Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 236 236. Hidden dangers of the season, making a rotation plan, and the three Grizzlies who were selected as All-Stars, Martin shed tears.

The peak match between the Grizzlies and the Celtics came to an end with the Grizzlies beating the Celtics by 17 points.

The result of this game still exceeded the expectations of many fans. Before the game, no one thought that the Grizzlies could win the Celtics by nearly 20 points.

You must know that the Grizzlies just overtook the Celtics and rose to No. [-] in the league not long ago. The gap between the two teams can be described as very small.

Even the Grizzlies and the Celtics are almost the same on the power rankings announced by ESPN. This big victory is likely to rewrite the power rankings next week.

If nothing else, the Grizzlies will surpass the Celtics for the first time in the combat power rankings, becoming the first in the record and combat power rankings.

Of course, what shocked the fans the most was that the Grizzlies star Kevin Martin played his career masterpiece in this game, scoring 47 points in the game and pressing the Big Four of the Green Army under him for frantic friction.

Especially in the last moment of taking over the game, the scene where Martin played one against four was talked about by the fans even more.

Even the famous former NBA star and retired famous black-mouthed Scottie Pippen said after the game, "This is definitely a great personal performance."

There are not a few stars in NBA history who scored more than 45 points in a single game, but before the data blowout in the small ball era, a player who scored 45 points in a single game was definitely blown up by various media.

What's more, Martin's 47 points in a single game are still the stats he gained when facing the Celtics with a Big Four lineup. No solution.

In the last 4 minutes, Martin almost broke the defense of the Celtics by himself. Even Celtics star Paul Pierce said helplessly after the game, "Kevin? I didn't know this guy before this season. Who, after joining the Grizzlies, I knew there was such a person, but now, I think I should get to know this guy named Kevin again."

With Kevin Martin's godlike performance, after defeating the Celtics, the Grizzlies' record came to 36 wins and 8 losses. While still ranking first in the league, they also widened the gap with the Celtics behind them .

As for the Lakers and Hornets in the West, they were even thrown a long way by the Grizzlies.

However, the Grizzlies occupy the advantage of the schedule in the early part of the season, and the Grizzlies will face more and more strong teams in the latter part of the season. Take the opportunity to overtake.

The NBA has ushered in a lot of competition this year. The desolation of the Timberwolves not only gave other teams a chance to compete for the championship, but each team also put a lot of thought into strengthening.

Until the last moment, no one knows which team will be the number one in the league, and this year's championship is also very suspenseful.

Even though the Celtics and Grizzlies are currently leading the championship rankings, after all, the two teams have just ushered in a turnaround during the offseason.

As the existences that ranked second to last and first in the league last season, the Celtics and Grizzlies are strong, but once they enter the playoffs, it is still unknown who will win.

In addition, the Lakers, Hornets, Pistons, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Spurs and Jazz behind them are also excellent.

No one dares to underestimate these veteran teams that have reached the playoffs for many years. The NBA has always been a place full of miracles, and this year will become the most suspenseful season in the league's championship since the rise of the Timberwolves.

…………

After defeating the Celtics, the Grizzlies not only temporarily secured the No. [-] position in the league, but also broke the team history record with nine consecutive victories in the season, continuing to refresh the team's not much team history.

It was not until the away loss to the Suns on January 1 that the Grizzlies ended the season winning streak to 22 consecutive victories.

And this game is also the second time the Grizzlies lost to the Suns this season. As the only team to double-kill the Grizzlies this season, the Suns once again beat the Grizzlies by double digits throughout the game.

Nash's 18 points, 3 rebounds and 13 assists still shined in the audience. At the same time, "Small Overlord" Stoudemire's 32-point performance also completely suppressed Pau Gasol.

The scene of holding "Sister-in-law Jia" under his body and ravaging reminded Luke of the man named Griffin.

Gasol's state made Luke realize that the season is over halfway, and he should make a rotation plan for the players. He can no longer try his best every game like before, and let the players indulge themselves on the court like chicken blood. .

The Grizzlies, as a bottom-ranked team for thousands of years, suddenly saw the hope of competing for the championship this season. Everyone in the team played very excitedly in every game. This competitive state made Memphis fans feel relieved.

Because the desire to win is the basic condition for a team to touch the championship.

But at the same time, excessive energy will also become a huge hidden danger buried by players throughout the season.

The NBA season will last as long as 82 regular season games. If the Grizzlies play their lives like this every game, then once the team enters the playoffs, the players are likely to be in poor condition and mental trance due to fatigue. There may be injuries.

After entering the NBA, Luke has led the team to three championships. Luke knows what a rest means to a player.

Even if the players are only allowed to rest for ten games throughout the season, after entering the playoffs, the players will be in good spirits.

During the Timberwolves period, due to the large number of veteran players on the team, Luke often used rotations to allow players to rest.

But coaching the Grizzlies this season, the overall age of the Grizzlies is still young. Except for a few players such as Chris Webber and Grant Hill, most of the players' physical strength can allow Luke to fully use it on the court.

Even Kevin Martin, who is thin in some key games, can play more than 40 minutes.

This way of employing people is the most despised existence among Luke, but now, Luke has not arranged players to take turns for a long time in order to compete for the best coach.

It wasn't until Gasol was ruthlessly blown away by his opponent, the "little bully" Stoudemire, that Luke discovered that Gasol has played a total of 43 games for the team and maintained full attendance. This season, he has not had a game rest.

Even if the 27-year-old Pau Gasol is still in peak physical condition, even an iron man will be exhausted if he continues to fight like this, let alone an inside player like Gasol who is more than [-] meters tall.

Finding himself obsessed with competing for the best coach, Luke quickly worked out a new rotation plan that would allow the Grizzlies to rest two players per game.

