Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 208 The Final Away Game
Under McMillan's deliberate guidance, Camby quickly adapted to the Blazers' tactical system.Most of the time, the team doesn't need him to score. Ye Feng, Roy and Aldridge can take care of most of the points. Coupled with the veteran Miller, the team's firepower does not need to worry too much, but Camby is responsible for contributing to the interior defense and rebounding, which is the foundation of his life since entering the league.

In this way, everyone has less worries about the inside line. Although Camby is no longer the energetic spring man who just entered the league back then, his athletic ability has not declined much, and he has a lot more experience.Oden is indeed very talented, and he is also the inside core that the Blazers are going to focus on training, but he is still quite immature compared with Camby.Sometimes the strength of a center is not determined by physical advantages. Although some inside players are indeed talented, they can better guard the inside after polishing. This is Oden's disadvantage and Camby's advantage.Perhaps after Oden's return, the Blazers will continue to offer contracts to keep Camby. It would be a good thing for the team to think of him as Oden's substitute, not to mention that the price is also very affordable.

After Roy's return, the Blazers seemed to be back on track, and they also played a wave of six consecutive victories and a wave of five consecutive victories. At the end of March, the record had reached 46 wins and 29 losses. Said there were 7 games left.No one doubts that the Blazers will win 50 games again this season, which is not easy for a team plagued by injuries.However, the competition in the Western Conference this year is more intense than in previous seasons. Now the Blazers are only ranked sixth in the Western Conference, which shocked countless people.The Lakers, who replaced Ariza with Artest, retained their position as the dominant player in the Western Conference after a brief run-in. The second to fifth places were the Mavericks, the Suns, the Nuggets and the Jazz, and the Spurs and Jazz were behind the Trail Blazers. Thunder is also in hot pursuit.

Although McMillan really wanted the team to go further, but firstly, he underestimated the competition for the playoffs in the Western Conference, and secondly, the injuries of his players also made him rack his brains, so he did not put forward higher expectations for the players. Instead, fully considering everyone's state, from time to time the main players are rested in games that have a high chance of winning, just to allow everyone to have more rest time.Roy was the one who worried him the most in the whole team. Although Roy performed very well after his comeback, he was not unfamiliar with his teammates, and even scored the highest score in many games, but McMillan was always worried about him. Injuries, because Roy's style of play is not very restrained, and when it is time to break through with the ball as before, he rushes in against the defender.

He deliberately blamed Ye Feng, because fundamentally speaking, Ye Feng returned most of the ball to Roy, which gave him so much room to play.But he can't blame Ye Feng. Roy himself is the captain of the team, and he also likes to hold the ball. Let him play without the ball every day. It's okay in the short term. After a long time, he may feel resentful. This will affect the locker room. Ambience is bad.However, he also couldn't understand why Roy looked as if nothing had happened. Generally, players who come back from injury are more cautious, for fear of repeated injuries. Although the performance is not good, but on the other hand It can also reduce the probability of injury recurrence.

What McMillan didn't know was that Roy's thoughts were completely different from his. It was because the team was still ranked sixth in the Western Conference that he wanted to contribute more on the field and help the team climb up again. It would be even better to be in the top four.Moreover, Roy thinks that he is in good physical condition, and he doesn't think that the injury will come to him again. In this case, what's wrong with continuing to gallop on the court?But maybe only Roy can do this kind of thing, oh no, there is another person, Kobe can probably do it too, for them, the team's record is the most important thing to consider.

Before you know it, there are only the last three games left, and the visit to Los Angeles against the Lakers is the last away game of the Trail Blazers this season, which means a lot to them.However, the team's record ranking still failed to rise, and continued to be aggrieved to rank sixth in the Western Conference, but it was not overtaken by the Spurs and Thunder who were behind.At this moment, facing the No. [-] in the Western Conference, winning is a fluke, and losing is normal. This is what ordinary people think, but the whole team of the Blazers does not think so. They are suffering from injuries, but they still have the strength to rival Hao Qiang.

This is not McMillan's idea, but after knowing the voices of the players, he still acquiesced.Because now it seems that the team's entry into the playoffs is basically a certainty, but now that the Blazers have suffered a wave of injuries, they may not do much in the playoffs. Playing their own momentum, the Lakers are undoubtedly a better target than the last two home opponents, the Thunder and the Warriors.If they can defeat this opponent, it will be a good incentive for the Blazers to go to the playoffs, and maybe they can break into the second round.

But the Lakers are by no means weak, especially at home. Although Los Angeles is not the home of the famous Devils, the fans' drums are not weak. Coupled with the strength of the Lakers themselves, it is indeed very difficult for the Blazers to counterattack.But the whole team is holding back their energy, wanting to prove themselves at the Staples Center and give those who underestimate the Blazers a resounding slap in the face.Roy was even more excited. He felt that his condition was better than ever. He didn't plan to save his energy for the playoffs. He could play as long as he could. This victory is definitely very important.

Ye Feng didn't feel much about facing the Lakers. Anyway, what he had to deal with was Artest, his old opponent in the playoffs last season.In fact, strictly speaking, he prefers to meet Artest instead of Ariza, because Ariza will continue to improve under his blows and will be more difficult to deal with next time. Ariza is bigger. He doesn't think the Lakers' replacement of Artest with Ariza is a failure. Kobe needs immediate combat power to help him hit the championship again, but for him, Ariza is indeed more difficult to deal with. Artest Ster is a good opponent instead.

However, the Lakers' lead is not very big. I wonder if they will work hard for this game?

(End of this chapter)