NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 299 Wang Chao, the nightmare of the finals of the past ten years, is about to dissipate?

As everyone expected, the Eastern Conference Finals was indeed a duel between the Nets and the Cavaliers.

From the record point of view, the Nets with 67 wins in the regular season won 55 more games than the Cavaliers with 12 wins, which is more advantageous.

But the Cavaliers have the absolute upper hand in terms of team lineup. The three champion combination is currently the most luxurious lineup in the league. The only one that can match it is the Golden State Warriors who have four best lineup players in the West.

The regular season duel between the two teams was tied 2:2. The Cavaliers won the first two games, while the Nets seized the opportunity of the last two games.

As for the support of the two teams, the Cavaliers clearly have the upper hand. After all, Wang Chao has become almost like a big devil in the league for the past few years. At least in the United States, most fans do not want Wang Chao to continue to win. The ball is over, and the same sentence, after all, the NBA is an American NBA, not a Chinese professional basketball team. It is enough for a Chinese player to rule the past ten years.

Since Wang Chao voluntarily chose to leave the Rockets and gave up the chance to continue to compete for the championship, then don't give him the chance to touch the O'Brien Cup.

At present, Wang Chao’s honors of seven championships, six FMVPs and five MVPs have already surpassed the No.1 Jordan in basketball, but the distance beyond that is not particularly long. .1 Location.

But if Wang Chao's personal honors continue to accumulate and win eight, nine or even eleven championships like Bill Russell, Wang Chao will really be remembered forever in NBA history, ranking No. [-] in history. One of the Chinese players.

There are always people who love to say that sports has no borders, and the Olympic spirit symbolizes being stronger, higher and faster that breaks through the limits of the human body, but that is pure nonsense.

Sports athletes essentially represent their own country, and the medals they compete for in the Olympic Games are also honors won for the country.

Wang Chao doesn't think this matter is so simple, and for the same reason, the vast majority of NBA fans in the United States don't think so simple.

Of course, these are all outside the arena, with regard to Wang Chao's personal situation, from the perspective of the majority of neutral American fans.

Fans like the Nets don't have such thoughts.

Players are players, and clubs are clubs. They love the Nets, and even the players in the Nets team. The arrival of Wang Chao makes them the strongest team in the East. They have the opportunity to compete for the championship. Naturally, they are too happy. As for the so-called mess that has risen to the national level, is it important to bring a championship trophy to the Nets?

Among other things, the current owner of the Nets is still a Russian rich man!According to the competitive relationship between the United States and Russia, don't the fans who support the Nets become traitors? ——
On May 5, the Barclays Center Arena in Brooklyn was packed, and a large number of Nets fans poured into the stadium to cheer for the team they supported. There were also many local New York fans among them. These fans mainly supported Knicks, but also support the Nets, because no matter what, the two teams are now NBA teams belonging to New York.

When the Knicks missed the playoffs this season, they naturally turned to support the Nets. This is completely different from many arrogant Knicks fans, and it is also the normal reaction of most rational fans.

In the hustle and bustle of the home court of the Nets, players from the two teams warmed up on both sides of the field.

Among the group of people, Wang Chao was the most calm one.

"Hey, take it easy, Brook, you're shooting the ball stiff with nerves."

Patting Brook Lopez who was warming up for a three-point shot from outside the three-point line, Wang Chao said relaxedly: "The Eastern Conference Finals puts too much pressure on you, don't take the game so seriously, take it easy, on the court Just do your job well.”

What is the biggest problem with the Nets right now?Of course, the team lineup is too young, and at the same time seriously lacks experience.

Don't talk about Deron and Joe Johnson on the bench. Among the main lineup of the Nets, apart from Wang Chao, the only one with experience in the division finals is Nikola Jokic, who he brought from the Rockets. strange.

But Jokic's situation is quite special. He was the fourth center in the Rockets, behind Dayao, Whiteside and Gobert. The regular season was slightly better, and he almost didn't play in the playoffs. Opportunity.

