NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 296 All-Star Weekend, Tat for Tat?
(It's a little late today, a little Calvin, sorry.)
The Nets, which defeated the Knicks, had a record of 18 wins and 1 loss, and at the same time won a wave of three consecutive victories.

Nowadays, no one in the league dares to underestimate the team that was just formed in the summer, but any team with Wang Chao cannot be a weak team.

However, this time the Nets' winning streak came to an abrupt end in 3 games and did not continue.

Because after the battle with the Knicks, the Nets' next opponent is the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors' current record has reached 21 wins and 0 losses, and they are still undefeated so far, and the game against the Nets is also the first time the two teams have met after the new season.

Although the game was played at the Nets' home court at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the Nets had home court advantage, but they still lost to the Warriors, losing the game 114:108.

This is an extremely exciting and intense game, and the two teams staged an offensive battle at the beginning.

The Warriors first focused on Cousins ​​on the inside. Neither Jokic nor Lopez could withstand Cousins' indiscriminate bombing on the inside and were ravaged by the opponent in the penalty area.

On the outside, Curry Thompson and the Splash Brothers made a three-pointer against Wang Chao.

The Warriors' defensive strategy against Wang Chao is exactly the same as last season's playoffs. Draymond Green + Iguodala double-teamed and intercepted almost the entire process. No hesitation, because in their view, Wang Chao was far more threatening than the latter two.

As a result, the situation was counterproductive. The Warriors’ double-team tactics did not work. Wang Chao, who has the talent of being outnumbered, taught them a good lesson. He scored 26 points before the end of the half and helped the Nets with his own strength. 57:58 to catch up with the point difference behind the Nets in front.

It was only in the third quarter that the Warriors began to use a large number of dead five small lineups, making it difficult for the Nets to parry.

The Nets currently do not have a lineup suitable for the Death Five. Although there is a lineup that restrains the relationship, that is, the twin tower combination of Lopez and Jokic, the two did not play strong enough during the debut of the Death Five. internal dominance.

Green's defense in the penalty area is really strong, especially when facing players with a soft style of play, all kinds of fierce defensive actions are very effective.

The problems exposed in the match against the Cavaliers reappeared in the confrontation with the Warriors, and there is still no solution, because as I said before, if we want to solve this weakness, we can only rely on time and wait for the inside core Jokic to come out. grow further.

It is worth mentioning that in this game, Wang Chao finally had the opportunity to try another newly acquired talent, the power of Ruthless Iron Elbow.

The regular season has played 20 games so far, but in the past games, he has never had the opportunity to try the ruthless iron elbow effect. After all, when everyone is playing well, he has no reason to run to elbow others vent?

But being well-behaved obviously doesn't apply to the Warriors.

During the game, Green and Iguodala double-teamed Wang Chao for a long time, and during the double-teaming process, Green made as many moves as before.

The most disgusting thing about this guy is that not only his movements are dirty, but his mouth is not clean, and he chatters and looks arrogant.

Now, Wang Chao also has a way to fight back.

When grabbing a rebound, Green stood in front of Wang Chao, raised his elbow and hit Wang Chao's chest secretly.

Even with the talent of steel and steel, Wang Chao was a little bit annoyed by this heart-pounding elbow. Wang Chao was so angry that he raised his elbow immediately without thinking, and pointed it at Green's chest. go down.

In the next second, Green lay on the ground.

Wang Chao's strength is as high as 88, which is almost equal to that of Green, but not only that, the ruthless iron elbow talent also has the effect of increasing the strength of the elbow, and Green also does not have Wang Chao's talent for steel and iron.

Wang Chao's long-planned elbow almost didn't give him the courage to elbow, and fell to the ground in pain, sweating profusely, unable to utter a word.

Unfortunately, another buff effect of Ruthless Iron Elbow, which reduces the probability of being called a foul by 25% after an elbow hit, has not taken effect.

The referee immediately whistled Wang Chao for a first-degree malicious foul, and the Warriors made two free throws and one throw.

