Healing Basketball

Chapter 493 493. Inflated Ambition (5500 words)
After a day off, on May 5, the Trail Blazers continued their training.

Before the training started, Liu Xiu and others received a small amount of money to advance to the second round, which was a little less than the bonus for the second place in the Western Conference to enter the playoffs, 3992 US dollars.

The bonus for advancing to the second round is less than the bonus for the top three in the East and West in the regular season to enter the playoffs, because under the current ranking rules, the third place in the regular season in the West actually refers to the regular season champions of the three major regions in the West. The one with the third record, the one with the division championship banner.

If they can win in the second round, the prize money for advancing to the East and West finals is similar to the first place in the East and West in the regular season.

No matter how much money you have, the players will naturally be very happy. There is no salary in the playoffs.

Moreover, getting the bonus means that they have advanced to the next round, a small amount of glory.

However, Liu Xiu found that the team staff was even happier, and after a while, the bonus was paid out again.

The two tactical training sessions in the morning had nothing to do with the opponents. They were all summed up in the first round of practice. In the playoffs, the small-scale coordination style suitable for them, that is, the coordination played by the players themselves on the court, some of them were actually It was a style of play discussed by several players in private, and it has now been adopted by the coaching staff.

This kind of thing is a very proud thing for players.

This kind of training is actually a tacit improvement.

The coaches of championship-level teams like lineup stability, and this is why.

The longer the cooperation time, the more diversified the tactics can be.

Of course, the reality is that those championship-level teams can guarantee a stable core lineup, which is already very good.

After the morning training, Liu Xiu was called to the office by the vice president, and the coach and assistants were there.

The more the vice president looked at Liu Xiu, the more satisfied he was. In the first round, Liu Xiu was no longer in the crazy state he was in April, but this kid is very clear about his situation, and he didn't mess around just because he played well before. Instead, he made good use of his threat , When you should be just now, if you should integrate into the team's style of play, then integrate into the team's style of play. When you need to rely on your teammates, you will not be overbearing. You have full trust in your teammates, but when you need him, he can stand up at the critical moment...

Moreover, he averaged 31 minutes per game and scored 51 points on 24.25% shooting. There is nothing to criticize about his performance.

Compared with last season's playoffs, Liu Xiu is obviously more mature this season.

But this time the management and the coaching staff called Liu Xiulai not to see how handsome their leading star is, but to discuss it, speculate who the next round opponent is, and which direction they are mainly preparing for.

The playing styles of the Mavericks and the Kings are diametrically opposed. The Mavericks rely purely on stars, while the Kings play traditional team basketball based on pick-and-roll passes.

In the end, no result was discussed, and a decision would be made after the battle of Tianwang Mountain tomorrow night was decided.

In other words, this discussion is tantamount to no discussion.

But the vice president was very satisfied with the meeting.

After Liu Xiu left, the vice president said: "We can let Jess participate in more meetings in the future, increase his participation in team work, enhance his sense of belonging, and increase the success rate of contract renewal."

Bu Shuai didn't understand, so he asked: "I think the warden is very happy to play here, and the lineup is also built around him. He shouldn't want to leave, right?"

The vice president's lens flashed with wisdom: "This kind of thing is hard to say. Who would have thought that Martin would want to leave the Nets? If he wanted to go to Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago, then it would be understandable, but He's going to Denver, so like he said, he's trying to prove himself..."

Huo Tu recognized it very much: "Yes, it is difficult to guess the minds of the current players. I worked for the Grizzlies before, and we did not expect that after we trained Bibby for three years, he would refuse to renew his contract and ask for a trade. He is applying for a trade. There has never been a desire to leave the team before."

In the labor agreement before 98, the rookie contract did not have a home team matching clause. Bibby's contract was signed after being selected and before the lockout.

Bu Shuai: "I see. It seems that we really need to have more communication with the core players... Do you think the possibility of the Warden renewing his contract is high?"

Vice President: "It shouldn't be a problem, but we can't be careless..."

Listening to the conversation between the boss and his subordinates, the coach was speechless.

Why do these brothers do all these things as soon as they are free?
The coach put forward a constructive suggestion: "If you want to know what he thinks, just ask him directly."

Bu Shuai: "Good way, let me ask?"

Vice President: "No, no, no, the Chinese are very reserved. When talking about money, you can't be so direct, or they will think you look down on him."

