I’m Really Playing Basketball

On April 21, 2007, at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena, the Bobcats played their first playoff game of the season at home against the Toronto Raptors, who were sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Although the game hadn't started yet, the entire arena was full at this time, and even the aisles had added seats, which can be described as full.

Because of the arrival of Jordan and Chen Xiao, the once NBA desert has slowly begun to turn into a lush oasis and forest.

In the stands, Charlotte fans, using their cheers for North Carolina and Duke, were cheering the Bobcat players coming out of the tunnel.

Paul, Granger, Bynum, Zach Randolph, Chen Xiao...

The cheers and applause at the scene were wave after wave.

This made Bobcats assistant coach Dell Curry, who has played for the Charlotte Hornets for ten years and followed the Charlotte Hornets since the team was founded, particularly emotional.

If the Hornets could receive such a welcome here, the team would definitely not choose to leave.

But, then again, the former Hornets never had a player like Chen Xiao, nor a coach like Jordan, and never had a record of 67 wins and 15 losses.

Watching the enthusiastic Bobcats fans on TV, and seeing the figures of Chen Xiao and Jordan appearing constantly, NBA President David Stern, who is far away in New York, feels very satisfied now.

The culture of the NBA has finally been cultivated by Chen Xiao and Jordan, the two most popular NBA teams.

Because he wants the NBA to surpass the NCAA ambition, North Carolina, Charlotte has always been the "softest" part of his heart, and also the most "obsessive" part of his heart, if the NBA cannot be in North Carolina If he establishes a foothold with Charlotte, he will feel that no matter how popular the NBA is, it cannot compare with the NCAA.

But now, he feels that even if he retires now, maybe he will leave with a smile.

He finally allowed North Carolina and Charlotte to grow NBA seeds!

Therefore, Chen Xiao and Jordan, who helped him grow NBA seeds from North Carolina, looked so cute in David Stern's eyes.

"When North Carolina is also conquered by them, maybe there won't be any place in the world that they can't conquer."

David Stern smiled contentedly and closed his eyes.

At this time, at the Charlotte Arena, the players of the two teams had already finished warming up, and on the TV, the starting lineups of the two teams had already been played.

For the Toronto Raptors in an away game, the starting center for this game is Milicic, the starting power forward is O'Neal Jr., and the small forward is Josh Smith, shooting guard Lagabel, and point guard Nash.

This is the regular starting lineup for the Raptors in the regular season.

As for the Bobcats, they did not change their regular season starters. Center was Bynum, power forward Zach Randolph, small forward Granger, shooting guard Chen Xiao, and point guard Paul.

Looking at the starting lineups of the Bobcats and Raptors, many experts in front of the TV found it quite interesting.

"In an increasingly fast league, Chen Xiao and Nash, who were once the fastest core, are now leading the most traditional team. This is so interesting."

The entire NBA knows who is responsible for the fast pace in the NBA.

When Chen Xiao was with the Nets and the Cavaliers, he used a lightweight and fast tactical system.

These two championships also showed the world the possibility of an offense winning a championship.

Therefore, more and more teams have begun to give up defense and pick up the banner of offense. Even Popovich and the Spurs, who are stubborn defensively, are now starting to play offense.

Needless to say, Nash and D'Antoni's running and gunning.

It can be said that Chen Xiao and Nash are definitely the two most famous running and gun experts in the NBA.

But this season, these two run-and-gun specialists have been leading a traditional team.

The Bobcats' starting big men in the regular season and playoffs this season have been Bynum and Randolph, standard traditional big men.

On the Raptors' side are Milicic and O'Neal, who are also a traditional inside combination.

Therefore, many people say that this season of the NBA can be said to be quite a reversal. This season is full of surprises.

However, as the two sides involved in the game, Bobcats and Raptors coaches Jordan and D'Antoni never felt that there was any problem or surprise with the reversal of the other party this season.

"This means now the Bobcats/Raptors can play positional warfare!"

Yes, after Jordan and D'Antoni glanced at each other in the air, they both saw strong confidence in each other's eyes.