The fans at the home court of the Nets immediately booed everywhere, because at this time the big screen was displaying the replay of the action just now, and everyone could see it clearly. During the process of grabbing the rebound, it was Green who hit Wang Chao with his elbow first, and then Before Wang Chao counterattacked, the movements of the two were exactly the same, and the position of the elbow was also the same. Judging from the range of movement, Green's elbow was stronger than Wang Chao.

"Dive! That guy is definitely a flop. He was elbowed. Why didn't Wang Chao fall down? Are you a man after all? Do you dare to act more like it?"

"Are you blind, the referee? Can't see that Green also elbowed Wang Chao? Why call Wang Chao a malicious foul?"

The overwhelming boos of the home fans put the referee under great pressure.

The one who was most injured was undoubtedly Green who got up from the ground after slowing down for a long time.

He has some doubts about life.

At that moment just now, Green felt that his thinking was about to stagnate, and he couldn't feel anything except the severe pain. He couldn't even breathe, and almost thought he was going to be like this.

Green, who got up from the ground, was still rubbing his chest, looking at Wang Chao with a calm expression in the distance with lingering fear.

"Is that guy a Lianjiazi? Huaguo Kungfu?"

Green was really a little scared. Looking at Wang Chao's harmless appearance, he didn't expect to be more ruthless than him.

This incident was just an episode in the game, and it did not completely affect the trend of the game. After all, although Green is also very important to the Warriors, the real tactical core of the team still revolves around the offensive system of Curry and Thompson.

Not only Green can do the work of dealing cards online from the top arc position, but Cousins ​​can also do it.

Even if Wang Chao tried his best to end Green with an elbow, the Nets would still not be able to win the game if their own problems were not resolved, and Wang Chao would also have to bear the risk of being sent off for fouling.

However, the effect of this elbow was still somewhat apparent. In the subsequent defense, whether it was Green or Iguodala, they were much more cautious when facing Wang Chao, because the deterrent effect of Wang Chao's elbow was really great. .

The home defeat to the Warriors was the Nets' second defeat of the season.

Although Wang Chao scored a super large triple-double of 57 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists, it still could not conceal the fact that other players could not provide enough help for the Nets when they faced the two top teams, the Cavaliers and the Warriors.

"It seems that before the start of the regular season, Wang Chao's evaluation of him and the Nets was very pertinent. Judging from the current situation, the Nets do have a chance to win 66 games in the regular season this season, but facing the Eastern Cavaliers The poor performance of the Warriors and the Western Conference is destined to make it extremely difficult for them to win the championship."

"However, if Wang Chao can continue to maintain his current high-efficiency state in three years, then there should be a great possibility to help the Nets win the championship within three years he promised, as long as the starting players of this young team have the game experience and The strength continues to grow."

跟勇士队的一战，让篮网队战绩变成了18胜2负，而之后篮网在12月份剩余的12场比赛中，取得了10胜2负战绩，总战绩提升至28胜4负。

The Warriors' winning streak was the same as the original history, and it came to an abrupt end after 24 consecutive victories, and it was not the well-known top teams in the league such as the Cavaliers, Spurs, and Nets that ended the Warriors' winning streak, but the little-known Milwaukee stag.

Throughout December, in addition to the news that the Warriors and the Nets, two scary teams with high winning percentages, both lost, the biggest and most worthy of fans' attention was the All-Star Weekend voting.

As always, in the second half of December, the league began the first round of voting for the All-Star ballot.

On December 12, the day before Christmas, the league announced the results of the first round of voting.

The legendary Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant won the first round of votes with an absolute advantage, crushing all other competitors.

Stephen Curry and Wang Chao were ranked second and third, and the two votes were very close. Because of his strong personal performance and team record, plus Curry's identity as a native of the United States, he was slightly ahead of Wang Chao in the number of votes. Dian Dian narrowly defeated Wang Chao and won the second place in the first round of voting.

And the king of popularity, LeBron James, can only come in fourth in this election, with less than half of Kobe's votes.

