basketball never sleeps

Chapter 77 Looking at the "Bear" and sighing

"The events of last night's game were shocking, disgusting, inexcusable - and a disgrace to everyone involved in the NBA. This incident teaches our players that no matter how provocative the fans may be,

They should all remain calm. Our investigation is ongoing and we expect to give you an answer tomorrow night."

"Of course I have to thank Dak Milicic again for his efforts in maintaining order on the court. As Detroit fans said, he is a hero - we absolutely do not advocate any violence, but we do not allow anyone to violate it.

Safety concerns for innocent fans."

Stern, who had not slept much all night, appeared on camera early the next morning, carefully handling the farce that had become big but not completely big.

He had been watching the game last night. Before Artest rushed into the stands, he thought it was just a normal player conflict.

"It will pass soon." He even thought that the conflict would not last more than 2 minutes.

But just as he was taking a nap, the situation suddenly changed.

When he saw Artest rush into the stands and punch a fan who threw a cup at him, Stern's mind went blank.

Fans have always been Stern's red line. Last season, Rasheed spat at the fans who insulted him on the sidelines and was fined $25,000 by Stern. In 1995, Maxwell of the Rockets gave

In order to punch a fan who insulted his late daughter, Stern gave him the second-highest 10-game suspension in history (the highest at the time was 26 games by Washington's Brain Boxer) plus a maximum fine of $20,000 at the time.

of fines.

And this time, although Artest's rage seems justified based on the available evidence, no matter how justified it is, it cannot be used as a reason to use violence against fans during game time when his personal safety is not threatened.

excuse.

On the evening of the 20th, the league released their preliminary penalty decision on this matter.

Artest was temporarily suspended indefinitely as before, and Jackson, who only had time to fight with his brother, was suspended for 12 games. Xiao Ou, who wanted to rush into the stands but was knocked out with one punch before he could use force, was just symbolic.

Suspended for five games, Anthony Johnson and Fred Jones were only suspended for one game because they were still struggling with Pistons players.

As for the Pistons, Ben was found to be the instigator and was suspended indefinitely. Billups, Hamilton and McDyess were suspended for one game for excessive pushing and shoving. The others who participated in the verbal war were only kicked a few times.

There is no ban for a thousand dollar fine.

As for Milicic, he is the hardest hitter and has received praise from the league. It is said that the league has planned to appoint Milicic to win this year's NBA "Morality Award" (Good Guy Award).

But unlike the Pistons players who were all proud of him, Larry Brown and Dumars were quite miserable at this time.

After this battle, Milicic directly became a "superhero" who defended the Motor City fans. Especially the scene where Hamilton grabbed Milicic's hand at the end was used as a newspaper cover by several media in Detroit. The local most

The influential "Detroit Free Press" directly declared Milicic to be Detroit's "Superman".

This kind of praise brings great difficulties to both Larry Brown's hiding plan and Dumars' trading plan.

People can accept an insignificant foreign player being wronged, but they can never accept their hero being bullied.

"You did a great job on this, Duck. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you. And I can guarantee that those impulsive idiots will come back to thank you later. It was you who saved their careers.

"

"Don't think too much. Heuman has passed. He will help you handle everything. I guess it will be difficult for you to leave this year. Dumas will be scolded to death if he dares to trade you this season, but whether he goes to NBDL or

It’s no problem to add a little more playing time.”

The phone call comforted Milicic, who was still a little confused, and he stood in front of the window sill and rubbed his chin.

There is no doubt that this is definitely a good thing for Milicic, but for the future pattern of the Eastern Conference, it is likely that this battle will completely change it.

But that's what's interesting.

······

The league, the Detroit police, and teams on both sides are still arguing about the battle that just passed.

The Heat, who had finished eating their melons, also ended their short break and faced the challenge from the Timberwolves at home.

Everyone believes that the Timberwolves, who only lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals last season due to injuries, will make a comeback this season.

Their core lineup has basically not changed, and the Timberwolves were also ranked second in the team strength rankings compiled by ESPN before the start of the regular season.

But things in basketball never stop with basketball.

In order to give the team more salary space to recruit, the "Brooklyn Wolf King with Green Army blood" accepted the Timberwolves' five-year, $100 million salary reduction in the summer to renew his contract.

From last season's 28 million annual salary to this season's 16 million, it seems that Garnett has made a lot of sacrifices, but he is still one of the five highest-paid people in the league.

Sprewell was jealous of Garnett's big contract. During the offseason, he had been asking the Timberwolves management for a contract extension with the same annual salary of tens of millions. At the same time, Szczerbiak, who had been an All-Star in the previous two years, also

He has put forward demands for his own playing time, coupled with Cassel's injury that has never recovered, and the dispute between "Sugar Man" and Cassel off the court, the Timberwolves, who still seem to be strong, still don't have the last player in the locker room.

The harmony of the season.

Their 50-50 win rate since the start of the season also confirms that the Timberwolves have lost their dominance last season.

O'Neal's home debut and the duel between Garnett and O'Neal made this game very interesting to watch.

However, after the first quarter, everyone discovered that the protagonist of this game was still on the outside.

Szczerbiak, Sprewell, Cassell, it can be said that the Timberwolves' perimeter is no worse than the Wizards, a team with only perimeter.

Wade was suddenly relieved. His one-on-one performance against Cassel on both ends was not very difficult. Garnett and "Sugar Man" Olowokandi defended O'Neal and failed to play his role in the league.

