NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 180 Billups’ debut, the formidable Bulls team

Needless to say, Curry’s strength. Four championship trophies, two MVPs and one FMVP honors place him firmly within the top ten in history, and his achievements in the field of three-pointers have directly changed the league. With his style of play and layout, he is definitely a phenomenal superstar.

However, at the beginning of his career, Curry was actually not favored by others. In the 09 draft, he was only the seventh overall pick. Moreover, due to injury risks, both his personal data and attendance rate were poor in the first three seasons of his career. Not satisfactory.

It was not until the 12-13 season that Curry returned from injury after undergoing surgery, and finally began to gradually recover, began to show his strong personal abilities, and two years later won the regular season MVP and his first career championship.

There is a case where Durant and Curry won two consecutive championships and were invincible in the league after teaming up. Wang Chong was very sure that Curry was one of the players that best suited Durant's style of play. Therefore, in the 2009 draft, no matter what he paid, At such a price, Curry must be brought under his command.

Of course, that will be two years later. Now Billups is the Bulls' starting point guard, and he is absolutely qualified.

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After the Bulls and Pistons deal was concluded, Wang Chong held a farewell party for Monta Ellis, who was about to go to the Motor City.

The only person Wang Chong felt sorry for in this matter was Ellis.

He had single-handedly selected and promoted Ellis at the beginning. Now he has just started to play well in the team, but he was sent away as a trading chip because of Wang Chong. Although they say that the NBA is a business place, But after all, the bargaining chips are real people with flesh and blood.

Wang Chong didn't want to hide it, so he told Ellis the truth straightforwardly.

When he learned that it was Wang Chong who asked to use himself as a bargaining chip to trade Billups, Ellis found it difficult to accept it for a while, but after calming down, Ellis felt relieved.

On the one hand, as a second-round pick, his rise to prominence so quickly is entirely due to Wang Chong's promotion and training. Otherwise, he would most likely have to waste several years on the bench before he has the chance to play. .

On the other hand, even if he continues to play in the Bulls, next to Wang Chong, he can only exist as the second or third figure. It is basically impossible to serve as the first tactical core and the boss of the team. But if he goes to the Pistons, That's different.

The Pistons, who have sent away Ben Wallace and Billups, have a strong desire to rebuild. After Ellis leaves, he is likely to be trained as the core of the team, gaining more ball rights and more power than he did with the Bulls. Right to take action.

In this regard, Ellis going to the Pistons will be of great benefit to his future growth.

Based on this analysis, Ellis is full of expectations for the upcoming Pistons. After all, if he can be the boss of the team, who wants to be the younger brother?

Therefore, Ellis and the Bulls broke up peacefully, and there was no such resentment or hatred towards the team and Wang Chong for using him as a trading chip in exchange for Billups.

The deal took place on January 2007, 1. Billups and Ellis officially exchanged clubs and arrived in Chicago.

Regarding the arrival of this All-Star point guard, Bulls fans are a little confused.

Because of emotions and reasons, everyone believes that Ellis should be the one with more potential and higher achievements in the future. Even if his immediate combat ability is slightly worse than Billups at this stage, the gap is not huge enough to make up for it. Close to the age of ten.

This is how a Chicago media commented on the deal.

"We can understand that after the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the management eagerly hopes that the team can further achieve substantial improvement in performance, but this kind of killing of chickens and eggs can really bring benefits to the Bulls. A bright future?”

These words struck a chord in the hearts of most fans, causing them to complain about the impulsive actions of the Bulls management.

Team general manager John Paxson was really shot while lying down.

Obviously he had the same view as everyone else, and he didn't want to trade Ellis, but he couldn't afford to offend Wang Chong, so he could only complete the deal obediently. As a result, he now has to take the blame for Wang Chong, which is too unlucky.

But he couldn't directly declare to the outside world that this was the result of Wang Chong's insistence on forcing the palace. Otherwise, if the matter was settled and he offended Wang Chong again, it would be purely thankless.

So even though he felt aggrieved, Paxson could only silently take the blame and lament that the general manager's job was really difficult.