In terms of his historical status in the NBA league, Kobe’s achievements can only be ranked around tenth, but in this time and space, because of Wang Chao’s reason, he only has 4 championships in his hands. An FMVP Kobe’s historical status is even higher than before. It is not as good as it is currently ranked between No.12 and fifteen in history by major mainstream media.

But in terms of popularity, as the second player after Jordan to enjoy the bonus of the era, Kobe's popularity and influence are stronger than Jordan's to some extent. He claims to have 60 billion fans, and there are countless fans in China.

At the beginning of this season, it was already decided that it would be Kobe's last season. The Lakers also cooperated with Kobe and directly launched a grand retirement tour. The record and everything are floating clouds. If you can buy more tickets, you can retire after Kobe. The Bass family valued the last bit of commercial value out of him before.

It is the addition of the retirement tour that made Kobe far ahead in the All-Star voting. Not surprisingly, it will definitely break Wang Chao's monopoly on the All-Star vote in the past few years.

While the popularity is high, it is also an indisputable fact that Kobe's poor performance with the Lakers this season.

场均出手17次，仅能命中6球的科比，投篮命中率不足36%，得分只有17.6分3.7篮板2.8助攻。

There is a player in the team with such a high number of shots but an outrageously low shooting percentage. How can the Lakers' record improve?

Before Christmas, the Lakers' record was only 5 wins and 25 losses, the second-to-last in the league, only slightly better than the rotten Philadelphia 76ers in the East.

But for this kind of thing, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to suffer. For the Lakers and Kobe, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and there is no need to say anything.

It’s just that Kobe has always been known for his strong desire to win and his obsessive and paranoid desire for victory, but he can let the team play badly with him and lose in an exhibition game. It's kind of funny.

As a cross-age top superstar, Kobe is definitely worthy of such a fanfare retirement tour, but behind the applause, the real impact is the other players of the Lakers who accompanied the prince to study, including this year's No. [-] pick Towns, currently on the Lakers, can only watch Kobe play alone, hoping that after Kobe retires this season, he can officially take over the team.

The topic is too far away, let's get down to business.

The schedule in December ended, and 12 passed without any surprises. In January 2015, as the schedule intensified, the number of games the Nets lost gradually began to increase.

On January 1, the Nets lost 5:106 at home to the San Antonio Spurs. Howard and Butler avenged their previous home loss.

On January 1, the Nets lost to the Cavaliers at home again, and lost to their direct competitors in the playoffs for the second time this season.

On January 1, the Nets lost to the Dallas Mavericks in an upset away game.

Losing is normal for a team, especially the inexperienced Nets. When facing the league's top teams, the fault tolerance rate will definitely be relatively low.

篮网队1月份的16场比赛，输掉了其中5场，取得11胜5负战绩，总战绩来到39胜9负。

Although the winning rate has declined slightly, the Nets are still in the first echelon, closely behind the Warriors with 44 wins and 4 losses, ranking second in the league, and the Cavaliers and Spurs, who rank third and fourth, have a record of 34 wins and 12 losses. With 33 wins and 14 losses.
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In January, there were two more rounds of voting for the All-Star voting, and the final selection results were finally announced on January 1.

Kobe became the 2016 All-Star vote leader with an absolute advantage, and his retirement tour was full of cards.

On the other hand, Wang Chao relied on the continuous efforts of the fans in Huaguo to overtake Curry in the second half of the vote and ranked second. Curry and James ranked third and fourth.

The ten players who were finally selected for the starting list of the All-Star Game, from the highest to the lowest votes in the Eastern Conference are Wang Chao, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Paul George, and Kyle Lowry.

The West is Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook.

In addition to Wang Chao becoming the top voter in the Eastern Conference, the Nets' insider Brook Lopez was also on the list. However, due to the cancellation of the center position due to the All-Star restructuring, he can only participate as a forward, and the number of votes is lower than that of the Nets. James, George, Anthony and others who are also at the forward position missed the All-Star starter.

