is a sport for five people. We will play for each other!"

"."

Sun Yue once again witnessed Kobe's angry face. New York has become completely obsessed with data, and as an "anti-data fighter", Kobe, who represents pure basketball, responded to the doubts loudly:
"I don't know what you're talking about! What do those numbers mean?"

"Why don't you go watch the game? We are No. 1 in the Western Conference. I never play for statistics."

The gamblers had another carnival moment during the game that night. The number of betting items has increased recently, but the relevant institutions are very professional. The odds of Kobe's explosion are very high, while the opposite is true for Li You.

At 19:30, Madison Square Garden was boiling as the game started. More than New York fans celebrated the festival and laughed wildly at the "clowns" in Los Angeles.

On the Lakers bench, Sun Yue, who came to the basketball holy land for the first time in his career, was stunned. The crazy shouting and laughter even made him unable to watch the game.

In the middle of the first quarter, many people began to denounce Kobe as a "coward" for not defending Li You, which made the game less fun.

But after the timeout, everyone quickly became happy again. Li You suddenly broke through the double-team at the Logo position, went straight to the basket and dunked, and then hit a long three-pointer in the transition offense;
When Li You used the screen to easily shake off Fisher and shot Odom in the face, the cheers almost broke through the arena.

Seeing Li You easily break through and score two points with a left-handed shot in the paint, Phil Jackson, who was in a good mood before the game, began to frown again. It seemed that those video analyses were completely ineffective.

The continuous breakthroughs quickly disrupted the Lakers' defensive arrangement. Ariza, who came on as a substitute, was knocked to the ground by Chandler's screen while leading the defense.

The rookie made too much defensive moves in the last round, and now he is directly sent to the bench.

The fierce defense and the referee's connivance made Kobe's eyes red with anger. But when he returned to the bench after the timeout, he found that many people seemed to be timid.
"If you don't want to play, leave. You are ***"

Kobe looked at his teammates fiercely, returned to the court, and started his iron-shooting show again. In order to cater to the New York fans tonight, he arranged targeted defense against Mamba before the game.

When Li You made 19 of 13 shots in the first half, 9 of 6 from beyond the three-point line, and scored 37 points, the New York fans at the scene were delighted. At the end of the third quarter, many people began to shout loudly:
"We need Lee!"

After three quarters, the score was 80:98. Li You fulfilled the wishes of New York fans and "reviewed" the Christmas game with everyone. He scored 63 points in three quarters, which made Madison Square Garden completely crazy.

The broadcast camera was focused on Li You who was walking towards the bench. Although he encountered some targeted defense, he still looked calm and composed.

On the Lakers bench, Kobe was gasping for breath, making 27 of 10 shots in three quarters. Under his leadership, the Lakers basically collapsed.

Seeing Phil Jackson waving, Kobe raised his head suddenly, wanting to say something but stopping himself. 18 points were still within reach, and he felt he was in good shape.

"It's just a regular season game, you have to trust your teammates."

Hearing the coach's loud persuasion, Kobe fell silent, but his desire for data rose again in his heart. Li You's admiration for advanced data has influenced the league, and he doesn't want to fall behind:
“I can do that.”

(End of this chapter)