Billups, the person involved, came to the Bulls and was extremely happy.

The Bulls, a young and energetic team, is already far stronger than the Pistons and has no rivals in the Eastern Conference. With him joining, the team's defense will become stronger and it will no doubt stand out from the Eastern Conference in the playoffs. , which means that he will once again have the opportunity to hit the championship.

Not only that, the Bulls' management had promised before he came that they would give him an annual salary of tens of millions starting at least four years this summer.

Billups has played in the league for ten seasons, but his highest salary is only US$636 million this season. Compared with his performance on the court, it can be said to be a very cost-effective and cheap contract.

Isn't it wonderful to come to a new team and be able to win games and get a big contract?

After arriving in Chicago, when Billups faced reporters and media for the first time, he made a high-profile statement that he would fully assist Wang Chong and strive to help the Bulls win the NBA championship.

On January 1, in the Bulls' home game against the Utah Jazz, Billups wore the No. 23 Bulls jersey and ushered in his first game with the Bulls, helping the team win 1:94.

The fans at home in Chicago didn't see much of a difference. To put it bluntly, they couldn't see that energetic figure on the court who broke through with lightning speed. The number of shots taken by the Bulls from mid- to long-range, especially from beyond the three-point line, had changed. Got a little more.

But laymen can watch the fun, and experts can watch the door.

After just one game, Bulls coach Scott Skiles was shocked.

Before Billups came to the Bulls, his attitude was actually the same as the general manager. The Bulls are playing very well at this stage, and Ellis' style fits the Bulls system very well. To be honest, he is really worried. The arrival of Billups will destroy the team's existing good chemistry.

However, the result surprised him, not to mention destroying the chemical reaction. For the first time the two sides cooperated, Billups was able to easily integrate into the team's tactical system, as if it was a seamless connection, and he knew the team's main tactics well.

This is actually normal. As a 30-year-old main point guard of a strong team in the league, Billups is experienced and very smart. After the Pistons unexpectedly lost to the Bulls in the playoffs last season, he became the main point guard throughout the offseason. He has been studying the Bulls' tactics because he is sure that the Bulls will be the Pistons' strongest enemy in the East in the next few years.

It's just that he didn't expect that the efforts he put in to target the Bulls would actually become the biggest boost for him to quickly integrate into the Bulls.

This is just a fit on the level of tactical coordination.

Just as Wang Chong thought, Billups's playing style is extremely suitable for the Bulls at this stage.

<divclass="contentadv">With him on the court, the Bulls have three three-point shooting points from the outside. Wang Chong, Bell and Billups can stand in a triangle on the court, which is a great advantage. Maximizing the offensive space not only makes Wang Chong's mid-range one-on-one singles easier and less likely to be double-teamed, but also makes it easier for Luol Deng to cut down without the ball.

Billups does not have the ability to break through quickly with the ball like Ellis, but it doesn't matter. When the team really needs to break through the offense, Wang Chong will take action. Although his scoring distribution is mainly in the mid-to-long range, his ability to break through with the ball is also Extremely strong, Durant in his prime was a master of ball-handling breakthroughs. In addition, Wang Chong also possessed Iverson's signature skill of walking through flowers and butterflies. There were few players in the league who could guard him one-on-one.

And although Billups' ability to break through with the ball is average, his ability to break through through pick-and-roll screens and run without the ball like Curry is very good.

With one increase and one decrease, the Bulls with Billups are not weaker in offensive ability than they were during the Ellis era, but have actually become a little stronger.

Compared with the changes brought to the Bulls on the offensive end, the biggest improvement brought by Billups' joining is on the defensive end.

In terms of offense, Billups has 17 points and 7 assists this season, which is indistinguishable from Ellis, who has 18 points and 5 assists.

But when it comes to defense, it's completely different.

In this game, Billups faced off against the Jazz's main point guard, Deron Williams, a second-year pick in the same year as Ellis.

Deron has firmly established himself as the main core of the Jazz this season, averaging 16 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists per game, shooting 45% from the field, and his efficiency is quite good.

