NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 166 They are all here to compete for second place (daily chapter)

The shortened season forced the cancellation of the 1999 Philadelphia All-Star Game. Therefore, after the collective bargaining agreement, the league paid special attention to the 2000 All-Star Game.

Before deciding on the head coach of the All-Star Game, the Pacers and Heat had the same record in the Eastern Conference.

It wasn't until the Heat lost first that Larry Bird was finally elected as the head coach of the Eastern All-Star Game.

There is no suspense in the Western Conference. The Lakers lead the league in record and Phil Jackson will become the head coach of the Western Conference All-Stars.

Jeff Van Gundy missed the selection this year because he served as the head coach in the 98 New York All-Star Game.

Anfernee Hardaway's popularity has plummeted, and Grant Hill only received 130 million votes this year.

Although Hill has been selected to the All-Star five times in a row, the "Jordan successors" are really outdated.

At the end of January, with the announcement of the All-Star substitute lineup, the host Warriors were a little embarrassed. No players were selected for the All-Stars.
The seven Eastern Conference All-Star substitutes are:

Alan Houston, Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, Eddie Jones, Jerry Stackhouse, Reggie Miller, Dikembe Mutombo;

The seven Western Conference All-Star substitutes are:

Gary Payton, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Michael Finley, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, David Robinson.

The host Warriors ended their January schedule with a 1-9 record.

Rookie Antoine Jamison's statistics are very good, but the team's record is too poor, and no one gave the Warriors face in the head coach selection.

The Warriors also have Mookie Blaylock, Donyel Marshall, and Li You's "big brother" John Starks on the roster.

The team's poor record is also related to the poor atmosphere. Oakland fans are a little disappointed. No one from the host team was selected for the All-Stars, which always feels a bit disappointing.

On February 2st, the NBA announced the best player for the first month of the new year, and Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves successfully won the award.

In January games, the Timberwolves had a record of 1 wins and 12 losses;

凯文-加内特场均出场40.7分钟，场均拿到25.8分10.5篮板4.9助攻1.3抢断1.7盖帽3.7失误；

He averaged 19.9 shots per game, shooting 55.9% from the field, averaging 3.9 free throws per game, and shooting 77.6% from the field.

It is not difficult to see from the data that Garnett still focuses on jump shots. On the offensive end, he is almost a large 3-position player.

When Garnett won the award, the New York media was furious:

"Lee made more free throws than Garnett!"

Although they didn't say it explicitly, some columns commented on Garnett when they reviewed the Timberwolves:
"soft!"

The media in Los Angeles were also unhappy. The Lakers led the league in record, but O'Neal lost the Player of the Month award again.

Even though he had won Player of the Week twice before, the petty O'Neal was not in a good mood, and he also kept Garnett in mind.

However, in the interview, Shark showed an indifferent attitude:

"I don't care about these small awards. My goal this year is MVP and championship!"

"."

In the MVP rankings, O'Neal has always been ranked first. This season, the Sharks almost played the best performance of their careers.

His body seemed to be in its best condition. O'Neal's arms were thicker than his waist, and his neck was almost gone.

No one in the league can limit O'Neal on one-on-one defense inside. All the big men in the Western Conference have been abused by the Sharks.

Before the All-Star Game, the Knicks have a relatively tight schedule, with a total of 5 games to play.

After two consecutive losses, the Knicks easily defeated the Magic on the 1st.

98:108, although the score difference is not big, Li You clocked in in the third quarter.

After a complete rebuild, the Magic, without big-name stars, achieved a record of 20 wins and 26 losses.

Doc Rivers has become a rising star in the coaching circle!
The most important thing is that Rivers is a black man. With the blessing of his skin color, this achievement is particularly outstanding.

Magic players love their new head coach:
“Black players should play for black coaches!”

Although he lost the game, Doc Rivers kept praising his players after the game, and also praised Li You:
"How to defend Lee?"

"Honestly, I don't know, we tried a lot of defenses, but he always managed it easily!"

"Maybe what you saw was Lee's scoring, but what I noticed was his basketball IQ. He seemed to know exactly what tactics we were going to play every possession."

"."

Under Rivers' poisonous influence, the following games were quickly lost.

102:96, the Knicks lost to the Trail Blazers at home.

Scottie Pippen's performance in this game was average, only scoring 11 points. Kukic also stretched his hips when he met his old teammates.

Bunch Wells suddenly broke out on the bench for the Trail Blazers. He made 11 of 7 shots and 5 of 4 from beyond the three-point line. He scored 18 points efficiently and ultimately helped the team win.

Losing wasn't the worst part. In the game against the Heat on the 6th, Larry Johnson only played 11 minutes. He suffered from back discomfort at halftime and had no choice but to leave the game.

80:99, the Knicks won, but Jeff Van Gundy was in a normal mood.

At the post-game press conference, the New York media were very concerned about Larry Johnson's injury.

"Larry just had a tight back, and we didn't let him continue to play for insurance reasons."

Jeff Van Gundy briefly introduced Larry Johnson's injury situation, which was a reassurance to the New York media in the audience.

In the last two games before the All-Star Game, the coaching staff increased rotation, and Li You's playing time was limited to 36 minutes.

After a small victory over the Hornets, they were beaten by the Bucks by 109 points. Before the All-Star break, they had 3 wins and 2 losses, and their record barely met everyone's expectations.

Ewing has played less than 30 minutes in these games, but his statistics are very stable, easily 12+10.

As long as you don't follow the opponent and attack fiercely, and attack in a precise manner, the gorilla eating the pie is still more reliable than "Xiao Ben".Oakley's playing time was also taken up a lot by Ben Wallace. The whistle is a bit strict this season. When encountering star insiders, the number of fouls will increase if you don't pay attention.