In the Western Conference Finals and Finals last season, Jokic never played a game at all, so the so-called conference finals experience does not exist at all.

In other words, Wang Chao led a team with no experience in the division finals against the Cavaliers.

Although the Cavaliers lineup also has younger players, such as the two champions, Irving and Embiid, but under the leadership of James last year, they played in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Finals.

Although the Cavaliers were unilaterally blasted by the Rockets in the Finals last year, after all, they participated in it in person and had valuable experience, which is naturally completely different.

What's more, in addition to James, who is experienced in the playoffs and even the finals, the Cavaliers' starting lineup also has Pau Gasol.

The 36-year-old Gasol has gradually begun to retreat to the second line in the Cavaliers. Although he is still a starter, his average playing time has gradually decreased to less than 30 minutes per game. Efficient performance, even if he is paired with Embiid on the inside, he can still contribute 14+8 data per game this season, and can become the mainstay of the Cavaliers' inside in many key games.

This is also the thorniest question for the Cavaliers.

In this key battle, the Cavaliers' fault tolerance rate is much higher than that of the Nets.

Wang Chao is very aware of this, and also understands that the current shortcomings of the Nets need time and experience to make up for, so he said that he will lead the team to win the championship in two to three years. This is his first time in the Nets. In one season, being able to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals or even the Finals is considered a mission accomplished.

The first game begins.

The starting lists of the two teams are exactly the same as during the regular season, and even the game process is very similar.

The Nets followed the defensive strategy against the Cavaliers in the last two games. Wang Chao went to defend Irving to limit his performance, and strategically let James attack.

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, focused on Wang Chao. Less than 3 minutes into the game, Pau Gasol was replaced by Tristan Thompson.

Even the 36-year-old Gasol is not comparable to Thompson at his peak. The latter does not have the ability to attack independently, but Thompson has an advantage, that is, he has excellent mobility on the defensive end, which allows him. Formed a linkage with James to double-team Wang Chao.

Even with the talent of being outnumbered, Wang Chao will still find it difficult to face the front and back attack of two burly men weighing more than 110 kilograms.

With both sides having targeted arrangements, the scores of both teams in the first quarter were limited to very low, with only 25:24 points in a single quarter.

However, in this quarter of the game, James and Thompson also paid a certain price for double-teaming Wang Chao.

The effect of the Outnumbered talent is to improve the ability to break through the double-team alone when encountering two or more opponents double-team defense, and at the same time, there is a certain probability that the double-teamer will cause a defensive foul.

In the face of two burly men and strong lock men, even if he improved his ability to break through double-teams, it would be difficult for Wang Chao to stand out from the tight encirclement. Without some relatively large actions, this triggers the buff that has a probability of causing a defensive foul by the double-teamer.

The result was that Thompson fouled three times in the first quarter, and even James was called for a foul.

In the second quarter of the game, as the number of fouls increased, the Cavaliers double-teamed Wang Chao without attacking themselves. The Nets began to gradually grasp the initiative on the field. Divided the ball, and broke through the offensive frame with the ball and caused the opponent's defensive foul to score 8 points in a row. He led the team to play a wave of 12:2 attacks, directly opening the point difference.

Relying on the score advantage established in the second quarter, the Nets defeated the Cavaliers in one go and won the first victory in the Eastern Conference Finals.

This game is the victory of the game of strategy and strategy between the two teams.

The Nets continued to use the defensive strategy against the Cavaliers in the last two games of the regular season to limit Irving's offensive efficiency. Even if James can score high points, there is still no way to help the team win. Sol's scoring explosive power is limited.

The victory in the first game boosted the morale of the Nets. Just when the whole team was in full swing and ready to defeat the Cavaliers in one go, the opponent gave the Nets a heavy blow in the G5 game on May 19.

At 108:102, the Nets lost to the Cavaliers at home.

If the last game was a tactical victory for the Nets, then this game is obviously a victory for the Cavaliers.

