Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

Even though all Pacers fans are dissatisfied with the Pacers' five-game losing streak, fortunately, the Pacers' next opponents are not strong, and the Pacers can always... end the losing streak.

In fact, as fans expected, the Pacers rebounded and defeated the Nets and Bobcats in a row, winning three consecutive games, including two wins against the Nets.

On February 22, 2012, the Pacers traveled to New Orleans for their last game before the All-Star Game.

Since it is the last game before the All-Star Game, the league has arranged games for more than 20 teams on this day.

The Pacers are not the team that attracts the most attention, and their opponents are not strong, so they naturally do not receive much attention from fans.

The New Orleans Hornets, formerly the Charlotte Hornets, moved to New Orleans in 2002 because the new owner's idea of ​​building a stadium failed to materialize.

After the league promised that Charlotte would have another team, the Charlotte Bobcats emerged in 2004 and became the youngest team in the NBA. In that year, the New Orleans Hornets

The teams were officially divided from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference.

In other words, people who appeared on the Hornets' rosters in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, such as David West, became players who played for both the Eastern and Western Conferences without changing teams.

A player in half the zone.

Oh, by the way, Chris Paul entered the league in 2005. Although he did not catch up with the change from east to west, he became a man with two home stadiums in his rookie season:

New Orleans moved some of its home games to Oklahoma City due to the hurricane.

By the way, another tip, the Seattle SuperSonics only moved to Oklahoma City, the hometown of the then owner, in 2008.

The New Orleans Hornets are planning to change their name to the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2013-14 season;

The Bobcats have long wanted to restore the glory of the Hornets and closely follow every move of the original team.

Finally, by the way, after the Charlotte Bobcats are renamed the Charlotte Hornets, they will inherit the earliest history of the Hornets, and the New Orleans Pelicans will become a new team starting from the 2002-03 season.

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The relationship between the current Pacers and the New Orleans Hornets goes beyond David West:

Their starting point guard Collison was once Paul's backup. In 2009, when Paul was injured and had to undergo surgery, Collison performed well and gave Hornets fans hope.

However, under the influence of various factors such as the stinginess of the Hornets boss, the similar age difference between Collison and Paul, and Paul's vague revelation that he could not strengthen the team and did not mind leaving, the Hornets finally made a decision to join the Pacers and others.

The team conducted a four-team trade, sending away Collison and acquiring Ariza in exchange.

Ironically, the year after Collison was traded, Paul was also traded.

Collison looked at the completely unrecognizable New Orleans Hornets lineup and felt a little emotional but didn't know where to start.

Players? We all live with the ball, so what grudges can be sustained off the court?

Owner? The owner of the Hornets suffers from cancer and his net worth is not outstanding. In the year when Collison was traded, he announced that he would put his shares up for sale.

The New Orleans Hornets have started their rebuilding and are now one of the few teams in the league with less than double-digit wins. The Wizards with 7 wins and the Wizards with 4 wins are now one of the few in the league.

The winning bobcat.

The referee signaled for the starting players from both sides to come on. Collison let out a long breath and walked over in silence.

Everything is in the past, so don’t dwell on the past anymore.

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

The Hornets' starting lineup is Kaman, Ayon, Ariza, Belinelli and Vasquez.

"Dudududu!"

The referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the basketball in his hand into the air.

Kaman jumped suddenly, grabbed the rebound over Hibbert's head, and slapped it behind him.

Vasquez broke through with the ball. He suddenly started to accelerate, rushed towards the opponent's basket, faced Hibbert, and made an easy throw.

"Dang, swish!"

The basketball bounced and fell in.

The New Orleans home fans immediately shouted loudly and cheered for the team.

West received a pass from Collison and hit the equalizer.

But the Hornets took the lead, and the starting players scored consecutively. In the first 3 minutes, they beat the Pacers with a 13-4 attack wave.

"It's only been three minutes, why are we falling behind?"

Compared with the Hornets' 6-for-7 shooting in the opening game, the Pacers' 6-for-7 shooting was particularly eye-catching.

A Pacers fan wearing jersey No. 33 looked at the sluggish Pacers players and asked anxiously.

But no one could give him the answer.

Fortunately, the Pacers relied on Hibbert's absolute advantage inside to score 6 points in a row. Hansbrough and Qi Tian, ​​who came off the bench, also hit jumpers. After the first quarter, the Pacers were "only" 7 points behind their opponents 24-31.

point.

In the second quarter, the Pacers stormed inside. Hibbert scored 13 points and 3 rebounds in a single quarter, helping the team narrow the point difference to 3 points at halftime.

"53-56."

"We have to target the opponent's inside."

The head coach of the Hornets said to everyone, but he looked around and fell into deep thought.

Solomon Jones and Aminu in the substitute lineup are only 208 centimeters and 206 centimeters, so it is indeed difficult to expect them to help.

"I still have to rely on you."

The head coach looked at Gustavo Ayon, who is 208 centimeters tall, and Chris Kaman, who is 213 centimeters tall.

"However, we are really helpless."

Kaman faced off against Hibbert in the first half, and of course he knew that the Pacers' center had nothing but height.

But there's no way around it. It's really easy for him to score if he's close to the basket.

"Put all your energy into defense."

The head coach gave instructions to let the inside players give up offense and focus on defense.

"If it doesn't work, double-team!"

"this……"

Kaman and Ayong looked at each other,

"It's not impossible."

"It's not just that,"

The head coach looked at the defender,

"The defender tries his best to hit Hibbert in pick-and-roll situations and try his best to consume his energy!"

"clear!"

The Hornets players nodded and returned to the court after halftime.

Both teams still used their full lineups in the third quarter.

It's just that Ariza attacked with the ball, and with the help of Kaman's pick-and-roll, he directly faced Hibbert. He used his footsteps to score an easy layup.

"53-58."

The Pacers had a single inside attack by Hibbert. Ayon immediately challenged and was whistled for a foul.

The Pacers went on offense, and Kaman hit a mid-range jumper to open the score again.

The Hornets head coach smiled with satisfaction.

The head coach played in the NBA for 9 years and scored a career-high 30 points. Finally, he retired due to a knee injury. After retiring, he studied under McMillan. His name was Monty Williams.