Experts only saw the reversal of the Bobcats and Raptors this season, but they rarely thought that after a season of tempering, the Bobcats and Raptors have become more mature.

Now the Bobcats finally no longer need to rely on Chen Xiao to play inside to conduct positional battles.

And the Raptors are finally no longer at a loss when facing field battles.

Both teams have a more comprehensive strength.

After the two teams have the ability to play positional warfare, will their fast offensive ability disappear?

Of course not!

They can pick it up anytime they want!

Therefore, in the minds of Jordan and D'Antoni, they have become stronger, and the same is true for the other party.

Therefore, this series will definitely not be as Barkley said, the Bobcats can beat the Raptors overwhelmingly.

"In this golden era of the NBA, no team with aspiration will choose to stand still!"

Jordan crossed his chest and thought about this round of the series in his mind. On the court, Bynum and Milicic, who were standing in the middle circle, had already jumped high and competed for the first wave of the game. In the end, Milicic, who was more focused, grabbed the first attack of the game for the Raptors.

Milicic and Bynum have similar jump ball abilities, but recently Bynum has been a little bit flustered, because in the two games against the Heat a while ago, although the Bobcats lost, Bynum was greatly valued by Yao Ming and the Heat , Yao Ming and the Heat targeted Bynum in two games, which made Bynum feel a sense of pride in being recognized by a strong player.

So much so that he wanted to change his slam dunk king's hairstyle into the hairstyle of "being beaten six times in two games by Yao Ming". He was going to tell the world: "I am the man who was beaten twice by Yao Ming for six times in a row. !" "The reason why Yao Ming beat me twice in a row is because he is afraid of me!" "I am not a Yao Ming cash machine like Howard, I am Yao Ming's Terminator!"

Good guy, Bynum's brain circuit is really different from other people's.

If this kid was really allowed to record the incident of Yao Ming's six consecutive offenses on his hairstyle, this kid would be proud, but Chen Xiao felt that he and Shanmao would definitely feel very ashamed!

In the end, Bynum's idea was naturally impossible to implement. Of course, he was stopped (coerced) and given up by Chen Xiao's friendly persuasion (threat).

Although he has not been able to make trouble with his own hairstyle, Bynum is indeed a bit flustered now. After all, this kid is just like what the scout report said, his brain is not working well, and he is not yet 20 years old. Not that mature.

Compared with Bynum, although Milicic is also a problem child, sometimes it makes Nash quite a headache, but there is no harm without comparison. Compared with the current Bynum, Milicic is really someone else children.

In the Raptors' first attack, Nash escaped Chris Paul's press under the cover of Milicic and O'Brien, and passed the halftime with the ball not very quickly.

Seeing that the Raptors are not attacking at a very fast pace this season, it really makes people wonder if this Raptors is still the same Raptors as last season.

When playing against the Raptors in the playoffs last season, Paul's full-court press on Nash was very effective, because Nash needed to pass the half court quickly, organize the offense quickly, and could not play position, so even if he was pressed, he had to be fast, and this would lead to Mistakes.

But now, because Nash doesn't need to organize an offense through the half court so quickly, with Nash's dribbling skills like a master of ball control, and with the help of his teammates, Paul can't have such a good closing effect on Nash.

So seeing this scene, Bobcats assistant coach Cole couldn't help but sigh: "The Raptors are really hard to play now."

Why would Cole say that?

Didn't it mean that the Raptors' offense in the regular season was in chaos because of O'Brien's arrival?

Milicic feels like he's not as good as O'Brien offensively, and does Josh Smith feel like he can't shoot three-pointers?

Man, that's the regular season!

In the playoffs, personal data is no longer so important, what matters is the team's tactics.

Milicic does not need to compete for his own offensive data at all, and can wholeheartedly support Alderman.

There is no need for Josh Smith to use the number of shots to score points. He can pursue efficient movement on the offensive end and attack the basket.

With O'Neal Jr. and Milicic, two inside teammates who can open up space and face the frame, how could Josh Smith not have a chance at the basket?

