NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 205 Sweeping the Mavericks and fighting the Lakers in the second round

Compared with Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas has significantly less competitive environment and pressure. Parsons' competitor is Leonard, while Thomas Jr.'s competitor is only Aaron Brooks .

The playing styles of Thomas and Brooks are somewhat similar. They are both short and agile point guards. They are better at scoring than passing the ball, and they are both black holes on the defensive end.

With similar characteristics, Thomas Jr. began to gradually encroach on the playing time that should belong to Brooks by virtue of his faster, more flexible, younger and more impactful style of play than Brooks.

In fact, Brooks is not very old, he is only 27 years old, but his speed and explosiveness are not as good as the peak season in 09-10 due to injuries. The reason for the inner fringe characters.

Throughout the regular season, Thomas Jr. and Brooks almost shared the playing time at the point guard position, both playing about 22 minutes, one averaging 6.7 points and the other 7.2 points.

As for Jimmy Butler, he is still the worst performer among the four rookies.

There is no way around this. Compared with the position of point guard and small forward, the Rockets still have some talents at the position of shooting guard.

Courtney Lee and Korver almost carve up most of the playing time at the shooting guard position, and there are not many opportunities left for Butler.

Wang Chao doesn't have many requirements for the Rockets' shooting guard position. In fact, it is similar to the small forward position, one is defense, and the other is three-pointers.

Courtney Lee has a top-level perimeter defensive ability, and his three-point shooting rate can also be maintained at a stable level in the early 40s. Although Korver's defensive ability is slightly lacking, his 44% three-point shooting rate can make up for the defense terminal defects.

Compared with these two, Butler's defense is very active, but limited by experience and undeveloped ability, it is still inferior. In terms of three-pointers, even the future Butler who is worthy of his worth can't He is not good at three-pointers, and his career three-point shooting rate is 33%. Compared with Leonard, who is also not good at three-pointers, but his career shooting rate can reach 38%, the gap is obvious.

This is also the reason why Wang Chao wanted Klay Thompson very much.

As the best 3D player template, Thompson not only has excellent defensive ability, but also has the top three-point shooting ability. He is the best off-ball player and the best puzzle to win the championship.

It's a pity that it's useless, it can only mean that there is no fate.

But in a sense, if Curry and Thompson can't meet and form a partner, it's actually quite boring.

Look at the current lineup of the Rockets, Wang Chao, Leonard, Butler...

Regardless of the fact that Butler has no ball to play in the team now, apart from Wang Chao, he is the most desperate in daily training. Although limited by his talent, his progress is not as fast as Leonard, but this kind of persistent training attitude is doomed. Butler is bound to rise as he did in the original history.

Even if Dayao ages in the next few years and no longer possesses giant-level strength, and the era of internal and external dual-core is over, Leonard and Butler who have grown up are enough to form a super Big Three combination with Wang Chao, sweeping the entire league without any problem.

Under such circumstances, if Wang Chao snatches Thompson away again, without an opponent like the Warriors in the future, there will be no suspense about the championship every year, which is really a bit boring.
-
On April 4, the first round of the playoffs began.

The Rockets' opponent in the first round is the Dallas Mavericks, ranked eighth in the West.

Last year's runner-up, the Mavericks, who narrowly lost to the Magic in the finals, are now completely useless.

Perhaps it was because they failed to win the championship, which knocked out the energy of several veterans, or it may be because Tyson Chandler, the core defensive core, left the team, which led to the collapse of the Mavericks' defensive system.

The regular season winning percentage dropped from 70% last season to 51.5% this season is enough to explain the problem.

In the first round, they encountered the Rockets with the No. 4 record in the regular season. The Mavericks had no power to fight back and were swept out by a clean 0:[-].

In 4 games, Nowitzki, the core leader of the Mavericks, averaged 26.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, maintaining a stable scoring ability as always, but this is obviously not enough to lead the team to victory.

For the Rockets, they were fishing for fish throughout the regular season... no, it was Dayao, who was recharging his energy, and finally showed his fangs in the playoffs.

面对小牛队中锋布兰登.海伍德，大姚重拳出击，4场比赛场均16投10中，罚球5投4中，得到24分9.4篮板1.7封盖。

However, Wang Chao's first-round series data was 34 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.1 assists. Although the average points per game has dropped, this is because of the increase in the number of times Dayao has the ball to attack. On the offensive end, Dayao helps to share the pressure. , Wang Chao has more spare energy to use God's perspective talent to assist other players in offense, so the number of assists has also increased accordingly.

