I’m Really Playing Basketball

On the first day of 2005, the Cavaliers played at home against the Dallas Mavericks, fourth in the Western Conference with 19 wins and 10 losses.

Gund Arena, Nowitzki Rahim and Nowitzki Dek finally met under the expectation of Rick Carlisle.

It would be even more amazing if there was Huang Nowitzki in this game at this time.

In that case, the three Nowitzki battles of black, yellow and white can separate out a real Nowitzki in Carlisle's expectations.

By the way, by the way, before Nowitzki's rise in the past few seasons, and before Raheem's ups and downs in the past few seasons, the real "Nowitzki" in the NBA has always been Raheem.

According to research by Cavaliers head coach Carlisle.

Raheem and Dirk's historical head-to-head record.

Raheem certainly beat Dirk in his rookie season.

In the following seasons, Raheem was still able to suppress Dirk steadily.

Until Dirk's third season in the NBA, that is, the 2000-01 season, Dirk was still suppressed by Raheem. The two of them faced each other for the first time this season. Dirk scored 5 points in the entire three quarters. Rahim on the opposite side scored 22 points, why in the third quarter? Because the fourth quarter of this game was garbage time, Dirk was completely collapsed by Raheem, and the Mavericks naturally collapsed. You know, Dirk is the Mavericks' main offense this season, averaging 21.8 points per game.

Of course, since this season, Dirk has successfully gained the upper hand, and Dirk has become stronger and stronger.

However, Raheem is not without resistance. Last season, Raheem also led the Eagles to defeat the five-star Mavericks. He scored 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Dirk on the opposite side had 23 points and 10 rebounds.

And that's why Carlisle has paid more and more attention to Raheem recently.

This power forward, who is considered a "transparent man" in this league, is really a god.

If you want to say that his strength is incomparable to the five power forwards such as Duncan, Garnett, Nowitzki, Webber and Chen Xiao, it is definitely incomparable.

But in matches with the other four power forwards except Chen Xiao, Rahim can basically achieve a 50-50 split.

Raheem not only defeated Nowitzki last season, but also defeated last season's MVP Kevin Garnett, leading the Eagles to beat the Timberwolves 97 to 89. He scored 32 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. He had 17 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 fouls, and was almost defeated by Rahim.

This is very magical.

In short, Carlisle was really pleasantly surprised after discovering Rahim's magical characteristics.

Seriously, Raheem has never started a playoff game in his career. This is the ninth NBA season for the 28-year-old player. He has never started a playoff game in his career. Proving himself in the playoffs left Carlisle speechless.

Of course, if Raheem really proves himself in the playoffs, it may not be the Cavaliers' turn.

A player with such outstanding offensive ability is 27 years old, and the NBA team is about to sell him. Is this the responsibility of the NBA team?

Raheem himself must be responsible.

He is still too Buddhist, the kind who won’t leave on his own without being whipped.

Soaking wolfberry in a thermos cup is actually quite suitable for him.

Although Raheem has been on a bad team throughout his career, he was finally in the Trail Blazers last season. The team made the playoffs, and he was still a substitute. However, judging from the playoffs between the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves last season , in Carlisle's opinion, Rahim should not be the kind of player who abuses food.

As Randolph's substitute, facing last season's MVP, Raheem averaged 21 minutes per game in the playoffs, 9.5 points per game, 54% shooting, 60% shooting from close range, 100% shooting from mid-range, and 100% shooting from long range. He shot 40% from two-point range. For such a substitute player, you wouldn't say his performance was poor, right?

At the very least, this offensive efficiency is better than Randolph's.

With such a high offensive efficiency, the Blazers still trade him and throw him on the bench. Are they blind?

Of course not, because his defensive efficiency is 120, allowing his opponents to score 120 points per 100 possessions. This is really bad, especially in this era.

This is the sequelae of a player who has been on a garbage team. His defensive attitude and defensive habits are really not good.

