Basketball: Starting from the Rodman template

Chapter 136 As long as I can win, I can do anything.
But this guy is really "killing mosquitoes with a cannon" by winning this award.

Last season as a starter for the Golden State Warriors, he averaged 22.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.When he arrived with the Mavericks last summer, he changed from a starter to a substitute. He only played 82 starts in 4 games. In 29 minutes of playing time, he averaged 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

The shooting percentage is an exaggerated 53.5%!

There is also a 40% three-point shooting rate!
Whenever there is a "subway judge", he will come over and slap him twice.

At such a level, if you don't go to the starting lineup to make a name for yourself, but sit on the bench and play as the "sixth man", what's your face?

But if you really want to say it, you can't really blame him.

This year's Mavericks team is really in chaos. Mark Cuban is crazy about hoarding "ball-handling players" and there is simply no room for the five positions in the starting lineup.Jamison, a foreigner, doesn't have that much qualifications, so he can only "reduce the dimensionality" on the bench!

This season's "Best Head Coach" and "Best General Manager" were both won by the Timberwolves.

Pat Riley and Stan Van Gundy are both on the list, but it's a pity that the Heat's "dark horse" level is still not as good as the Timberwolves, who are number one in the Western Conference!

No one expected this Timber Wolf to be so successful.

On April 4, the eight groups of matchups in the first round of the league playoffs basically had their results.

Except that the Heat easily swept the New York Knicks 4-0 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

The Pacers defeated Paul Pierce's Celtics 4-1 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

They will face the Pistons in the next round, who also advanced to the second round 4-1.

This is also an old rival...

The final spot in the Eastern Conference's semifinals belongs to the Nets, who have reached the Finals twice in the past two years.

Jason Kidd and his "Nets Storm" are about to collide with the Heat, the "strongest dark horse" in the Eastern Conference this season.

In the Western Conference, the Timberwolves eliminated the Denver Nuggets 4-1 and successfully advanced to the next round.

Carmelo Anthony's first playoff trip ended with an embarrassing 5 points and 14.4 rebounds per game in 5.4 playoff games, while shooting 30% from the field.

His performance undoubtedly disappointed Denver fans.

But considering that this is his first season in the NBA, this disappointment immediately turned into prospects for the future.

From the team with the worst record last year to becoming eighth in the Western Conference and successfully reaching the playoffs, it has been a very successful season for this rebuilding team.Because they at least drafted one of the best "three guys" this year.

The Lakers, second in the Western Conference, also eliminated the Rockets led by Yao Ming, who entered the playoffs for the first time, with a record of 4-1.

In the playoffs, when competition was more intense, Yao Ming's scoring average dropped to 15 points per game, and his field goal percentage per game was only 45.4%!

Compared with the performance during the regular season, it is much worse.

Of course, they faced the "dynasty team" led by the "OK" combination that had just won the "three consecutive championships" two years ago. Facing such a behemoth, even if their performance was poor, it would not be a problem.

In Kenny Smith's words, the fundamental reason for the Rockets' failure was the team's insufficient strength.

However, the Rockets' owner and general manager have different views. They believe that a lot of money has been spent. No matter what, this season has spent 5500 million, and at most more than 500 million, which is close to the luxury tax line. That's already the limit!
Of course, with an extra 5 million, it is certainly impossible to add a star to the existing lineup out of thin air...

Then...

Let’s trade!
Anyway, Tomjanovich has already gone to the Pistons to be the head coach!

The team originally built by him can be completely dismantled and rebuilt!

The Spurs, third in the Western Conference, also advanced to the next round 4-1.

Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal meet again in the playoffs.

Last year, he led the Spurs to eliminate the Lakers and prevent them from winning the "four consecutive championships."

This year it's the Lakers' turn to stop them from defending their title!
The Kings, fourth in the Western Conference, and the Mavericks, fifth in the Western Conference, were the only matchups in the Western Conference's first round that reached Game [-].

