Bishop of the Devil

Richard and the others held a post-match press conference first, and then returned to their residence to rest.

The game was won heartily tonight, and everyone in the Blazers was very excited...

In fact, at the beginning of this season, it was clear to the Blazers that the Spurs would still not be their opponent, only the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant joined the Lakers, which greatly increased the upper limit of the Lakers team. No one can say whether the Trail Blazers will be able to gain an advantage when facing the Lakers.

But now after a game, both sides know the basics, and the Blazers feel a lot more at ease.

If the Lakers want to win against the Trail Blazers, the premise is that their inside core O'Neal can explode at free throws. Only on this basis will they have the ability to compete with the Trail Blazers!

But if O'Neal's free throws are abnormal or he performs at 50% of his normal performance, the Lakers still can't beat the Trail Blazers!

This makes the Blazers feel at ease. It seems that they will be the top seed to win the championship again this year.

Everyone slept peacefully, including Richard...

Early the next morning, Richard read that day's morning newspaper, mainly to see what the Lakers' post-game press conference had to say.

The sight of it not mattering made him feel nervous.

Just as Richard expected, the Lakers' Zen Masters Jackson and O'Neal directly launched shameless shark-cutting tactics after attending the post-game press conference.

Zen Master’s original words were “The shark-cutting tactic has made basketball lose its original meaning and turned it into a free throw game. I think this is what fans never want to see…”

"I think the league must introduce rules restricting shark-cutting tactics as soon as possible, otherwise, the game will become quite ugly!"

…

Richard knew that if the Lakers made this request, the league would definitely consider it carefully.

The main reason is that this thing affects the smoothness and enjoyment of the game. Out of interest considerations, the league is still very likely to issue rules in advance to restrict shark-cutting tactics.

Even Richard is sure that the alliance will inevitably introduce rules to restrict shark-cutting tactics. The only thing he is not sure about is whether the alliance is prepared to do it all at once or step by step.

For the first time in history, the rule restricting shark-cutting is the fourth quarter and the last two minutes of overtime. The use of shark-cutting tactics is not allowed...

Later, perhaps because the league felt that this restriction was not thorough enough, it expanded the scope. In each quarter and the last two minutes of overtime, shark hacking is not allowed.

Of course, this tactic can never completely eliminate the use of shark-killing tactics. It can only be said to reduce the use of shark-cutting tactics.

For example, O'Neal can appear in the first few minutes of each quarter, because the team does not have enough fouls at that time, and it is not cost-effective to use the shark-cutting tactic rashly.

Then after the opponent has committed enough fouls on the team, O'Neal can take a rest and wait until the last two minutes when he can't kill the shark before appearing again.

In this case, a game can last about thirty minutes.

Of course, if the opponent is ruthless, for example, without caring about the number of fouls committed by the team, and directly uses cannon fodder to consume the number of fouls committed by the team, the shark-cutting tactic can be used.

…

For example, after the latest rules restricting shark-cutting tactics were introduced in 2016, there will still be situations in the league where players with poor free throw shooting will be cut.

Even Xiao Hua said that this kind of thing cannot be completely avoided and can only be reduced as much as possible.

…

If these rules are really introduced, it will definitely be good news for the Lakers!

At that time, the Lakers might really be able to compete with the Trail Blazers!

But Richard is not too worried about this matter. At least this season, there is no need to worry. The introduction of a rule, especially such a rule with a wide impact, will definitely not be introduced during the course of the season.

We have to finish this season at the earliest...

Therefore, this season, the Lakers no longer want to enjoy such favorable rules.

…

Sure enough, the Trail Blazers had just landed in Houston, and the league immediately held a press conference.

Xiao Hua was responsible for hosting this press conference. The administrative committee first gave each team in the league a vaccine. They indeed have plans to introduce rules to restrict shark-cutting tactics!

As soon as this press conference ended, the Lakers were naturally happy...

O'Neal was so happy that he couldn't even smile from ear to ear!

But this rule has indeed caused dissatisfaction among many teams in the league!

What many fans didn't expect was that the head coach who first expressed dissatisfaction was not Richard, but Spurs head coach Popovich!

"I also hate the shark tactic. It is a pretty ugly tactic, but I will still use it. The introduction of rules to restrict the shark tactic is definitely harmful to competitive sports!"

