Legend of Tomorrow

The Clippers and Spurs rank second and third in the Western Conference respectively, and their strength has not changed much from last season.

The Spurs' lineup has almost remained unchanged. The Clippers' improvement mainly lies in Paul Pierce. The center position is still not strong enough.

Spencer Hawes was injured soon after joining the Clippers. He averaged only 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.5 minutes per game. The Clippers' No. 5 position has flaws on both offense and defense.

The Suns' performance was tepid, ranking fourth in the Western Conference. They ultimately failed to recruit point guard Kyle Lowry, who joined the Rockets on a three-year contract after leaving the Raptors. The Rockets want to dig out stars for reconstruction, and the No. 1 position has always been a weakness.

The Suns can only renew Jeremy Lin's contract, and the lineup is almost unchanged from last season. Without Guo Xu, the Suns have no capital to attract stars to join. In the past, many second-rate stars wanted to join, but the Suns didn't want them.

The team that has regressed the fastest in the Western Conference is the Thunder, which started with 6 wins and 13 losses, and is likely to miss the playoffs in the end.

Al Horford is recovering from a torn pectoral muscle. As soon as this inconspicuous third-in-command is absent, the Thunder players will immediately become unable to win. Their interior line is all blue-collar, and they don't have Steven Adams, who is with the Wizards.

Those who said Durant should win the MVP last season have shut up. Now many people say Durant is overrated. Westbrook has not received this kind of evaluation, because no one has ever overestimated him and said he is a cancer.

The Thunder's two young men take turns playing singles in every game, and no tactical coordination can be seen. Head coach Scott Brooks will definitely be fired after this season. He seems to be just messing around.

The fastest team in the Eastern Conference is the 76ers, who have declined faster than the Cavaliers who lost James.

The Cavaliers started with 4 wins. Isaiah Thomas became the new core of the team, averaging 22.3 points, 3 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Wesley Matthews also averaged 16.6 points per game. The data of the two Both set new personal career highs.

The 76ers started with a magical 1-19 record, firmly at the bottom of the league, including a 15-game losing streak.

Kobe had another conflict with starting point guard Tony Wroten. He felt that Wroten was a waste, was terrible on offense and defense, and was unwilling to pass the ball to him.

Luo Teng is a tall point guard with a height of 198cm and a weight of 93kg. If he is used as a fixed-point shooter outside the three-point line, he will have no effect at all. If Luo Teng wants to perform, he has to break through with the ball and play pick-and-roll with his teammates.

Kobe attacks with the ball, and Luo Teng can only wait for opportunities on the outside.

Otherwise, the area near the restricted area will be crowded with people. He also wants to change, averaging 4.7 three-pointers per game, hitting 1.2 goals, and shooting 26.1%.

This miserable three-point shooting rate is already a new high in his personal career. He has never made more than 25% of his three-point shooting percentage.

As for defense, the 198CM Luo Teng is mainly a point guard. How can it be effective against a small speed guard? His slow lateral movement caused him to be passed casually. If the 76ers send Ismail Smith, who is 183cm tall and weighs 79kg, he will be poor at interfering with shots and confrontation.

When Kobe Bryant joined, he said he wanted to help the 76ers improve their record to a higher level, which meant that he wanted to compete with the Nets. But how could he lose face if he ended up like this?

During training, Kobe was often dissatisfied with the performance of his teammates. After losing to the Pistons, he publicly criticized Luo Teng's defense, saying he couldn't prevent defenders from breaking through.

Luo Teng didn't want to be polite to Kobe, and directly used his big move: If you can, go ahead! If you can't, don't BB!

Coach Brett Brown knew this wouldn't work, so he arranged a tactic that allowed Kobe to shoot three-pointers from the outside and his teammates to attack with the ball.

But Kobe still wanted the ball after halftime, taking two steps to throw it at people from mid-to-long distance. He averaged 6.3 three-pointers per game and shot 29.3% from the field. The queen took 5.6 two-point shots and hit 38.4%.

