Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

When O'Neal heard Barkley's words, a trace of hesitation immediately flashed across his face.

He is a very dominant center who has won three consecutive FMVPs besides Jordan. He would not deny that he relied on Wade in 2006, but for the three consecutive championships during the Lakers era, only Kobe is mentioned and O'Neal, who won the FMVP, is not mentioned?

Kenny Smith heard Barkley's shocking words and knew that he was making a stunt, but Smith also saw O'Neal's displeasure and quickly smoothed things over:

"Charles, it's a bit far-fetched. Let's go back to today...oh, the game has started."

The director on the sidelines nodded with satisfaction. Barkley questioned that O'Neal's four championships could be a long-term meme, rather than being deconstructed in one day.

"As expected of Kenny."

The director motioned for the scene to switch to the upcoming game at the Magic Amway Center Arena.

Speaking of which, the schedule in January 2012 was very unfavorable for the Pacers. Among the five games played in December 2011, the Pacers played three games at home.

But after entering 2012, 31 days in January, the second game against the Magic will be their 16th game, of which only 4 are at home.

What's even more amazing is that there were four consecutive away games at the beginning of January, and the three consecutive away games against the Kings, Warriors and Lakers in the middle were considered a break. At the end of the month, there were three consecutive away games between the Bulls, Celtics and Magic.

"After this game, there shouldn't be such a tiring schedule."

In the last game of three consecutive guest games, the Pacers once again experienced varying degrees of fatigue.

After hearing Stephenson's complaint, Qi Tian replied:

"Don't worry, we only have two consecutive away games in February, and three consecutive home games after the 17th, which is enough to rest."

Stephenson was stunned and immediately retorted:

"What number 17? That's not Quan Ming..."

Only then did he realize that due to the lockout this year, the All-Star Game will not be held around February 17 as usual.

"The All-Star Game has been postponed to February 27th."

Qi Tian answered.

West, who was next to him, looked at the two of them in surprise, a little speechless.

"No, the voting for the All-Stars is about to end, you don't know yet?"

Qi Tian smiled in surprise and said:

"I'm not on the list, why do you care about this?"

In addition to the starting five, the Pacers also have Hansbrough, Qi Tian and Stephenson who were the starters last season. I don’t know how high they will be ranked.

"There's also a rookie game."

West comforted them.

"I heard that this year's All-Star Rookie Game will break up the original first- and second-year teams and form a mixed team..."

Stephenson and Qi Tian looked at each other, even more speechless.

"Paul (George) is expected to have a role in the rookie game, but we two?"

West also realized that he was talking nonsense.

Paul George entered the playoff lineup last season, and this season he became a starter. Coupled with his outstanding appearance among black people, it is certain to enter the rookie game.

However, both Stephenson and Qi Tian are still rotating on the bench and their average scoring is less than 10 points per game. It is indeed difficult to be selected in the rookie game.

"It doesn't matter, train more, perform better, and then enter the main game with George!"

West found that he read too many books, but did not learn any useful speaking skills from the books, so he could only give them some comfort.

The warm-up time ended quickly, and Vogel called the players together to give his final instructions before the game.

"Although Howard was in foul trouble in the last game, we didn't do a good enough job on the defensive end, so we lost the game."

Granger lowered his head. Anderson's outburst in the last game was indeed beyond his expectation. By the time Granger wanted to get serious, it was too late. Anderson, who was feeling hot, could no longer defend himself.

Vogel continued,

"I don't want the lessons of the past to happen again."

He pointed to George, Granger and West and said:

"Today's defense is the key point."

"The same goes for insiders."

Brian Shaw was quick to help the head coach adding,

"Roy must try to block Howard's position and prevent him from picking up speed."

"If necessary, we can use foul tactics to send Howard to the free throw line."

For centers who are a great threat but have inaccurate free throws, many teams would rather let them go to the free throw line than let them score easily. This is often called the "shark-killing tactic."

Chamberlain before, O'Neal in the past, and Howard now are all victims. Since their free throw shooting rate is only 50%-60% and they often miss two free throws, they are extremely cost-effective for opponents.

Vogel immediately drew them several offensive tactics before letting them take the stage.

The Pacers' starting lineup is still Hibbert, West, Granger, George and Collison;

The Magic have Howard, Turkoglu, Ryan Anderson, Richardson and Duhon.

Seeing both sides taking the stage, Kenny Smith, who controlled the program, made a routine inquiry:

"Guys, who do you think will win today's game?"

O'Neal chose the Magic, and Barkley immediately jumped on the side of the Pacers. By the way, he also talked about the reasons why he was optimistic about them:

"Granger's performance is phenomenal. Well, the others are also high-quality starters. However, the Magic's lineup is deformed and the back line is too weak, so I am optimistic about the Pacers."

O'Neill curled his lips secretly and said nothing.

The Magic that reached the Finals in 2009 relied on Howard, shooting insiders Lewis, Turkoglu and outside shooter Pietrus;

The current Magic still has Howard, shooting insiders Turkoglu, Anderson and outside shooter Pietrus.

What is the difference between the two lineups?

Do you want to add Wade to the Magic?

O'Neal's heart moved, hey, isn't this what Barkley said that the first center must rely on defenders?

Knowing that this is the second time Barkley has dug a hole for himself.

He was furious and made up his mind to go back and think about how to poke Barkley's sore foot.

Looking at his defeated general who suffered a disastrous defeat last time, Howard showed a disdainful smile.

This time, the Magic are at home. As long as he pays a little attention to the foul, I believe he can easily send his opponent home.

"Dudududu!"

Under the watchful eyes of the entire audience and the players on the bench, the referee threw the basketball straight out.

Not wanting to compete with Howard in jumping, Hibbert jumped slightly to show his best effort, then immediately turned around and returned to defense.

Nelson was absent due to injury, so Duhon advanced with the ball and handed it to Richardson on the other side.

Howard immediately came up to pick and roll. George was about to move sideways to defend, but suddenly hit a wall.

"Oh."

George frowned, turned to look at Howard, and said nothing.

Richardson broke through quickly and scored a layup.

"0-2."