Huo Tuo said: "Yes, yes, yes, I had a neighbor who was Chinese before. They are like this. Our two families once made an appointment to have dinner together. They paid first, and I want to pay our share. Give them, they're not happy."

Bu Shuai: "I see. Fortunately, you have experience, otherwise I accidentally offended him."

Coach:? ? ?Is the warden reserved? ?

Forget it, it’s not a bad thing. If you have to say it, it’s definitely a good thing. At least it can increase the usual communication as the vice president said, and increase the warden’s team work participation. Spend.

Let them toss...

...

Liu Xiu went back to the lounge to pick up things, saw his teammates surrounding the TV, and remembered that today was the day when the best sixth man was announced.

Liu Xiu leaned forward and asked, "Are you nervous?"

Little Flying Squirrel responded immediately: "Nervous? How is it possible! I don't care."

Liu Xiu smiled and said nothing, Little Flying Squirrel said angrily, "You don't believe me? I'll throw away my best sixth man trophy last year when I go back tonight!"

Liu Xiu nodded and said, "Do you want me to book a hotel for you? I used to have a sleeping partner who opened a hotel."

Little Flying Squirrel: "..."

After harvesting a little healing value, Liu Xiu didn't continue to tease Little Flying Squirrel. It would be a pity that this teammate really went back and smashed the best sixth man trophy.

The best sixth man, this award is already a grand prize for most players, after all, it is a single award in the regular season.

Little Flying Squirrel's career is not considered a failure. He has won the best rookie and averaged 20+8 per game in the season, but before he met Liu Xiu, his family's trophies were only the best rookie and the rookie team.

And Little Flying Squirrel was considered a top player in the league at its peak.

In addition, in the past two or three years, the gold content of the best sixth man has greatly increased.

The Trail Blazers put the flying mouse on the bench, the Mavericks put Stackhouse on the bench, and the Bulls put Ben Gordon on the bench... These operations abruptly raised the gold content of the best sixth man up.

On the TV screen, hosts, experts, and narrators are discussing the probability of the candidates winning.

Flying Squirrel, Stackhouse, Ben Gordon, Boykins, Ricky Davis, this year's shortlist for the best sixth man, the winners will not be players other than these five.

Looking at this list, Liu Xiu thought of yesterday's list of candidates for the Most Improved Award, and he found that this year's individual awards are very valuable!
Brian Colangelo defeated Pat Riley for the best manager, D'Antoni beat Maurice Cheeks and Lawrence Frank for the best coach, and Bobby Simmons beat the 01-03 class A pile of geniuses won the fastest progress award...

At 12:05 noon, the NBA officially announced the winner of the best sixth man.

When he saw his photo and name, Momonga, who didn't care about the award at all, screamed and jumped up from the sofa.

Flying Squirrel won the best sixth man for two consecutive years, replicating the achievements of Kevin McHale and Detlef Schramf!
After screaming, Little Flying Squirrel suddenly remembered that Liu Xiu was still there, it was so embarrassing!

Little Flying Squirrel immediately said: "I didn't scream because I won the award. I remembered the tomato business in my field. The early season tomatoes will be harvested next month..."

Liu Xiu nodded quickly: "Yeah, I know, I understand, but you have won the best sixth man for two consecutive years. Before you, only McHale and Schramf can win the best sixth man. It just so happens that we haven't practiced much these two days, so let's have a party to celebrate?"

"Is it necessary to have a party for such a trivial matter? Heck, since you brought it up so sincerely, I happen to have time now, so I'll go and book a restaurant first..."

...

In the evening, the Rockets became the team with the second payout, and were swept 0-4 by the league's No. [-] Suns.

The Suns averaged 113.5 points per game, the Rockets averaged 101.5 points per game, and the average net difference was 12 points per game. The Suns played an inhumane attack on the Rockets.

姚明4场比赛场均30.25分16.7板1.7助攻2.5盖帽，命中率是55.6%，一场胜利都没拿下。

He can help the team withstand the offensive of the Suns, but in the decisive stage, none of them can stand up to compete with outside scorers such as Nash, Joe Johnson, and Big Q, and there is no suspense in losing.

In the other two games tonight, in the series between the Heat and the 76ers, Iverson did not have C in G4. The overall strength gap is still so big. Tonight, the Heat did a good job defending. Iverson made 24 shots He scored 7 points and 19 assists in only 10 shots. He didn't get up, and the 76ers were miserable. They only scored 84 points. They lost the home court advantage 84-91 and tied 2-2.

