Basketball's best forward and guard

Chapter 53 53 [Warrior]

"I have a lot of respect for the Golden State Warriors, they are the defending champions, but frankly, I'd rather play them in the semifinals, Gregg Popovich's Spurs have proved to everyone in 20 years that no matter what season, they are always a complete team. It's not a good competitor for Portland."

Damian Lillard is a real fighter. He may be the toughest rebel under the Golden State dynasty. Attitude.

When he learned that his opponent in the semifinals was the Spurs, did Lillard publicly show weakness?

Is this a strategy or the truth?
People are more willing to believe that it is the former, but in fact, Lillard is telling the truth.

Lillard is proud enough, but after seeing the Houston Rockets being swept by the Spurs, he also has to sigh with emotion. Now the Spurs are really terrifying. You must know that the Houston Rockets are the bitter masters of the Trail Blazers. They played against each other four times in the regular season , Lillard failed to take a victory away from the Houstonians.

"He's an unbelievable guy. Before this, I hadn't seen a player like him. People always said how strong Michael Jordan, Irvin Johnson were in their rookie season, but I was not an NBA player at that time. What I see is that the Spurs' number 35 is making a whole new history."

"It's going to be fun, I like that kind of matchup"

After Damian Lillard spoke, McCallum, another gunman in the city of tearing, was not far behind. Compared with Lillard's praise for the Spurs, McCallum directly praised Jiang Hao. He even took Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson came to compare with Jiang Hao.

It can be seen how outstanding Jiang Hao is in Macklem's heart.

Fans are sure that McCallum, as a star player, doesn't need to compliment a rookie at a time like this.

So why else would he do it?
"Yes, he is very strong, his threat is not even much lower than Kawhi Leonard"

McCollum explained the reason. It turns out that in his opinion, Jiang Hao is the most dangerous player in the Spurs team after Leonard.

Even Aldridge, who started his career with the Blazers, couldn't get McCollum to say those words.

'This is not a good sign'

Although the Spurs fans would like to see the picture of the opponent praising Jiang Hao, they also have to worry about Jiang Hao. When the opponent values ​​you, that is the most difficult thing.

In fact, in the eyes of many people, the reason why the Rockets were swept out by the Spurs was related to the importance they attached to Jiang Hao. In the first two games of the series, the Rockets obviously did not pay enough attention to Jiang Hao. At that time, the best opportunity has been lost.

The Blazers showed against Jiang Hao before the game started, which undoubtedly proves that the upcoming series will be more difficult than imagined.

Although the Trail Blazers are not as strong as the Houston Rockets in the regular season, their ability to eliminate the New Orleans Pelicans led by Anthony Davis and LaMarcus Cousins ​​in the first round can explain many problems in itself.

The most important thing is that they also have a pair of top backcourt combinations. Lillard and McCallum's backcourt duo is even stronger than Houston's bulb combination to a certain extent.

For example, on the offensive end, both Lillard and McCallum are top scorers averaging 20+ per game this season. Although the Spurs' perimeter defense is very strong, can they really withstand the impact of the Blazers' double guns?

Both Jiang Hao and Dejounte Murray are very potential defensive players, but they suffer from their youth. Facing the impact of star players like Lillard, can they still perform as before?

Spurs fans dare not make that definition.

In fact, Popovich did not dare. Although he was full of confidence in the semifinals, he still gave Leonard the first point of support. In his opinion, as long as Leonard plays normally, the Spurs will Can win.

.........

Because of the record in the regular season, the semifinals with the Trail Blazers were first played at the Blazers' home court.

The Spurs arrived in Portland the day before the game, and after only a few hours of rest, they devoted themselves to training.

Maybe this is the basketball culture of the Spurs, they always do the right thing at the right time.

One day later, at the Moda Center, the home of the Blazers, Jiang Hao experienced what a tearing city is when he played.

The fans here are very fanatical. They don't know what respect is for their opponents. Jiang Hao felt that the [-]th generation of his ancestors had been greeted by the Blazers fans for a few seconds after passing through the player tunnel.

In this regard, he can only respond with silence.

"Jiang, this is the playoffs. What you see is just the tip of the iceberg. You can't understand the environment we faced when we played at the home of the Detroit Pistons in 2005. Compared with that scene, this is simply childish. "

Manu Ginobili patted Jiang Hao on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Have the Portland Trail Blazers ever won a championship in history? Why does it give me the feeling that the culture of this team is like an old woman who has been widowed for many years, and seems to be holding back her energy"

Ginobili laughed out loud. He thought Jiang Hao's metaphor was very vivid, but what is it, the city that is torn apart?
"The Trail Blazers won the championship. Of course, that was in the 70s and [-]s. You should have heard of Bill Walton. He is the greatest player in the history of the Trail Blazers."

Ginobili then popularized the history of the Trail Blazers to Jiang Hao.

"LaMarcus, hear that? Although the fans here are crazy, they are still showing kindness to you. You are very popular here"

Tony Parker slapped Aldridge on the butt and quipped.

The latter laughed out loud. For Aldridge, he feels great at this time. His career started here, and he has a deep relationship with this city, and he has also contributed to this city. This team has worked hard. In this case, the fans here really shouldn't point their guns at him.

The on-site director was also very discerning at this time, and he pointed the camera at Aldridge.

The former owner, the current guest, what kind of performance will Aldridge show when he comes to the Moda Center again?

Everyone is looking forward to this.

Frankly speaking, Aldridge did not perform very well in the series with the Rockets. Although he has the title of "Rocket Buster", in fact, he averaged only 17.6 points per game in the series with the Rockets.

(End of this chapter)