"The court is full of competition. You have to find ways to improve your competitiveness. With the rules now in place, we can't take advantage of our opponents' weaknesses!"

Popovich said this not without reason.

He is a fanatical supporter of shark-killing tactics, basically on the same level as Richard!

In last season's Western Conference semifinals, the Spurs relied on cutting sharks to defeat the Lakers, and then met the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals.

If the shark-cutting tactic is greatly restricted, the Spurs may not be able to pass the Lakers' level, not to mention that the Lakers' strength is now greatly improved compared to last season!

This puts a lot of pressure on Popovich. If he can't beat the Trail Blazers or the Lakers, then they have no hope of reaching the Western Conference Finals in the next few years!

How can you win the championship if you can't even touch the floor of the Western Conference Finals?!

So when the league said it planned to introduce a plan to restrict shark-cutting tactics, Popovich was the first to express dissatisfaction!

In his opinion, why should such a cheating rule be introduced to prevent free throws from being cut? ! Then why don't you think about how to improve free throws?

He was naturally very dissatisfied with the introduction of such a rule that was obviously biased in favor of O'Neal.

Richard suddenly became happy when he heard that Popovich came out to oppose the league's plan to kill sharks...

In fact, under normal circumstances, when the league introduced rules restricting shark cutting, Popovich was quite dissatisfied.

Now because Richard has made the Lakers so annoying, the league can't stand it any longer. It plans in advance to introduce rules to restrict shark cutting, but Popovich is still opposed to it.

Not only Popovich, but Larry Bird from the East also jumped out to express his dissatisfaction!

It's not that he jumped out to help Richard speak because he has a good relationship with Richard. The main reason is that if the league really introduces such a rule, the Pacers will also be victims!

The Pacers currently rank first in the Eastern Conference, and they still have a chance to reach the finals this season!

What if the Trail Blazers lose to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals? What if the Lakers and Pacers meet in the Finals? !

Then Larry Bird can use the shark-killing tactic, and maybe he can win the championship with the shark-killing tactic!

Now that the league has suddenly come forward to introduce bullshit rules, Larry Bird is naturally unwilling to do so. This matter has harmed his potential interests!

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Rick Carlisle also expressed his dissatisfaction. The reason he jumped out was similar to that of Larry Bird. Of course, he also wanted to support Richard.

…

Driven by these people, the head coaches and management of nearly half of the league's teams expressed dissatisfaction.

On the contrary, Richard, the biggest sufferer in this matter, made no movement.

Richard knew that he really couldn't act rashly at this moment...

If he jumps out to oppose the alliance and oppose Stern, then Stern may be able to do something like "a dog jumping over the wall".

For example, during the All-Star Weekend this season, the rules restricting shark-cutting tactics began to be used directly!

There is no doubt that Stern in a rage can really do such a thing...

So Richard simply pretended not to know anything at this time. Anyway, he knew very well that in fact, there was no point in objecting. This thing would come out sooner or later.

…

The Trail Blazers' second game of three consecutive away games is against the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets have completely fallen!

Under normal circumstances, the Rockets actually made a deal with the Trail Blazers. They sold Pippen to the Trail Blazers...

It can also be seen from this that it is true that the Trail Blazers are stupid and have too much money!

Under normal circumstances, the Trail Blazers accepted two cancerous contracts this season. One was Kemp, who was too fat to touch the basket, and the other was Pippen's contract.

But now that Richard is in charge of the Trail Blazers, neither of these two contracts will be available!

The Trail Blazers didn't want it, and they weren't satisfied with the bargaining chips offered by other teams. In the end, they could only keep Pippen in their hands...

The current Rockets team is in complete chaos, with internal strife among the three parties!

This year's second pick, Francis, Pippen and Barkley, are making a big fuss!

Francis feels that he should be the cornerstone of the Rockets team. Shouldn't you old guys give yourself, the future boss, some respect? !

But Olajuwon, Barkley and Pippen are all superstars who are guaranteed to be in the Hall of Fame. Who cares about a little kid with no hair at all? They don't take Francis seriously at all.

Barkley and Pippen are still having the same shitty issues as last season, and they have been having trouble from last season to this season.

It was really a mess.

The Rockets simply started to fail this season...

In this game against the Rockets, the Trail Blazers won easily. The Rockets were not focused on winning at all.