However, in the Cavaliers, there is really no shortage of people to defend, but people to attack.

Especially an offensive player who can hold Duncan close to him and have no time to come out to help defend!

The Cavaliers are not afraid of Duncan playing center.

What the Cavaliers are afraid of is Duncan playing power forward.

Duncan, who plays power forward, has a too big help defense area.

And this is why Carlisle was so excited after finding the 'treasure' of Raheem.

And this is why Raheem has played such a heavy role in the Cavaliers recently.

Carlisle is playing restraint tactics this season. He has developed a restraint tactics system against the strong teams in the NBA to defeat them with 100 points with his 90-point self.

After Carlisle and Chen Xiao James explained his use of Rahim and Rahim's characteristics, Chen Xiao and Xiao Zhan were of course supportive.

At halftime of the Cavaliers, Raheem, who once again started the game, was under a lot of pressure.

To be honest, it has been nine seasons since his career, and Raheem has never been placed with such high expectations.

real.

Yesterday, Carlisle told him that he hoped he would perform well in the game against Nowitzki and determine a real Nowitzki. After that, he told him again about his responsibility and importance to the team this season. Really shocked.

When he was thrown to the Cavaliers by the Trail Blazers, to be honest, he was already planning to retire.

He is not a player with too many strange hobbies. He has already earned more than 70 million US dollars in his career. He feels that this money is enough for him to live a good retirement life.

After he finished his playing career, he also thought about doing other things.

For example, the team's management, or even the league's management.

He actually doesn't have much expectations for the player's career now.

He is even planning to retire when he is in his 30s.

only……

"Julius, you are one of the most critical players for us to reach the top of the NBA. I, Chen, LeBron, and Cleveland need your contribution. I hope you can become the brightest jewel in our crown! "

The brightest jewel in the crown!

Rahim didn't know if Carlisle dared to say such words in front of Chen Xiao and James, and whether he would be beaten if he said such words.

But to be honest, he was really moved at that time.

Despite being called a "pig head" by all-American experts, he reused himself not because he wanted to trade him for good data, but because he really valued himself so much that he let Chen Xiao and James, the two leading players of the team, assist him. Several games.

at last……

"Rick, I can't guarantee that I can become the brightest gem in your heart. I can only guarantee that when you need me to attack, no one can guard me."

This tone is outrageous!

However, for Carlisle, who had just studied his record against the best power forwards in the NBA, such loud words did not make him feel like he was bragging at all.

On the court, on the Cavaliers side, thinking back to yesterday's guarantee to Carlisle, Rahim felt that he was impulsive.

The atmosphere at that time made him take a stand involuntarily.

To be honest, he is already 28 years old and is about to retire. Wouldn't it be nice for him to be a salty fish who doesn't take the blame or take the lead?

To be honest, if Penny Hardaway off the court knew what Raheem was thinking at this time, he would definitely want to come up and beat him up.

You, a 28-year-old young man, think about retirement every day, so what does it mean for me, who is already 33?

Brent Barry said, Perry, don't be angry, I am 33 this year, haven't I retired?

Of course, no one knows what Rahim is thinking at this time.

On the court, Tyson Chandler beat Eric Dampier with a jump ball, and the game officially began.

The starting lineup for the Cavaliers in this game is center Chandler, power forward Raheem, small forward James, shooting guard Chen Xiao, and point guard Xiao Mo.

The starting lineup for the Dallas Mavericks is center Dampier, power forward Nowitzki, small forward Josh Howard, shooting guard Finley, and point guard Grant Hill.

In addition, the Mavericks' bench also includes Chen Xiao's old friend and Devin Harris.

Well, Terry was sold to the Mavericks by the Hawks last season because he didn't work hard in the Hawks, and Devon Harris was dumped to the Mavericks after being selected by the Wizards.

In this game against the Mavericks, the purpose of the Cavaliers is still to investigate Raheem.

So for the first attack of this game, the Cavaliers still played Raheem.

