I’m Really Playing Basketball

After the Cavaliers lost two games in G4 and G5, the Cavaliers were quite relaxed internally.

After the team leads 3-0, the next focus will be on cultivating the team's young players. This is Carlisle's established team strategy.

The Cavaliers have six young players this season: Chen Xiao, James, Crawford, Chandler, Darius Miles, and Diop.

There are four more rookie players: Barnes, Diaw, Korver, and Momo.

It is basically difficult for Diaw and Xiao Mo to form a fighting force this season, because the two have not completed their physical confrontation training, and the standards of the regular season may not be reached, let alone the playoffs, or even the Eastern Conference Finals and the Finals. Such a game.

But Korver and Barnes are different players.

The two of them were actually very mature when they were in college.

What the two lack is not the ability to fight, but the experience of fighting.

So after playing against the Nets and the Nets, the strongest team in history, Korver's strength has skyrocketed.

After all, he chose them after Chen Xiao used the system to evaluate their strength.

In the past, his ability of 80 was only 70 or even 65 most of the time because he did not have enough experience.

Now, his 80% ability can finally show 80%.

Doesn't this rise straight up?

In the game against the Pistons, the Cavaliers focused on training Barnes.

Barnes also got time in the regular season. This season, he has played a lot of playing time.

But like the previous five playoff games, each game averaged 30 minutes of playing time, which is still very little.

Especially in the first two starting games, Barnes played more than 36 minutes in both games.

I have to say that Matt Barnes’s ‘hiding’ is really deep.

He was not very prominent in the team before. After being reused in these five games, Carlisle discovered that the team's small forward is so useful.

He can do a little bit of everything, maybe not that he is not that strong, but he can attack, defend, pass, shoot, break through, everything.

Especially his defense.

This season, Barnes, like other Cavaliers players, also learned defense from Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao has always believed that among the Cavaliers players who learned defense from him, apart from Xiao Zhan, Chandler was the most improved player.

After all, his teaching tests the players' IQ and football intelligence.

Players with high IQ and golf quotient will make rapid progress under his teaching using experience cards.

Players like Luo Ge with extremely high dual intelligence are simply tailor-made for Chen Xiao's teaching.

And for students like Darius Miles, then...

Chen Xiao certainly didn't think that Barnes was a 'bad student' like Darius Miles before, but he also didn't think that Barnes was a good student like James and Chandler.

In Chen Xiao's mind, Barnes has always been a relatively ordinary existence, neither top-notch nor lagging behind.

But in this series against the Pistons, Barnes not only changed Carlisle's view, but also changed Chen Xiao's view.

"Even if he is the weakest star player in UCLA history, he is still the star of UCLA. In his fourth year at UCLA, he averaged 13.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game in the NCAA, shooting 49.5% from the field and three-pointers. Pippen Jr. shot 41.7% from the field."

Cavaliers assistant coach Mike Brown looked at Matt Barnes's data in these five games and said to Carlisle, the team's head coach next to him, with a smile.

Barnes' performance as a substitute and starter in the past five games has been nothing short of a surprise for the Cavaliers.

Not to mention his very good defense after being trained by Chen Xiao for a season. In the past five games, he averaged 1.5 steals per game. The key is not the steal data, but his very tough defense.

More importantly, his offense!

To be honest, at the small forward position, if you just want to defend, the Cavaliers have such a player. Darius Miles, the little wolf king, must be very strong defensively, but the problem is, he No shooting ability.

But Barnes is different. He has offense and defense. His defense may not be as strong as Darius Miles, but it is much better than Korver.

His offense may not be as strong as Korver's, but he's much better than Darius Miles.

It can be said that Barnes is a very important middle choice for the Cavaliers.

and……

"Rick, look at this data. At the critical moment when the score difference between the two sides is within five points, Matt's three-point shooting percentage increased by 15%!"

Mike Brown was very excited, and Carlisle also smiled and nodded slightly.

"He's a player with a big heart."

A player with a big heart, good at everything, good at defense, and very tough.

This is definitely a treasure. It doesn't matter that his talent is not that strong. The Cavaliers already have enough talented players.