But after all, Lopez is the second scorer in the Nets team with a record of 39 wins and 9 losses. Halfway through the season, he can contribute 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Although rebounding is as usual, his contribution on the offensive end is obvious to all .

Three months into the regular season, Lopez has begun to gradually try to attack from outside the three-point line. Although his shooting rate is not stable, he can also hit a lot of three-point shots when he is completely open. This also makes the Nets The team has become a team that can shoot three-pointers from five positions in the true sense, and can also ensure that the inside has an absolute high advantage.

Efficient and outstanding performance allowed Brook Lopez to be selected as an All-Star substitute. He is also the only player of the Nets other than Wang Chao to be selected as an All-Star.

Compared with the Warriors, Curry, Cousins, Thompson, and Green were all selected as All-Stars. The Nets are somewhat shabby, and even compared with the same Eastern Conference team, their record is slightly inferior to their Cavaliers. The opponent also has James, Irving, and Embiid selected as All-Stars.

But there is no way around that. The Nets' lineup is still too young. Jokic and Booker, the two future top stars, are still in the growth period, and their personal data and resumes are completely unqualified. Because of this, many Chinese fans voted for them, and there was no way to directly help them be selected as All-Stars.

Of course, with the potential and speed of improvement of the two, there is no doubt that they will be selected as All-Stars next season.

All-Star Weekend begins on February 2.

The Nets have 2 games before February 13, against the Pistons, Pacers, Kings, 6ers, Nuggets and Grizzlies.

Among these six teams, only the Pacers and Grizzlies are slightly stronger, and the others are the worst in the league.

What the Nets are best at right now is the abuse of food. In the six games, except for the slightly stalemate with the Pacers, the others have taken the initiative from the beginning of the game and won a hearty victory.

Here we must focus on the Indiana Pacers.

Two seasons ago, the Pacers were still the strongest opponent of the Heat led by James in the East, and they caused trouble for the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

However, with the change of the main lineup in the past two years, the Pacers' lineup has gradually been eliminated, especially the sharp decline in the state of the inside black big Yao Roy Hibbert and the departure of David West, so that the Pacers rely on There was a serious problem with the survival defense, and the result was that the Pacers hadn't done anything in the playoffs for the past two years.

Paul George, on the other hand, avoided a catastrophe because of the butterfly effect. He did not have to be reimbursed for the season due to injuries. This season is also in very good condition, averaging 24.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Become the top striker in the league.

In the game between the Nets and the Pacers, winning or losing is actually the result of the matchup between Wang Chao and George.

Naturally, Wang Chao can beat George easily.

Paul George is indeed a rare high-quality striker in the league. He has both offense and defense. He has a very similar style to Leonard and Butler. The Pacers were also the absolute main force against James in the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Heat.

But when facing Wang Chao, especially when the players on both sides are all separated, one-on-one duels, not to mention George, even James is not good.

George was suppressed one-on-one by Wang Chao, and the Pacers' current lineup, except for George, has no one who can attack independently, so they naturally lost the game.

Not surprisingly, George will stick to the Pacers for two years, and in these two years, the team has not been competitive enough, and was eliminated in the first round twice, which made George completely disappointed with the team and finally chose to leave.

It's just that this time George will go to the Thunder and Westbrook, and Anthony will form the Big Three. After two years of wasting, he will join the Clippers and continue to be pitted by Leonard. Wang Chao is not sure.

On February 2, after the Nets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 10:109, all the games before the All-Star Weekend were over.

On February 2, Wang Chao, Brook Lopez, Devin Booker and Jokic set off for the Toronto Raptors, the host of the All-Star Weekend.

He and Lopez naturally participated in the All-Star Game, while Booker and Jokic went to participate in the All-Star Rookie Challenge together. Booker not only participated in the Rookie Challenge, but also signed up for the NBA three-pointer In the competition, compete with Curry, Thompson, Harden, Redick and other top three-point shooters for the three-point crown.

While on the plane, Booker couldn't help the curiosity in his heart, so he asked Wang Chaodao like this.

