NBA: This flower path is a bit strong.

People often say that excessive joy leads to sorrow!

On the third night of the match against the Magic, the Raptors flew to Atlanta to play the Hawks at the Philips Arena...

As a result, they were defeated by the Eagles.

This game, although not a back-to-back game.

But Das continued his poor touch from the previous game, even worse than the previous game.

As the core of the outside line, he played for 40 minutes in the whole game, took only 11 shots and hit 4 goals;

其中三分球3投0中，罚球4投3中，一共拿下了11分9个助攻3个篮板1个抢断。

(These are all real stats from Damon Stoudemire’s game)

Another core player of the team, Hanamichi, as the core of the inside line, actually enjoyed the real core treatment.

Throughout the game, Hanamichi was double-teamed in the interior by Hawks center Andrew Long and Alan Henderson!

花道拿下了17分11个篮板6盖帽5助攻1抢断这个全面的数据，但却是用了20次出手换来的。

The Eagles' inside line suffered losses:

安德鲁·朗全场8投1中，拿下4分4板1助的数据！

If this data is acceptable for a tank-type center.

Then Alan Henderson, the main power forward, made 11 of 3 shots, and this true shooting percentage is a bit touching!

But Alan still got a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds against Huadao.

The main reason was Andrew Lang's containment and comprehensive double-teaming of Hanamichi.

This also made coach Landon Malone realize once again that his team is lacking an inside player who can share the burden with Hanamichi on the offensive end and fully play the role of a "meat shield" or "forward" on the defensive end!

Landon Malone called general manager Masai Ujiri immediately after the game:

"Hey! Man! I don't think you want to hear this bad news from me!"

"We lost to the Hawks tonight by 12 points!" (102:114)

"NO, our core players played well, but I think the reason for our loss is what you were doing!"

"That's right! I need a [card forward] or [tank] who can not only do the dirty work in the paint but also share the burden with Flower."

“That was the foundation for us to make the playoffs this season.”

In response to Landon Malone's series of words, General Manager Masai Ujiri finally responded with only one sentence:

"Trading!"

Then the short call ended.

Coach Ma Long twitched the corner of his mouth, half believing and half doubting.

God knows how Masai Ujiri is being traded when the trading market hasn’t opened yet!

Could it be a private deal between the team's top management?

…………

Coach Landon Malone can't care about so many things. As long as his base is not touched, that's enough!

As for Hanamichi, compared to other rookies and even core players, his data against the Hawks is already impressive!

But for the Raptors, who are short of players and have just entered the league, winning is still far from enough!

But there is no time for Hua Dao to think carefully!

They had to fly from Atlanta to Indiana to face the league's strong team, the Indiana Pacers.

Fly from the Appalachian foothills of the eastern United States to the cornfields of the north-central United States.

Because the game against the Indiana Pacers can be regarded as the Raptors' first real back-to-back away game since entering the league.

Therefore, after getting off the plane, the time left for them to rest was not enough.

Coach Landon Malone also did not have extra time to make some special tactical arrangements and drills.

In such an expected game, the Raptors lost as expected!

In the entire game, the Raptors lost to Indiana's cornfield wrestlers 89:97.

The game was evenly matched until the third quarter.

Dasi fought his way in and out of this group of strong men, and his nimble little body helped him thrive like a fish in water.

Even for a period of time in the third quarter, he was not at all inferior to Reggie Miller in the three-point shooting competition.

In the end, he scored the highest 26 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds for both teams.

The problem was that when facing the "wrestlers" in the cornfield, Hanamichi was beaten badly.

He only scored 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the whole game, barely getting a double-double and saving face as a core player!

In fact, the reason for the loss of this game was not because Hanamichi played poorly on the court, but because he encountered the [Rookie Wall]!

As a star player, Hanamichi is a [pseudo All-Star]. It would be ridiculous if he encountered the [Rookie Wall]!

But what if they’re double-teamed?

The double-team deliberately targeting him and Hanamichi's lack of court experience when facing the double-team, this is the so-called alternative "Rookie Wall".

It's just that Das didn't encounter this kind of treatment. If he had, he would have been in trouble in his rookie season!

In this game, the Pacers rotated a total of 12 players, including 4 players just to deal with Hanamichi.

(Power forward Dale Davis, center Dwayne Hintzzus, power forward Adrian Caldwell, power forward Antonio Davis)

And basically they work in pairs to double-team!

Larry Brown is one of the best head coaches the Pacers have ever had.

He did not give up targeting Hanamichi because of his poor performance in several consecutive games. Instead, he thought that this just proved that the Raptors' inside line was strong on the outside but weak on the inside!

In fact, this is exactly the case.

The consecutive back-to-back away games and the Pacers' "Men on Both Sides" made Hanamichi feel the league's "gay love" that is unique to this era!

This was the first time that he enjoyed the treatment he deserved as a core inside player in this era.

……

And with the Raptors' two consecutive losses, many news media began to look down on them.

In particular, criticism was launched against the unstable performance of Dasi and Hanamichi.

I don’t know when it started, but media commentators began to believe that double-doubles or 20+ scoring data are what rookies like Hanamichi and Das should have.

Once it falls below this expectation, the alliance will make a fuss about it!

for example:

"The magic is gone, the rookie group is defeated in the cornfield!"

“Is the blooming of the Celestial Flower a flash in the pan?”

……

They generally believe that the Raptors' management is either as young as the team or has lost its mind.

Both Hanamichi and Das have talent, but it is too early for them to become the core of the team as rookies!

The best way is to trade!

If we trade one of these twin stars and get a new star to join us, and bring the old with the new, we might be able to make it to the playoffs this season.

Or you could use Stoudemire to get a few good pieces of the team, hone the rookie players, "play badly" for a season to get a good draft pick, and bet the team on the future!

If this is the case, maybe within two years they will even be able to reach the ceiling of the Eastern Conference Finals.