Zhiba NBA

Chapter 206 (two hundred and five) beneficiaries of NoHandCheck

On January 1, the Lakers made an expedition to the Palace of Auburn Hills and had a strong confrontation with the Pistons.The two teams can be called the two favorites to win the championship under the Rockets, and they also played like sparks.Bryant continued his fiery touch, scoring 29 points on 28-of-12 shooting.Gasol also scored a double-double of 39+20, but Deron and Lamar Odom failed to score in double figures.In the end, the Pistons narrowly beat their opponents 14:100 relying on their strong defense.

This was an ordinary regular season, but Lakers fans protested the Pistons' rough defensive actions after the game.Prince was the first to deal with the Lakers' perimeter defense. Many fans complained that he had too many small movements, which affected Kobe's performance.The inside double Wallace, as a representative of the tough guy faction's defense power, has naturally received a lot of criticism.One fan even edited the scene of Kobe being violated into a video, and posted it on the Internet, which won a lot of hits.

Stern couldn't sit still, he was furious after watching this video.

It started a few years ago. At that time, the Spurs, Pistons, Pacers, and Nets (in the 03-04 season, these four teams ranked the bottom four in the league in points conceded in 04 rounds). These powerful teams paid too much attention to defense, which led to unsightly low scores in the game. Even in the playoffs, no team scored more than 7 points. In the 6 Eastern Conference semifinals, the Nets scored 85 points in only one of the seven games against the Pistons after three overtimes. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers and the Pistons played six games. The highest score of the two teams was actually a poor [-] points.Because the score was too low, the game was ugly and the ratings continued to drop.

Faced with this dilemma, Stern was determined to reform and boldly canceled the HandCheck rule (for the rule explanation, see Chapter 123 The Alliance’s Conspiracy, part of this chapter is related to the content of this chapter), with the intention of strengthening the offense and increasing the average score per game.The effect of this change is still good. Defensive players can't make moves casually, especially they can't predict the opponent's next move through touch. It becomes easier for offensive players to change direction and break through.However, the problem is that more defensive players use guns to defend their opponents, which increases physical contact and causes more fouls.

（史上2003-04赛季队均罚球1985次，取消了HandCheck后的05赛季增加到了2137次，06赛季更进一步到了2157次）
In theory, the HandCheck rule is just a touch of the hand, at most it can be erected, but it cannot be pushed.However, in practical applications, it is difficult for the referee to distinguish the subtle differences with the naked eye, which directly leads to some defensive players pushing and applying pressure.This actually makes it difficult for offensive players to break through with the ball.The rules have just been changed, and the referees also have a process of adaptation, and there will be some relatively vague penalties in the early stages of the change.The rules have been changed, but the players still have some small moves around the edges, which is what Stern is dissatisfied with.

On January 1, Tim Donaghy and other league referees received a videotape from the league again. The content was the video of Kobe being violated edited by netizens. They were already familiar with the game and quickly grasped the intention of the league's top management.

On January 1, New York's Madison Square Garden Arena.The two most wealthy teams in the league, the Knicks and the Lakers, meet here.The Knicks are a veteran team, but in recent years, they have repeatedly made foolish moves. They have spent a lot of money due to poor management, but their lineup is incomplete.It is even more absurd that Alan Houston was reimbursed and was not cut by the "Alan Houston Clause".In the first quarter, Kobe won 31 free throws, hit 8 of them, and scored 7 points in a single quarter to help the Lakers take the lead.

Then Kobe's hands became colder, and he hit the iron again and again.But he still caused many fouls and made 4 consecutive free throws.Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford are both strong players, but they are much worse on the defensive end.Using them to take turns man-marking Kobe is a sweet treat.In the third quarter, Kobe continued his efforts and made 0 shots in a single quarter, but scored 11 points on 10 of 10 free throws.The Lakers expanded the point difference to more than 20 points, and there is no suspense about the outcome.

可科比的罚球表演并没有结束，第四节他3罚2中后才被替换下场。全场科比26罚23中，出手数和命中数两项都追平了个人生涯纪录，他仅仅用了17次出手就贡献了40分。湖人也得以以33分的巨大优势轻松战胜了尼克斯。

This scary statistic of 26 free throws in a single game has attracted the attention of many media, and many reporters have interviewed people in the industry.

"He is Kobe, the man who scored 72 points a few days ago. Our foul on him is worth it." New Knicks coach Larry Brown forcefully argued.Brown is old and cunning, and he won't be fined by the league for criticizing the referees.

"Kobe is such an offensive threat that opponents have to use a lot of fouls to stop him." Gasol commented that he is a well-known good guy, and it is his nature to say good things for his teammates.

"Kobe deserves such a foul" seems to have become the mainstream view of public opinion.Wang Yuanfei scoffed at this.

"No player is worthy of such a foul, unless it is O'Neal who is bad at free throws." Yuan Fei commented: "Kobe is indeed strong, but his scoring accuracy in sports games is only close to 50%. Let him stand on the free throw line, and it is close to 9%! Anyone who suffers more will know."

"Then why is everyone spreading the word?" Bosh asked.

"This can only be said in private, star-making." Yuan Fei smiled and said: "This league will do anything for the ratings. I bet that Iverson's scoring average last season will be nothing if he wins the final match of this season."

（史上04-05赛季得分王艾弗森场均30.1分。05-06赛季科比场均35.4分，艾弗森场均33.0分，詹姆斯则是31.4分，三人都超过了前一赛季的艾弗森。连No.4阿里纳斯都有29.3分）
"When we beat the Lakers in the playoffs last time, we still had the HandCheck rule. If we were to face a guy like Bryant now, it would be a real headache." Jefferson shook his head, as if trying to dispel the bad thoughts in his mind. "According to the current state of the Lakers, it is very likely that they will be their opponent in the Western Conference Finals this year. I hope Tracy can come back by then. Only he can guard Bryant."

"No matter who the opponent is, we will win at our own pace." Billups said few words, but he was very powerful.He is the role of the big brother in the team, and the players trust him very much.

As Chauncey said, the Rockets have not been greatly affected but continued at their own pace.On the second day after Kobe beat Madison, they relied on Yao Ming's 24+13 stable performance, defeated the Bucks by 12 points at home, and made solid progress.

(End of this chapter)