Pick Westbrook

Chapter 225 Only Paul himself
after the game.

O'Neal and Yao Ming hugged affectionately on the court.

As the most rare opponent ever on the court, Yao Ming regretted not being able to meet O'Neal in those years when he was at his peak.

But now he can watch O'Neal retire in front of his own eyes, which is the last thing that is enough to make him gratified.

O'Neal took the initiative to take off his jersey and said, "Yao, why don't you come to the Bucks, I think this suits you quite well."

"You can see that Yi Jianlian plays very well here."

Yao Ming also took off his jersey and said, "You know, I won't go anywhere. I want to win a championship for the Rockets."

O'Neill said with a hippie smile, dreaming.

After receiving a friendly tomato response from Yao Ming, the two exchanged jerseys under the witness of the audience and fans all over the world.

Yu Jia watched with tears in his eyes and said: "Next season, we will never see the classic Yaosha duel again."

Su Qun nodded, and also had the feeling of a hero's twilight and a shark's gray head.

Su Qun still remembers the first time he became a CCTV basketball broadcast guest and consultant in 1992, and that day was also the day when O'Neal entered the NBA court as the No. [-] pick.

It just so happened that the first game that Su Qun commented was on November 1992, 11, when the rookie Sharks ushered in the first game of their career.

Magic vs. Heat.

那场比赛奥尼尔全场出战了32分钟，虽然只拿到了12分但却抓下了18个篮板，另外还有3个封盖2次助攻和1个抢断的数据。

It was also in that game, watching O'Neal grab a defensive rebound and dunk one after another, Su Qun yelled the classic: Fuck, ruthless, so cruel!
Su Qun still has a fresh memory of that game, and he even remembers the sentence that the young and vigorous O'Neal said after the game: I thought that playing in the NBA required skill, but the result was the same as playing in the NCAA.

"In the new offseason, O'Neal dunked the backboard and the rim three times while dunking, and the last time he pulled the basketball hoop down."

"At that time, the entire NBA was shocked to see O'Neal."

Looking at O'Neal who is too old to dunk, Su Qun stood up and applauded heartily.

Post-match interview.

Although he lost the game, Coach Adelman still showed a relaxed mood.

Under the curious questions of the reporters in front of him, he finally spoke out the reason why he was so relaxed.

"There's no shame in losing to the defending champion, there's no shame in losing to this Bucks team."

"In this game tonight, the Rockets have reminded all the teams in the league to be careful of the complete Bucks."

"Yi Jianlian's comeback will make this team even more terrifying."

Having said that, Coach Adelman remembered the exchange of jerseys after the game, and then said with a smile.

"I am very happy to witness the change of the league's first center from old to new. O'Neal deserves everyone's applause."

The reporters who heard this sentence glanced at each other, until one reporter boldly said: "Yao Ming took over O'Neal's title as the number one center in the league?"

"What about Howard?"

Coach Adelman raised the corner of his mouth contemptuously and said, "Yao is better than Howard."

3 month 20 day.

The battle for the playoffs has reached a fever pitch.

With a record of 53 wins and 9 losses, the Heat became the first team in the league to advance to the playoffs.

Barkley made a special show for the Heat this season.

A lot of famous and historical stars have been invited as guests of the live show to jointly analyze the Heat this season.

These celebrities and historical players all mentioned the former Celtics Big Three at this time.

That team won the championship trophy in the first year of forming the Big Three.

In the eyes of all the celebrities, the Big Three of the Heat are even better than the Big Three of the Celtics.

Especially James and Wade, the two teamed up this season to contribute to the super attack wave of the Janeway connection, playing all the teams in the league in an inhuman shape.

The Heat's 20-point victory over the Spurs was brought up by Barkley with relish.

After all, the Spurs are also a member of the championship team, but they are also a championship team, but they were beaten so badly by the Heat.

Barkley said: "The duo of James and Wade is really shocking. They are like Jordan and Pippen once."

"Combined with a seamless Bosh, the Heat's strengths are simply too much."

"This is like holding a hand of Wang Bo and 2. No matter what kind of cards are in the hands of other teams in the league, it is difficult to beat the Heat."

Magic Johnson raised objections at this time and said: "The Heat are indeed very strong, and their lineup is really strong."

"But it's not that there are no teams in the league that can beat them. Even in the East, there is more than one team that has the strength to beat them."

Kenny Smith asked curiously, "Which two?"

Magic Johnson said directly: "The Bulls and the Bucks."

Hearing this, all the celebrities on the scene fell silent, and then began to think seriously.

The Bulls have also been strong this season.

Especially the player nicknamed Fengchen Rose, who is now ranked second in the MVP rankings.

If it weren't for the Heat's excellent record, James learned that post-up singles are too strong this season.

All media reporters and guest commentators will probably think that Rose is the best candidate for the regular season MVP.

