NBA: Start the water cooler and reach the Hall of Fame

In this All-Star Game, Li Kaiming originally planned to be like Rose, and the last ten minutes were over in a flash. Unexpectedly, he became the protagonist of this All-Star Game, a vote winner and an All-Star Game MVP. He immediately became the most eye-catching presence during the All-Star Weekend.

It's so boring, so embarrassing...

Elliott Williams, who had touched the Li Kaiming trophy for two consecutive years, no longer knew what to say. He looked at Li Kaiming's invincible expression and sighed while stroking the All-Star Game MVP trophy.

"Brother, I really don't know what to say! Two words to describe you, awesome!"

Although Li Kaiming was speechless at Williams' illiterate description, he was still very happy in his heart. After all, who doesn't like others to praise themselves?

Of course, Li Kaiming had to reciprocate Williams' praise, "Your performance is also very good. Being selected for the All-Star Rookie Challenge for two consecutive years shows that you are a very promising player!"

Williams' eyes widened immediately after hearing this, "What did you say? Did I hear you correctly? The sun came out in the west today! Li Kaiming actually praises people?"

Li Kaiming rolled his eyes. This guy really hasn't done anything for three days. If he hasn't done anything for two days, you won't know who he is. If he praises you for a few words, he'll slap his nose in his face. He must be calmed down!

"Don't get me wrong, what I mean is that next year, if you exceed the Rookie Challenge limit, you won't come to the All-Star Weekend..."

Williams:…

Li Kaiming laughed loudly, patted Williams who looked constipated, and then continued, "Play well, you have made great progress, I hope to see you in the All-Star Game!"

Looking at Li Kaiming's back blankly, Williams was deeply moved. It turned out that his brother was not as sharp-tongued as he appeared on the surface. He had me in his heart!I cried to death!

After enjoying the All-Star weekend and the accompanying two days of vacation, the intense post-All-Star game schedule begins.

Although the All-Star Game is not the middle of the entire regular season in terms of time, in the eyes of most players, the All-Star Game is a dividing line between the regular season. Before the All-Star Game is the basic stage of the regular season, and when it comes to the All-Star Game After the All-Star Game, there are still two months left before the playoffs. Each team will prepare tactics and personnel, and then rush to a wave of results in the last period of the regular season, so as to seek a good result for the playoffs. Ranking.

The Wizards' condition is getting better and better as the season progresses. The old members of the team basically maintain their form last season, while the new members begin to shine after quickly integrating into the team.

Although the two guards Bell and Kenny who were traded have large contracts and their ages are not much better, they are still more than enough to serve as substitute guards for the Wizards.

Finally, there are two rookies with high hopes. Thompson's off-ball skills have been perfectly integrated into the Wizards' tactics. Now he uses off-ball pick-and-rolls to catch and throw outside the three-point line, which has become the Wizards' most basic tactic. First, in addition to offense, Thompson, under the leadership of Li Kaiming, uses ultra-high-intensity physical training combined with scientific nutritional supplements, and the changes in his body lines can be seen almost every month.

Now Thompson has grown into what the Wizards imagined. An all-around defender on the perimeter, coupled with his super off-ball ability, he is simply the best template for a 3D player.

The progress of Leonard, another rookie with facial paralysis, is also visible to the naked eye, especially his muscle gain rate, which is much faster than Thompson's. In just over half a season, he has gained 3 kilograms of pure muscle. You must know that this is Gained 3kg in pure muscle rather than weight.

These 3 kilograms of pure muscle growth have laid a solid foundation for Leonard's confrontation. With his super physical talent, top-notch defensive awareness, and the defensive ability developed by defending Li Kaiming every day, Leonard has become at this time. Many strikers in the league have a headache looking at their opponents.

Especially those strikers whose physical talents usually rely on their skills to make a living, when they meet the Wizards, they are almost beaten by Leonard's body when they are defending.

That is to say, the league's top forward players can get some benefits from Leonard because their physical talents are not weaker than Leonard's. However, in most cases, these people will not choose to force Leonard to take action. After all, basketball is a game. In team sports, you can use pick-and-rolls to beat others.

On March 3st, the NBA officially announced the best players, rookies and coaches in the Eastern and Western Conferences for February. The Eastern Conference Best Player of the Month was once again won by Li Kaiming.

在整个二月份，李凯明场均打出了30.5分13篮板8助攻2.1盖帽的恐怖数据，带领奇才队拿下了骇人听闻的11胜3负，球队战绩稳稳排在联盟第一。

The Rookie of the Year in the Eastern Conference belongs to Kyrie Irving, who made a splash in the Rookie Challenge. Not surprisingly, the Coach of the Month was also won by the Wizards.

Sanders is getting closer to his first Coach of the Year trophy...

The opponents in March are much stronger than before, mainly because the Wizards' schedule is like this. The opponents at the beginning of the season are mainly opponents in the same division in the Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference is not as strong as the Western Conference. Except for those few in the Western Conference, they have planned early. For a bad team, every remaining team can compete for a spot in the playoffs. The intensity of competition is indeed not at the same level as the Eastern Conference.

