NBA: I have 3, no D, and I can't dribble

This season's Stephon Marbury's overall performance and efficiency can be said to be even better than last season, and he has truly adapted and matched his role next to the Knicks and Lin Fei.

Although the data of 21 points, 9.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game cannot be said to be too eye-catching, this was achieved when the Knicks often clocked out of get off work in three quarters.

What's more, the Knicks' starting and bench rotations are more active this season. Isaiah Thomas often uses more than ten players to rotate, and everyone's average playing time is naturally diluted.

In the current Knicks, it is difficult to say exactly who is the absolute second in command of the team. After all, besides Lin Fei,

The average points per game of Marbury, Eddie Curry and Zach Randolph are relatively similar, basically around 20 points. Marbury has more assists, but Eddie Curry and Randolph have more assists. The performance in rebounding was even better.

At the same time, Ron Artest, who just joined, is the second core of the Knicks besides Lin Fei on the defensive end.

However, Marbury's average of 21 points and 9.7 assists per game ranks second in the team after all. Coupled with his seniority in the 96 golden generation, he is currently the oldest veteran of the Knicks, and he is a three-time All-NBA player. The influence of a star backup.

Therefore, the majority of fans and many sports experts generally believe that the current second-in-command of the Knicks should belong to Stephon Marbury both emotionally and logically.

Now they are facing the powerful Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference on the road, and they also have huge grievances. Marbury, as the second in charge, is absent, which naturally puts greater pressure on Lin Fei and the Knicks team.

In the Mavericks home team locker room before the game, the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Rick Carlisle, was swiping on the tactical board with a marker in his hand, emphasizing to the players the defensive tactics for Lin Fei tonight.

"The main defensive task still has to be handed over to Josh Howard, but everyone on the field must be ready to help defend and double-team at any time!"

"The overall performance of the Knicks players this season seems to be more united, but their backbone has always been Lin. Coupled with the absence of Stephon Marbury, Lin will inevitably have greater scoring and organizational responsibilities tonight. !”

"Therefore, the biggest focus of our defense must always remain on Lin. It was this guy who cost us the 06 NBA championship. Facing the Knicks, we must show greater passion and fighting spirit than facing the Heat! "

Rick Carlisle is handsome in a suit and is a typical representative of academic coaches. When he coached the Indiana Pacers in the 2001-02 season, he won the title of best coach in the first season of his coaching career.

Now that he was not doing well with the Pacers and had conflicts with the management, Carlisle did not choose to stay in Indiana. Instead, he hit it off with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and replaced "Little General" Ivery. ·Johnson became the new head coach of the Mavericks.

Although Carlisle is not a legendary coach in the NBA, he can be regarded as a famous coach of the generation. Compared with the "little general" who can only play unlimited single tricks and lacks tactical ability at critical moments,

Rick Carlisle is definitely a master tactician, and he pays more attention to the team's overall cooperation and tactical discipline.

Mark Cuban liked the arrival of Rick Carlisle so much that he directly offered him a four-year contract worth $4 million, with an annual salary of nearly $1850 million. This is already the top head coach salary in the NBA today. .

After the embarrassing experience of 73 wins in the second round of the playoffs last season, the Mavericks coaching staff this season also focused more on the playoffs. While maintaining a good record in the regular season, they paid more attention to the players. Adjust their health and status, and also give more newcomers opportunities.

But once they encounter a crucial focus battle, especially a showdown between old rivals and grudges, the Mavericks players will naturally not show mercy.

Nowitzki was sitting on the massage chair in the locker room, listening carefully to Carlisle's tactical explanation, and at the same time exchanging some experiences with Jason Kidd next to him from time to time.

The Mavericks in the past two seasons have left a deep impression on fans. They look very strong in the regular season, but in the end they always falter in the playoffs, and they feel like they cannot fight an absolutely tough battle.

At this point, the Phoenix Suns, also in the Western Conference, also left a similar impression on fans.

The five strongest top teams in the Western Conference right now are the Timberwolves, Spurs, Mavericks, Suns and Lakers.

But fans always feel that if it comes to the playoffs, the Timberwolves and Spurs are more reliable than the Mavericks and Suns, and the Lakers led by Kobe and Dayao are also very promising.