It's worth losing two games to allow such an excellent role player to become more familiar with the playoffs and the strongest competition.

When used properly, Barnes is definitely a strategic weapon for the Cavaliers!

Barnes, who was being coached by Chen Xiao at this time, had absolutely no idea that his status in the head coach's mind had suddenly risen to such a level.

All in all, the Cavaliers are a very young team.

This makes Carlisle wish he could play 100 more games before the Eastern Conference Finals.

But Carlisle also knew that this was basically impossible.

This series between the Cavaliers and Pistons must end in Game 6.

If there is one more game, there will be great variables in the tiebreaker.

When Jordan was with the Bulls, he let his opponents go, played more games, and never played in the seventh game. Most of his games ended in the sixth game.

Even Jordan knows that by the tiebreaker, everything will be different.

The sixth game between the Cavaliers and Pistons was on May 15, still at the Auburn Hills Palace Arena in Detroit.

Before the start of Game 6 between the Cavaliers and Pistons, the two semifinals in the Western Conference had all been decided.

The Kings were the fastest team to advance to the conference semifinals. Under the leadership of Peja and Chris Webber, the Kings easily defeated the five-star Mavericks led by Nowitzki 4-1.

The five-star Mavericks were eliminated in the second round, which completely failed Cuban's Galaxy Battleship plan.

Nowitzki performed very well in this series, averaging 26.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.6 blocks per game, shooting 45% from the field and 47% from three-point range. It can be said that he has played the role of an offensive and defensive superstar. Top performance.

Although the Mavericks have many stars, if the Mavericks' defense can only rely on Nowitzki at center, it may be okay to play against other teams, but it will definitely not work against a super offensive team like the Kings. .

By the way, after Chris Webber, the head coach of the Kings, returned from a serious injury, his jumping was obviously not as good as before, so Webber's shooting percentage dropped slightly after he came back. His strength is definitely not as good as his peak, but his technical ability is still there. In terms of strength, it looks like it is still 80% above the peak.

80% Webber is paired with Peja at his peak, plus Divac, Christie, Bibby, Gerald Wallace, Turkoglu, Brad Miller, Travis Diener and other strong players , it is still very easy to beat the Mavericks who now let Nowitzki play center.

In another Western Conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and Kidd 4-2.

The Los Angeles Lakers, led by Kobe and Kyrie, are one of the teams with the smallest offensive space in the league this season. It can be said that the Lakers' offensive space basically relies on the shooting of Kobe and Boozer.

The Timberwolves on the opposite side are one of the best teams to deal with a team like the Lakers. Garnett is the best player in the league in assisting inside defense. The Timberwolves' three inside lineup is good at beating teams like the Lakers.

It can be said that the Timberwolves' game against the Lakers is similar to the Nets' game against the Lakers this season.

Even the Timberwolves are more advantageous against the Lakers because of Garnett.

Against the Nets, Boozer can still perform a little bit.

Against the Timberwolves, Boozer had trouble performing.

Of course, the Nets and Timberwolves have similar defensive methods, but the Nets' offense is far stronger than the Timberwolves.

Therefore, the Timberwolves' advantage over the Lakers is definitely not as great as the Nets' advantage over the Lakers.

Therefore, in this series, with Kobe's two very strong performances, the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves, one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference this year, in two games.

In these two games, Branch made 16 of 29 shots, 3 of 4 three-pointers, and 11 of 11 free throws, scoring 46 points.

In another game, he made 17 of 36, 5 of 10 three-pointers, 6 of 8 free throws, and scored 45 points.

Throughout the series, Kobe averaged 36 points per game in these six games, and his shooting percentage was as high as 46.5%, which is quite outstanding.

Although in last year's finals, Bryant averaged over 40 points per game, his shooting percentage was simply appalling. The reason why he scored so many points was mainly due to the Lakers' shooting tactics and his crazy shots.

Therefore, if you want to say that the best series in Kobe's career was the series with the Timberwolves.

It's a pity that although they played the best series of their career, the Lakers ultimately lost the series because the teams' styles were really incompatible.

Although the team led by two superstar players like Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry could only take the Lakers to the second round, this result must be very average.