However, after half a season of running-in, and Sanders' tactics gradually getting on the right track, the Wizards are now armed to the teeth. The previous Wizards team that defended thousands of people has long been a thing of the past. The current Wizards team No one in the starting lineup is below league average defensively.

So even though the Wizards started a series of road trips to the Western Conference in March, in most cases, the Wizards were still able to steadily win over their opponents, even if they faced old and powerful teams in the league or even fans. In the eyes of the championship teams, the Wizards are not weak at all.

During the away game against the Lakers on March 3, the Staples crowd was still thinking about Li Kaiming winning the All-Star MVP last season, so when he walked into Staples, there were overwhelming boos!

Facing this opponent who had beaten him by soaring points several times, Kobe was filled with hatred, but he had to deal with it with ten points of spirit, because he knew how strong the guy opposite him was.

However, when Kobe was thinking about how to win this duel, a paralyzed man with a lifeless face suddenly stood in front of him.

Although Kobe didn't understand how to communicate with the robot, he could still tell the general meaning of that look from the limited information conveyed in the latter's eyes.

"Your opponent is me tonight!"

Yes, this is why Leonard has offensive constipation but Sanders still puts him in the starting lineup. Leonard will face the opponent's most difficult star on the perimeter in every game. If he is a shooting guard, he will defend the shooting guard. If it's a small forward, guard the small forward.

Although Thompson's defense is not bad, this is Sanders's frenzied tempering of Leonard. Only the most powerful whetstone can sharpen the sharpest sword!

After understanding what Leonard meant, Kobe was furious. What level am I? He is one of the best players in the league. You, a guy with no reputation at all, still want to be my opponent?

But after the game, Kobe didn't think so. Although he scored 30 points in the game, he took 31 shots and only hit 9 goals, with a shooting percentage of less than 30%. Under Nader's defense, Kobe not only dropped his shooting percentage, but also made 4 turnovers!

During the post-game exchange, Kobe's look at Leonard changed, but Leonard kept that paralyzed expression, as if tonight he was not guarding Kobe, but someone he couldn't even name. Small roles come out.

With Kobe's shooting percentage being suppressed like this, the Wizards can certainly win the game steadily. Li Kaiming's efficiency is still very high. He made 18 of 12 in the game, including 7 of 4 three-pointers and 6 of 4 free throws, scoring 32 points. 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.

Thompson also performed very well tonight, scoring 14 points. His style of running around without the ball made him the most hated opponent of all stars.

Because the team wants a star mainly to drive the team's offense. If the star spends all his energy running with the opposite role player, where will the energy come from on the offensive end?

So Kobe's poor performance tonight was mostly due to Leonard's good defense, but part of the reason was that Thompson used his off-ball movement to consume Kobe's energy and make him feel worse.

So Kobe didn't lose to Leonard alone, but to Leonard plus Thompson.

The Wizards' combination of one offense and one defense on the outside is simply like two generals. The two of them each do what they are best at, and then Li Kaiming intersperses a single from time to time. The current Wizards play so easily!

Yes, relaxed, this is an experience Li Kaiming never had last season.

Although the Wizards also reached third place in the Eastern Conference last season, most of the games won were not stable at all. Most of the games won were won by his personal ability at the last moment, so sometimes When he encounters a poor touch, the Wizards lose simply.

To put it simply, when you met a strong team last season, it was difficult to win and easy to lose!

In addition, the Wizards' lineup is flawed, and most of the players have to do things they are not good at. As a result, almost everyone has accumulated a lot of fatigue after the long regular season.

It's hard not to say that this group of people's postseason malaise has nothing to do with the exhaustion of the regular season.

But this season is completely different. When encountering those tank teams that failed early, Li Kaiming didn't even have to play in isolation. He just followed Sanders' tactics to pick and roll, move, and defend, and then unknowingly opened up. points difference, and finally won the game steadily.

When encountering a strong team, the Wizards players are also calm. They will use tactics when necessary. Li Kaiming will solve the problem if they cannot win. The combination of a strong tactical system and Li Kaiming's strong personal ability allows the Wizards to win most of the strong teams. Strong dialogue.

More importantly, the atmosphere within the Wizards is gradually getting better. Before Li Kaiming came, Arenas could bring his guns into the locker room. You can imagine the atmosphere in the locker room.

As for the current Wizards team, everyone is working together as a team. They usually either discuss tactics or train together. In the joyful rhythm of winning, the Wizards have gradually gathered the temperament of a strong team...

What is the temperament of a strong team? It is to be calm, perform steadily, never overturn in the games that should be won, and how much strength can be shown with a certain amount of strength...

It seems simple, but it is not easy to do. At least, it took Li Kaiming, Sanders and the Wizards' management two years of joint efforts to achieve this effect...