NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 385: Master-disciple duel, Wang Chao vs. Butler

The Nuggets lost to the Spurs by 2 points, which can be said to be a great pity. However, the Nuggets are a young team. Whether it is Mitchell, Murray or Gobert, they can maintain their peak period for at least 8 years. , there is enough growth time for the Nuggets, and just two years ago, they just won the championship and there was no pressure at all.

As a result, the four teams in the Western Conference that have entered the second round are the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs... well, it can be said that they have not changed for thousands of years.

Many viewers are tired of watching these teams' duel in the playoffs. Anyway, no matter how they fight, the one who can finally break out of the Western Conference will most likely be Wang Chao's Clippers. I was spoiled first while watching the drama, so of course it’s not interesting.

On the other hand, in the east, the situation this year is very special.

In addition to the Bucks and Raptors sweeping their opponents one after another, the other two sets of duels were the Hornets and Nets.

In the Eastern Conference, four teams from the top half of the division also won the first round.

Hornets 4:1 Cavaliers.

Embiid's quite dominant performance this season has given many James fans a reason to criticize Towns and Cousins.

But the Hornets also have an insider with luxurious statistics and dominance on both offense and defense, Anthony Davis, the big-browed guy.

Embiid is very strong, but he is still a little inferior against Big Eyebrow, who is still at his peak. What's more, in addition to Big Eyebrow, the Hornets' famous three Charlotte heroes include Oladipo and Kemba. Walker, on the other hand, apart from Embiid, the only other player on the Cavaliers who can be regarded as number one is Thomas, who has been injured one after another during the regular season and is gradually declining.

The strongest person on the surface is 1 meters tall. Although his personal ability was extremely strong at his peak, his body is still thin. The high-intensity competition in the NBA greatly increases his probability of injury. It is only a matter of time before he gets injured. This is the same for Rose. .

In another matchup, Nets vs. Celtics, the Nets had the last laugh, which was really surprising.

The Green Army in the 10-20 season of this era is very different from the original time and space, especially when Jayson Tatum, who was supposed to be the core of the team, was kidnapped by the Lakers, which had a great impact on the strength of the Green Army.

But perhaps because of this, Irving did not leave the Green Army and switch to the net, but continued to fight here.

But for the Celtics, having Irving is worse than not having Irving.

Since leaving James, Irving has gradually felt like letting himself go, and all kinds of things have continued.

But in the 19-20 season, Irving was particularly noisy.

During the regular season, many of the Nets' main players suffered injuries, including Durant, who was reimbursed for the season, and Irving, who has his own glass personality.

But the Nets did not give up. Under the leadership of Dinwiddie, they made it all the way and entered the playoffs with the eighth record in the Eastern Conference.

But it seemed that he felt that he had no sense of existence, or that this guy was really stupid. He took the lead in causing trouble in the Irving campus, publicly opposed the campus games and took the lead in the strike, and encouraged the players not to play.

Coincidentally, the same thing happened again in different teams at the same time.

As the leader of the Green Army, Irving firmly opposed the park competition and refused to play. The result was that the Celtics lacked their main point guard and core ace throughout the first round.

In this case, how can there be fighting power?
4:1, the Green Army only won one game.

However, despite the big problems of the Green Army themselves, the Nets' performance in this series is still quite surprising.

To be exact, Jokic and Booker performed beyond people's imagination, especially Booker.

If the Nets' most eye-catching performer during the regular season was Jokic, then it was obviously Booker who was even more dazzling in the playoffs.

In 5 games, Booker averaged 33 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists per game. On the offensive end, his nearly unsolvable mid-range shots tore through the Green Army's defense at will. This level of offensive firepower is inferior even to Durant. Not too much.

Of course, Booker’s firepower is inseparable from Jokic’s guidance. The two of them used pick-and-roll tactics with great proficiency. Jokic stood in the corner with the ball, waiting for Booker to come around and pass the ball, and then helped Booker start the pick-and-roll arc. , the latter shoots directly, with a very high success rate.

Eliminating the Green Army, even though the core players did not play, is enough to prove that the Nets, led by Jokic and Booker, are strong.