However, because of O'Neal and the Nets, the Los Angeles Lakers have not been criticized by the American media.

With the Nets in last place this season, it's hard to think of a superstar who would receive greater criticism if he exits the playoffs.

Although in public opinion in the United States, Brother Ke and Brother Ji have not received much criticism.

However, Boss Ke and Boss Ji still have very high requirements for themselves.

Chen Xiao knows that the two bosses are not satisfied with their performance this season.

However, whether you are satisfied or not, the series is over.

The results of the conference finals in the Western Conference are different.

The fight in the east is quite complicated.

This entanglement is certainly not between the Cavaliers and Pistons.

If the Cavaliers want, the Cavaliers can also finish this series earlier.

Mainly the Magic and 76ers.

After the first six games between the Magic and the 76ers, the two sides have reached a 3-3 tie. This series has directly entered the tiebreaker.

Although the 76ers are the sixth team in the Eastern Conference, everyone knows the reason why this team is sixth in the Eastern Conference. It's not that they are not strong, but that Iverson basically plays cultivation games in the regular season.

In the playoffs, the 76ers' strength can be described as skyrocketing. Many people say that the 76ers this season are much better than the 76ers in 2001.

Regardless of whether he is a starter or a substitute, the team's offense and defense have become a level stronger.

Do you think the team that can sweep the Cavaliers 4-0 in the regular season is ordinary?

The only teams that can sweep the Cavaliers this season are the Heat, Magic and 76ers.

Among them, the worst team that swept the Cavaliers was the Heat, followed by the 76ers, and then the Magic.

Why is it that the Magic are the strongest of the three teams, but their sweep of the Cavaliers was not so brutal?

The main reason is internal defense.

The Magic's only interior defense is Duncan. Although Duncan is strong, he cannot lock down the interior and prevent Xiao Zhan from breaking through.

The 76ers and the Heat, the 76ers' inside combination of Mutombo and Kenny Thomas of unknown age, and the Heat's inside combination of Yao Ming and Chris Bosh, are really as deadly to James.

This series with the 76ers was so tough, which really surprised the Magic. However, the better thing for the Magic is that they have home court advantage in the tiebreaker, and although Duncan played in this series Better than the last round, but just average.

According to Xiao Zhan’s evaluation...

"I feel like Duncan, like us, is also intentionally developing young players Tony Parker and Ginobili."

This may indeed be the case. Ginobili is a substitute and the change in data is not obvious. But for Parker, it is obvious that his playing time and number of shots have continued to increase in the playoffs.

Of course, the Magic's training of Parker and the others is not as ruthless as the Cavaliers' training of Korver and Barnes.

In fact, Xiao Zhan's guess was correct, and the Magic originally wanted to close it out in the sixth game, just like when they played the Raptors.

However, no one expected that in the sixth game, 76ers small forward Glenn Robinson suddenly broke out!

This really caught Magic off guard.

It has to be said that releasing water is risky and must be carried out with caution.

Glenn Robinson has always been a player that Chen Xiao couldn't understand.

When he was with the Magic last season, he once wondered whether Glenn Robinson was the number one small forward in the NBA.

When he is normal, he is really strong. According to Richard Jefferson, it is a pity that he has few games a year that are normal.

It can only be said that the Magic were unlucky. The game that was about to end the game was when Glenn Robinson was sober.

In short, the situation should have been clear, but because the Magic made some mistakes, the situation in the entire Eastern Conference was a bit confusing.

Because of the Magic's experience, Chen Xiao and the Cavaliers certainly don't want such a blunder to happen in the sixth game between the Cavaliers and Magic.

Chen Xiao, Xiao Zhan, Carlisle and the Cavaliers players are all prepared for difficulties.

After the Pistons' previous two victories, they must go all out in this game.

If you are not careful, you may be forced into a very embarrassing position like the Magic.

Although due to conflicting styles of play and the fact that their head coach is too familiar with the opponent, the Cavaliers still have a huge advantage.

On May 15, 2004, the Palace Arena at Auburn Hills in Detroit was still packed.

Although the Pistons' current situation is already in critical condition.