With 35 wins and 12 losses, Oakley is very satisfied with the team’s current record and felt very good when he returned to the locker room after losing:
"It seems we still have a chance to win 60 games this season!"

Ewing is currently in a flattering state. The New York media consumed him every day in the first half of his career, but after winning the championship, everyone became extra tolerant of him.

Currently with double-double data, the New York media will still tout him as the "league's number one center."

"In the second half of the game, work harder, we are almost catching up with the Lakers' record!"

Gorilla's words immediately cheered everyone up. The Los Angeles media boasted too much. As a result, after three months, the results of both sides were almost the same.

In tonight's simultaneous game, the Lakers at home defeated the Timberwolves 81:114.

With 37 wins and 11 losses, although the Lakers are still first in the league, the winning gap between the two sides has been narrowed.

Ewing didn't mention O'Neal's performance tonight. The gorilla knew in his heart that the shark was unstoppable.

出场35分钟，16中11，罚球20中15，37分16篮板3助攻4盖帽3失误，小心眼的奥尼尔遇到加内特罚球都爆种了.
Li You has been in a good mood recently. Although Qualcomm's shares were not sold until January 1th, catching up with the slight decline in stock prices, it was still a huge profit for him:

"Does anyone else want to go to Oakland? This year's dunk contest should be exciting!"

Alan Houston, who was selected as an All-Star, heard what Li You said and added:
"It would be nice to go to Auckland for two days. John has extended an invitation to us!"

Larry Johnson has been troubled by a back injury recently and is in poor condition. He originally didn't plan to join in the fun, but after hearing this, he could only agree happily:

"Then we all go to Oakland to rest for a few days and watch the All-Star Game."

Ewing originally didn't plan to go to watch the game. Oakley glanced at his old friend, nodded finally, and then whispered a few words:

"Slam dunk contest? I don't like those two wimps at all."

The old guy has not forgotten Carter, who has a terrible drinking capacity, and McGrady, who dare not drink strong liquor. In his opinion, if you don't drink, don't wear cigars, and don't play with girls, you are not a real man!

Everyone in the atmosphere group cheered when they heard that they could have a party on the plane. They were a little pressed for time. After a day of rest, everyone had to prepare to fly to Auckland.

In mid-January, the LSAT test results were released, and Li You scored 1 points.

Connecticut College of Law has opened its arms to welcome Li You.

New York Mayor Giuliani also publicly congratulated Li You on his good results.

The Xiang Party mayor signed a "Lin Zexu Square Naming Bill" in May last year.

The Chinese in New York have also been increasing their influence in recent years. However, in voting activities, the enthusiasm of Chinese Americans to vote is still not high, and their influence is far less than that of Lao Hei.

Beauty is strength, and Li You's stock investment is no secret to many people.

Although he has not yet achieved the goal of "reaching close contact with hundreds of millions of people", Li You does have the potential to become an opinion leader, and building a good relationship is not a bad thing.

On Thursday, February 2, Li You and Ray Allen flew to Auckland in advance.

Li You had to shoot commercials for McDonald's and Pepsi during the All-Star Weekend, and later had to participate in some activities for Spalding and Hook.

Mark Bartelstein has attracted some "sincere" sponsors for Li You, and there will be a few cocktail parties to attend.

On the plane, Ray Allen complained about his undisciplined partner:

"I'm late for training, I drink too much every day, and I go to nightclubs when my schedule is easy!"

"The team's record did not meet expectations, which is definitely related to Robinson's attitude. In the locker room, many times no one cares about losing."

After winning the game, the Bucks' record reached 27 wins and 23 losses. The self-disciplined Ray Allen believed that the team's performance could be better and was somewhat dissatisfied with the team's current situation.

He doesn't drink and doesn't like to go to nightclubs. The alternative Ray Allen in the locker room is sometimes unpleasant.

Li You knew that his friend also wanted to win the championship. He didn't say it, but he still had a comparison in his heart:
"If George Karl isn't going to take control of the locker room, maybe you can try to get some rotation players together."

"Basketball belongs to 5 people after all. Now you also have the opportunity to hold the ball and share the data!"

In the Three Musketeers mode, Ray Allen took up a lot of shots.

Young people are eager to score high, and coupled with their unsociable personality, naturally no one in the locker room is on Ray Allen's side.

After touching his chin and thinking for a moment, Ray Allen shook his head and said seriously:

"Unless they can train seriously, I won't give the opportunity to anyone!"

Li You shrugged and smiled. This is the difference between the two basketball concepts. He likes to unite the locker room and does not mind superficial brothers.

After understanding his shortcomings, he needs a defensive tool. In the regular season, even if the Knicks are in poor condition, they can still get a fixed share of the cake.

The two stopped talking about basketball-related things. After chatting in low voices about some life gossip, they quickly arrived at their destination.

As soon as he got off the plane, the sports media who had received the news in advance blocked Li You.

As the biggest star of this year's All-Star Game, no one wants to miss Li You's schedule. If you dig out some news, interested fans will buy it.

As soon as he left the airport, he was surrounded by reporters. Li You, who was dressed casually in a loose sweater, was used to such scenes.

The reporter from Yahoo Sports took the initiative and asked loudly while passing the microphone:

"Li, will you still win the three-point shooting contest this year?"

The surrounding media reporters quickly put their recording equipment in front of Li You.

"Of course, I believe everyone knows that they are all here to compete for second place!"

After Li You answered confidently, the media reporters around him burst into laughter. Ray Allen next to him immediately punched him and replied with a smile:
"Hey, Bro! I'm only competing for the championship!"

"."

　Thank you book friends for your subscription support (﹃)
　　After the All-Star Game, it will speed up as usual~
　　Book lovers don’t have to worry about word count~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)