Among them, veteran players and important stars such as Chris Webber, Grant Hill, Mike Bibby, Pau Gasol, Kevin Martin and Wallace will be included in the key rotation list.

After all, these players are the real anchors of the playoffs.

Especially the three of Martin, Gasol and Gerald Wallace. These three players must not have the slightest damage, otherwise the Grizzlies will be declared out in advance on the way to the championship.

The best coach is important, but the championship is what Luke really pursues.

In the history of the NBA, there is no coach who can be named the first coach in history by fans alone because of the best coach in the case of few champions.

At any time, the championship is the standard for measuring the historical status of a coach, and even the number of championships of the coach is more valuable than the players.

After all, players can follow the team to the championship ring as drinking fountain players, but every coach who can lead the team to the championship is an elite in the basketball industry.

Even if Rivers is a chicken soup coach with a lot of fried chicken in his hands, as long as he leads the team to win the championship ring and bears the title of champion godfather on his head, he will never worry about not being able to find a job in the NBA in the future.

Even once it enters the free market, it will definitely be the existence that all teams want to pursue.

In the next few games, the Grizzlies began to rest according to the plan. Among them, the rest time of the main players was deliberately staggered by Luke, so as to ensure that only one star of the Grizzlies could not play in each game.

Although the player's rotation weakened the overall strength of the Grizzlies from the side, the Grizzlies lost two games during this period at the end of January.

But as January ended, the Grizzlies still ranked first in the league with a record of 37 wins and 11 losses, and the gap with the Celtics behind them was still 1.5 wins.

.........

The time has entered February, and the hottest topics discussed by fans have shifted from the Grizzlies and Celtics to the upcoming All-Star Weekend.

Up to now, the East and West All-Star rosters have been officially released. The five starting players in the East are: Kidd, Wade, James, Bosh, and "Warcraft" Howard.

Among them, LeBron James was elected as the All-Star vote leader with 210 million votes, while Howard and Kobe ranked second and third with just over 200 million votes.

These three players are also the only All-Stars with more than 200 million votes this season. As for Yao Ming, because of the All-Star restructuring, he only ranks second in the frontcourt in the West and third in the league.

However, the 170 million All-Star votes still allowed Yao Ming to be the starting center in the Western Conference without any suspense.

In addition, Kidd, the starting point guard in the Eastern Conference, has only 120 million votes. To be able to sit in the starting lineup, he must thank the "General" Arenas for his reimbursement for the season. Otherwise, Kidd's popularity is destined to be a younger brother in front of the general.

In terms of substitutes, the seven in the East are: Billups, Hamilton, Ray Allen, Pierce, Joe Johnson, Jamison, and "Shark" O'Neal.

As for Rasheed Wallace, who should have been selected for the All-Star lineup, his state declined after being blasted by an egg.

Although his personal performance this season is not bad, he has broken away from the All-Star threshold. If nothing else, Rashid's playing career is basically coming to an end.

On the west side, the starting five are: Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Anthony, Pau Gasol and Yao Ming.

From the perspective of star popularity alone, the West is obviously more luxurious. Even though two of the three players who won 200 million votes this year are from the East, Iverson and Kobe alone have won the hearts of many fans.

It's just that the league has closed many voting channels that should have been opened, otherwise Iverson will definitely hope to win the vote again.

And Paul Gasol, thanks to the excellent record of the Grizzlies, led Tim Duncan with more than 170 million votes and became the starting power forward in the Western Conference.

The place where Duncan suffers is not his personal performance, but the fact that the Spurs have brought too little attention to Duncan.

If it weren't for Duncan's stable performance as always, an existence like Duncan who is neither hyped nor has the team's attention has long missed the All-Star.

After all, the All-Star fight is not only about the strength of the players, but also depends on the popularity of the players and the attention of the team.

Regarding this point, Lillard, who has repeatedly lost the All-Star selection in later generations, obviously has something to say.

In terms of substitutes, the seven selected Western Conference All-Stars are: Paul, Nash, Kevin Martin, "Yellow Mamba" Roy, Gerald Wallace, Nowitzki and Stoudemire.

David West, who should have been selected as an All-Star for the first time in his career, was replaced by Gerald Wallace.

In terms of personal statistics alone, David West is not inferior to Gerald Wallace, and even the team record of the Hornets is not much worse, but in terms of popularity, even if two Wests are tied together, it is not bad. Wallace's opponent.

After the All-Star lineup was released, the Grizzlies got their wish and three players were selected to the All-Star lineup. While setting a record in team history, it also became the fourth NBA team in the past ten years to have more than three players selected to the All-Star lineup at the same time.

When he learned that he was selected to the All-Star team as he wished, Kevin Martin, who has been performing very well this season, even staged a tearful scene.

As early as in high school, Martin heard the most words, "Son, your body is too thin, you are not suitable for basketball."

It wasn't until Martin began to gain weight with the help of his trainer in college that words like you're too thin to play basketball still haunted Martin.

And after graduating from high school, no NCAA team is willing to send Martin a scholarship.

In the end, the little-known Western Carolina University planned to make an investment in Martin, giving this thin guy who weighed only more than 70 kilograms a chance.

You know, since the establishment of Western Carolina University, no player has ever been selected by a professional basketball club in the first round.

Looking at the entire NCAA, Western Carolina University is just a speck of dust.

But Kevin Martin responded with an expression of averaging 23.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in college. In his junior season, he rose to the second place in the NCAA Division I scoring list.

And Kevin Martin's outstanding performance also made him the first player in the history of Western Carolina University to be selected by a professional basketball club in the first round.

It can be said that Kevin Martin's success is entirely due to the sweat on the court, coupled with private self-discipline, which has made this new generation of star who is now selected to the NBA All-Star team and ranks fourth in the season's scoring list!
(End of this chapter)