They have now recognized the reality. With the way the Western Conference is now, do these three old guys want to win the championship? !

It's totally impossible...

…

After winning the Rockets game, the NBA announced the start of the first round of All-Star voting for the new season.

The All-Star Game, which has been silent for a year, is finally back to normal!

Although Richard cannot lead the Western Conference All-Star team this year, he still cares about the selection of his players.

If a team wants to have top cohesion, it must have as many honors as possible!

At present, there is only one O'Neill left in the Trail Blazers who has been selected as an All-Star. If only O'Brien is selected as an All-Star this season, Richard will definitely not be satisfied.

What makes Richard miserable is that China has not yet accessed the fan voting portal. Originally, Richard had planned to go up to the top and win votes for his players in China.

Now it seems we have to wait for two years...

…

McGrady signed up for this year's All-Star Dunk Contest.

Ginobili and Nowitzki have qualified for this year's three-point contest.

In terms of skills competition, Mobley signed up to participate...

As for the rookie game, the Trail Blazers currently have three first-year freshmen, namely Kirilenko, Ginobili and Artest...

These three people are definitely qualified to participate in the Rookie Challenge.

The Trail Blazers' participation in this All-Star Weekend is quite good. Now Richard will see how many players are selected for the All-Star Game!

…

January has arrived in the blink of an eye, and the results of the first round of voting have been announced.

What Richard never expected was that the first-round vote winner in the East was actually Vince Carter!

He actually received 50,000 more votes than Iverson in the first round!

But it's normal to think about it. Behind Carter is the entire Maple Leaf Nation. It's not easy for such a powerful rookie swingman to emerge. You can imagine how popular he is.

…

The top ten in the first round of the Eastern Conference, according to the number of votes, are Carter, Iverson, Mourning, Grant Hill, Wang Zhizhi, Madman, Eddie Jones, Alan Houston, Marbury and Ray Allen...

Judging from the All-Star voting situation in the Eastern Conference, the Eastern Conference is really in decline.

Half of the top ten players with the most votes are newcomers, and the veterans selected are far inferior to the Western Conference veterans in terms of league status.

As for the west side, it seems that the level of luxury is much higher than that in the east.

Kobe Bryant, O'Neal, O'Neal Jr., Duncan, Garnett, Glove Payton, Big Ben, Kidd, Chris Webber, Pippen!

The competition inside the Western Conference is simply too fierce...

Among the top ten players, there are six inside players, which is simply terrifying!

Both Xiao Ao and Big Ben entered the top ten in the voting, which made Richard a little happy and acceptable...

And these are only the results of the first round of voting, and the final All-Star list is somewhat different.

Generally speaking, there are twelve All-Stars in the East and West, including 2 centers, 5 forwards, and 5 guards!

Xiao Ou is participating as a center this season, and Ben is a forward.

What is more shocking is that both Nowitzki and Robinson were persuaded by Richard to run for the draft as backcourt players...

One is a seven-foot tall man, the other is 208 centimeters tall. When fans saw these two guys appearing in the voting list for backcourt players, they couldn't help but laugh and cry.

These two can also be considered backcourt players...

But when I think about it, I really can’t find fault. These two people are really in the backcourt in the Trail Blazers. It seems that they can’t find fault at all when they sign up for the backcourt!

…

The results of the second round of voting will come out soon.

A total of ten starting All-Star lists from the East and West are released!

What makes Richard feel a bit wrong is that this time the Trail Blazers did not have a player selected as the All-Star starter. The main reason is that O'Neal is participating as a center this time. He needs to compete directly with O'Neal, so competition is natural. but……

Eastern Conference All-Star starters, Carter, Iverson, Mourning, Eddie Jones and Grant Hill.

The starting list for the Western Conference is O'Neal, Duncan, Garnett, Kobe and Kidd!

Look at the All-Star starting lineup in the Western Conference. It can almost be said to be the most luxurious All-Star starting lineup in the entire NBA history...

The No. 1 center in history, the No. 2 shooting guard in history, two of the top three forwards in history, even Kidd, who has the lowest status, can definitely be ranked among the top ten point guards in history.

…

Even Richard was secretly stunned. He is now witnessing the best era of the NBA!

Although the Trail Blazers have no players in the starting lineup, Richard is not in a hurry...