The Rockets swept the Mavericks 4:0 in the first round, which was expected in itself.

The Mavericks' combat effectiveness is too weak to have any impact on the Rockets.

But after the first round, the Rockets' opponents in the second round of the conference semifinals were not so easy to deal with.

What they will face is the Los Angeles Lakers who eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.

Even though they were defeated by the Mavericks last season and missed the finals, the Lakers are a team that has reached the finals three times and won one championship in the past four years. The winning lineup, most importantly, the existence of Kobe is doomed that the Lakers are a strong enemy that no team can underestimate in the playoffs.
-
Before the start of the second round of the playoffs, the league announced the results of the selection of the best team of the season as usual.

With his exaggerated personal data, Wang Chao was selected into the best team without any suspense.

He was selected for the first team, as well as Paul, Kobe, James and Howard.

Durant, who averaged 31+8+3 per game, was squeezed into the second team. Although this result made me feel very uncomfortable, there was nothing I could do about it.

As a striker, Durant's competitors are Wang Chao and James.

Wang Chao didn't even have to think about it, his personal data and team record completely suppressed Durant, and he had no chance.

Although James' average scoring per game is lower than Durant's, his average of 27+8+7 per game is not inferior to Durant's overall comparison. At the same time, James was also selected for the best defensive team. Get ahead of Durant.

As a result, Durant could only be on the All-NBA Second Team alongside his teammates Westbrook, Tony Parker, Kevin Love and Andrew Bynum.

The five players in the best three teams are Rondo, Wade, Anthony, Griffin and Dayao.

Although Dayao only played 47 games in the entire regular season, his attendance rate is the lowest among all players in the best team, but he can contribute 28+17 data in an average of 8 minutes of playing time per game, and his efficiency value looks at the insiders of the league It can be described as outstanding.

And the Rockets' record in the league is also worthy of the best third team.

It just looks a little ironic, the Rockets with the top record in the regular season have one team and three teams, while the Lakers, which only ranks fourth in the Western Conference, have Kobe in the first team and Bynum in the second team.

Both sides are equipped with internal and external cores, and they will soon face off in the semi-finals of the division. It can be said that it is clear at a glance which one is stronger.

Before the start of the match between the two teams, many Dayao fans had already shouted slogans.

"Dayao, teach Bynum well! Such a rookie dares to rank higher than you, does he deserve it?"

"Come on! Fuck Kobe, Fuck the Lakers, Rockets champion!"

"The Lakers? Are they rivals? Kobe is not as good as Wang Chao in scoring, and Bynum is not as strong as Yao in the interior. How can they win?"

However, there are also some different voices.

"The Lakers don't just have Kobe and Bynum, they also have Gasol. Don't underestimate the enemy."

"In the regular season, Kobe just kept playing. He didn't really take it seriously until the playoffs. Wang Chao was different. He had already worked hard for the team's record in the regular season. In the playoffs, his defensive strength increased. It's really true. It’s hard to say, the Lakers are not vegetarian after all, but they still have a top perimeter defensive player like Artest on the front line.”

ESPN gave a 6:4 win rate for the two-team series before the game, with the Rockets leading slightly, but being able to give the Lakers a 4% win rate clearly recognizes the Lakers' combat effectiveness in the playoffs.

On May 5, the first game of the divisional semifinals began.

The Rockets host the Los Angeles Lakers.
-
"Basically that's the arrangement."

In the locker room, Wang Chao held a tactical board and said to the surrounding players: "The Lakers are a typical positional team. Although the head coach Phil Jackson left the team last season and was replaced by Mike Brown to coach, the team The core tactic is still the triangle tactic, which needs to revolve around two inside players and Kobe Bryant."

Wang Chao said, looking at Leonard.

"Kawhi, in the game, the task of defending Kobe is given to you. You don't need to think about any offensive aspects throughout the game. The only task is to keep an eye on Kobe. Don't let him catch the ball easily, even if the opponent catches the ball. When it comes to the ball, he can't let him shoot comfortably."

Leonard nodded, and said in a deep voice, "Okay, leave it to me."

