full court guidance

Chapter 158 Because We Are Late

At this time, Stern has already begun to consider the issue of his successor. Relatively speaking, he is more optimistic about Adam Silver, because he thinks that Silver is very similar to himself.

Stern is a lawyer. He didn't know basketball at all at the beginning, but he just regarded the management of the NBA league as an ordinary management job.

Xiao Hua is a doctor of law from the University of Chicago. Like Stern, he studies law, and he is very motivated to work and is willing to participate in the management of the NBA.

Stern decided to train Xiao Hua a little bit, and said: "Adam, the essence of basketball is competitive sports, and confrontation is its foundation. Therefore, how to maintain the competitive nature of basketball games and attract more attention is up to us managers. More attention should be paid to the work. Late’s appearance helped us further open the door of the Chinese market, but he is so different, I even worry that he will dominate the basketball game in the future, and that is the real dark moment for us, So we must pay attention to the balance between the teams and maintain the competitiveness of the basketball game."

Xiao Hua nodded, he was very smart, and immediately grasped what Stern said-balance and competition.

"Since it is necessary to maintain the balance between the teams, I think it is better to give the MVP to LeBron. His statistics this year are very good, his performance is also very good, and the team record is also very good. There will be no problem."

Stern nodded and said: "You are right, but LeBron is too young, his talent is visible to the naked eye, as long as he can continue to maintain self-discipline, his future achievements will not only surpass Jordan, but at least be the closest to Jordan. That guy, if we're trying to tout him now, he's going to challenge Jordan's No. 1 position in history, and it's too early, too early, when he's around 30 years old."

After a pause, Stern continued: "And we are the operators of this league. Those team owners asked us to manage this league in the hope of making more money. We should take a longer-term view. "

In any case, the purpose of the alliance has been achieved.

This year's regular season MVP is controversial, but the few people who are eligible to compete for MVP will not be unexpected no matter who wins the MVP.

Yao Ming's data is not as good as James but he can get the MVP because of his bonus as a center.

The MVP controversy continues, but the NBA playoffs are still in full swing and have not been affected in the slightest.

Compared with the fiercely competitive West, the strength of the teams in the East is significantly different. There were three rounds of series sweeps, and only the Nets played against the Pistons in a 4-2 series.

Relying on the performance of the Big Three, the Nets eliminated the Pistons, and at the same time made the Pistons management determined to completely rebuild.

McGrady failed to lead the team with a single core and fell again in the first round of the playoffs.

The biggest upset in the East was created by the Bulls. In the series with the Heat, they actually swept last year's Eastern Conference champions 4:0.

The age structure of the Heat's players is too problematic. Except for Wade who is still playing, the other starters are all 30 years old and above.

Jason Williams and Gary Payton have declined significantly. Kidney fighter Mourning has almost been unable to play. Even O'Neal has finally completely lost his dominance. He averaged only 18.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in this series , the fans can obviously feel that he is a bit powerless on the offensive and defensive ends.

Dwyane Wade can't do it alone. He averaged 31 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in the series, but he couldn't lead the team to win.

Bulls coach Skiles saw through the weakness of the Heat, and let Kirk Hinrich mark Wade all the way. This strategy was very successful.

Hinrich is a second-team player in this year's All-Defensive Team. His defensive ability is very strong. In addition, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng are in excellent condition in the series, which makes the Heat unable to use it.

After losing this series, Pat Riley firmly believed that such a Heat could no longer win, let alone win a championship, and planned to adjust the team's lineup structure.

And O'Neal, who will inevitably be swept out, also fired at Pat Riley after the game: "He is a tyrant, a devil, he only knows how to increase the amount of training, and there are no good tactics at all. I just because I am too big The injuries caused by the amount of training have affected the state, otherwise how could the Bulls be my opponent with their weak inside line?"

The Lakers chose Kobe and traded O'Neal to the Heat, which made O'Neal feel angry.

In the past two years, the Heat were strong and had the opportunity to compete for the championship. Pat Riley increased the amount of training, and O'Neal endured it-after all, he still wanted to win one more championship to prove that he was better than Kobe. Trading yourself and regretting it.

But now it is obviously impossible to win the championship, and the contradictions accumulated in the past few years have completely exploded.

Wade's progress this year is obvious to all. His shooting ability outside the three-point line has been greatly improved, and he is no longer the top shooting guard who can be emptied outside the three-point line at will.