Coupled with the fact that the Bulls still have high-level players like Noah, Boozer and Pierce, even facing the Big Three lineup of the Heat, they will not fall behind.

So Magic Johnson said that the Bulls can become the opponent of the Heat, and everyone present agrees [-]%.

but the bucks
Barkley couldn't help but sighed and said: "After the All-Star Game, the Bucks are a little scary."

Kenny Smith nodded in agreement and said, "Since Yi Jianlian came back, they have won 12 consecutive victories."

"Coach Adelman of the Rockets even uttered a reminder to remind the entire league to be careful of the Bucks after being defeated by the Bucks."

"Unlike when the regular season started and the whole world looked down, now everyone who watched the Bucks was thinking from the bottom of their hearts."

"How strong is this team?"

The Magician has also watched a lot of Bucks games recently, after all, the opponent was the team that defeated the Lakers in the Finals last season.

After watching a lot of Bucks games, the magician became more and more shocked.

Ever since Yi Jianlian came back from injury, the coaching staff of the Bucks has kept him on the bench!

That was last season's All-Star player. If it wasn't for the offseason injury, Yi Jianlian also has a high probability of entering the All-Star team again this season.

But it is such a player that the Bucks dare to let him play as a substitute!
And the player Yi Jianlian seemed to be extremely willing to play as a substitute on the court.

"What exactly is the Bucks trying to do with this operation?"

But no matter how the Bucks line up, everyone present is very clear.

This team is not only an opponent of the Heat's Big Three, they will even become a very powerful enemy of the opponent.

The Heat haven't had a completely smooth season this season.

"More importantly, this wave of 12 consecutive victories allowed the Bucks to sweep away the haze that most of the inside players in the team were injured, and also helped them and the Bulls rank second in the Eastern Conference's record ranking."

"However, regardless of the final ranking of the two teams, it should be difficult for them to surpass the Heat in record."

"So, two of the three strongest teams in the Eastern Conference this season will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals ahead of schedule."

Bradley Arena.

The Bucks' recent 12-game winning streak has greatly boosted the morale of the army.

All Milwaukee fans finally waited for the extremely strong Bucks like last season's regular season.

Yi Jianlian played as a substitute player during this period, averaging 28 minutes of playing time per game, and can contribute 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

Because he came off the bench, this statistic has dropped a lot compared to Yi Jianlian's All-Star season last season.

But Yi Jianlian has no complaints about this, because he still remembers what Li Lai said to him at the training ground.

This season, the Bucks need him to play as a substitute player in the playoffs, so Yi Jianlian will continue to play as a substitute in all the next regular season games.

"The Hornets have also been very aggressive in recent games, especially Chris Paul, who has scored double-doubles in ten consecutive games."

"It can be seen that Paul intends to lead the Hornets to the Western Conference playoffs no matter what."

While Tyronn Lue was talking to Li Lai, Paul, who was warming up on the court, walked straight towards Li Lai.

Paul said in extreme frustration: "Coach, I can't wait any longer."

In last season, because of the Hornets' unsightly record, it was determined early that they would miss the playoffs. At that time, Paul had already had the idea of ​​applying for a trade.

Watching former teammates being traded by the Hornets management one after another, the strength of the team is declining day by day. Paul, who is stronger by nature, cannot accept such a picture at all.

He wants to win games, he wants to join a team that can help him win games, and more importantly, he wants to go to a team that needs him.

The Hornets need Paul simply because he can sell tickets.

But just when Paul had such an extremely angry thought, Li Lai kindly reminded him not to apply for a trade in a hurry last season.

Because the team that wants to get Paul must pay a huge price, which will not only damage the strength and future of that team, but at the same time, no one can predict whether that team is what Paul wants to go to.

If he is unfortunately traded to the Timberwolves or Cavaliers by the Hornets, then Paul's entire future career will be truly over.

After all, these two teams are the richest in the league today, with a lot of high-quality draft picks and potential players in their hands.

At this time, they need a leader like Paul to lead the team to win the game.

Take the Timberwolves as an example. Kevin Love averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds per game this season, making him a proper first-tier power forward in the league.

If the Timberwolves can get Paul to join again to form a dual-core team inside and outside, then this team will definitely become a strong team in the playoffs.

"Just think about it, even if you join the Timberwolves, can you lead this team to become a championship team?"

"Of course, with the ability of you and Kevin Love, it is absolutely no problem to lead the team to the playoffs."

"But what about the championship?"

"The most important thing is, what is the strength of the Hornets now?"

Li Lai's words gave Paul another blow like enlightenment.

Hasn't the Hornets been led by him to the playoffs now?

The result after joining the Timberwolves is not the same.

Is it possible that the Timberwolves' ten thousand-year-old belly is worthy of winning the championship?
Even Paul himself did not believe this.

He said: "But coach, I really don't want to stay on this chaotic team. They don't even have a serious front office."