The showdowns in the second round of the Eastern Conference are Bucks vs. Nets and Raptors vs. Hornets. They are all strong showdowns, at least better than the matchups that have not changed in the West for thousands of years.
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The Clippers' opponent in the second round is the San Antonio Spurs. To be honest, there is still no suspense.

Wang Chao will not underestimate the Spurs, especially the Spurs led by Butler in the park. After all, the opponent is the one who brought the Heat all the way to the finals in the park, and must be given a certain amount of respect.

But that's it.

The Spurs' lineup structure can only be described as civilian. Apart from Butler, the biggest star in the team is Nikola Vucevic. The opponent is indeed an inside center with quite good skills, but his strength is extremely limited. After all, he has neither been selected to the All-Star nor the All-NBA team.

In Wang Chao's view, Vucevic and Daluo are enough to deal with him, not to mention that they also have Howard on the inside bench.

As for the Spurs' outside play, their style of play is actually somewhat similar to that of the Clippers, both focusing on three-point shooting. However, the difference is that the core of the Spurs' outside tactics is Butler, while the Clippers' team is Wang Chao.

There is a clear difference in strength between these two players.

Butler is very strong, especially Butler in the Spurs. There is no other situation where he is always looked down upon. He is usually discussed on the same level as Leonard and Paul George.

But even so, people still have a clear definition of Butler's upper limit.

As the absolute core, the best record is the conference finals, and he also needs the help of a teammate of at least the level of Howard at the end of his peak.

The Spurs have always fallen to the Warriors in the past few years, which also proves Butler's ceiling.

Even the stronger Spurs team in the past few years can't beat the Warriors, let alone the current Spurs, who are obviously half as weak?

And this time, their opponent is no longer the Warriors, but the Clippers, who will fail every time the Warriors meet.

In fact, there is basically no suspense about the outcome of this matchup. 99% of fans, viewers and media believe that the Clippers will win and advance to the conference finals, and they will win by a big score.

Under this premise, Wang Chao and Butler, this pair can be regarded as a master-disciple duel, which is the biggest attraction.

That's right, master and apprentice.

This title was proposed by a reporter from the American media.

Although Wang Chao and Butler were teammates during the Rockets, they are actually close friends and teachers. From the beginning of the draft, Wang Chao has always been optimistic about Butler. Not only does he take care of Butler in the team, but he also provides daily training. He is very strict with Butler and has almost the same requirements as Leonard.

Leonard once said when he attended the talk show that at that time he was the most talented young player in the Rockets and the player that Wang Chao finally valued. He was always proud of this at the time, but only There was one thing that puzzled him and made him jealous, and that was Wang Chao's special care for Butler.

It is clear that Leonard is far superior to Butler in terms of immediate combat ability, talent or other aspects, but Wang Chao always compares him with Butler and requires Butler to do the same thing as him.

Butler is now a superstar on par with Leonard, but at that time, in everyone's eyes, he was indeed a player without much talent.All this is due to Wang Chao's keen eye for recognizing talents and his careful teaching.

For this reason, it is not an exaggeration to call him a teacher.

Wang Chao would probably blush after hearing this.

The reason why Butler is great is because he works hard enough. Even without him, the opponent will still become the league's top star through his own efforts.

He is merely adding fuel to the flames and accelerating this inevitable outcome.

It's just that this secret can only rot in his heart and cannot be revealed to outsiders.
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In the first game between the two teams, due to Butler's intentional actions, the two faced off directly.

At the stage of implementation, Wang Chao no longer has much interest in playing against rival stars, including James, Durant and others, who have been defeated by him countless times.

As long as the team can win, he will usually choose to stagger with the opponent's core, and everyone will open up to compete with the team's ability.

Only when the opponent's star is really feeling great and unstoppable will he reluctantly go up and hit him.

When facing the Grizzlies Doncic in the first round, he did not defend the opponent much head-on, otherwise Doncic would not have been able to average 30+ points per game.

This time against the Spurs, Wang Chao originally did not plan to face off against Butler, but as soon as the game started, Butler took the initiative to use the pick-and-roll to form a matchup with Wang Chao.