Xiao Ou can be said to be the top three centers in the league right now. It would be funny if he couldn't make the All-Stars!

In this league, O'Neal is naturally the number one center!

As for the Admiral, Dameng and Gorilla, these three have all withdrawn from the stage of the times.

The only one who can compete with O'Brien is the Heat's center forward Mourning!

Therefore, Xiao Ou is a well-deserved top three center in this league!

As for Ben, in the Western Conference frontcourt, his chances of being selected as an All-Star are still quite high.

Therefore, Richard is not too worried about the selection of O'Neill and Ben. He is more concerned about whether Nowitzki and Robinson can be selected!

The votes of these two people are actually good, ranking fourth and sixth in the Western Conference All-Star backcourt.

Except for the five starters who were voted by fans, the remaining seven players were voted by the coaching staff of each team in the league, including the head coach and assistant coaches.

Of course, you can't vote for your own players...

Coaches can vote for their favorite players, but it usually won't be too outrageous and they will choose one of the top players on the ballot.

Without thinking, Richard picked up the phone and started calling.

Larry Bird, Doc Rivers, Wilkens, Carlisle, Pitino, Butch Carter, Laimbeer, George Karl, Adelman, Sanders...

Richard was not polite at all and directly contacted all the coaches with whom he had a good relationship and asked them to help vote for Nowitzki and Robinson.

For the sake of his players, Richard could be said to have completely lost his temper this time.

All parties agreed to Richard's request without saying a word.

It's not a big deal in itself, and besides, you can't choose your own players with this thing. Since Richard wants this vote, just give it to him...

When the official All-Star roster was released, fans from all walks of life suddenly discovered that the Trail Blazers had a huge harvest this year!

Although they don't have one All-Star starter, they have as many as four players selected to the All-Star lineup!

This directly broke the Trail Blazers' team history record...

The most in the history of the Trail Blazers was two people selected to the All-Stars, but this year, four people were selected directly, which doubled!

Richard breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want the Trail Blazers players to have the same tragedy as the Blazers' great Lillard in later generations...

Paul's Western Conference Finals floor, Lillard's All-Star floor.

Although the two of them also touched the floor they dreamed of in the future...

…

O'Brien and Ben were selected as All-Stars, which is quite acceptable to fans from all walks of life.

Even if Robinson is selected as an All-Star, it is actually acceptable. After all, Robinson was an All-Star in the 1993-94 season before Richard came to the Trail Blazers.

Only Nowitzki's selection is a bit surprising...

You must know that Nowitzki only ranked sixth in the Western Conference backcourt voting. Generally speaking, unless someone is injured and unable to play, it will be difficult for Nowitzki to get the opportunity to be selected as an All-Star.

But now something magical happened, Nowitzki was selected without any reason.

Robinson is fourth in the Western Conference backcourt voting. The top three are Kobe, Kidd and Payton!

Stockton is fifth...

In this way, Nowitzki directly squeezed out Stockton and was selected to the All-Star list.

"absurd!"

"It's really ridiculous! I don't know why the NBA tolerates allowing a seven-foot big man to participate in the All-Star selection as a backcourt player!"

"Moreover, this seven-foot big man is not as good as Stockton in terms of statistics and popularity. How does he qualify to be an All-Star?!"

Jazz head coach Sloan went crazy!

Stockton didn't make the All-Stars last season and didn't play in the All-Stars last season. This season, he has actually contacted the coaches of several teams and asked them to help vote for Stockton.

The thing that was sure of victory was that Cheng Yaojin was successfully killed, and Stockton was directly squeezed out by Nowitzki!

Looking at it this way, Stockton has not been an All-Star in several years!

This is not what makes Sloan the most upset. Malone also failed to be selected as an All-Star this year!

The five frontcourts in the Western Conference are Duncan, Garnett, Ben, Pippen and Chris Webber!

This drove Sloan completely crazy!

He directly expressed his dissatisfaction to reporters at the post-match press conference...

Richard almost died laughing, it was quite a satisfying feeling to see Jazz deflated.

If Sloan hadn't mentioned him by name, then Richard probably wouldn't be bothered to deal with the Jazz's struggling team.

But now that Sloan has pointed out Nowitzki, Richard can no longer watch the fun.

He has to go out and fight in person...