Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

Qi Tian also didn't expect that beating the Heat would bring him great benefits. The most significant thing was that his playing time soared in the second day's game, reaching 30 minutes.

But he made 6 of 12 shots, 7 of 7 free throws, and scored 19 points in the game, but he failed to help the team win a victory, because the opponent made 11 of 14 shots and scored 30 points and 13 rebounds. Dwight Howard, the league's top center with 5 assists, 4 steals and 1 block.

The defeated Pacers did not let the defeat continue. After returning to their home court after the break, they easily defeated the Portland Trail Blazers and won their 24th regular season victory.

Qi Tian's performance of 21 points and 8 rebounds on 10 of 17 shots gave the fans great confidence.

And his bench combination with Hill and Hansbrough made the Pacers' bench stand out in the league, ranking first in the league in bench scoring.

"With Qi Tian's performance, I'm not convinced that he can't be on the Rookie of the Year first team."

Seeing Qi Tian score 17 points again, Pacers fans began to complain about him.

There is nothing we can do about this. The regular season has been shortened a lot due to the suspension. Although only 41 games have been played, two-thirds of the schedule has passed, and there are only 15 games left to enter the playoffs.

The competition for various awards in the regular season has reached a fever pitch, and the advantage of public opinion can be considered an advantage.

Of course, there is no need to think about the Rookie of the Year award. Irving, who averaged 18.5 points per game in his first year, has already widened the gap between him and others who scored more than 10 points. He can still reach 46.9% of his shots even with high shots. The shooting percentage, as high as 39.9% of the three-point shooting percentage, has made this year's Rookie of the Year no longer in suspense.

The idea of ​​Pacers fans is to let Qi Tian strive to enter the second team of the Rookie of the Year like George last year.

Fortunately, there is no repeater Griffin this year, nor are Wall and Cousins ​​who have reserved two positions. Even if Irving reserves his position, there are still 4-5 first-team positions and 5 second-team positions.

"In terms of scoring, I can't compare with Faried, Knight, Rubio and Thompson, but the others are not much higher than Qi Tian."

"That's right, our record should be considered an advantage, right?"

"Well, record shouldn't have anything to do with rookies, right?"

…

Stephenson walked towards Qi Tian who was resting and said:

"Seven, look, people on Twitter are saying that you can make the rookie team, and they are summarizing your competitors."

"As for that?"

Qi Tian put the towel on his shoulders and took Stephenson's cell phone.

"Why not? Everyone only has one chance in their rookie year."

Stephenson didn't have any complaints. Not to mention his scoring average last year, his playing time was in single digits. He continued,

"Your main competitors now are Leonard of the Spurs, Chandler Parsons of the Rockets and Derrick Williams of the Timberwolves."

"We have a game with the Rockets and Timberwolves next. We will only play the Spurs once this year, which is a bit less. I guess..."

Stephenson suddenly froze and said with some confusion,

"Does the best rookie award depend on the record? Hey, I remember, it seems that it is all voted by reporters. The record is probably not too important. Then we have lost an advantageous project."

Qi Tian did a cursory scan and found an acquaintance on it - Isaiah Thomas!

He clicked in and discovered that the 60th pick, the strongest in history, had already established a firm foothold in the Kings, and even got the opportunity to start 37 games. The lonely star with the 10th pick in the first round had been squeezed out by the 60th pick in the second round.

The third backup point guard.

"Averaging 11.5 points per game, this is already a solid entry into the All-Rookie Team."

Qi Tian whispered to himself.

But he knows that this year is just a .asxs. for Isaiah Thomas. He will keep going up until he reaches his peak in five or six years and successfully enters the ranks of the league's top stars, although it will only be one year.

"I may not be much worse!"

A sense of crisis arose spontaneously, and he suddenly felt energetic all over his body. He stood up and continued to practice more.

"Hey, this guy."

Stephenson picked up the mobile phone that Qi Tian had casually placed on his seat and confirmed that there were no scratches on it before he breathed a sigh of relief.

“What should you do if the new iPhone 4s gets scratched if you throw it away like this?”

The players are training in full swing, and the coaching team is not idle either. They are analyzing the data.

If the player's status is prone to fluctuations at the beginning of the season and the team's performance cannot accurately reflect the strength, then when there are only the last dozen or so games left in the regular season, the team's performance can already become the basic basis for guessing how far it can go in the playoffs.

.

Vogel was in a daze looking at the results given by his data analysis colleagues.

As a coach who emphasizes defense, he is very pleased to see that the team's defensive efficiency is among the best in the league.

"There will be more than one steal than the opponent. Although there are fewer blocks, they are about the same. Foul control is also very good."

This is just a basic operation for a team with a winning rate of over 40%.

Vogel already frowned when he saw other data.

"Our opponents' shooting percentage is only 0.3% lower than ours, and their three-point shooting percentage is 1.7% lower than ours. However, our opponents' three-point shooting percentage is 0.8 more than ours, and their average points per game are only 3.3 points more than our opponents."

"We only have an advantage in free throws?"

Although Brian Shaw did not see all the data, just by listening to Vogel's words, he could guess what the coach was dissatisfied with:

That is offense.

The average points per game cannot be improved, which shows that they rarely win big games;

The shooting percentage is not high, even if the opponent cannot make a shot, it is of no use;

The three-point shots are few and inaccurate, so it is more difficult to open up the score.

The Pacers' strong defense is the main reason why they can secure third place in the Eastern Conference;

But the team's offensive talent is really mediocre, so they can only rely on defense to bring their opponents to the same level as themselves, and rely on their rich experience to defeat their opponents.

Playing against the top teams is definitely not going to be easy. The Big Three of the Heat, Knicks Anthony, Magic Howard, Lakers Kobe Gasol...

Brian Xiao just thought about it and found a lot of players who couldn't be restrained by defense.

Of course Vogel would not shout at Jim Bonn, who was in charge of defense:

"Bonn, think of a solution quickly."

If Bonn had its way, it wouldn't be Vogel who would rise from chief assistant to head coach.

He pondered for a while and then said:

"Next, increase the offensive proportion of the point guard, let the guard drive the inside, and strive for full bloom."

The assistant coaches all nodded and agreed with the coach's suggestion.

As the regular season comes to an end, teams striving for playoff spots will fight hard to get at least four additional games;

But the teams that are stable in the playoffs have begun to prepare to rest their main players and give them enough time to prepare for the playoffs.