In the end, the Kings had the last laugh.

As an old-school powerhouse, they will face a duel with the Timberwolves.

After the matchup between the Timberwolves and the Kings is confirmed, the first round of this season's playoffs is over.

The first shot to start the second round of the playoffs was the Heat, who had rested for several days.

In the second round, they still have their home court.

After the Nets ended their battle with the Hornets at home, they immediately visited Miami non-stop to prepare for the first game of the second round.

Due to the start time of this game, it is earlier than the other three groups of duels.

Therefore, the discussion about this game dominated all media headlines on May 5st.

The Heat were once again undervalued.

As for the reason:

Or they don’t have enough experience!
The New York Knicks are just a team with players who have enough experience.

But there was no complete tacit understanding between them.And the strength of the team's lineup is limited, ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Not so with the Nets. This lineup has actually experienced two trips to the finals.

Although they were all beaten up, they have experienced such intensity and know how to provide intensity to novices!
When they faced the Bucks in the first round, they won the series by using a strong and large-area defense to force the Bucks to be unable to use normal tactics.

FOX reporters believe that they are expected to replicate the way they won against the Bucks in the second round of the series.

In addition, these media focused on Wade.

They believe that Wade, who was targeted in the first round, is likely to become a breakthrough again in the second round.

Because he didn't play very well against Jason Kidd's defense during the regular season, and struggled on the offensive end in two games.

In fact, Wade subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Hornets were eliminated.

For him, it couldn't be better than not having to face Baron Davis.

This is the most difficult matchup he has faced so far in his career.Every time I finish playing, I feel like crying.

Now that the Nets have eliminated him, it makes him feel like he escaped a big one.

However, when he remembered that he was going to face Jason Kidd in the second round, his "big cheeks" looked purer!
What to do, it’s another counterpoint that can “bind” him!
Should the Eastern Conference's back line be so devilish?
Wade was desperate and his reaction was:
Practice!

"Unlike when he played the New York Knicks, Wade couldn't even attract defense for his teammates!"

In the duel with the New York Knicks, although Wade was targeted, Marbury was not the only one to restrict him. At least it had the effect of containing and forcing changes in the opponent's defensive formation.

But now when we meet the Nets, if Jason Kidd can guard him alone, then...

His role on the field can really be described as negligible!The first game of the series seemed to confirm this.

Under Jason Kidd's defense, Wade was uncomfortable from the beginning.

Anyway, Wade's shooting ability is not good. Kidd took advantage of this and kept an arm's distance from him, minimizing the breakthrough trouble that Wade might cause.And this distance is enough for Kidd to have more time to react when facing possible "pick-and-roll" tactics.

The routines prepared by Wade and Stan Van Gundy for Wade will not cause any trouble at all in front of Jason Kidd, an experienced veteran.

At the same time, just like those analyzed by the media, he was restricted, and he was restricted without any contribution at all.

He did not change the opponent's defensive layout like he did against the New York Knicks in the last round.

It belongs to the category of "Injury to oneself a thousand times, damage to the opponent eight hundred times."

This wave of his was "injuring himself a thousand times, but the opponent suffered no loss at all."

Except for him.

The anti-counterattack tactics that the Heat are best at did not have such an obvious effect when playing against the Nets.Because this team's ability to reach the finals in the past two years relied on defense and fast breaks.

It belongs to "pretend to pretend to the other party's best field".

The Heat's only strong point is the second offense at the basket.

Woody's mobility allows him to score well.

But there is one problem is...

After Caron Butler was placed on the bench, the Heat's offensive space was once again unable to open up.

Kenyon Martin, the No. 00 pick in [-], has indeed always been at a disadvantage when facing Woody, but he is also a fourth position known for his mobility.

The Heat couldn't open up much space, so he quickly adapted to the rhythm of Woody's second attack.

Thus, at the beginning of the third quarter, he slowly caught up with Woody's performance.

The Heat's last strong point was contained.