The role of the defensive end allowed Wade to score frequently, scoring 18 points on 8-for-8 shooting in the first half.

Mo Wen was not so relaxed. He came on the court as the No. 2, doing the work of the No. 1, and faced the defensive elite at the No. 3, creating a mixed match.

Sprewell, who had failed to get a contract extension before and was in a bad situation, took the initiative to approach Mo Wen in this game.

Sprewell, nicknamed "Madman", dared to challenge Jordan when he was a rookie (and then was severely beaten by the retired Jordan). Even if he is better than him, this guy may not like him.

What's more, Mo Wen, who in his eyes has a soft style of play, got a large sneaker contract by relying on his "boyishness" and Chinese identity.

What Sprewell likes to do most is to knock the "stars of tomorrow" in the eyes of the media to the ground and beat him up. Last season, James had to be targeted and educated by him when he played against him twice. He cut him down once.

James, who scored 31 points and defended, only scored 18 points, and James, who scored 24 points and defended, only scored 14 points.

He thought that Mo Wen would be restricted by him just like James. After two rounds of fighting, he found that this guy was much more cunning and difficult to deal with than James.

When he was young, Sprewell was very explosive and technically sophisticated. He made the defensive second team for two years and also made the best team. However, at the age of 34, both his reaction speed and explosive power have declined a lot compared to when he was young.

, now we rely more on experience to play.

Mo Wen had met the "Madman" at his peak in the dungeon and originally thought it would be a fierce battle, but after giving it a try, he discovered that although this guy was still physically stronger than him, his strength was already limited.

It is not difficult for Mo Wen to defend his singles. His current explosive power (72) is not much weaker than that of Madman. He relies on experience to predict Madman's offense quite accurately. Together with some "legal" defensive actions, Madman's breakthrough is limited.

Very dead.

Without being able to hit the inside, Madman's outside shooting is simply ineffective. His shot selection is extremely poor. In the space from mid-range to long two-point range, his shooting rate is less than 40%. He is a representative of using shots in exchange for points.

One of the characters only has convulsions occasionally.

The Madmen took 7 shots in the first half and only hit 2 goals. They missed all 2 three-pointers and only scored 6 points with free throws.

The serious madman's single defense ability is still good, but he can't keep up with the pick-and-roll. When facing him, Mo Wen will use the pick-and-roll, either to open up space for shooting, or to force Szczerbiak to switch defenses, or to attract double-teams from help defenders.

Back pass assist.

Mo Wen played 16 minutes in the first half, making 4 of 8 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.

O'Neal didn't play much in the first half but was extremely efficient. He made 4 of 7 shots, 2 of 4 free throws, and scored 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Fortunately, the rest of the Timberwolves' "jumper team" felt good today. Garnett, Cassel, and Szczerbiak fired frequently in the mid-range, barely holding on to the score.

Heat 52:49 Timberwolves

In the second half, the Heat used mid-range zone defense tactics, forcing the Timberwolves to rush in to challenge O'Brien or shoot from beyond the three-point line, and achieved good results.

Many people think that the defensive three seconds to prevent centers from squatting was customized for O'Neal. In fact, this is not the case. The defensive three seconds were first introduced in 1966. As a result, as soon as this rule came out, Zhang Erwan did whatever he wanted in the face of an empty inside line.

The horrific scoring efficiency directly resulted in the league being forced to cancel this rule after two seasons.

After entering the new century, in order to increase the enjoyment and encourage outside players to break through and score, the league introduced this tactic again. At the same time, in order to prevent Chamberlain's case from happening to O'Neal, it also proposed the legalization of zone defense, which had been considered for a long time.

come out.

The inside line is empty, but O'Neal can be defended in a zone.

In his early years, Ke Aopang was also Stern's "godson" and a superstar in the dominant league, so just like Ajan's "Dragon", he also has a privilege "Crimson King" - he can stay in the three-second zone for 5

seconds without being blown a violation.

Therefore, when facing the Olympics, if the team does not have two space insiders, or players who are good at drawing fouls, they can only look at the "bear" and sigh.

In the second half, facing the Heat's 32 zone defense, the Timberwolves, whose mid-range shooting declined, chose to take more three-pointers. With their good touch, they stabilized the score for a time. It was not until their physical strength declined in the final quarter and their shooting percentage gradually dropped that they finally lost.

game.

At the end of the game, Garnett scored 22 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists, worthy of his big contract. Szczerbiak had 18 points and 4 rebounds, Cassell had 16 points and 7 assists, and the sugar man and madman in the starting lineup became the Timberwolves.

The undercover agent shot 1-for-7 and scored five points on free throws; the undercover shot 4-for-13 and scored only 11 points.

For the Heat, Wade had 28 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. He was extremely efficient in the first half, but was unexpectedly taken care of by Garnett in the second half. His shooting efficiency dropped, giving more shots to the liberated O'Neal.

The Olympics did not disappoint the home fans, scoring 24 points in the second half and finishing with 34 points and 13 rebounds, making the roar of the "Big Diesel Engine" resound throughout the American Airlines Arena.

Mo Wen didn't think about stealing the show, and gave more finishing opportunities to O'Neal, who was making his home debut. He scored 20 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. If the Heat's substitutes weren't slightly worse, he could have been even better.

Sorry for the late posting.

(End of chapter)