"Why don't you continue to participate in the three-point contest? I see that many people on the Internet are expecting you to participate. If you can really participate in the three-point contest after a long time, there must be countless fans supporting you to win the championship."

Wang Chao smiled and shook his head. "The reason is actually very simple, because there is no challenge. For me, I can easily win the three-point contest as long as I think about it. However, I have lost interest in it after winning many championships in the past. There is no challenge, and I already know the outcome. It’s not interesting to participate in the competition.”

Booker was thoughtful, but still shook his head to express his incomprehension. "I'm afraid this is because you chose to leave the Rockets that have created a dynasty and choose to join the Nets. I haven't even won a championship. I can't understand it. But if I can win this three-point contest It would be nice to be a champion!"

Looking at Booker who was trying to test his expression, Wang Chao didn't say anything.

He remembers the results of this All-Star three-point contest, not to mention Booker, even Kurt, who had a three-point accuracy this season, failed to win the championship as he wished, because in the finals his opponent was the same team. Klay Thompson, a guy who is equally unreasonable.

With Curry and Thompson, it is difficult for Booker to make a difference in the three-point contest.

However, Devin Booker won the three-point contest championship in the 2018 three-point contest, and the 28-point final score is also the highest score in the history of the three-point contest finals. It was broken by Anthony Towns with 2022 points.

Of course, the premise is that the scores of Wang Chao's previous three-point contests cannot be counted. He is like a bug in the three-point contests.

Whether it is the three-point contest, the dunk contest or the All-Star Game, Wang Chao is no longer interested. He also made a symbolic appearance at the All-Star Weekend in the past few seasons, and he has no idea of ​​competing for any honors.

This time is no exception.

As the All-Star East vote leader, Wang Chao finally played for the Eastern All-Stars again after four years, but on the stage of the main game, he only played for a total of 20 minutes before taking a rest. Like him, there are also players from the Cavaliers james.

As the players with the most votes in the All-Star Eastern Conference, the two have exactly the same goal, only the NBA championship, so the two have no interest in performing in the All-Star Game.

Some people are not interested in the honor of the All-Star, and some people care about the performance in the All-Star.

For example, Russell Westbrook in the West.

Although he has been selected as an All-Star for many years in a row, this season is particularly special for Westbrook because this is the first time in his career that he stands on the stage as an All-Star starter.

Is this still available?

On the stage of the All-Star Game last year, Westbrook made 28 crazy shots, scored 41 and abruptly snatched the All-Star MVP. This time, Westbrook is not inferior to last year. With 23 points, 31 rebounds and 8 assists, he led the Western All-Stars to defeat the Eastern All-Stars and won the All-Star MVP award for the second consecutive year.

作为全明星票王的科比，眼巴巴的看着控卫威斯布鲁克捧起全明星MVP奖杯，自己则全场11投4中仅有10分6篮板7助攻的数据。

Don't know if that counts as tit for tat.

In 2003, Jordan, who came back from the Wizards, decided to retire again. In order to bid farewell to the No.1 in league history, Vince Carter took the initiative to give up his All-Star starting position to Jordan. I would like to send the most sincere blessings and humility to the two veterans, but there is only one exception, and that is Kobe.

In that All-Star Game, Kobe defended Jordan strictly throughout the game, using the finals-level defensive strength. Jordan only made 27 of 9 shots and scored only 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

This is why people often say that Kobe ruined Jordan's last All-Star.

Kobe, who is paranoid and unwilling to admit defeat, refuses to give up even in the face of Jordan in his old age, and even goes all out to prove that he can beat Jordan. The last All-Star, and then faced Westbrook, who had a very similar personality to him when he was young. Although it was different from when Jordan was his opponent, the result was very similar. He was also robbed of the protagonist position of the All-Star Game.

Wang Chao didn't know what Kobe was thinking, but when Westbrook won the All-Star MVP trophy, he smiled very happily. It can be seen that he really wants to get this trophy.
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The All-Star Weekend is over, and the teams in the league have returned to the tight schedule of the regular season, launching the final impact on the playoffs in the last 30-odd games.