If the opponent came to him on his own initiative, Wang Chao would certainly not avoid the fight.

"Boy, why do you want to fight with me?"

Wang Chao is six years older than Butler, and given his past experiences, there is nothing wrong with calling him this.

Hearing Wang Chao's words, Butler did not respond directly.

For Butler, who has a more introverted personality, the best way at this time is to respond with basketball.

Butler's dribbling speed suddenly accelerated, and he rushed out like an arrow, aiming directly at the Clippers basket.

His movements were fast, but Wang Chao was even faster.

Speed, agility, strength, jumping, explosion... In terms of athletic ability, Butler has no advantage over Wang Chao, especially Wang Chao now has many talents, including the ability to improve defensive speed on the defensive end, even in the league. Even the fastest players can't get away from him.

Butler staggered the ball to the free throw line and found that he was unable to move forward. If he continued to break through, he would be forced to the weak side by Wang Chao, getting further and further away from the basket.

Making a decisive decision, Butler stopped his breakthrough without hesitation, turned his back to Wang Chao, bumped his shoulders hard, and then turned around and shot behind the counter force.

The whole set of movements was smooth and flowing, and the posture was very much like Kobe... No, it should be said that it was more like Jordan.

Unfortunately, when Butler turned back and aimed at the basket, a pair of big hands had already loomed in front of him.

It's Wang Chao!
He did this whole set of movements perfectly, but it didn't buy him even a second.

Having already taken off, Butler had no choice but to grit his teeth, raise the angle, and throw the basketball toward the basket.

The deliberately high shooting angle avoided Wang Chao's blocking hand, but the arc was too high, causing Butler's shot to miss wildly, and it was a direct hit.

Daluo, who was standing under the basket, raised his hand and picked up the defensive rebound.

"This is a pretty good move, but it's a pity."

Wang Chao looked at Butler, shook his head, and said with ease: "If you hadn't specifically chosen me to play, and had someone else on the team guard you, the goal might have been scored."

Offensive and defensive transition, the Clippers attack.

Wang Chao was holding the ball and standing at the top of the three-point line. Standing in front of him was Butler with a serious expression and full concentration.

It seems that the other party is determined to have a one-on-one with him.

Wang Chao did not hesitate too much and chose to break through with the ball, and during the breakthrough process, he slowed down and connected with his back, turning over and leaning back.

Yes, it was the move Butler used against him just now.

With the same move, Wang Chao defended Butler with ease, but Butler struggled to defend Wang Chao. He tried his best to jump up and raise his hands to interfere, but his palms could only reach around Wang Chao's chin.

There is no way, there is a huge gap between the two in static talent.

Wang Chao, who is 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 06 meters, can no longer be considered a gifted person in this league where there are more and more talented people. However, he has the same height and wingspan as Butler, who is 2 meters tall. In comparison, the talent gap is not 18:2 points.

In addition, Wang Chao also has the talent of walking in the air to increase bounce and stay in the air. Once he uses a fadeaway jumper, even Antetokounmpo, let alone Butler, will have a hard time guarding Wang Chao's shot.

Butler, who was scored by the exact same move, did not hesitate to continue holding the ball against Wang Chao in the next round and continued to charge!

On the sidelines, Spurs coach Popovich, who was sitting on the bench, watched this scene and remained silent.

Letting Butler challenge Wang Chao is obviously not a wise move.

But this was the only way they could think of to win the game.

If they don't target Wang Chao, the Spurs will have no chance of winning against the Clippers, but if Butler can defeat Wang Chao, they have the possibility of winning.

What Butler and Popovich want to bet on is whether Wang Chao will have physical problems with his increasing age and the tight and intensive schedule of park games.

After all, Wang Chao is 37 years old, which is different from the 31-year-old Butler.

Even if the first game was fine and the second game was OK, could it be that in the subsequent third and fourth games, with Butler's entanglement at all costs, Wang Chao's physical fitness could still be as good as before, as if he was never tired?

Popovich doesn't believe it, and he can only think this way, otherwise the Spurs really don't even have a chance of winning.

(End of this chapter)