At the end of the game, at the Heat's home court, the Nets defeated the Heat by 98-90, 8 points, turning away from home, and took the lead in winning the first victory of the series.

The American Airlines Arena, which was bustling with people before the game, became much quieter when the game was about to end.

There were some empty seats at the venue, but they couldn't help but leave early in the last minute.

Before the game started, they entered the field happily and had great expectations for the future blueprint, but the result...

The Nets gave them a heavy blow and beat them into confusion.

An 8-point loss was not too much, but the problem was that at the end of the game, they could not see any strong points that could be used to make a comeback in the next game.

Woody's 14-plus-7 performance in the first half was the key to the Heat's ability to keep the score difference within 5 points.

But in the second half, as the Nets compressed the Heat's offensive space, he only scored 6 points and 4 rebounds. The final data of 20 points and 11 rebounds is still the league's top level.But... if he plays like he did in the second half in the next game, then he will only have 12 plus 8 statistics, which is not even first-rate, barely second-rate.

The most important thing is, who knows whether the Nets will continue to increase their intensity and whether Woody's performance will decline further!

His performance made Heat fans uneasy, not to mention other players on this team...

Wade finished the game with only 11 points and 3 assists.

What stands out is a muddleheaded muddleheadedness.

Others also perform below their average.Although the gap is not as big as Wade, facing an opponent like the Nets, if Wade is in a slump and no one has exploded, it will be really difficult to win.

After the first game, some media already believe that the Heat will stop here this season.

It can be seen that the Heat's passivity in the first game is not only the pessimistic Miami people who think so, but also most of the media.

When Woody was interviewed after the game, a reporter said directly: "If the team stops in the semifinals, do you think this is an acceptable result? What kind of team do you think the Nets are after the first game... …”

When Woody heard this, he frowned slightly: "Actually, the series has just begun. Losing the first game is not the end. They must still have a lot of adjustments, and so do we. The games are played one by one. After losing the first game, I am now thinking more about winning the second game. As for the feeling of stopping in the semi-finals, let’s wait until that day actually comes!”

The league announced this season's "Most Improved Player Award."

Belongs to Trail Blazers' Zach Randolph.

Randolph, who was praised by the coaching staff this season, averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Compared with his average of 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last season, it can be said to have doubled.

Then consider that O'Neal, who the Trail Blazers sent away back then, is now the core of the Pacers, a new generation face at the fourth position... It shows how vicious the Blazers' management is in selecting rookies!
At the same time as this award was announced, Wade was working hard to practice mid-range shooting.

He knows very well that what he needs to do now is to immediately have a stable mid-range hand holding the ball.

As long as he can score jump shots, Jason Kidd's defense against him will definitely become more variable.

At least it's impossible to stay at arm's length safely forever.

As long as the distance with him can be shortened, the effect of the "pick-and-roll tactics" will not be as bad as in the first game.

and so……

Oh, God!
Bless me to hit more jump shots tomorrow!
Wade practiced his mid-range shooting while praying devoutly.

There is nothing wrong with the attitude, but God may be busy or there may be no signal.

In the second game of the series, Wade made 5 of 0 mid-range shots. The basket was like a lid and the ball couldn't fall in at all.

This result made Jason Kidd on the opposite side even more unscrupulous.

The Heat lost the second game of the series just like that.

Wade's statistical performance in this series was even worse, with only 8 points and 4 assists, but 5 turnovers!
There is good news for Heat fans:

Woody still scored 18 points and 10 rebounds in this game.

After the Nets became more adaptable, Woody still made his personal presence felt.

As long as his performance can still be normal, then there should be hope... right?

In fact, Miamians are already looking forward to next season.

There's nothing you can do. They lost both home games. You can't expect them to win back in the next two away games, right?
Didn’t you see the New Jersey media shouting “impossible, absolutely impossible”?

Wade found Stan Van Gundy: "Coach, as long as I can win, I can do anything you want!"

(End of this chapter)