On the court, Xiao Mo dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and handed the ball to Chen Xiao. Faced with the harassment of his old rival Finley, Chen Xiao did not choose to break through or directly hit the ball, but prepared to hit the ball to Lashi. On Mu's hand.

As the current main attacker, Rahim has the initiative to attack.

Whether to play the pick-and-roll or catch and shoot inside, this is all decided by Raheem.

This time, Raheem did not choose to pick and roll with Chen Xiao, but ran to the basket.

Well, not the short-range shooting position that Raheem is best at, but directly came to the basket at the center position.

Seeing Raheem calling Chandler away, and leaning against Nowitzki behind him under the basket, Chen Xiao, who was about to pass the ball to Raheem outside, froze for a moment.

In other words, he really lacks understanding of Raheem.

After Rahim came to the Cavaliers, because his role was not that important, no such offensive tactics were set for him, and he himself had never thought of playing so hard at the basket, so Chen Xiao didn't know that he Have this ability.

To be honest, although Nowitzki's defense at the basket is average, Nowitzki is tall. Chen Xiao feels that playing Nowitzki like this under the basket is not a good choice.

But, since Raheem wanted to fight like this, Chen Ling had to pass it on.

After Chen Xiao dropped the ball into the hands of Raheem at the basket, Chen Xiao really wanted to know how the team's power forward could beat Nowitzki.

Hook?

I'm afraid not, a step-back fadeaway?

It's better to catch and shoot the ball directly with the screen at close range.

Could it be? !

Soon, Chen Xiao saw what Rahim was doing in singles playing short and high under the basket.

He turned left and right and then followed up with a powerful back-up, pushing Nowitzki, who was already out of position, away. Rahim successfully jumped under the basket with a one-handed dunk!

2 to 0!

The Cavaliers fans at the scene were a little stunned when they saw Raheem dodging Nowitzki so strongly on the court.

While Carlisle on the sidelines applauded excitedly, he also felt a little regretful.

Rahim's offense was very beautiful this time, but at the same time, it was a bit regretful.

"What a great strength. It would be great if I could use this kind of strength on the defensive end."

After all, Carlisle is a defensive head coach.

However, if you want Rahim to use his strength on the defensive end, don't dream about it.

If his strength could really be used on the defensive end, he wouldn't be considered one of the softest power forwards in the NBA.

Well, Raheem is softer than Dirk during this period.

How about Hey Nowitzki?

Of course, Chen Xiao was also stunned at this time. He was not surprised by Rahim's power, but he was surprised by Rahim's steps to the basket!

These steps are too skillful, right? !

Of course, all professional insiders know how to move around the basket, and because they use it a lot, they will inevitably have some magic tricks. Maybe Mavericks center Dampier has some magic tricks.

Therefore, we cannot easily judge whether an NBA post player is really good at the basket just because of one or two times.

"If Raheem's footwork around the basket is really good..."

Chen Xiao felt that maybe he wouldn't have to kidnap Dayao from Miss Ye this summer.

Miss Ye was in ecstasy at this time!

"It seems like we can let Raheem play more at the basket."

Chen Xiao's eyes lit up.

To be honest, this was the first time Chen Xiao saw Rahim working so hard on the offensive end in this game.

If it was Raheem before the conversation with Carlisle, to be honest, Chen Xiao would never see him show off his stunts at the basket.

Raheem is one of the league's top foot players at the basket.

But, because shooting can solve the problem, he rarely plays with his steps now. Even if he does, most people remember his dunks and forget his steps. He likes to dunk under the basket.

Obviously he doesn't jump that high, but he likes dunking very much.

Is this showing off his dunking skills, or showing off his improving skills around the basket? Shake the opponent away, and then even a player like him who doesn't bounce well can still smash dunks easily and beautifully?

In short, as an insider with a height of only 2.06 meters, Raheem's shooting rate at the basket is around 65% all the year round, which is very high.

You know, his bounce is not that powerful.