The two teams had already played each other once earlier, at the home court of the Jazz.

At that time, De Xiaopang took advantage of his size and strength to bully Ellis.

But this time, Ellis turned into Billups, and Deron suddenly lost his temper.

Both are strong and heavy point guards. Billups is even a kilogram or two heavier than Deron, and his strength is even stronger than Deron, who has not yet reached his peak.

This resulted in Deron having no advantage at all when facing Billups. The Bulls' defensive system made up for the last shortcoming. None of the five starting players had defensive weaknesses.

Terrible defensive ability. Even Scott, as the head coach, can personally feel the almost suffocating exaggerated pressure.

Billups, who won his debut, quickly learned and adapted to the Bulls' tactics in the remaining games in January, and his cooperation with the team became more and more tacit. The team also targeted Billups. Si's three-point shooting ability has changed a lot of tactics.

During this period, the Bulls were like a peerless weapon that was constantly being polished. Every game was like a tempering, making it even sharper.

On January 1, the Bulls faced the Dallas Mavericks, the No. 25 team in the Western Conference, at home.

The Bulls have a record of 37 wins and 5 losses, while the Dallas Mavericks have a record of 35 wins and 8 losses. The records of the two teams are quite close, and the Bulls have lost the game at the Mavericks' home court before. Although it was during the seven consecutive away games, their opponents did It is a powerful enemy of the alliance.

In this home game, the Bulls defeated the Mavericks 96:85, successfully getting revenge.

It was only then that Bulls fans discovered that Billups' arrival seemed to really make the Bulls a little different.

In this game against the Mavericks, Mavericks guard Jason Terry made only 14 of 4 shots. He only had 12 points and 6 assists in the game, and had 3 turnovers, while another guard Stackhouse had 13 With 5 shots from the field, plus small forward Josh Howard who made 20 of 4 shots from the field, Nowitzki was numb.

You all play like this, do you still want to win?

发出灵魂质问的诺天王回过头看了一下自己的数据……22投7中，命中率31.8%，如果不是13投12中的罚球让他打出了28分11篮板的两双数据，一样完全没眼看。

After the whole game, the Mavericks' shooting percentage was only 31.2%. The Bulls could say that they won the game easily without losing any blood.

This hearty victory made the Bulls home fans secretly speechless.

"My dear, what kind of defensive intensity is this? Even the Spurs have to be ashamed of themselves, right?"

"Billups' defense is so strong. Although his lateral movement speed is a little slower, his ability to defend one on one is as good as Bell's!"

"If we keep playing like this, the Bulls will win the championship!"

"If the team really has a chance to win the championship, then even if we trade the future for the present, we will still make enough money!"

In less than a week, Chicago fans had gone from questioning the deal.

The league has never lacked potential players, but there is only one team that can win the championship every year. It has been almost ten years since the Bulls last won the championship. It is self-evident which one is more important.

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At the end of January, the NBA All-Star voting officially ended and the final vote results after several rounds of voting were announced at the same time.

There is no suspense. Wang Chong, who ranks first in the league in both team record and personal statistics, was elected as the All-Star vote king with 252 million votes.

James ranked second with 246 million votes, losing to Wang Chong again.

Dayao ranked third with 239 million votes and was also the All-Star vote leader in the Western Conference. Kobe ranked fourth in the league with 207 million votes and second in the Western Conference.

The starting players for the Eastern All-Star Game, based on the number of votes, are Wang Chong, James, Wade, O'Neal and Arenas.

The All-Star starting players in the Western Conference have not changed much from previous years. They are still the five most popular players in Yao, Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Garnett and Duncan.

Although Iverson, who had just arrived, ranked fourth in the Western Conference in votes, he could only be reduced to a substitute because he could not compete with Kobe and Iverson at the guard position.

The Bulls originally had only Wang Chong selected for the All-Star Game, but due to the trade in January, they had Billups. Although the latter failed to stand out in the voting and became the All-Star starter, he relied on his qualifications with the Pistons. and strength, he was successfully selected as an All-Star substitute and became the Bulls' second All-Star player that season.