basketball scientist

On May 5th, the NBA officially announced the MVP candidate for this season: Curry, who led the team to first place in the regular season, won the vote of his career with a vote rate far exceeding that of his rival Durant. The first MVP trophy!

Not to mention that Curry completely suppressed Durant in the team record and high-level statistics list, let’s just say that the Kings have not won any awards except Curry’s MVP. Ke Yan knows that Curry cannot win the MVP. We can't let the Kings, who set a record in team history, not win any awards, right?

Moreover, the Kings are different from other teams. The team is not the kind of strong team that everyone recognized before the start of the season!The Kings are expected to be ranked third, fourth, or fifth in the Western Conference. The prediction is not as good as the Spurs, Thunder, Mavericks, and Grizzlies.As a result, they not only defeated all the competitors in the Western Conference, but even surpassed the Knicks in the Eastern Conference. This performance that exceeded expectations is a big bonus.

It can’t be said that the Kings were already very strong and it was the team that carried Curry, right?

Of course, 1 Durant fans are unconvinced.In terms of displayed offensive skills and hard-hitting ability, Durant is indeed better than Curry; if you ask players to choose who is more difficult to defend between Curry and Durant, there is a high probability that Durant will be the same; In addition, the older generation of stars obviously agree more with Durant's style of play, which provides Durant's fans with a basis for criticism. They all think that Curry just took advantage of the team's good performance.

It's just that the harder the fans are, the more uncomfortable Durant will feel!In addition to Curry, the second contributor to the Kings' record is of course Harden!Where did Harden come from?Supported by the Thunder!

When I think that Harden, who was sent out by the management, directly helped Curry steal the MVP from his hands, Durant's heart was so desperate that he almost took it away!

Also almost beaten was the Knicks management!Harden, who was supported by the Thunder, helped steal his team's MVP. This was only an indirect relationship; the Knicks directly gave away an MVP!Although Anthony is not bad and helped the team win an O'Brien Cup, it would be a pain for the Knicks management to make a deal with Curry!

The team has also discussed contract extension with James' agency team.The current feedback can only be said to be not very good. James's reply was "wait until the playoffs are over and then make a decision based on the situation." In other words, he can only renew his contract if he can defend the championship and still maintain sufficient competitiveness in the future. Otherwise, it’s at your discretion!

Of course, this is not directly related to Ke Yan. Anyway, it is impossible for the Kings to want James anyway!

Announced together with the MVP, there is also the best lineup.In addition to the three "league kings" Curry, Durant, and James, the remaining two spots are occupied by Paul and Noah.

Since Westbrook missed most of the season, Irving was "impotent" for half the season, and Rose was reimbursed for two consecutive seasons, the competition for the second guard on the best team basically started between Paul and Harden.Harden has the upper hand in statistics and record, and Paul has saved the crumbling Nets. Both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages. When comparing qualifications, Paul has the upper hand. In addition, Curry's aura of winning the MVP is too dazzling, and the league will still consider the second one. The spot was given to Paul.

As for Noah, he is an example of "There is no hero, so Shuzi becomes famous".Howard's "naked signing" with the Mavericks directly destroyed the Lakers' combat power and had a bad impact on the league. In addition, the record is also mediocre, so he will definitely be suppressed; compared to Gasol and DeAndre Jordan, they are quite satisfactory. Noah's performance, defense, organization, is a model of "inspirational" and "desperate Saburo". Although his ability is not up to standard, he is better than "the tallest among the short" and won the highest honor he can get.

Harden, Parker, Howard, Griffin and Love were selected to the second team.The Spurs are second in the Western Conference, so someone has to accept the award on their behalf; Griffin and Love are both Mesozoic stars that the league favors, and I hope they can carry the league's banner in the future;

Lillard, Dragic, Aldridge, George, and Gasol were selected to the third team.

Of the 15 people on the "best team", there are only four Eastern Conference players, James, Paul, Noah, and George. The other 11 players are all from the Western Conference. This can be regarded as the league's official stamp on the concept of "the West is strong and the East is weak".

On May 5, during training, Kings teammates also held a small celebration ceremony for Curry, excited for Curry to win the MVP.Ke Yan also took the time to talk to Harden and consoled him for not being selected for the best team.

Most of the local media resources in Sacramento were invested in Curry's competition for MVP. Although he successfully helped Curry win the MVP, he did sacrifice a lot!But if the entire Bay Area can be mobilized to build momentum for the Kings in the future, the situation will be very different.

Harden's own mood is quite stable, and he can still see the respect given to him by the Kings from top to bottom.Among other things, the Thunder refused to even give him a four-year, $4 million contract, and were only willing to give him a four-year, $5600 million contract. The Kings directly offered Harden a contract of $4 million before he even played for the team. Maximum salary offer of 4800 million per year!Just for the sake of trust, Harden is willing to keep fighting for the Kings!

On May 5, G8 between the Kings and Grizzlies started at the United Center in Memphis.Since they conquered the Aker Center in the G3 game, the Grizzlies have high expectations for the G2 game. They hope that the team can take advantage of the victory and strive to stabilize the hard-won home court advantage!

However, no one expected that the Grizzlies, who had high hopes, would play the most ugly playoff game in recent years!

With the Grizzlies suppressing the whole inside line, the Kings simply let go of the Grizzlies' outside defense and strangled the inside line!Determined not to give the Grizzlies a chance to easily score in the paint!Just bet that Conley and Luol Deng, two pitchers with average production, can't kill anyone!

As for Tony Allen, he made 2 of 12 shots in the G8 game, which was very efficient, but Ke Yan insisted that it was purely an accident!He also resolutely relaxed his defense. This set of resolute defensive strategies also hit the Grizzlies' pain points, because Tony Allen has never been a player who can stably hit mid-range and long-range shots, otherwise he would not have even one in his career. You can't even get the full mid-level salary. Once your athletic ability declines, you will disappear from the league and no longer have a sense of existence.