However, the victory in the previous two games allowed the team to pull the total score from 0 to 3 to 2 to 3, which still gave Pistons fans a lot of unrealistic expectations.

Originally, when G1 of this game started, the Pistons fans at the scene had the same mentality when watching the Cavaliers and Chen Xiao as they did when watching the Giant Pandas.

He hacked the Nets, the strongest team in history, the savior of the NBA season, and the biggest gift package of the NBA playoffs. Isn't this as rare as the giant panda?

But now, the Pistons fans at the scene no longer have any such mentality.

Amid the crazy crowds of Pistons fans, after players from the Pistons and Cavaliers appeared on the court, the starting players from both sides appeared on the court.

The Pistons' starters are center Ben Ben, power forward Rasheed Wallace, small forward Prince, shooting guard Hamilton, and point guard Billups.

The Cavaliers' starters are center Chandler, power forward Chen Xiao, small forward Matt Barnes, shooting guard Korver, and point guard James.

Compared with the previous two games, Korver once again returned to the starting position.

In the previous two games, Darius Miles and Barnes served as the Cavaliers' second and third positions.

This has indeed improved the Cavaliers' defense a lot, but the offense is slightly lacking space, which allowed the Pistons to pull back two games.

Although the Cavaliers were under pressure to win this game, they did not use the combination of Darius Miles and Korver, but the combination of Barnes and Korver.

Not only does Carlisle think this combination is more suitable for the Pistons, but it is also because of the need for inspection.

However, for many on the sidelines and in front of the television...

"How bold Carlisle!"

Indeed, in such a game, one dares to experiment with the lineup, continue to train young people, and bring up the two young people they have trained at the same time.

This is not bold. What is bold?

Obviously they are both defensive coaches, but Carlisle and Larry Brown are completely different.

Carlisle is too aggressive to be a defensive coach.

Larry Brown, on the other hand, is a conservative defensive coach who can tell at a glance that he is a defensive coach who can no longer defend.

At this point, just look at where Mike James and Okur are with the Pistons.

Mike James averaged more than 30 minutes per game with the Celtics. How good he played. After the Celtics sent him to the Pistons for almost free, he averaged less than 9 minutes per game in the playoffs. Averaging less than 3 points per game, Mike James had an ugly look on his face while sitting on the bench in every game.

When he was with the Celtics, beating Mo Mo was like beating a puppy. Now that he is with the Pistons, his time and data with the team are not as good as Mo Mo's time with the Cavaliers. How can this balance things out?

As for Oku...

He was even worse.

He was a player promoted by Carlisle last season. He was with the Pistons last season. In the playoffs, as a rookie backup center, he could average nearly 20 minutes of playing time per game in the playoffs, but this season...

In the playoffs, his average playing time was less than 11 minutes per game, which can be described as premature.

why is it like this?

Of course it's because Larry Brown thinks Okur has no defensive ability.

Okur can't show off to Larry Brown like Mike James did.

But do you think he feels better now?

On the bench on the sidelines, every time he saw Barnes and Korver being reused under Carlisle, it reminded him of his last season.

If he is still under Carlisle this season, he may have already taken off. He feels that his strength has grown a lot this season.

After all, before Rasheed arrived during the regular season, when he had more playing time, his performance was very good.

But after Rasheed came, he was discarded like a rag by Larry Brown.

In fact, in history, many people remember Larry Brown's persecution of Milicic, Carlisle's favorite. In fact, Okur was also persecuted by Larry Brown a lot. It was just two years between Okur and the Pistons. The contract, after the contract is finished, run away immediately without taking it back.

Larry Brown is too unfriendly to players without defense and too unfriendly to bench players.

In the Pistons, the Big Five averaged 35 minutes per game in the playoffs. Ben, Billups, and Hamilton even played 40 minutes. What does this mean?

This means that the Pistons' bench players have little playing time at all.

The most points scored by the Pistons' substitutes were less than 5 points. From this, we can see how bad Larry Brown is against the five Pistons.

He is as good as Duncan, his former apprentice Popovich.

The first glance from the Pistons to the faces of the bench players who were made miserable by Larry Brown was completely different from the hopeful Cavaliers bench.