After the result of double-teaming Wang Chao in the first game of G1 with little effect, the Cavaliers chose to change their defensive strategy in the second game. Strictly guard against death, and then arrange for Thompson to defend Wang Chao alone throughout the whole process. The main defense does not prevent sudden shots, forcing Wang Chao to consume physical energy by holding the ball and attacking the frame like James.

The effect of this move is outstanding, and the shooting percentage of other Nets players has plummeted under the sudden increase in defensive intensity.

Originally in the Eastern Conference finals, players such as Booker and Bogdanovic often made some irrational offensive choices due to lack of experience, and it was even more difficult to deal with the Cavaliers' targeted and oppressive defense .

Not to mention them, even the Nets' second scorer, Brook Lopez's performance in G2 was also quite poor. He made 14 of 5 shots and only scored 11 points.

The shortcomings of the Nets' lack of experience in the game and the lack of coping ability of other players in the face of high-pressure defenses were fully exposed in this game.

On the other hand, for the Cavaliers, after Irving was fully suppressed by Wang Chao in the first game with low efficiency, he quickly adjusted in the second game. When the wind blows, no one can guard against it, including Wang Chao.

Before the start of the Eastern and Western finals, the alliance has already announced the ultimate award of the alliance.

Not surprisingly, Wang Chao won the Best Defensive Player Award for the third consecutive year and has become recognized as one of the strongest defenders in the NBA in recent years.

But in this game, he failed to guard Irving. The latter was like a godsend when his hands were overwhelming. Except for the shots that were directly blocked by Wang Chao, he basically made any shots.

In the final analysis, Wang Chao's defense is mainly strong in relying on the alliance's top static talent and dynamic talent combined with the speed of assisting defense and defense. In terms of single defense, Wang Chao's defensive awareness and internal and external defensive ability are 95 on average. The value is already quite high, but after all, it has not reached the full value of 99. Moreover, even a player with a full value of 99 in these defensive abilities cannot completely limit a top scorer in the league.

The most typical example is Gary Payton, a top perimeter defender who has been selected to the best team nine times and also has the best defensive player award. His perimeter defensive ability value is 9, his defensive awareness is 98, and his stealing ability value is also 99. He belongs to the outside line There is a ceiling level of defensive players, but in the 99-95 season finals, Payton's Sonics met the Jordan Bulls. Payton defended Jordan throughout the 96 games. As a result, Jordan averaged 6 points per game and led the Bulls 27.3: 4 defeated the Sonics to win the championship.

Payton must have caused interference to Jordan. His 27.3 points and 41.5% field goal percentage in the finals were Jordan's worst performance in the six finals, but it was still not enough.

Wang Chao's strength in perimeter defense is theoretically slightly stronger than Gary Payton. Although he is not as good as Payton in terms of ability value, defensive experience, and energy investment, Wang Chao is open after all.

Among the defensive talents, Wang Chao has the talent of going with the body that is not easy to lose his position in defense, the fighting maniac who enhances the ability to confront when defending, and the move that every defensive player dreams of - the defense depends on the roar of the lion.

The existence of these talents allows Wang Chao to show the oppression and aggression of a top defender even though his defensive ability has not reached the full value of 99.

As for Irving, even when he feels overwhelmed, his offensive ability will not be stronger than Jordan.

But Irving doesn’t need to compare with Jordan at all. He is not the first core in the Cavaliers. Under Wang Chao’s defense, Irving only needs to contribute more than 15 points in a stable manner. It takes a lot of energy, and even has to give up some opportunities to help teammates defend and improve the overall defensive ability of the team.

事实上G2的比赛中，手感爆棚的欧文在王超的防守下全场16投7中，以43.7%的命中率得到了18分。

But don't underestimate these 18 points. Looking at the Nets and Cavaliers, apart from Wang Chao and James, Irving's 18 points are the highest score of the two teams!
Faced with the defeat of this game, Wang Chao was quite helpless. He had no choice but to let his team's Devin Booker not be the super scorer who would cut melons and chop vegetables in the future?