It's all due to his strength, footwork and flexibility and technique.

His various skills around the basket are very good.

After scoring the goal, Raheem did not celebrate vigorously, but returned to defense after high-fiving his teammates who passed by.

The game continued, the Mavericks attacked. On the court, Nowitzki received a pass from Hill and faced Rahim's defense. After changing direction and shaking Rahim away, Nowitzki hit a mid-range jumper.

Although they are all Nowitzki.

But the styles of Henowitzki and Bainowitzki are still different.

Henowitzki looks like a big center on first down.

And Benowitzki's first attack looks like a big back.

Of course, Nowitzki's offense is also quite beautiful.

So much so that Teacher Zhang on the sidelines couldn't help but praise Nowitzki: "Nowitzki's score fully reflects his excellent outside skills!"

Xiao Su on the other side continued what Teacher Zhang said: "If it weren't for Chen Xiao, Nowitzki would have the best offensive skills among the five power forwards in the NBA. However, compared with Chen Xiao, Nowitzki There is still a gap in offensive skills.”

"..."

Teacher Zhang next to me didn’t know how to answer the call.

What Xiao Su really said now is to blow Xiao Chen up.

Xiao Chen is indeed Dior.

But the commentator can’t say that!

We need to be professional!

We are no longer a grassroots team, we also need to take care of the feelings of domestic Mavericks fans and driver fans!

Now the country is slowly opening up and a hundred flowers are blooming. There are fans of all teams and players.

In response to Teacher Zhang's hesitant look, Xiao Su said, "You're such a professional!"

Why do you need to be professional when you have someone like Chen Xiao to hold you?

You can make money just by lying down, and you can make more by lying down. Why should we improve our business capabilities?

So, you old people are still too rigid in your thinking.

Faced with Xiao Su's disdainful look.

Teacher Zhang said that young people nowadays like to take shortcuts too much.

Teacher Zhang feels that they should all learn from Xiao Zhan and Xiao Chen.

Young people need idealism and white moonlight like Xiao Chen and Xiao Zhan, and it is right to take less shortcuts.

At Gund Arena, the game is still going on.

In the Cavaliers' second attack of the game, Chen Xiao also handed it over to Raheem.

This time Raheem didn't sit as deep as Dampier obviously didn't get taken out too deep by Chandler like last time.

This time I was able to recover after defending Dan Pierce. Chandler is not Yao Ming, why should I go out with him?

Because of Dampier's recovery, Rahim had no space to attack under the basket, but singled out Nowitzki at the right waist.

It was still a very good step. After shaking Nowitzki away a little, he turned around and threw a one-handed throw, avoiding Nowitzki's block. With a swipe, he hit!

"..."

This time, Chen Xiao was really dumbfounded.

This throw is also quite beautiful!

Although Chen Xiao does not have the skills to shoot, but after playing basketball for so long, his strength has reached this point. Chen Xiao still has a good eye in this regard.

To be fair, although Nowitzki's basket defense is not that strong, but with his height and bounce, you really think that a casual player with a height of 2.06 meters can make such a throw at the basket he?

After being shown his footsteps by Raheem before, Nowitzki was very serious this time, so basically he was not shown off by Raheem, and Raheem couldn't use his strength to push him away, and he didn't lose his position. , how can you be so easy to push away, do you really think that Benowsky is just paper?

In the case of not losing his position, his height is much higher, and his bounce is also much higher, Rahim can hit such a short-range throw with a throw, and it is such an extremely difficult turn-around throw. .

Is the level of this throwing bad?

With Chen Xiao's eyes widened, Rahim hit his fourth point of the game.

4 to 2!

"It feels good tonight, very soft."

Rahim looked at his right hand and smiled.

To be honest, Nowitzki's defense was very good just now. Although turning and throwing is his special skill, it is generally difficult to hit.

It’s just that there is no other way. Carlisle has already pretended to be a B, and has already said that I don’t understand defensive matters, and no one understands offensive matters better than me.