In the battle between the Mavericks and the Kings, the Mavericks did not give the Kings another chance. Nowitzki made 28 of 15 shots, including 13 of 6 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws. Hurricane 41 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists , leading the Mavericks to a 115-99 victory over the Kings.

The Kings G3 gave the Mavericks a chance to start, and now they can't even suppress the Mavericks' offensive rhythm and lower the scores of both sides.

The Kings lost hope after a game in G3!

By the next afternoon, during the Trail Blazers' preparation meeting, Maurice Cheeks announced that the Mavericks would be preparing for the next round.

There is no need to wait for G6 anymore. The Kings have no chance. Although Bibby averaged 22.5 points and 7.2 assists per game in this series, he has not been able to lead the team. % hit rate to get 37 points.

This is reminiscent of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Peja only shot 7% in 30.6 games, averaging 6.7 points per game, and his scoring performance was not as good as Fisher. Peja averaged 21 points per game in the regular season that year...

The direction of preparations has been determined, and the preparations for the Trail Blazers have started in an orderly manner.

Liu Xiu held a party for Little Flying Squirrel to celebrate Lianzhuang's best sixth man, let his teammates celebrate the victory in the last round, and injected new impetus into the next round of the series.

This is an operation discussed by Liu Xiu and Anne Hathaway. After the promotion, they will find a way to make everyone have a fuss together, which may help the teammates enter the next round with more enthusiasm.

It happened that the little flying mouse won the award, and it was a commemorative award.

It looks good now!
After Yao Ming's side was swept away, Liu Xiu didn't call right away, but waited for another day, and finally called Yao Ming on the 4th, and chatted for a while about homework and the national team's match in summer.

As a person who has been eliminated in the playoffs, Liu Xiu himself felt embarrassed when he received calls from other players when he was eliminated.

But losing, I have some time to buffer, so I accept it, after all, I can only accept it.

Thinking of Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, Du Feng, Tang Zhengdong and others inside the lineup to play in the Asian Championships is simply bullying.

In the evening, the Mavericks, who went to Sacramento to play G6, defeated the Kings 113-105 away, won 4 games in a row, defeated the Kings 4-2 in a super reversal, and advanced to the second round!
...

Liu Xiu was not surprised at all that the Mavericks were able to comeback and kill the Kings after they found the feeling.

In fact, the Mavericks have not reached the state during the 16-game winning streak. It is not the return to the peak state that the news said. It is estimated that it will not be possible to play that state again this season. Going forward to play the Kings, the Kings are also struggling. The Mavericks won three games in a row, which directly defeated the Kings.

Not a while after the series between the Mavericks and the Kings ended, Liu Xiu received a call from Nowitzki. This time, he did not have a dinner appointment, but expressed his excitement about playing against each other again and the idea of ​​revenge.

Liu Xiu said "I'm really scared", and the other party almost hung up the phone in anger.

By the next morning, the Trail Blazers' preparations were even more emotional. The opponent was really sure to be the Mavericks, so there was no need to worry about choosing the wrong opponent for the preparation.

After the training in the morning, Liu Xiuquietly left the training field instead of watching the announcement of today's three major awards with her teammates in front of the TV.

These three awards naturally refer to the best rookie, best defensive player, and MVP.

But even though he already knew the answer, he still wanted to take a look. Looking forward to what happened, he came to a VIP lounge in the arena, which also provided TV services, quietly watching the live broadcast.

The best rookie, Emeka Okafor got 75 first votes and won the best rookie of the season with 51.3% of the votes.

No.2 is Ben Gordon, who got 44 first ballots.

No.3's Howard only got 6 first ballots.

No one else got the first vote, even Udri, JR-Smith, Josh-Smith and others who got the best rookie of the month.

除了场均15+11的奥卡福、场均15+2+2的本-戈登、场均12+10的霍华德，这赛季其他新秀的表现确实不尽人意。

The best defensive player, Artest got 55 first votes, with 30.6% of the votes, beating Ben Wallace with 19% of the votes, Bruce Bowen with 12 votes, and 11% of the votes Larry Hughes won the best defensive player for two consecutive years!
Artest limited opponents to only 100 points per 96 possessions, which is too good.