Today's Leonard already has the feeling of being entangled in death in the future. Although he was not selected to the best defensive team this season, his real defensive ability can already reach the level of the best defensive team.

Even Kobe would have a headache when he met this monster with a height of 2 meters and a wingspan of 01 meters.

"Brother Yao, I'm afraid you need to worry more about the inside lane. The Lakers will definitely use the Twin Towers to attack the inside lane frequently..."

McHale was on the side, watching Wang Chao explain the tasks to the team members one by one, without feeling any sense of disobedience, and even nodded in agreement from time to time.

"That's right, Wang thinks the same as me."

McHale was not at all dissatisfied with Wang Chao's overreaching behavior.

What is he dissatisfied with?McHale still knows how much his coaching ability is.

At present, most of the Rockets' tactics and main style of play are based on Wang Chao's suggestions.

At the beginning, McHale still questioned, thinking that Wang Chao's small-ball tactics of often sending four outside players plus one inside player was unreasonable, and believed that Dayao's strategy of continuous away games was a big deal.

But with the Rockets' record in the regular season and Wang Chao's exaggerated personal data performance, McHale decided to lie flat. His daily job is to supervise and arrange player training. He is said to be the head coach, but in fact he is not very different from the assistant coach. .

And now, as a tool man, McHale, who is kneeling and licking Wang Chao's thigh, has become the main candidate for the best coach of the 11-12 season, and will be elected with a high probability. Who would have thought of this?

"So, what's wrong with lying flat?"

At this moment, McHale has already enjoyed the happiness of Tyronn Lue a few years in advance.

In fact, Wang Chao is not particularly proficient in this aspect. Before crossing, Wang Chao was just a senior fan. He spent most of his weekdays discussing and discussing with "friendly" netizens on the Internet. Netizens greet each other with family.

But after all, it has been the seventh year since traveling to this era. Even if you have never eaten pork, you have seen many pigs run away.

Moreover, as a time traveler, Wang Chao himself has the advantage of foresight, and has an understanding of the technical characteristics and weaknesses of every team and most players in the next ten years.

Just like the weaknesses of this Lakers team, Wang Chao knows it all.

The offensive rhythm is slow, and at the same time, the defensive ability of the back line is seriously insufficient, especially in the face of the faster small guards who break through with the ball and have almost no resistance.

Don't look at Kobe is still selected to the best defensive second team this season, and he is still the league's top perimeter defender, but this is actually just the inertial thinking of people in the selection media about Kobe.

Already 34 years old, Kobe's state and energy have also begun to gradually decline with age, and he has gradually begun to be unable to balance both offense and defense at the same time.

If it weren't for the butterfly effect, the Lakers should have faced the Denver Athletics in the first round of the playoffs, and then barely advanced after seven hard-fought games with their opponents. In the game against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers faced Ty Lawson There is no way to break through with the ball.

During the regular season, Lawson averaged only 16.4 points and 6.6 assists per game. After facing the Lakers in the playoffs, he averaged 19 points and 6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was even higher than in the regular season.

It is also thanks to the overall strength gap between the Nuggets and the Lakers, as well as Kobe's average of 29+5+5 per game, that helped the Lakers survive the danger.

But after entering the second round, facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers were no match at all.

Because the Thunder not only have the scoring champion Durant, but also a point guard Russell Westbrook who has better speed and impact than Lawson.

Wang Chao still remembers the series between the Lakers and the Thunder. At that time, he was still a Lakers fan. In the fourth game of the series, the Lakers, who were already 4:1 behind, established an 2-point lead after the third quarter. Advantage.

But in the fourth quarter of the game, Westbrook kept breaking through with the ball and then made an emergency stop at the free throw line and hit a jumper. But the result was that Westbrook scored 6 points on 4 of 9 shots in the fourth quarter, and Kobe scored 10 points on 2 of 7 shots.

雷霆队在第四节32:20，逆转11分的分差赢下比赛，3:1的大比分让湖人队球迷彻底绝望。

Coincidentally, when it comes to small guards with great flexibility and mobility, the Rockets really have them, and there are two more.

Although Brooks and Thomas Jr. are not comparable to Westbrook in terms of overall ability, they may not be inferior to each other in terms of speed.

(End of this chapter)