After losing a home game and the score came to 1:1, the situation is not good for the Nets, because the next two games will be played at the Cavaliers' home court. With the home court bonus, the Cavaliers The feel may be even more terrifying.

The result really made Wang Chao guess right.

5月21日，篮网在客场G3的比赛中不敌骑士，99:105再负一局，大比分1:2落后。

In this game, the Nets did not lose to Irving. In the G2 game, with the help of God, Irving, who can make all kinds of fairy balls, showed his true colors in this game. He was once again crushed by Wang Chao, with only 9 points in the game accounted for.

But in this game, the Cavaliers' inside twin towers showed their power. To be precise, it was the referee who started to show his strength.

At the beginning of the game, James frequently attacked the frame with the ball to cause damage. The Nets inside Lopez and Jokic both got 2 fouls in the first quarter, and the inside line was in a hurry.

When Lopez got his third foul in the second quarter, Wang Chao had to replace him to the inside to support, but this also solved the symptoms but not the root cause.

As a result, after the whole game, Embiid scored 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Gasol also scored 21 points and 8 rebounds.

The worst thing about this game is not the referee's biased whistle. This is not the same as last year's finals, when the referee whistled a lot in favor of the Cavaliers. The whistle is slightly beneficial to the Cavaliers, which can be explained by the home whistle.

But here lies the problem. When the Cavaliers have the home whistle, the Nets just can’t compete with the opponent. The experience of the twin-tower combination of insider Lopez and Jokic is still too little, and it is easy to be driven by the opponent in the game. , made irrational defensive actions and was seized the opportunity to call a foul.

To put it bluntly, the strength of the Nets is still insufficient, resulting in a low fault tolerance rate, and any off-court factors will lead to the loss of the game.

The loss of this game is not the most fatal, because two days later, in the G4 game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Nets once again lost to the Cavaliers away, losing the game 117:112, and the total score became 1:3. The team took the lead in winning the match point, and held the advantage of three match points, the victory was already in hand.

This result finally made the Cavaliers fans breathe a sigh of relief.

The Nets... No, to be exact, the pressure Wang Chao brought to them was too strong. Even when they were leading 2:1 before, neither the team nor the fans dared to relax in the slightest. After all, the Super League has never missed the finals in the past ten years and has won the championship 7 times. Even if they have James and the most luxurious combination of the three champions in the league, they are still in the lead. With the home field advantage, there can be no slack.

This is indeed the case.

In the first two games, Wang Chao put more energy on the defensive end to contribute, but failed to lead the team to win the game. In the G4 game, he changed his strategy. Since the defense could not win the game, he simply gave up the defense. Let go and do it!
In the fourth game, Wang Chao was fully fired. He scored 16 points in the first quarter, scored 15 points in the second quarter, and scored 31 points in the half. Then in the third quarter, Wang Chao scored when the Nets were behind. Ushered in an explosion, scored 5 three-pointers in a single quarter, scored 22 points, and abruptly closed the point difference to within single digits.

At this point in the game, the Cavaliers fans at home were sweating.

Wang Chao was also too fierce, scoring 53 points in three quarters, which can be called the strongest performance in the division finals in history.

Wang Chao, who played all the games in the first three quarters, continued to play full time in the fourth quarter. But at this time, the Cavaliers were really scared by Wang Chao. After Wang Chao broke through the double-team, he continued to frantically arrange other players to make up defenses, even if there were many players on the air-defense Nets team.

No matter how strong Wang Chao is, he is still just an individual, not a superman. In the fourth quarter, under a lot of double-teaming and chasing and intercepting, the number of shots dropped sharply. Although the number of free throws has also increased, it is still a bit close to chasing points with free throws alone. .

As for the other Nets players who got open because of this, there are very few who can seize the opportunity.

In the fourth quarter, Wang Chao scored 14 points with free throws and scored 67 points, but the Nets still lost the game by 5 points, making the situation a 1:3 desperate situation.

This is a typical game in which the Nets lost and Wang Chao did not lose. Wang Chao played the full game for 48 minutes and scored 67 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists. The performance of Wang Chao is jaw-dropping.

