basketball hero

Chapter 388 Back to Back to Back

The Raptors' 7-game winning streak and a total record of 9 wins and 1 loss have made other strong teams in the league pay more and more attention to this team.Even in this round of winning streak, they did not encounter a real strong team, but this does not prevent them from becoming a popular team in the league.Even if this team fails to change the structure of the league in the end, the impact and progress they bring are enough to give new vigor and vitality to the league that is now popular in groups.

After the back-to-back away games with the league's penultimate Wizards team, the Raptors will return to home overnight to prepare for the next day's home game against the Kings.

In this shrinking season, back-to-back games are not uncommon, even very common, and the emergence of such a disgusting schedule as "back-to-back" is enough to cause physical problems for some teams with tight rotations.

Because the Raptors have beaten their opponents in two consecutive games, the main players rested early, so facing the disgusting schedule of "back-to-back-to-back", their physical fitness will not turn red.For them, however, fatigue was inevitable.The intensive schedule brings not only an increase in playing time, but also continuous fatigue, which also puts a lot of burden on the players' bodies.

Ying Xiong's physical fitness is not a problem at all. His physical fitness makes him a bit higher than the average NBA player's physical fitness. The targeted training in the summer has made his physical reserves more abundant. Coupled with the easy wins in the last few games, So he looks in good shape.

On January 1, the Raptors played at home against the underdog Sacramento Kings in the West.Since the Kings failed to break into the finals under the "OK combination" that year, they have plummeted since then and have never regained their past glory.You must know that the Kings team played the "Preston" offensive system back then, and they were the most gorgeous offensive players in the league.But today they have been in the process of reconstruction, and have not found the cornerstone of reconstruction.

For the Kings, they haven't won a game on the road this season, and in Toronto, they haven't won here in eight straight years.For them, this is an embarrassing record. They naturally hope to win this game, so as to end this bad record and usher in their first away win of the season.

——But the question is, will the Raptors, who have won 7 consecutive victories and have such high morale, let the opponent get what they want so easily?
The Air Canada Center arena, home of the Raptors, was packed with people.There hasn't been an open spot here since the team has the best record in the league.In the past, the club was worried about ticket sales and sold season tickets at low prices, but now there is no need to worry at all. The season tickets are sold out early, and the peripheral products are also very popular.Now in Toronto, fans have given a very high evaluation of the Raptors general manager's offseason operations, praising him for "turning stone into gold".

In this game, facing the underdog Kings in the Western Conference who have not won here for 8 years, even though the home team is "back to back", the fans are not worried about the home team. For the Raptors today, it is a matter of course.

Although the winning streak will eventually end one day, it definitely shouldn't be in this one!
The players of the Kings were not affected by the enthusiastic atmosphere of the Raptors' home fans. For them, when losing has become a habit, tension is out of the question. This kind of mentality is not good for young people. But in the away game, they will not be disturbed by the fans of the home team and affect their state.

In this game, the Raptors at home continued to play with the main lineup that has not changed this season.Coach Casey is still very satisfied with the performance of this main lineup, and the record speaks for itself.

The main lineup of the Kings in the away game is: center - DeMarcus Cousins, power forward - JJ Hickson, small forward - John Salmons, shooting guard - Tyreke Evans, Point guard - Kimmel Fredette.

Yingxiong's former teammate John Salmons returned to the Kings again after switching between two teams.The two didn't have a deep friendship, but they still gave a friendly hug and exchanged a few greetings with a smile.

The game kicked off with the cheers of the fans at the scene.

Fredette dribbled the ball across half court and handed it to Evans.It was DeRozan who defended Evans.As the best rookie of the 09-10 season, Evans seems to be "the peak when he debuts."At that time, he was called "Small LeBron", but now he has not improved, and his performance is not as good as one season after another, which has failed the team's great expectations of him.

Evans' shortcomings are obvious. His off-ball ability is too poor, and as an outside line, his mid-range shooting rate is low and unstable, and he is easy to hit the ball, which is a waste of such a good physical talent.Although his opponent DeRozan is not accurate in 3-pointers, he has a stable mid-range and has a unique skill of fouling, so his scoring efficiency is higher than him.

Evans made a strong attack on DeRozan, was interfered by Amir Johnson who was helping to defend, and made a mistake...

Calderon dribbled the ball across the half and handed it to Ying Xiong on the left.Facing his old teammate Salmons, Ying Xiong turned his back to take a position, watched all directions, and heard all directions. Suddenly, a ball was given to Amir Johnson who made an empty cut under the basket. The latter caught the ball and made a hit!
The current record of the Kings is not without reason. The defensive communication and cooperation between teammates are really poor. Most of the time, they rely on their personal ability to defend. For defense without the ball, the rate is low and it is easy to be dazed.

Here, Cousins, with his excellent strength and footwork, made a single hit from Bargnani at the basket!

As the rookie center with the fifth pick in the first round in 2010, Cousins ​​has good size and strength.In addition, he also has excellent low-post singles ability and outside shooting ability among centers. On the offensive end, he has various means and comprehensive skills.But his defensive end, his habits are really bad, and his attitude is also problematic.He obviously has good physical condition, but he is too lazy to invest energy on the defensive end, too lazy to move, too lazy to do dirty work.In addition, similar to his predecessor "Roaring God" Rasheed Wallace, he has a big problem with emotional control, and often gets technical fouls because he is dissatisfied with the referee's penalty.If his talent surprised the team and wanted to rebuild with him as the core, then his game attitude and uncontrollable emotions made the team hesitate to do so.After all, how can a player who can't even control himself lead the team to the road of revival!
In the first quarter of the game, according to Coach Casey's pre-match arrangement, the main attack point was not Ying Xiong, but Bargnani and DeRozan.He often uses this idea when facing weak teams.To him, Yingxiong is the "JOKER" in a poker card, which he doesn't usually use easily.

(End of this chapter)