In the first half of the season, Wade's performance was also very good. He was once able to compete with James. Some professional media even analyzed that he is likely to win this year's regular season MVP.

As a result, Wade suffered water accumulation in his knees due to long-term high-intensity training, which affected his performance. His state declined significantly in the second half of the season. Wade also knew that if he did not win the championship this year, he did not know when he would have to wait. He refused to undergo surgery and played with injuries, but the result was disastrous.

Pat Riley was not afraid of O'Neal's bombardment, and immediately retorted: "O'Neal is the laziest player I have ever seen. He almost never participates in the team's daily training, so he just turned 30. Immediately slipped and lost the basket. I don’t think there is any problem with the team’s large amount of training. Only by insisting on a lot of training can we better tap the potential of human beings.”

According to sources familiar with the matter, Pat Riley is ready to clear the Sharks contract.

O'Neal also showed his cards to the Heat, he didn't want to play in the Heat.

After all, he was once the league's No. [-] center, a super giant, and there are still many teams interested in O'Neal.

Even though he has lost his dominance at the basket, many teams still believe that he can bring championship experience to the team and pass on his valuable experience to the young people in the team.

Teams interested in getting O'Neal immediately started contacting the Heat, hoping to get the former super center.

At the same time, the media controlled by the league also began to vigorously publicize the Eastern and Western semifinals.

The game between the Suns and the Warriors was highlighted, and the league worked hard to create an atmosphere of fierce confrontation between the two sides.

After all, the Suns and Warriors are the two teams with the strongest offensive power in the league. It is not difficult to imagine that this round of the series will be a wonderful offensive battle, which will attract the attention of many lay fans.

However, the reality is that the Warriors and the Suns are too good to be true.

Players from both sides praised their opponents wildly when they were interviewed, saying that they would go all out and try to play a good game.

Nash is not a person who likes to talk big. He has always been known for his good character and kindness in the league.

Stoudemire is not the kind of talker, not to mention that he was able to return to his peak this year thanks to the medicine he gave lately, so let's not mention the gratitude for being late in his heart.

And D'Antoni's appreciation for being late is well known all over the world.

In the post-match interview of the Suns, D'Antoni mentioned being late every three to five times, and every time he praised him greatly, saying that he was a great player who changed the league structure.

Modesty is not popular among Americans, but being late is the boss of the Warriors. He said this when he was first interviewed by the media: "The Suns are a very powerful offensive team. Under the leadership of Coach D'Antoni, they Their record has been among the best in the league for several consecutive seasons, their cooperation is very smooth, and there is almost no weakness in the combination of players. It is very difficult for us to beat them, but I like this kind of challenge, which makes me happy."

Being late never demeaned his opponents. Under his influence, the Warriors all entered the rhythm of touting the Suns.

Grant Hill said in an interview: "I almost joined the Suns last summer. Fortunately, I contacted late, and finally I chose to join the Warriors. In my opinion, the Suns are the most unique team in the league. The team, their run-and-gun tactics are very different from ours. The combination of Steve and Amare is one of the strongest combinations in this league. To be honest, I am not sure of defeating them at all, but I am a bit Not worried either, because I believe our lateness will lead us to victory."

Milicic said: "The sun is very strong. Every time I think of the experience of playing against Amare in the regular season, I will feel trembling all over. His impact on the basket and precise shooting ability are much better than mine. But I believe we will win in the end because we are late!"

On May 5, after a short break, the Warriors played away against the Phoenix Suns in the first game of the second round of the playoffs.

D'Antoni's starting lineup remains unchanged, with center Boris Diaw, power forward Amare Stoudamire, small forward Sean Marion, shooting guard Lagabel and point guard Steve Nash.

Old Nelson made up his mind to play against the Suns and sent Milicic, Harrington, Grant Hill, Stephen Jackson and the late combination.

Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy was moved from the starting lineup to the bench position, but he will control more of the ball during the bench time and become the team's main attack point in the second half of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter .

Diaw is the height of a small forward, and the player who jumps the ball for the Suns is naturally Stoudemire.

He has excellent jumping ability, easily beat Milicic, and allocated the ball to Lagabel.

Bell immediately passed the ball to Nash, and the game between the two sides officially began.

(End of this chapter)