super small forward

Chapter 8 8. Howard Expresses Hurt
Howard bravely took the lead, carried Splitter, received a pass from Blake, attracted the Spurs to shrink the defense inside, and then passed it out to Jamison at a 45-degree angle.

The Spurs' defense rotated quickly, with Leonard in front of the opponent at the same time Jamison received the ball.

However, Jamison hit the ball and passed to the bottom line. Liu Ren, who cut in, caught the ball and rushed to the reasonable collision zone.

Looking back, Howard slapped Leonard in the middle of the shot, and the defensive area was simply amazing!Within the entire three-point line, he took two steps and arrived at the opponent.

Howard became more and more excited today, playing the dominance he once had in the Magic period.

Liu Ren grabbed the ball and quickly pushed forward to counterattack. The Spurs returned to the defense very quickly. When Liu Ren came to the opponent's basket, he was double-teamed.

I saw Liu Ren toss the ball into the sky casually, and the No. 12 behind him patted the ball into the basket like a pat ball.

Looking at the unstoppable Howard on the court, Popovich is a bit big-headed. Sometimes, no matter how good his coaching ability is, there will be situations where a clever woman can't cook without rice. There is no one on the Spurs who can stop Howard!

Who would have thought that Howard would suddenly explode at the end of the season, playing a performance that he has never had this season?
Popovich originally thought that Kobe was injured and Gasol was reimbursed for the surgery, so he could focus all his defense on Howard. Who would have thought that the Chinese on the opposite side would be a master at every opportunity. Once they double-teamed Howard, Liu Ren Just cut to the inside, once the Spurs collectively shrink, this kid will pass the ball to Blake or Jamison, the two open three-pointers are very accurate, hit one after another.

Ordinary people may only see Howard's powerful inside dominance to attract defense, but Popovich sees Liu Ren's off-ball ability, which makes Popovich very puzzled.

Liu Ren's performance today seems unscientific to Popovich. If you ask him which team he studied the most at the beginning of the season, it is the Lakers.

At the beginning of the season, the Lakers claimed that "my grandma can lead the Lakers to win the championship". Such a marginal player, even Thackeray has studied it, and wants to open up the situation as an inside breakthrough when he is on the court.

In Popovich's impression, although Liu Ren had the best outside physical test data in the 2011 trial training, as well as the enviable shooting talent of the yellow race, this outstanding running ability, defensive reading ability and That kind of unscrupulous rushing ability is nonexistent!

Liu Ren played more than 40 games last season and only grabbed 20 rebounds in total. He also played more than 30 games this season, with a total of less than 20 rebounds. Today, he grabbed 7 rebounds in one game!

"Are you suddenly enlightened? Or have you always been so talented, but Kobe has no chance to perform in the backcourt?" Popovich is becoming more and more interested in Liu Ren. No matter what, he is going to recruit Liu Ren. It doesn't matter if you strengthen yourself, you can do whatever you want, as long as it can weaken the Lakers' combat effectiveness, that's what this strange old man likes to do.

75 to 99, the Spurs trailed by 24 points. Popovich knew that the general situation was over, and he was unwilling to fight hard for a game that did not hinder the overall situation when he was about to enter the playoffs. It's not good if you work too hard and get injured. This is the future hope of Popovich's team.

By the official timeout of the fourth quarter, the score had become 77 to 103. Popovich replaced all the main players and announced that he would give up the game.

D'Antoni also breathed a sigh of relief. Although the chance of a big reversal is not high, there will always be magical things in this place in the NBA. He has not replaced Howard and Liu Ren since the second half until now, and continues to put pressure on the opponent.

After both sides replaced marginal players, the game entered garbage time.

刘仁全场打了29分钟，17投12中拿到28分8篮板5助攻的全面数据，得分篮板助攻均创下职业生涯新高！同时4个失误也是新高。

In short, the flaws are not concealed, and his position in D'Antoni's heart is even higher!
D'Antoni was very satisfied with Liu Ren's performance today. He patted Liu Ren's shoulder with joy and said, "Liu, you will continue to start in the next game. You did a good job."

Liu Ren was overjoyed, and his excitement was beyond words.

Only then did he notice that he actually scored 28 points!
"Damn! If I knew that the ball was not passed to Howard just now, then I would have scored 30 points!"

Regardless of Liu Ren's chest-beating and excitement, the result of the game remained unchanged. In the end, the Lakers beat the Spurs 113-91 and won their 44th game of the season.

Since the Jazz lost today, Salt Lake City has completely lost hope of entering the playoffs. The Lakers have an advantage over the Jazz. Even if the Jazz win the last game and the Lakers lose, the Lakers can still enter the playoffs with the same record. D'Antoni thought The big rock finally fell. If this lineup did not make the playoffs, he estimated that it would be difficult to find a job in the future.

In today's game, in D'Antoni's opinion, the biggest chance of winning is Liu Ren's presence on the field to destroy the opponent's defense. Obviously, this surprise player is beyond the opponent's expectation. This big victory will make the Lakers more confident when they meet in the playoffs. !
"Mike, I wish you good luck in the next game. We haven't met in the playoffs for a long time. I look forward to playing against you." Popovich said to D'Antoni at the press conference after the game.

"I'm also looking forward to meeting you again, see you in the playoffs." D'Antoni laughed.

It was Howard who attended the post-match press conference with D'Antoni. Today he scored the second-highest 26 points, 22 rebounds and 7 blocks, showing his dominance.

"Dwight, you got double 20 today and played better than other games. Is it because of Kobe's absence?" The ESPN reporter began to set a trap.

"We have a lot of talent on the back line, because Kobe was, no, I'm not saying it's Kobe's fault, he's the best shooting guard in the world, but we also have a lot of talent on the bench, because Kobe is too strong, so we have no chance to express ourselves. When Kobe is not around, our ball passing is more effective, and I can handle the ball more, and use my inside control to create opportunities for teammates..." Howard really got caught, and his stomach He said what he had held back for a long time, and with today's big victory, he spoke with more confidence.

When Liu Ren came home, he happened to see this interview with Howard on the Internet, and shook his head with a helpless smile. It seemed that it was impossible for Howard to stay with the Lakers. Howard didn't understand what Kobe meant to Los Angeles!
Just as Liu Ren thought, after the news about Howard came out, people did not discuss how well he played in this game, but began to criticize him, and the focus was on emotional intelligence.

Also as Liu Ren expected, Howard felt very sad when he saw the accusations made against him by the media in Los Angeles.

You must know that when Orlando had not had any conflicts with the management, Orlando Multimedia pampered him like a child.

Howard never thought that the media in Los Angeles is more realistic than other places, and they are also nostalgic. They will not deliberately favor a player, but if they make a long-term contribution, they will not forget it in a short period of time, instead of successively talking with O’Neal, Howard, the league's No. [-] center trained by himself, fell out.

It's a pity that Howard doesn't have the heart to withstand the poisonous snakes of the Los Angeles media. He said that he was very hurt...

(End of this chapter)