You must know that so far, there are only three players who can score 60+ points in a single game in the playoffs, namely Jordan's 63 points, Elgin Baylor's 61 points, and Wang Chao, and Wang Chao It is not the first time he has scored 60+ points in a single game in the playoffs. As early as a few seasons ago, he scored 60+ points in the playoffs. The situation at that time was the same as that of the Nets now. The team's core player Dayao was injured, Leonard, Butler and other players were still too immature as first-year rookies, and Wang Chao, without any helpers, fought against the Heat's Big Three by himself.

Times have changed, and I never expected that Wang Chao, who is now transferred to the Nets, would face the same situation again, and the opponent is still James, but the combination of the Big Three at the beginning has become the combination of the current top three picks plus a group of high-quality role players. For the Cavaliers, the lineup has been further upgraded and optimized compared to when the Heat had no other combat power except for the Big Three.

The score of 3:1 has basically been able to announce the death penalty of the Nets in advance.

The league is not a team without a 3:1 deficit to complete a comeback, but it is too difficult for the Nets.

"Unfortunately, even if Wang Chao has a teammate who can help him, the result of this series may be different. The gap between the two teams' lineups is too big. Turn things around."

"Facts have proved that Wang Chao is still too self-confident and arrogant. He thought that he could still rule the league after leaving the Rockets and that excellent team, but this is obviously not the case. In this age of stars, individual heroism It is already difficult to make a difference. Even if Wang Chao can turn the game around and defeat the Cavaliers, they will still have to face the Golden State Warriors with four best teams in the finals. Whether it will be possible to win the championship for the Nets within the year."

In the eyes of most people, the development prospects of the current Nets team in the next two years are not so good.

After all, although Devin Booker and Jokic have performed well this season, it is absolutely impossible to tell from the performance and progress of one season. One of these two will become the two-time regular season MVP and there is a high probability that they will He won the 23-year NBA championship and FMVP, and the other is a super scorer who averaged 33.7 points per game in the playoffs and shot 58% from the field.

After all, Wang Chao is the only one who has traveled from the future and has the ability to foresight.

The same reasoning also includes but is not limited to the Antetokounmpo of the Bucks with a long and deadly name. At present, no one knows that in at most two seasons, this little-known guy will become one of the top players in the league. Exaggerated static talent and physical fitness won two regular season MVPs in a row.

Although no one in the league is optimistic that the Nets can win the series, under the leadership of Wang Chao, the Nets still show an extremely tenacious will to fight.

In the fifth game of the series on May 5th, with a score of 25:1 behind, the Nets in desperation broke out with strong offensive capabilities. The Cavaliers' defense was torn apart, 3:21, 116 points to beat the opponent, chasing the score to 98:18.

Two days later, in Game 5 of the series on May 27, in Cleveland, the Cavaliers home fans were on tenterhooks for three quarters. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, they were still in the lead.

But in the fourth quarter, a small accident happened.

While defending James, who was breaking through with the ball, Brook Lopez was unstable when he took off and landed. He accidentally sprained his ankle and returned directly to the locker room.

Although it seems that the degree of his sprain is not serious, and he himself has a strong intention to play with the injury, he was vetoed by Wang Chao.

No one knows better than Wang Chao the hidden dangers of playing with injuries to players' injuries.

During the 18-19 season, Durant and Thompson suffered a lot from it. It was not a particularly serious injury, but he chose to play with an injury in order to win, which resulted in a more serious injury and even a huge injury that would affect his career.

The Nets have been able to fight until now, and the physical load of the team members is actually quite heavy. After all, not everyone has a steel frame like Wang Chao.

This season, the Nets won 67 wins in the regular season, and the players went all out to win almost every game. No one took a break in the regular season, especially in the playoffs.

Players like Booker and Lopez do not have ironman attributes themselves. Every season in their career, various minor injuries and illnesses lead to absence from games.