In the last game, the Kings led by 13 points at halftime, but misfired in the third quarter, and were caught up by the Grizzlies, and eventually reversed the game; in this game, Luol Deng, who absorbed a lot of the ball, made 10 of 4 in the half. , Conley made 8 of 2, and their combined shooting percentage was only 33.33%. Not only was it inefficient, but it was also unable to contain the Kings' defense at all. The Kings opened the point difference to 23 points at halftime!

The huge point difference left the smug Grizzlies fans speechless, and also allowed the Kings to come out of the shadow of being conquered at home.

Ke Yan is as confident as ever. As he said before, he has never been a "dragon at home and worm at away" coach. For him, conquering other people's home courts is purely routine. The Grizzlies should be nervous.

The second half of the game basically continued the development momentum of the first half. The Grizzlies' touch was really bad today. They couldn't find the offensive feeling from top to bottom. Only when the Kings took the lead because of the big score, The defense was a little lax, and the team was able to attack three or four times in a row, but it was only a drop in the bucket.

The Kings maintained a 20+ lead all the way, and finally captured the United Center 123:101, regaining the home court advantage they lost after G2!

After the game, Ke Yan was interviewed and continued to put pressure on the Grizzlies verbally: "Looking at the NBA, I may be the best coach at playing away games in series. From beginning to end, I never regarded losing G2 as the end of the world. .”

Others may be pretentious when they say this, but Ke Yan's data shows that these are all truth.

Just one game later, the Kings regained the initiative in public opinion.Curry has grown into an MVP, and Harden is also a first-line defender in the league. Who can deny that Ke Yan can continue his record of coaching a new team and leading the team to win the championship in the second season?

The day after the game, the entire Kings team used the press conference room of the United Center to attend a press conference for Curry to receive the MVP trophy. In front of the national media, Curry raised the MVP trophy and then thanked him. Coaches, teammates, fans and parents.

Among those specifically named, in addition to Curry, Ayesha, and Key Yan, Harden was also included.Although Curry is usually "laughing and joking", he always pays special attention to Harden for Ke Yan and understands the reason.To a certain extent, Harden is a "good match" for Curry. He has the ability to help support, but he really can't stand up in tough battles, which can form a good contrast to Curry.And a very important point is that the two people are similar in age and have the same peak period. This means that the two people really "advance and retreat at the same time" and have a chance to reach the peak together, thereby pushing the Kings to a new height!

Harden, who was sitting next to him, also took a photo of Curry's trophy with his mobile phone.He and Curry are not like-minded, but they are close on the court.While Harden is suitable for Curry, why is it that Curry, a boss who is willing to give up the first ball handler and can stand up at critical moments, is not suitable for Harden?Compared with working with Westbrook and Durant during the Thunder, and even having to rely on myself to carry James, I am definitely more comfortable with the Kings!

09 The two heroes leave together, whoever leaves first is the dog!

. . . . . . .

On May 5, one day later, the G10 game between the Grizzlies and Kings continued at the United Center.

The Kings still adopt the strategy of strangling the inside and leaving the outside open to target the Grizzlies' offense; compared with the previous game, Conley and Luol Deng's shooting percentages have improved, but they are at normal levels and have not risen to The point of "punishment".

But the Grizzlies' defensive intensity is much stronger than in the previous game. Gasol's defense reminds people of Duncan back then. He can always appear in the most critical position and help many outsiders who were toyed by Curry and Harden. Players fill in positions to ensure the rapid rotation of the team's defensive system.

This also kept the two sides in a stalemate, with no one able to open up the score.

However, the Grizzlies have had a problem from beginning to end, that is, the team's top attacker Randolph has lost his physical strength as he has grown older. The Grizzlies' relatively fixed style of play and insufficiently deep lineup make it difficult for the team to "Spare it."The long season coupled with a tough first-round game against the Mavericks made it difficult for Randolph to continue to play the main offensive role for 38 or even more than 40 minutes of playing time.

This is actually also a problem for the Grizzlies. Conley, Tony Allen, Luol Deng, and Gasol all have contracts that are not at a premium, but no one's contract seems to be obviously worth the money.And because the team system is relatively closed, it is difficult for foreign players to integrate into it. Players like Stephenson who need the ball to show their talents are unlikely to choose the Grizzlies. This has also allowed the Grizzlies to enter a slowly changing situation. in a downward cycle.

Any championship team either has a high-quality contract in the team, or like Jerry Buss, spends money at any cost.The most direct reason why the Lakers have been among the top teams for a long time is because within the rules, they don't care much about cost-effectiveness. They just pursue combat power to the greatest extent and are unambiguous about renewing players.If the multiple-choice question of Thunder's three young men + Ibaka happened to the Lakers, there would be no choice between Harden and Ibaka. Westbrook also gave up Rose's salary reduction and directly renewed their contracts!

Randolph was exhausted, and the Grizzlies' offense at the last moment was somewhat unsustainable. He was hit by the Kings consecutively and lost the game 104:112, losing two consecutive games at home!The series score came to 3:1.

At the moment the game ended, Grizzlies coach Joerger looked at the court with a hint of unwillingness. This season, the Grizzlies made a big bet on Luol Deng because they actually wanted to make a real difference, but even if Against the newly resurgent Kings, the Grizzlies still have big deficiencies, which seems to have shaken his idea of ​​continuing to build a team around the starting five.As Tony Allen and Randolph enter the decline stage, the Grizzlies may have a more difficult time in the future. Whether to adjust the team's route, perhaps after the series, Joerger needs to have a good discussion with the team management.