Especially after creating history with 73 wins last season, the Mavericks almost lost to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, which further deepened this impression among fans.

As the regular season MVP for two consecutive seasons, Dirk Nowitzki has yet to prove himself in the playoffs and finals.

At this point, he is much more criticized by fans than Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, who have already held two championships at the same position.

Especially as a European player outside the United States, Nowitzki has always been labeled a softie.

And after sharing the regular season MVP with Lin Fei last season, combined with the performance of the two MVP winners in the playoffs, this has given those fans who want the King of Heino a huge stage.

Nowitzki admitted that compared to Lin Fei, he is indeed not tough enough yet, but he strengthens himself every night in training, and at the same time reminds himself that he cannot forget his shame and mission.

Most of the Mavericks fans at home never mentioned the "brilliance" of last season's 73 wins, as if the best record in regular season history was not an honor, but a mockery.

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, sitting in the front row, was in high spirits as usual with a beer in his hand. If he wins this game tonight, it will be more for Cuban than all the wins the Mavericks have won this season combined. More meaningful.

At the referee's whistle, the starting players of both teams walked onto the court and the game officially began.

The New York Knicks’ starting five are:
Point guard (PG): Lin Fei.

Shooting Guard (SG): Quentin Richardson.

Small Forward (SF): Ron Artest.

Power Forward (PF): Zach Randolph.

Center (C): Eddie Curry.

Stephon Marbury wore a suit and sat in the front row on the sidelines. Isaiah Thomas could only let Lin Fei play point guard and mentioned Quentin Richardson as the starting shooting guard.

This arrangement destined that the important organizational responsibility of the Knicks would almost fall on Lin Fei alone.

After all, Quentin Richardson can be said to be a typical 3D, basically without the ability to hold the ball and organize the team.

Sitting in the TNT live broadcast room, Charles Barkley was instantly excited when he saw Lin Fei playing point guard tonight.

"Lin hasn't been a starting point guard for a long time. You know, although he is playing shooting guard this season, he has replaced Stephon Marbury and become the Knicks' assist leader and biggest organizer!"

"The average assists per game this season reached 11.3, ranking second in the league behind Steve Nash, and much higher than Stephon Marbury's 9.7!"

"Now Stephen's absence has allowed Lin, the original combo guard, to return to the No. 1 position. I believe his assist data will definitely rise further, and he may even have a chance to compete for the honor of the assist king this season!"

Kenny Smith, who was sitting next to Barkley, smiled and said: "Charles, since you said so, how about we make a bet? Let's see if Lin's personal assists tonight can exceed 15?" Buck As soon as Li heard about the bet, he felt a little unconfident. After all, he had already kissed this donkey's butt enough.

"Kenny, these 15 assists are still a bit difficult, but I guess Lin's assists can be at least 10-12!"

The big-mouthed Barkley was obviously conservative. After all, a player's assist data is different from his scoring. Scoring mainly depends on personal touch, while assists require teammates to also have good touch. He just passes the ball well, but his teammates are left open. If you don't go in, there's nothing you can do about it.

Unexpectedly, Kenny Smith smiled and said: "Charles, in this case, I will guess more than 15, and you can't guess more than 15, that's it!"

"This..." Buckley suddenly felt like he was being tricked, but he quickly came to his senses and said, "What are you betting on? Let's agree in advance that kissing a donkey's butt is impossible!"

Kenny Smith smiled and said: "Of course I won't let you kiss the donkey's butt again. Even if you want to, you will not see the little female donkey!"

"Let's do this. If one of us loses, we will find a way to get a thousand Lin's autographed jerseys to give to the other party. What do you think?"

Barkley's mouth suddenly twitched. With Lin Fei's current popularity, it would be difficult to get his autographed jersey, let alone a thousand pieces, which would be worth at least tens of millions of dollars.

But the problem is that this requires Lin Fei to give this face, which cannot be bought with a million dollars.

"Kenny, you are such a clever little kid. Although I know that with my friendship with Lin, he will definitely give me this face, but I will definitely not be the loser in the end. Just think of how to prepare a bet for me. Bar!"

The starting five for the Dallas Mavericks are:

Point Guard (PG): Jason Kidd.

Shooting Guard (SG): Trenton Hassell.