"That guy David Stern, as long as he can save the Hornets money, he will agree with whatever the management does."

"Trade whoever is valuable on the team."

"Tyson Chandler was traded, Peja Stojakovic was traded, Rasual Butler was traded."

"I heard that they are still planning to move David West! The reason is that the chips offered by the Pacers are very attractive."

"But David West is the leading scorer on our team right now."

Paul almost cried aggrieved when he said this.

God knows what this extremely strong player has experienced in the Hornets to make him look so wronged.

Li Lai patted Paul on the shoulder comfortingly.

In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on David Stern alone.

Because the Hornets have been losing money over the years.

Otherwise, why would George Shin, the owner of this team, hand over the team to the league.

Isn't it because the Hornets lose money every year that George Sheen is afraid of losing money.

And George Sheen's asking price for selling the team has always been particularly high, no matter how hard David Stern made in the middle, how many people who are capable of taking over the Hornets have been found.

George Sheen is always a buy it now, never give up a penny.

This also makes David Stern very embarrassed, the league can't let the Hornets have been managed like this.

What's the matter with that.

The point is, David Stern was also scared by the Hornets.

The annual loss of 1000 million to 2000 million US dollars, this money will eventually be shared equally by the owners of all the teams in the league.

As a result, the mess of the Hornets has aroused complaints from all the behind-the-scenes bosses.

Even the Cuban guy has raged at George Sheen on social platforms, bluntly saying that the other party is a clown.

Only he can come up with the bad idea of ​​letting the league take care of the team.

Li Lai could foresee that Paul's tragic days would continue.

If nothing else, the opponent will also become the league superstar that all fans like to ridicule most in the future.

On the court, the game begins.

Bucks regular starting lineup.

Hornets starting lineup: point guard Chris Paul, shooting guard Willie Green, small forward Marco Belinelli, power forward David West and center Emeka Okafor.

Seeing the lineup of the Hornets, Li Lai nodded in admiration.

Although the management of the Hornets traded away a large number of potential players and capable players, the player reserve is not bad.

Marco Belinelli is a very versatile player.

Strong breakthrough ability, he can dominate a game with long shots when his hands are hot, and he is also a good passer with a very wide field of vision.

Moreover, Belinelli is still the player who runs the most on the court, and he dares to make moves without hesitating physical strength or even getting injured.

The only problem that can be picked out is that Belinelli is a European player, and there is a big shortage in explosive power, so his defensive ability and defensive habits are also not good.

But Belinelli is also a player who averaged 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached an excellent 41%.

Now the entire league is promoting offensive catch conversion and attaches great importance to outside shooting, so Belinelli will be a player who is very concerned about the free market.

It's no wonder that Paul is so angry with the Hornets' management, because the rumors about Belinelli's trade have not been broken this season.

Hornets center Emeka Okafor was the No. 2004 pick in [-].

Back then, he was a man who could compete with Warcraft Howard for the No. [-] pick.

It is worth mentioning that he snatched the rookie of the year from Howard.

Averaged 10 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, this is what Emeka Okafor has achieved this season.

But just looking at the numbers would be unfair to Emeka Okafor.

Because many of his performances on the court are not reflected in the data.

For example, Emeka Okafor has a very tough defense, amazing blocking ability, and also has a good ability to deal with double-team passing.

He's a solid double-double maker.

It's just that the scoring methods are a little mediocre, and they can only focus on alley-oops and dunks.

This is in line with Paul's partner.

In terms of blocking deterrence, rebounding awareness and game attitude, Emeka Okafor is a very good starter.

This is why Paul is angry with the Hornets management again.

Because it is such a double-double machine, they also want to trade.

The reason is Emeka Okafor's huge contract of 1300 million.

Of course, apart from Paul, the Hornets' most valuable trade is David West.

这赛季大卫-韦斯特打出了场均20分8篮板3助攻1盖帽1抢断的极佳数据，更重要的是他有一手十分不俗的低位单打能力。

In addition, David West's performance on the defensive end is also extremely strong, so now at least four teams in the league want him very much.

Among them, the Pacers are the team with the strongest willingness to trade.

Of course, it will be difficult for the Pacers to trade for David West this season.

After all, the Hornets are already very close to the threshold of the playoffs. If they can play in the playoffs in the end, they will get a lot of income.

In the eyes of David Stern, these incomes are enough for the Hornets to save some money this season.

"However, judging from the fact that the Hornets' management traded the entire team except Paul, it may be difficult to keep David West."

That's why Paul couldn't wait any longer.

Staying in the Hornets team, he really can't see the future. He can only watch his powerful teammates being traded by the team management.

In the end all that was left was himself.

on the field.

Cousins ​​snatched the first wave of the ball from Okafor.

The Bucks attack.

　I have been busy for a while today, and I will add more tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)