对比一下，本赛季每百回合防守表现，鲍文限制对手拿到102分、基德限制对手拿到101分、基里连科限制对手拿到103分、韦德限制对手拿到103分、拉里-休斯限制对手拿到99分。

The outside line is different from the inside line. Under the current rule that you cannot stop the opponent with your hands in the area above the free throw line, outside defensive players can limit the opponent's points to less than 100 points per [-] rounds. As long as the team's record is decent, it must be the best. Defensive Lineup or Best Defensive Player Popularity.

The final finale is the regular season MVP.

Seeing that Nash won 125 of the 61 first-place votes and won the MVP with 34.9% of the votes, Liu Xiu felt unwilling even though he was mentally prepared. He transformed this emotion into Motivation, no negative emotions because of this matter.

After all, he wasn't among the top three voters...

O'Neal came in second with 21.9 percent of the vote, and Kidd came in third with 13 percent.

His warden only got 9 first ballots and came in fourth with 10.57% of the votes.

Bill Duffy once gave Liu Xiu psychological training. When his overall performance is not the best, the media will be extra stingy in voting for him.

This Liu Xiu knows the reason...

In the original time and space, Yao Ming averaged 25 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for one year, with a record of 52 wins and 30 losses. He didn’t even get a single MVP vote. He changed to an American center and averaged 25 points per game. For example, the bully who left Nash in the 10-11 season , with the Knicks averaging 25.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, will make the playoffs and be considered an MVP candidate.

It's okay for him to compete for other awards, but MVP, the award that symbolizes the best, is inherently more difficult than others.

He had already had psychological expectations, and he took this matter as motivation.

It is very difficult, and it will be even more enjoyable if it is really completed one day!
However, he looked at James, who ranked No. 9.3 with 5% of the votes, beating Duncan and Iverson, and a question mark appeared on his head.

Then the question marks spread out, question marks all over the head.

James averaged 27.2 points, 8 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game. The data is very good, but the Cavaliers did not make the playoffs!
After being stunned for a while, Liu Xiu guessed what the media might be thinking—it looks funny now, but when James becomes famous in the future, he will become an "honor". Some people think that the second-year James is already in the top five in the league.

Regardless of James, don't care.

After turning off the TV, Liu Xiu leaned on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest. He found that his ambition was expanding.

The more you can't get it, the more you want it!

The loss of the MVP competition this time gave him even more ambitions!
Since it is difficult to get votes, then continue to improve yourself and act like those who have the right to vote have to vote for him!
……

……

Inflated ambitions will not have any impact on Liu Xiu at present.

His goal now is to beat the Mavericks to enter the next round!
In the afternoon, he returned to the waiting room and prepared patiently with his teammates.

The veterans were very worried that Liu Xiu would be affected, but seeing Liu Xiu's calm appearance, Payton, who once competed for the MVP but failed to win, couldn't help feeling that people are different. In those years at the peak, every time the MVP was announced, my mentality would explode for two days... The warden is indeed a person who wants to do great things!
On May 5, the Mavericks came to Portland to begin preparations for the second round.

5月7号晚上9点58分，马刺队以103比77屠杀超音速队，以4比2的大比分淘汰对手晋级第二轮，首轮有7组系列赛打完了！
晋级第二轮的球队，西部：太阳队4比0横扫火箭队、开拓者队4比0横扫掘金队、小牛队4比2击败国王队、马刺队击败超音速队，都是上半区球队，下半区球队没有一支存活。

东部也一样，篮网队4比1击败凯尔特人队、活塞队4比2击败公牛队、步行者队4比1击败奇才队，晋级的都是上半区球队。

But not all teams in the lower half are hopeless-the Heat and the 76ers reached the tiebreaker!
This is quite surprising. Although the 76ers had the upper hand against the Heat in the regular season, and Iverson was extremely crazy when he played against the Heat, there is still a big difference between the playoffs and the regular season.

Iverson averaged 6 points and 33 assists in the first six games of the Heat series, teaching sophomore cheek...

However, although the Heat and the 76ers have not yet decided the winner, it does not prevent the second round from starting soon.

Tomorrow, May 5, the day of the tiebreaker between the Heat and the 8ers, the second round will kick off at the same time.

The series between the No. [-] Nets in the East and the No. [-] defending champion Pacers in the East will kick off!

In the west, the Trail Blazers, who have rested for a week, will start the series with the Mavericks tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)