Small Forward (SF): Josh Howard.

Power Forward (PF): Dirk Nowitzki.

Center (C): Eric Dampier.

Trenton Hassell has firmly established himself as the Mavericks' starting shooting guard, and his role has always been positioned as a 3D player.

As a purely defensive role player in the Timberwolves in the past, Trenton Hassell had a completely different life in this parallel world because of his encounter with Lin Fei and his influence.

With the help of personal efforts and the development of the times, Hassell is becoming a league-leading 3D like Shane Battier, Trevor Ariza and others.

Although his personal three-point shooting accuracy is only maintained at 38.6%, Hassell's outside defensive level is not inferior to Battier and Ariza.

It is precisely because of Trenton Hassell, a role player who is not afraid of hardship or tiredness and can do the dirty work, that Rick Carlisle can make Manu Ginobili stay on the bench with more confidence, and also allow the Mavericks to The lineup is deeper and the rotation is more diverse.

Tonight, with Lin Fei being the key defender, more tasks will naturally fall on Josh Howard and Trenton Hassell.

The game was very intense from the beginning. With Lin Fei possessing the ball as a triple threat of shooting, passing and breakthrough, Josh Howard's main defense was always unable to take care of it all.

Kidd and Hassell both tried to double-team decisively when necessary, but Lin Fei was always able to pass the ball out at critical moments to help open teammates score easily.

Relying on his huge scoring control, Lin Fei only took one three-pointer and scored 3 points in the first quarter, but he sent 8 assists in succession, helping his teammates flourish and completely penetrated the Mavericks. defensive system.

Seeing Lin Fei send out 8 assists in one quarter, Kenny Smith in the TNT live broadcast room was extremely happy, but Charles Barkley almost cried.

"Mad, why does this idiot Rick Carlisle double-team Lin so often? Don't you know that his assists are very strong?"

Led by Lin Fei, the Knicks scored 32 points in a single quarter and maintained the lead in the away game. The starters and substitutes were all excited and working hard to tie the 19-game winning streak in team history.

The lack of second-in-command Marbury seems to have no impact on this powerful team.

Stephon Marbury, who was sitting in the front row on the sidelines, also took the initiative to applaud his teammates for their wonderful performance in the first quarter tonight.

If it were five years ago, Marbury might have felt that it was not embarrassing to win without someone, but now, all he has in his heart is joy and joy, because his soul has truly integrated into this team. among.

Although the Knicks scored 32 points in a single quarter, the Mavericks' offensive end was also very strong, especially Dirk Nowitzki, who completely defeated Zach Randolph in the first quarter and made 9 of 7 shots. He scored 18 points in one quarter to help the Mavericks cling to the score.

Ginobili also took over the game in the transition period of the second quarter, leading the team to a 9:3 lead.

In the past, the Knicks' organizational responsibilities would be divided between Lin Fei and Marbury. When Lin Fei rested, Marbury was often on hand to organize and suppress the team.

But tonight Marbury is absent, and Lin Fei came off the field to rest early in the second quarter after playing the first quarter. This resulted in the Knicks having no one to organize and fight on their own. This situation relies too much on individual abilities.

As the league's leading offensive and defensive team, the Mavericks make it difficult for the Knicks to take the initiative without a leader.

On the court, Nate Robinson still missed the frame with the ball. The Mavericks launched a counterattack. Ginobili assisted Barea and hit another three-pointer from the outside.

"Shh!"

Knicks (35): (39) Mavericks.

Seeing that the situation was not going well, Isaiah Thomas did not dare to neglect. When he only played three minutes in the second quarter, he quickly called a timeout and prepared to replace Lin Fei in advance.

This season the Knicks team is strong, and Lin Fei's playing time has been further reduced. In most cases, after playing the first quarter, he took a break for about six minutes in the second quarter before playing again.

But facing the powerful Mavericks tonight, coupled with Marbury's absence, it is also a key battle to hit the 19th consecutive victory in team history.
Isaiah Thomas can only let Lin Fei return to the superstar ball mode of last season and increase his playing time to compete with the Mavericks' deep lineup.

"Lin, there is nothing we can do. Everyone in the Mavericks is furious. It seems that you will be ready to play for more than 40 minutes tonight!"

(End of this chapter)