Versatile Point Forward

Chapter 415 Stay away from injuries
Portland has a very bad-sounding nickname-Tear City. Although the birth of the word has nothing to do with injuries at first, people gradually forget that the real nickname of the city is the City of Roses. City, the cause is naturally the ravaging injuries of the Blazers.

In 1971, when the Trail Blazers had just joined the NBA in their first season, when playing against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Trail Blazers player Jim Barnett hit a long shot, and then the Trail Blazers announcer shouted out of excitement: "City of tearing, good job." By chance, he added the word tearing to the front of Portland.But what the announcer didn't expect was that in the following years, the Blazers' players were always shrouded in the shadow of injuries.

The most touching thing is undoubtedly Bill Walton, who led the Trail Blazers to win the first championship in team history. Strength.But then he played on and off due to injuries, and he never led the Blazers to such a height. He reluctantly joined the San Diego Clippers in 0.If it weren't for injuries, Walton should have had an even more brilliant career.

In the past few seasons, the Blazers have always been troubled by injuries. The main players including Roy and Oden are also unavoidable. Some people have even begun to give up the Blazers. Oden has been compared to Miss Jordan in 1984.It was indeed a good choice for the team to sign Matthews before the start of last season. Roy really had a problem in the regular season. If there is no preparation in advance, the Blazers will not be able to talk about the championship, and it is hard to say whether they can make it to the playoffs.

But this season the Blazers seem to have cut off the black hand of fate. Except for minor injuries such as ankle soreness, the Blazers did not suffer any serious injuries. This is completely unimaginable in the previous seasons.The good physical condition of the players is also an important guarantee for the Blazers to always be at the forefront of the Western Conference. McMillan is even thinking about whether to sprint at the end of the season to see if he can replace the Spurs and become the number one in the Western Conference.

Ye Feng is also very satisfied with the team's current state. Although the Spurs have always been placed second, he doesn't care. It doesn't matter if the regular season record can be ranked first in the Western Conference. It is good to guarantee the top three , To be honest, the second place in the Western Conference has exceeded his expectations.

However, Ye Feng doubted that the head coach attributed the credit to the team doctor. He secretly slandered: "The key is that the team doctor hasn't been changed, or Mr. Roberts, who has been with the team for the past few seasons. Is this the team doctor's credit? If He has this ability, Roy and Oden can't be injured repeatedly, right?"

Compared with the team doctor, Ye Feng believes that this is God's favor for the Blazers. After all, this season's schedule is more intensive than last season, which makes the team not have a lot of time to rest. Even so, the team did not have a big Injury, isn't this God's favor?

Of course, McMillan's large-scale and high-frequency substitutions are also important reasons.If it weren't for his frequent rotations during the game, with the Blazers' high-intensity running tactical system, injuries would have broken out long ago.Even Ye Feng and Matthews, who are known as iron men in the team, averaged only 33.1 minutes and 34.7 minutes per game this season. You must know that they both averaged more than 37 minutes per game last season.

The basis for McMillan to do this is the age structure of the Blazers. The main players are basically under the age of 30 and they are in their prime. Miller and Camby do not have conflicts because of the reduction in playing time. Started a more frequent rotation than last season.

This time also reflects how critical the operation of the management team before the trade deadline is. Felton and Hickson are important supplements to the Blazers this season. If the bench is as thick as last season, McMillan would not dare to be careless. You have to work as hard as you did last season.

As the season progressed, the Lakers, with an older average age, began to fall behind. The Spurs, Trail Blazers and Thunder were firmly in the top three in the Western Conference.The performance of the Spurs makes people have to admire Popovich's coaching art. You must know that GDP is not young, and they are no longer the frightening combination in the first decade of the 21st century.But Popovich was able to make the Spurs rank first in the Western Conference, which is difficult for the head coaches of the other 29 teams in the league to do.

McMillan's large rotation is also the result of learning from Popovich, but he is not as extreme and bold as Popovich. You must know that Parker, who has the most playing time per game among the three GDP players, only played 31.4 minutes. Duncan and Ginobi Leigh didn't even get to 30 minutes.It doesn't matter that Ginobili is the team's super substitute, but Duncan only needs to play 29.7 minutes per game. As the core of the team, it is really jaw-dropping.

Which head coach in the league doesn't want his players to play like the Spurs?With less playing time, they can train newcomers while protecting veterans, and they can also maintain the record of No. [-] in the Western Conference and even No. [-] in the league. This is their dream.But it's a pity that there is only one Popovich, and the Spurs' style has been branded with the old man's imprint. Others really want to learn it, but they can't learn it. McMillan has already done a good job.

The East still looks like a replica of last season. The Bulls and Heat took the lead, completely widening the gap with other teams.But the Heat were still overwhelmed by the Bulls. Although Rose, the core of the Bulls, missed many games due to injuries, the Bulls still maintained a strong competitiveness. Deng and Boozer brought a lot of help to the team.Moreover, the Bulls management also found a locker room leader for the team, the "mask man" Richard Hamilton among the five tigers of the Pistons, which made the team more mature and powerful, even if it was the Heat that had already run in. It can only come second.

So far, the 2008 rookie class has really begun to be called another draft peak after the golden generation in 2003. Rose, Mayo, Westbrook, Love, Ye Feng, Gordon and other players have become the absolute players of their respective teams. The main force is even the core. The success rate of the top ten rookies is quite amazing. Even Hibbert, Anderson, Courtney Lee and others behind have become excellent role players.

However, people still have different opinions on who is the strongest rookie in the 2008 class. Rose, who broke James' monopoly on the MVP of the regular season, and Ye Feng, who led the team to win the championship and was crowned the MVP of the finals, can both be called the strongest rookie in the 08 class.Last season, Ye Feng and Rose could be said to be almost the same, Ye Feng had a slight advantage, so this season, can Rose still compete with Ye Feng?

(End of this chapter)