He can't start this game at a disadvantage, right?

Therefore, no matter how good Nowitzki's defense is, he still has to attack with tears in his eyes!

"After these two attacks, my pretend B should be considered successfully completed, right?"

It is indeed very complete. Not to mention Carlisle at this time, but to talk about Chen Xiao and Xiao Zhan on the court, Rahim's eyes are shining.

"Treasure, this is exactly what Carlisle said, he is the team's treasure!"

But soon, the Cavaliers' treasure turned back to defend and with his cute stare, Nowitzki made a 3-pointer in front of him.

5 to 4!

This... defense is really bad!

Your excellent and flexible steps are used defensively, right?

Carlisle kept shaking his head in his mind, but his face was still full of surprise.

To be honest, his requirements are still too high.

Let's put it this way, if Raheem's defense was so good, would he be reduced to the Cavaliers at the age of 28?

Dreaming!

And, where he uses Raheem is in his offense.

Moreover, where he used Raheem, it was to deal with Duncan.

Moreover, Duncan does not have the three-point, shooting, and outside offensive abilities as strong as Nowitzki!

Therefore, Duncan cannot exploit Rahim's weaknesses like Nowitzki.

Therefore, as long as Rahim can prove that his offense is indeed what he said, and no one can guard him, then he and the Cavaliers will make a bloody profit!

123 to 114!

In this game with Raheem as the main attacker, the Cavaliers lost again and were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks led by Nowitzki at home.

Facing Raheem's defense in this game, Nowitzki made 14 of 25, 4 of 7 three-pointers, and 7 of 9 free throws. He scored a game-high 39 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.

This data makes sense. If the names were removed and the data were said to be Tracy McGrady, Carter, Kobe, or Iverson, everyone would believe it.

What is a power forward?

This is the power forward!

Facing Raheem's defense in this game, Nowitzki fully demonstrated his outside offensive capabilities.

In addition, in this game, the Mavericks' second-best player took a rest last season. Grant Hill, who returned strongly this season, shot 9-for-16, scoring 25 points and 10 assists.

In addition, the Mavericks' Josh Howard, Dampier, and Terry also scored in double figures. Terry scored 18 points on 6 of 15 shots.

For the Cavaliers, the top scorer was Rahim, who made 11 of 20 free throws, 9 of 9 free throws, and scored 31 points and 10 rebounds.

Chen Xiao made 9 of 13 shots, 2 of 3 three-pointers, and scored 20 points and 11 assists.

Xiao Zhan made 8 of 18 shots and 2 of 7 three-pointers, scoring 18 points.

Chen Xiao and Xiao Zhan didn't take many shots in this game, and they didn't even make a single free throw in this game.

The reason, of course, is that Chen Xiao and James played very restrained in this game and basically had no breakthroughs.

The space inside the three-point line is basically given to Raheem.

After all, this is testing Rahim's offensive strength, not Chen Xiaohe's offensive strength.

In fact, in December, after the Christmas Day game, the Cavaliers have been testing Raheem's offensive strength.

Therefore, Chen Xiao's data in these five games is difficult to compare with the previous games.

Therefore, in December, Chen Xiao scored a career-high 62 points. At that time, he had already averaged 36.3 points per game for the season. However, after playing a few assists against Rahim, Chen Xiao's December data was down. Understand.

Throughout December, Chen Xiao averaged 33.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 2 blocks per game, shooting 50% from the field, 43% from three-point range, and 76% from free throws.

Compared with November, the average points per game dropped by 2.6 points.

However, in December, in the game against the Hornets, Chen Xiao reached the 6,000-point milestone in his career.

Of course, he is also the youngest person to score 6,000 points.

The night after defeating the Dallas Mavericks, the league announced the best players in the East and West last month.

On the Western side, Nowitzki led the team to 9 wins and 4 losses, averaging 27.2 points and 9 rebounds per game.

On the Eastern side, Wade led the team to 15 wins and 0 losses, averaging 25 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals per game.