The camera returned to the court from the bench. Chandler made a successful jump ball and the Cavaliers attacked first.

Under the protection of Rasheed Wallace and his personal defense, Chen Xiao made a hand-to-hand pass with James. After Chen Xiao changed his defensive player to Billups, He didn't put on a tank hat and kill hard like Xiao Zhan did.

But a clang!

Using purely the strength and physique of the inside, he hit Billups and almost knocked him back two steps.

It has to be said that Billups' strength and confrontation are really strong. The average point guard in the league basically flies away when faced with such an impact from Chen Xiao.

But Billups didn't fly.

At the same time, the Pistons' defense is really good, especially Rasheed. When Chen Xiao hit the space, Rasheed pushed James away and came to Chen Xiao to fill Billups' space. Give Chen Xiao an opportunity to shoot in an open position.

However, after playing the previous five games, Chen Xiao, who was already very familiar with the Pistons, never thought that he would get an opportunity like this.

So he hit the basketball in his hand to James who was pushed away by Rasheed Wallace.

This time, James, who was already empty in front, received Chen Xiao's pass and headed inside with a tank hat on!

Big Ben's defense is quite good, and he may be the center player with the best defensive skills in the NBA. However, facing the Pistons' interior line that was emptied by Chen Xiao, James' tank-like breakthrough still put a lot of pressure on the Pistons' defense.

Except for Hamilton, who was standing next to Korver, Billups, who had been knocked away by Chen Xiao, and Prince, who was standing in front of Barnes, were all taken back.

Then, Xiao Zhan made a selfless pass without looking at anyone, and hit the ball to the open hands of Barnes outside the three-point line.

Bang!

The sound of the basketball hitting the rim made Larry Brown's heart palpitate on the sidelines.

Such an offensive opportunity...

When will the Pistons give their opponents such an offensive opportunity at the beginning!

That is, Barnes missed the shot!

However, on second thought, maybe God abandoned his two sons and took my side in this game?

Larry Brown thought happily in his heart.

Just quickly!

Bang!

After passing the ball to Butters, James still went to the basket. When Chandler blocked the base, he flew in the air and snatched the offensive rebound from Prince's hands!

Prince, who had a one-on-one fight with Xiao Zhan in the air, had his eyes glazed over.

That incredible impact and jumping ability!

He clearly has an advantageous position!

He was obviously the one who came first!

The ball is clearly in his hands!

But he was snatched away by James in the air!

James, who stole Prince's backcourt rebound, dunked with folded hands in the air, scoring the Cavaliers' first two points of the game!

2 to 0!

The wounds after Ben and Rasheed Wallace separated continued to expand!

This time the Pistons lost a rebound. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that without Rasheed, the Pistons can't beat the Cavaliers.

In the past, Miles on the Cavaliers and the rest of the Pistons could shrink even less, and there was no such problem.

But in this game, the Cavaliers played Barnes, who can shoot three-pointers, and the Pistons did not dare to shrink so much.

The space will be released!

"sharp!"

In this attack, it was James who scored for the Cavaliers. However, many NBA professionals in front of the TV were all looking at Chen Xiao and Carlisle and talking about how awesome they were.

"Wonderboy's ability to draw holes and support is too strong!"

"And Carlisle is too familiar with the Pistons!"

"The Cavaliers' formation changes in this game are 100% successful!"

The opening of the Cavaliers' game was very heartbreaking.

Even if Barnes hits that three-pointer, the damage to the Pistons and Larry Brown may not be as damaging as James's putback dunk.

Whether he makes a three-point shot or not, it all depends on fate and the sky. Larry Brown really doesn't necessarily care.

But James's extra deduction this time is not fate or heaven, but a real loophole!

And it’s a loophole that can’t be fixed!

So, after the first attack of this game, Larry Brown clearly felt that if this game was played normally, the Pistons would not have any chance!

As soon as the game started, Chen Xiao, James and Carlisle made Larry Brown give up the illusion of winning normally.

So, Larry Brown on the sidelines no longer hesitated.

Chen Xiao and James on the court smiled at each other and high-fived each other.

"Revenge can begin!"

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