Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

After practicing shooting for a while, the Hornets teammates reported one after another.

Boggs slapped Curry awake, and Curry, who had recovered from hibernation, chased Boggs for more than ten minutes. With the help of Li Shengli, he finally caught Boggs and gave him a friendly beating. , and then the three brothers rejoined the training army.

…

Li Shengli's daily training routine is very simple. He only needs to train step by step under the guidance of the trainer. Needless to say, strength training, the confrontation at the center position is the most intense, no matter which part of the body is used. Used it, and he just thought of it as working hard on the construction site.

But actually the most important thing is ball feel and shooting.

It’s hard to say how the ball feels. All Li Shengli can do is hold the ball and throw it around and grab it all the time. But there is still a way to shoot, and muscle memory can be cultivated through a lot of repetitive practice.

At present, his ability to fight in the penalty area is sufficient, but his mid-range shooting is really a shortcoming. After all, for the center, this is an important indicator to improve his singles ability. Although you can use a urinal to shoot free throws, and the current 70% shooting rate is good enough, but if you really want to hit the mid-range in actual combat, someone will definitely break the urinal... Therefore, Li Shengli will train for a long time in the future. The focus will be on shooting.

…

After a whole day of training.

Li Shengli lives a very fulfilling life and is in training mode all the time. Even if he is out of breath after strength training, he will still choose to grab the ball and smash it. Basically, the ball never leaves his hand. Although he looks a little nervous on the street, but On the training ground, no one will laugh at a hard-working player.

After the training, Li Shengli found Alan, and naturally asked about the transaction he learned from Curry, but Alan just asked him to train well and compete well, without saying anything more, which was regarded as acquiescence, which made Li Shengli feel very upset. .

But being bored was boring, and Li Shengli was okay with it. After all, there were some things he couldn't decide. All he could do was put all his energy into training and the following games.

…

Currently, the Hornets have a record of 15 wins and 12 losses. If this pace continues, there will be no tickets left for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

However, the direction of things is always unexpected. With Gill's injury, the Hornets' decline on the outside is fully demonstrated. Not only on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end. Curry's offense and defense are okay, but Bogues' defense is The colander is difficult to handle.

In the past, if there was a problem with Bogues' defense, Curry and Gill would appear at the same time to strengthen the defense and stabilize the firepower with two guns. But now... the Hornets have no one available, and a few substitutes come on. The effect may not be as great as that of Boggs, so it doesn't help.

Logically speaking, if only one Gill was injured, the problem would not be too big, but what you need to know is... Gill was the absolute main force of the Hornets' backcourt last season, averaging 20.5 points and 4.2 assists per game. At the same time, he can also Had 5.1 rebounds and 2 steals.

Therefore, for the importance of Gill, Curry, a pure pitcher, cannot be fully replaced, and there is no substitute behind Curry who can do the job. This is the embarrassment of the Hornets' outside line. If the outside line cannot open up the situation, then the offensive pressure will be piled on the inside players. , which will make the opponent's defense more targeted and efficient.

Although it is possible to play inside, the problem of substitute rotation is still the same as that of the outside. The bench is not deep enough. The main players come on to beat, and the substitutes get beaten when they come on.

Based on……

After the Hornets defeated the Washington Bullets, they played 9 consecutive games, both home and away, but their record was 3 wins and 6 losses, with a total record of 18 wins and 18 losses, and they were on the edge of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

Although Li Shengli is stable in offense and rim protection on both offense and defense, and Johnson also has strong singles ability, the opponent's defensive wall is also stuck in the interior, which affects the Hornets' interior scoring.

Looking at these 9 games, the 3 wins were due to Curry's hot touch, and the 6 losses were due to mediocre outside touch.

And apart from this, everyone can see... The main players of the Hornets are all on the line. In the first half, not to mention widening the point difference with their opponents, but at least they can close the score with their opponents. However, when the main players take a rest, , you will be beaten to the point where you cannot find Bei.

The outside line sucks!

The bench is too shallow!

This is the urgent problem that the Hornets need to solve, and it also forces the management to start thinking about making trades to save the Hornets who are struggling on the edge of the playoffs.

…

In this regard, Li Shengli was helpless. It was not that he was blaming his teammates or the team, but that he had no hope of overtaking O'Neal in the All-Star vote.

The Rookie of the Year in December was won by O'Neal, and in the game that started in January, O'Neal showed great courage, averaging a new high, winning a large number of votes, and this year's All-Stars are scheduled to be in Orlando. , O'Neal won the first place in the Eastern Conference center votes in one fell swoop.

As for Li Shengli, things were a bit miserable. Although his per-game statistics in January were not weaker than O'Neal's, he did not cause much of a sensation. Moreover, as a foreign player, he did not have the support of local fans, so he fell behind in votes. But fortunately, there are more than veteran center Ewing.

It was not until late January that the All-Star voting was finalized. Without any doubt, the top vote-getter belonged to Michael Jordan, the leader of the Chicago Bulls, with over one million votes.

There is no suspense about the Western Conference's starting lineup.

The Utah duo, Karl Malone and John Stockton, were both selected, while the rest were Admiral David Robinson, Glider Clyde Drexler and Flying Pig Charles Barkley.

And on the east side...

O'Neal unexpectedly grabbed the starting center position. Voter leader Michael Jordan and teammate Scottie Pippen were jointly selected, and Pistons' leading player Isiah Thomas was also selected.

None of this mattered. The only thing that made Li Shengli unhappy was... Larry Johnson, who had fewer votes than him, was also included in the starting lineup.

But there is nothing we can do. At this time, the All-Stars are divided into front and backcourts. They are divided according to position. There is one center, two forwards and two guards. The competition for the starting forward in the Eastern Conference is not fierce, with Pippen leading the way and Johnson second. However, there is only one choice for the center position. There are more wolves and less meat. O'Neal takes the starting spot, so naturally there is no one else to worry about.

Fortunately... the voting for the starting lineup ended in mid-to-late January, and Li Shengli still has a chance to stand out in the substitute lineup.

Although the list of substitutes announced at the end of the month is voted by the head coaches of the league's current 27 teams, the selection of substitutes is also affected by votes. After all, votes represent popularity, and popularity is the basis for hosting the All-Star Game.

As for Bogues, who has been clamoring to be an All-Star... he is ranked fifth among the Eastern Conference guards and has no chance to start. It is even difficult for him to play as a substitute. For a while, he felt that he and Li Shengli were in the same boat, and he hugged Li Shengli's thigh all day long. Crying about the bitterness and suffering of the past few years.