Bishop of the Devil

In the blink of an eye, the regular season schedule is halfway through and the Buccaneers have played their first forty games of the season.

In these forty games, the Pirates won a total of 32 games, with a winning rate as high as a terrifying 80%.

Not only was the record terrible, but the strength displayed by the Pirates' rookie players also made the executives of each team drool.

Although they knew that Richard was a God-like being when it came to selecting people, they were still a little stunned that every newcomer was so good.

Milicic and Paul are considered the signature players of this Pirates team, but apart from them, the performance of other newcomers is also impressive enough.

Even Varejao, the most average performer among this group of newcomers, currently has a near-double-double of 8.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.

The two previous trade plans of the Philadelphia 76ers included Varejao, which shows how attractive Varejao is.

Varejao's offense is not worth mentioning, but his rebounding and shot-blocking abilities are definitely above the standard. Considering his current age, he may become a super blue-collar player in two years.

After all, there is a saying in basketball circles that insiders have been watching for five years.

The general meaning is that it takes five years to develop inside players...

This statement was scoffed by Richard, who strongly disagreed.

The five-year insider view may make sense when it comes to certain players, but it makes absolutely no sense when it comes to players like Duncan and O'Neal who were at their peak when they debuted.

As soon as O'Neal entered the league, he was killing everyone.

As for Duncan, the same is true...

In the final analysis, it is still a matter of talent. If the talent is truly extraordinary, it will only take five years to reach the peak.

Varejao's talent is not particularly outstanding, but in this era of declining centers, he still has enough temptation.

Richard is now thinking about selling Varejao if he really gets Oden. Anyway, there is Marc Gasol as a backup center.

And if Oden can't be obtained, then Varejao probably won't be able to move.

Even if Marc Gasol is selected by then, it will definitely take a lot of twists and turns, and Gasol will not be signed in the short term. Varejao must not mess with this point.

Moreover, Gasol is not the kind of player who has a great debut. If he first enters the league, he may not be able to perform better than Varejao.

…

This is just because Varejao, who is regarded as the weakest, has such a huge temptation.

Several other newcomers have already made the executives of each team unable to restrain their desire.

Doesn't Richard like to ask for draft picks? give him!

Seeing that the All-Star Game is getting closer and closer, countless teams are coming to the door, hoping to make a deal with the Buccaneers.

Iguodala and Granger are the Pirates' starters, and they don't ask for it, but there are Roy, Millsap and Rondo on the bench. These three are the main targets of each team's trade. .

Especially Millsap's statistics are not particularly good. Even because his playing time is not as good as Varejao's, his statistics are not as good as Varejao's, but he can't stand up to the high-level statistics. Several teams are willing to come up with better starters. Draft pick in exchange for Millsap.

Many fans say that those who look at statistics are fake fans and do not understand football.

In fact, this is biased. Some high-level data can actually best illustrate a player's strength.

Conventional data, such as points and rebounds, if you only look at these data to evaluate a player's true strength, then Westbrook is probably the strongest and most versatile player in history. After all, even Chamberlain has not been able to play three consecutive games. Averaging a triple-double per game this season.

Then a player like Marbury who can easily score 20+ points will not be unable to survive in the NBA.

Only looking at regular data and using it to evaluate the strength of players is indeed suspected of being a pseudo-fan.

But if you look at high-level data, such as defensive efficiency, offensive efficiency, rebound rate, block rate, and win shares, you can still roughly assess a player's true strength.

Some players are often evaluated as having data that cannot reflect their role on the field. The data mentioned here actually refer to regular data, not high-level data.

This type of player actually has excellent high-level statistics.

Millsap is this type of player right now, and his offensive efficiency value has reached a terrifying 123!

What is this concept? In one hundred offensive rounds, he can score 123 points, far exceeding the league's first-line super scorers.

Even Richard rolled his eyes in shock. Millsap's offensive efficiency was simply incredible.

Of course, if he is given more playing time, his offensive efficiency may drop, but even if it drops, he is definitely a top scorer.

In addition to the appalling offensive efficiency, this guy's rebound rate, block rate, steal rate and other values ​​are all astonishing.

This directly made Millsap a favorite, and countless teams were waiting for Richard's answer.

Naturally, Richard would not give them any answer. At this point in time, it would be a pity to sell Millsap.

First of all, Richard is going to compete for the championship this season, and Millsap staying on the team can be used as a guarantee.

The Pirates now have four players on the front line, which is just right, no more, no less.

If one of them is injured, there will still be three left that can still be used.

If Millsap is sold, one player will be injured and only two forwards and defenders will be left, which will definitely not be enough.

Secondly, Millsap's value has not yet been maximized. These teams want to exchange Millsap for a first-round pick, and Richard naturally refuses to agree.

After all, Millsap is also known as the rice god. He is a god-level figure. He wants to trade away a first-round pick, but Richard is not stupid enough to do that.

Therefore, Richard asked Myers to reject all the trade offers from each team, and he would wait until the end of the season.

…

A few days later, the All-Star list was released.

This year, the NBA finally imposed restrictions on Chinese fans’ voting...

Yao Ming has won the honor of All-Star vote king for three consecutive years, which makes many old American fans feel dissatisfied.

It's obviously their old American league, but it doesn't matter if a foreigner wins the All-Star vote every year.

Stern also took care of the feelings of the old American fans. After all, the old America is the base camp, and began to compress the votes in China.

No one knows the specific compression ratio. I am afraid only insiders of the Management Committee know this ratio.

But even if you don't know the ratio, Yao Ming didn't win the vote this year. If you say the ratio is normal, no one will believe it.

Many domestic fans have complained, but there is absolutely nothing they can do. The final interpretation of this kind of thing must belong to the merchants...

The Buccaneers' record this year is quite outstanding, winning two more games than the Spurs, who are first in the Western Conference, so they have a lot more All-Stars this year.

Milicic became the starting frontcourt in the Eastern Conference, which surprised Richard.

The three starting frontcourts in the Eastern Conference last season were Yao Ming, O'Neal and James.

Although Yao Ming received a lot fewer votes this season, only James received more votes than Yao Ming in the Eastern Conference.

James got a starting frontcourt position, Yao Ming also got one, and the remaining starting position was not O'Neal, but was taken by newcomer Milicic.

It's normal to think about it. Milicic is also a foreign player, and he also has a country behind him.

Richard feels that Stern may have ignored this matter and just reduced the votes of Chinese fans...

In addition, Milicic's performance is also strong enough and he is deeply loved by American fans.

He eventually defeated O'Neal in the All-Star voting and won a valuable starting frontcourt position.

After O'Neal learned the news, he was dumbfounded. You know that he won the championship with the team last season. A super center who had just won the championship didn't even get a starting All-Star position?

But if you really want to look at the data, there is actually nothing wrong with Milicic squeezing out O'Neal.

Perhaps it was because of last season's championship that O'Neal slacked off a bit. He had a very unhappy relationship with the Heat management, seeing Tian'er's laziness and absence from team training without reason.

In terms of statistics, O'Neal has played about two-thirds of the schedule this season. He has only played in 30 games, averaging only 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game...

There is no doubt that O'Neal is now starting to decline.

If O'Neal's decline in status wasn't obvious last season, it is quite obvious this season.