The goal of the Nets after the All-Star is very clear, which is the 66-win record that Wang Chao announced before the start of the season.

They have no competitors in the East. The record of the Cavaliers can no longer keep up with the first echelon of the Warriors and the Nets. According to the current record, there is a high probability that they can barely reach the threshold of 60 wins.

The Nets have a high probability of ending the season as the No. 66 in the Eastern Conference in terms of record. As for the 66-win record, successfully matching the [-]-loss record of the Knicks last season is a naked mockery.

Does New York belong to the Knicks?What a big joke!

As the season progressed, the Nets players began to get better, especially the two rookies Booker and Jokic, who performed better and better on the field, and the strength of the corresponding Nets became more stable and stronger.

After the All-Star Weekend, the Nets' first game was at home against the Knicks.

The Nets could kill opponents by a big score at the Knicks' home court before, let alone at home this time.

Wang Chao didn't make much effort at all. The performance of Lopez, Jokic, Booker and others made it difficult for the Knicks.

In the remaining few games in February, the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers are the only teams that can barely be regarded as opponents of the Nets.

In the end, the Nets only lost one away game with the Clippers.

In contrast, in the last full month of March, the Nets' schedule and opponents are still more difficult.

In March, the team needs to play against the Cavaliers, the biggest rival in the East, twice, and also face the Raptors, Eagles and Mavericks in the West in turn. A little carelessness may lead to a wave of losing streak.

However, if you survive the difficult schedule in March, the remaining games in April will be flat.

The Nets' goal of a 66-win record in the regular season is within reach.

And in early March, the Nets' video lessons always revolved around a theme, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The situation in the Eastern Conference is now very clear. The only opponent of the Nets in the Eastern Conference is the Cavaliers. No other team has any threats, even the Raptors, which are only less than 2 games behind the Cavaliers in terms of record. Nets opponent.

Although Wang Chao said before that the goal is to lead the Nets to win the championship in two to three years, he did not expect the team to win the championship in the first season, but even so this is not a reason to give up.

If he has the chance to meet in the Eastern Conference finals, he will definitely have to fight hard with the Cavaliers led by James. If he can overthrow the Cavaliers, and then kill the Warriors in the finals, wouldn’t it be great to win the championship in the first season of the team? ?

Wang Chao doesn't care whether this kind of thing is very likely or not, anyway, he will try it if he has the chance.

Therefore, Wang Chao pays more attention to the remaining two games against the Cavaliers in the regular season, because the Cavaliers won the first two games this season. If the next two games continue to lose to the opponent, Wang Chao will It will not be affected, but the Nets with a younger lineup are easily at a disadvantage in the psychological game.

After all, the current Nets are not the Rockets a season ago. The flaws in the lineup make Wang Chao have to take other factors into consideration.

The opportunity of these two matches is the last chance for the Nets to build confidence and find the opponent's weaknesses.

Therefore, half a month before the match, the Nets had already begun to carefully study the situation of the Cavaliers.

The tactical characteristics of the Cavaliers this season are actually very simple. It is a one-star four-shot system centered on James as the absolute core of the ball.

Like Wang Chao, James is a player with his own system. Handing the ball to him is the most efficient and direct way.

In addition to this set of tactics, the Cavaliers also designed ball-holding singles tactics for several other players. After all, Irving, Embiid and even Gasol all have good personal abilities.

This is also the main reason why the Nets lost to the Cavaliers in the previous two games.

The same self-contained system, the same ball-holding big-core play, James has Irving as the second ball-holding point and a super individual singles link to help the team score. Wang Chao’s outside line is two fixed-point shooters, and the inside Brook Lopez is easily suppressed by Pau Gasol, and Jokic is not capable enough, so he naturally falls into a disadvantage in the game.

The best solution to this situation is of course to wait until Booker and Jokic have both grown up and are no longer the team's shortcomings, or even an advantage.

But this season is obviously impossible to wait, so Wang Chao can only figure out a way by himself.

(End of this chapter)