NBA: I am the card dealer

of course!

Normally, he shouldn't make such bold statements.

First of all, he is a superstar with enormous influence. Not to mention a game as popular as the finals, even a regular season game that couldn't be more ordinary, any slight movement from him would be big news.

And now he has directly stated that he is very confident of winning the championship, which basically shows that he does not take his old club seriously.

Second.

The Knicks are his old club.

No one expected that the two sides would meet again in the finals.

But this has become an established reality and there is nothing to say. It’s just that Xue Liancheng went all out right at the start and directly offended all the New York fans. One can imagine how they would react.

Perhaps the only thing they can do is to remember you as a hero in winning the championship and not visit your family.

Insults and ridicule are definitely a necessity.

After all, if you don't show any mercy, I won't show any face to you.

Based on these two factors, it is definitely the right choice for him to keep a low profile.

The reason why he did not choose to keep a low profile is very simple.

He needs to instill confidence in his teammates, he needs to boost their morale, and he needs to tell the world that he is not afraid of anyone.

At the same time, it also puts psychological pressure on the opponent.

Just like James.

After three years, James has already developed a mental demon. Otherwise, how could he have never won a single game against him?

perhaps……

James' fragile mind and inability to bear endurance are the biggest reasons why he always loses in the confrontation between the two.

Now that he has spoken out, he is putting the greatest pressure on James and at the same time activating James' inner demons.

in this way.

Only after the series is won will they have greater confidence.

After all, if we talk about the strength on paper, it is still difficult to compare the Lakers with the Knicks.

In addition to top superstar James, the Knicks also have two All-Stars, Lopez and Oladipo, who have proven themselves to be All-Stars.

Oladipo's efficiency has obviously declined this season, but after all, his confidence and tactical position have been demonstrated. He can still score 20+ points per game. He is a very important offensive point in the Knicks lineup, almost replacing Irving.

Lopez's average points and efficiency have also declined to a certain extent, but it is still 16+8, and he can be regarded as a substitute for Love.

Besides.

They also have a large number of high-quality role players, including David West, Ilyasova, Jeff Green, Crowder, PJ Tucker, Tyler Johnson, Rooney, etc. This is the richest asset Xue Liancheng left to James.

This is also the reason why the Knicks were able to make it to the finals with such an unstoppable force. They definitely gave enough support to the Big Three.

As for the Lakers.

Only Xue Liancheng is a true top star.

With performance like Randle's, he can only be considered a good role player at best. In the Western Conference semifinals and even the Western Conference Finals, his overall statistics were far lower than those in the regular season.

Especially in the series against the Warriors, he averaged 11.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of only 41%.

An inside player, a wild beast who makes a living by catching dunks, actually played with such efficiency. You can imagine how bad Randle's performance was.

In the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs, Randle was not much better, averaging 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 43.3% shooting, although it looked much better than the previous round of the series.

But he had four or five poor performances and only one or two outstanding performances, so this performance cannot be called outstanding.

Even in terms of on-court role, sometimes Randle is not as good as Vonleh.

After Vonleh returned, he gave the team enough support on both offense and defense. In the three games after his return, he averaged 12.7 points and 8 rebounds per game, which was still very good. His shooting percentage was 51.4% and his three-point shooting percentage was 35.6%.

In contrast, Randle's three-point shooting percentage was only 22.6%, which is terrible.

It is precisely because Randle does not have a stable three-point shooting ability that the Lakers' tactics have become rigid, and they have always been at a disadvantage in the match against the Spurs.

Like in the seventh game, Randle played normally and was able to make three-pointers.

The entire offensive space suddenly became wider.

For Xue Liancheng, it was like a fish in water. He could switch freely between passing and attacking, and played relatively easily.

The pace of the game also made a qualitative leap compared to the previous six games.

This is why the Lakers were able to suppress the Spurs.

In addition to Randle and Vonleh, Clarkson is an important offensive point in the Lakers' backcourt.

But this guy is so unstable.

When he's in good shape, he can score 20+ points. When he's in bad shape, he can only score single digits, and that's an extremely inefficient performance.

But throughout the Western Conference Finals series, Clarkson still averaged 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. His shooting percentage was a bit worse, only 43.6%, but for Clarkson, you can't ask for more.

James Johnson is a relatively stable scoring point for the Lakers. The main reason is that he is too mediocre and his effect is not as obvious as it seems. Therefore, the person who is usually left out on the Spurs' defense is James Johnson most of the time.

This gave the boxing champion a chance to score.

And the boxing champion also seized this opportunity well.

In this round of the series, he averaged 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. His performance was still very good. There were no particularly bad games, nor any particularly explosive games. He did what a role player should do.

These are all the Lakers players averaging double-digit points per game.

As for the remaining bench, after Marvin Williams was replaced as a starter, his performance was just average throughout the series.

Others such as Joe Johnson, Courtney Lee, Zubac, Glenn Robinson and others can only be regarded as marginal figures. They only come on for a few minutes or more than ten minutes. It is impossible to expect them to have any outstanding performance.

This is the current situation of the Lakers.

The players who can play better are Clarkson + Randle + Vonleh + James Johnson, which is the starting lineup.

But among them, the highest average score per game is only Clarkson's 14.3 points, and the hit rate is only 43.6%. With such performance, it is difficult to call him a capable player, let alone a giant.

Randall, who is known as Xue Liancheng's best helper and a quasi-All-Star, averaged only 13.8 points per game with a pitiful shooting percentage of 43.3%, which is even worse than Clarkson, an outside player.

no doubt……

At present, Xue Liancheng is the sole core leader of the team.

No one will deny this, and no one can deny it...

Therefore, Xue Liancheng’s high-profile announcement of his victory was a card he played.

In terms of hand, the Lakers may not be as good as the Knicks.

But when it comes to dealing and playing cards, he is much better than James.