This season, Kobe has completely lost his sights. He averaged 35 minutes per game, 23.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. His shooting percentage was only 37.8%, and his true shooting percentage was 47.7%.

Kobe has no power if he doesn't play in the low post. In recent years, his shots have become farther and farther away. The proportion of COSCO's shots has exceeded 70%, setting a new high. He wanted to hit the basket but couldn't. Jordan is a center who can leave the air. If the opponent's center doesn't go out near the penalty area, Kobe will be double-teamed if he attacks hard.

The 36-year-old Kobe has no speed, no whistle, and he will be called for an offensive foul if his elbow clears the way. It is difficult for him to get free throws because he mainly relies on shooting. In the past, he could break through and average more than 7 free throws per game for more than ten consecutive seasons.

Jason Richardson, the team's most accurate three-pointer, relapsed from an old knee injury, and Kevin Garnett and Earl Clark were in sluggish condition. In the parallel world, forward Robert Covington, who plays for the 76ers, is now with the Rockets. The Rockets are short of small forwards.

The most embarrassing thing is that as soon as Kobe left, the bottom Mavericks returned to the playoffs and are currently ranked 7th in the Western Conference. Their starters are Devin Harris, Monta Ellis, Andrew Wiggins, Chandler Parsons, center Tyson Chandler, and four others.

The Mavericks rotation is led by Barea, Aminu, Jae Crowder, and Brandon White. They resolutely play small ball tactics and focus on quick counterattacks. White, who was injured last season, is in good shape this season. New forward Anthony Tolliver is also very fast. The Mavericks' offense is revitalized by young players.

The Mavericks can play pick-and-rolls, have point forwards, and guards who are good at cutting and breaking through, and running constantly. The Mavericks couldn't run when Kobe was around, so they had to stay in position and wait for Kobe to play the triangle offense. If the defender doesn't wait for Kobe to start the fast break, he will be threatened by the death stare after a few rounds.

Wiggins is not raising Mamba yet. He is fully displaying his talent, averaging 35 minutes per game and scoring 15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2 assists. His statistics are average, but he is enough to compete for Rookie of the Year.

Ellis also regained his vitality as a Laker, averaging 33.6 minutes per game, 19 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

When the Mavericks won, and reporters asked Ellis to express his feelings, he said categorically: Because Kobe is no longer here, that's why we can win. I have been teammates with him twice, both in the Lakers and in the minor leagues. He will insist on playing in his own style and destroy the team's offensive system.

Barkley commented: There are still people who are more independent than Kobe, and the last one happened to be a player from the 76ers. Many times, Iverson would take the ball and work alone, with a low shooting rate and many turnovers, and ultimately lose the game alone. He can It is said that he is the most unique player in the league. There is no other player. To describe it in one sentence, he plays hard and does not pass the ball.

Many fans on the Internet discussed that the four major shooting guards of the year were all inefficient scorers, and in the end no one wanted them. Kobe, the most successful of them all, has not been able to escape this cycle.

Two of the top four shooting guards had no ball to play as early as 2010. Carter wanted to compete for the championship but no strong team wanted him, so he had to join the Grizzlies with a minimum salary.

Kobe had the most ball rights. At the end of December, he set an alternative record and surpassed Havlicek to become the NBA's historical iron king. And his average number of shots per game only ranks third in NBA history, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

Now many 76ers fans suggest that the team lay off Kobe, but the management will certainly not do this. However, their goal has changed from breaking through the second round of the playoffs to choosing the No. 1 pick.

76ers owner Josh Harris did not mention Kobe Bryant during the interview. When asked about being in the bottom, he smiled bitterly and said: We have to start rebuilding. Don't say that we are deliberately bad. We are really bad and we did not lose on purpose. .”

Many people were surprised to find that what Josh said was almost exactly the same as what Mavericks boss Cuban said last season...