The Heat's record last month was indeed Diaw. After the Cavaliers lost this game, the Heat have overtaken the Cavaliers to become first in the league and first in the Eastern Conference.

Chen Xiao is not sure if he would have defeated Wade and continued to win the best of the month if he had not cooperated with Carlisle last month and instead went all out to improve the data.

However, Chen Xiao has no regrets. After all, compared with the team's championship road, the best of the month is actually not that important.

After the game against the Mavericks, Raheem tested Raheem's quality against Nowitzki. In the next game against the Bobcats, Raheem did not start. The Cavaliers seemed to have returned to the dual-core leadership of Chen Xiao and James. In the midst of the mad rush.

And Raheem, the power forward who had five consecutive 20+ games with the team, once again fell into silence.

Of course, this was when the game fell into silence.

Seriously, in the middle of an 82-game regular-season season, a player's sudden rise and sudden death are too common for anyone to care.

What's more, it's Raheem who has been in the NBA for thousands of years.

Of course, this is silence in the league, but within the Cavaliers, Raheem is not silent.

Because, after playing, Rahim has become Chen Xiao's teacher during training, teaching Chen Xiao his steps and throws under the basket...

After defeating the Bobcats in an away game, Chen Xiao encouraged his good friend Paul after the game.

Paul, on the other hand, seems to be very interested in the deal between Raheem and the Cavaliers.

"We really need to trade for a swingman at the second or third or third or fourth positions now, but Raheem is also an important player for us, and we will not trade him."

"By the way, Chris, you are so curious, is there anyone who can recommend you?"

"No."

"..."

Chen Xiao is speechless, so you are so curious to ask a question!

Chen Xiao and James left Charlotte with the team and continued their new journey this season.

On the other side, Chris Paul told Jordan the news he heard.

Well, it wasn't him who was curious, it was Jordan who was curious.

"The last piece of the puzzle for the Cavaliers?"

“Or the swingman at the second, third and third and fourth positions?”

Jordan smiled.

"But don't worry, wait a little longer, let them worry first."

After losing to the Mavericks at home, the Cavaliers then defeated the Bobcats, Hawks, Knicks, and Bobcats, achieving a wave of four consecutive victories.

But the Cavaliers' four-game winning streak ended in Los Angeles.

In back-to-back away games against the Lakers on January 13, the Cavaliers felt cold as a team and ultimately lost to the Lakers 98-104.

In this game, Chen Xiao and James were just fine.

Chen Xiao scored 13 of 25 and scored 33 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists.

Xiao Zhan, on the other hand, made 12 of 26, scoring 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

In this game, Chen Xiao and Xiao Zhan's rebounds exploded.

The opposite team boss made 15 of 35 shots, 0 of 5 three-pointers, and 15 of 18 free throws. He scored a game-high 45 points, 5 steals and 1 block.

This away loss to the Lakers was also the last loss for the Cavaliers throughout January.

After facing the Jazz, Supersonics, Trail Blazers, Kings, Warriors, Wizards, Grizzlies, Knicks, and Warriors, the Cavaliers once again won a wave of 9 consecutive victories.

In the end, the Cavaliers ended the month with 13 wins and 2 losses. On the last day of January, they also defeated the Warriors and once again surpassed the Heat to reach the top of the league with a record of 39 wins and 6 losses.

However, although the Cavaliers are now abusing food and abuse in league games, the fans are very happy to see it.

But as the general manager of the Cavaliers, Paxson is quite angry now.

Because of going around in a circle, the Cavaliers still haven't found the last piece of the puzzle.

"The diamond in the crown has been found, but where is the pearl in the crown?"

Paxson muttered to himself.

January is over.

The trade deadline is not far away.

A little on fire.

If Raheem heard Paxson's words at this time, he might be even more angry.

Hey guys, how many gems are there in this crown of yours? !

Well, maybe there will be a lot of sparkling jewels in this crown.

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