So, after Cole finished his emotion, Nash and Josh Smith picked and rolled on the court, blocked Paul behind him, broke through Granger's defense, and after swimming like elves among a group of long arms, he rode and shot arrows and changed defense. Chen Xiao came over to help defend, and threw the basketball in his hand to O'Neal who was diagonally behind. However, O'Neal did not forcefully take a shot when facing Bynum's assistance, but threw it with his small hand, and Josh Smith, who followed up, grabbed it. Over Paul's head, the empty catch!

It is not easy for Randolph to continue to help defend Josh Smith's movement while fighting Milicic.

Therefore, Yue Smith's movement can only rely on the small cannon. It can only be said that this is not easy for the small cannon. Although the small cannon's positioning and defense are good, the tonnage gap is too big.

This Raptors offense, starting with the pick-and-roll between Nash and Josh Smith, is full of smarts.

"Quite a wonderful position attack!"

Even Jordan couldn't help but admire. The Raptors' positional offense could be said to have penetrated the Bobcats' defense.

This Raptors, starting from this offense, is no longer the kind of Raptors that struggled with positional offense in the playoffs and couldn't attack without fast breaks.

It was the Bobcats' turn to attack. Like Jordan, Raptors head coach D'Antoni was also concentrating on the Bobcats' attack.

Let's put it this way, neither his Raptors nor Jordan's Bobcats did their best in the regular season.

Whether it's a proactive failure to do their best, or a passive confusion like the Raptors' failure to do their best because they have to allocate the ball rights and shot rights to O'Neal, Milicic and Josh Smith.

In short, the Bobcats are definitely not their strongest self in the regular season.

Therefore, although he has been doing homework on the Bobcats this season, he actually doesn't know that much about the Bobcats.

Just like Jordan didn't know much about the Raptors.

And this is why neither team made any tactical changes in the first game of the playoffs.

This game, for both head coaches, is a test of their opponents.

Since it is a trial, every round is very important and requires careful observation.

Especially for D'Antoni and the Raptors, the Bobcats have always been their biggest imaginary enemy.

Just like the Bobcats have always regarded the Heat as their biggest imaginary enemy.

A team that pursues success will always find a super opponent of its own.

Compared with the Raptors' offensive rhythm that was not very fast just now, the Bobcats' offensive rhythm was slightly faster.

Because Nash is not going to press Paul all over the court.

At the same time, the Raptors' positional defense is really good. Let's just say that Milicic, Josh Smith and Jermaine O'Neal's strikers can average 8 blocks per game this season. What is the concept?

This is no different from an iron wall.

As soon as you enter the paint area, it's all Milicic, Josh Smith and O'Neal's long hands stretching out.

In the NBA, no team's forward line is as tall, as fast, and as good defensively as the Raptors' forward line.

Therefore, it is also a positional offense. The Raptors consciously hit the basket first, because the Bobcats' inside defense ability is average, Bynum is prone to distraction, and Randolph's natural defense is too slow.

As for the Raptors, because the Raptors' striker is too strong, it is very difficult for the Bobcats to operate in the paint area, so Paul hopes to bring a little rhythm so that the team can operate on the periphery.

In fact, this kind of pushing speed is indeed beneficial. The Raptors can form a one-on-one situation with the Bobcats' outside players locally.

After Xiao Cannon pushed the ball across the half court, he used Granger's pick-and-roll to cover and break through Josh Smith to the paint area. While Josh Smith followed up the defense step by step, Paul suddenly made an emergency stop, spinning like a spinning top. Turning around, he passed the basketball in his hand to Chen Xiao, who had switched positions with Granger without the ball. Chen Xiao received Paul's pass, without making any adjustments, and shot this shot at Nash. The first arrow of the game!

With a cloud-piercing arrow, thousands of troops will meet each other!

A swipe!

The arrow shot by Chen Xiao not only broke the atmosphere of the Charlotte Bobcats Arena, but also frowned on D'Antoni's brow.

"Sure enough, our nemesis is not the knight or the lynx, it's him!"