尤其是布鲁克.洛佩斯本身就是有过严重伤病史的球员，11-12赛季曾因为伤病困扰只打了5场比赛，之后在13-14赛季出战17场比赛后他又因为右脚脚趾骨折赛季报销。

Even if Wang Chao knows that in the next few years until the 21-22 season, Lopez should not have serious injuries and his attendance rate is still guaranteed, but the premise is that his average playing time is controlled below 30 minutes per game, and he is not The team's main offensive core.

With this in mind, Wang Chao is still cautious about the use of Lopez. After all, even if Booker and Jokic grow further next season, Lopez will still be a vital part of the Nets' championship plan. .

What's more, even if Lopez is forced to play with injuries and win the current game, the Nets will also need to play a tiebreaker with the Cavaliers. After defeating the Cavaliers, they still have the finals to play.

Wang Chao himself is not a person who will never admit defeat. Besides, he has already made a plan to win the championship for the Nets within two to three years. The first year itself is a construction period, and this result is completely acceptable.
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Brook Lopez was replaced, causing the Nets to lose a big support in an instant, and the mentality of the young players also changed. Even though Wang Chao always controlled the ball and controlled the rhythm of the game in the follow-up games, the team still had some problems. It's the defensive end.

After a long regular season, Lopez's defensive ability has made great progress under hard training, and his defensive ability in the penalty area has been greatly improved. Even if he is not qualified for the best defensive team, but in terms of defense The ability is already an excellent frame protector who can cause a lot of interference to opponents' attacking players.

Without Lopez on the inside, the Nets' defense was in a hurry. No matter how strong Wang Chao's defense ability was, he was too weak to cover all positions.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Cavaliers launched a counterattack under the leadership of James and successfully overtook the score.

Although Wang Chao took over the game at the last minute and scored consecutively to tie the point difference, but due to the collapse of the Nets' defensive system, they could not defend the Cavaliers' offense, and finally lost to regret.

103: 99.

When the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the Cavaliers fans finally breathed a sigh of relief and cheered wildly.

Although the turning point of this game was that the Nets core player Brook Lopez sprained and left the field, it was somewhat invincible, but they finally defeated Wang Chao and successfully advanced to the finals, even if they will meet in the finals Against a more terrifying opponent, the Golden State Warriors, but at least Wang Chao, this terrifying guy, will not appear again on the stage of the finals.

In the past ten years, Wang Chao's figure in the finals has almost become a nightmare for most teams.

Now this nightmare finally no longer exists, even if it is only a short time away, it is enough for many people to breathe a sigh of relief.

The news that the Cavaliers defeated the Nets 4:2 to enter the finals became the headlines of the day and was widely reported. After all, in the past ten years, Wang Chao has never missed the finals.

It's just that even if they stop in the Eastern Conference Finals, no one can say a word about Wang Chao's performance this season.

This is the Nets, not the Rockets.

When Wang Chao joined the Rockets, the Rockets had at least one top insider, Yao. Brook Lopez was far from being able to compare with Yao in terms of strength and popularity. As for the other Nets players, they were even more lonely. Nobody.

Deron Williams and Joe Johnson on the bench were once star players, but their status declined too quickly. Last season, one of them averaged 14 points per game, and the other averaged 13 points per game. Considered a worthless junk contract.

In fact, this season, both of them appeared as substitute players more often. Even if there were occasional high-profile performances, their overall performance was completely in line with their status as veterans.

Wang Chao led a team that didn't have any other best lineup except him, won 67 wins in the regular season, and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals in the playoffs. If this performance is not enough, what is the success? ?Can a single-core team win the championship?

In the history of the NBA, there has not been a single-core team that truly won the championship. Even the Dallas Mavericks in the 10-11 season were the third-ranked team in the league in terms of salary. Key also has Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler, Sean Marion, Jason Kidd and other players.

Therefore, what Wang Chao has achieved in leading the Nets this season has been successful enough, and in the eyes of many people, this summer, as long as the Nets can retain the current lineup, they will find ways to introduce an All-Star with certain strength. Players, they will become the biggest favorites in the league absolutely in place!

(End of this chapter)