I’m Really Playing Basketball

After a leisurely All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Chen Xiao brought Rose, Lopez and Gibson back to Charlotte.

Because the Bobcats' record in the Eastern Conference is currently ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, and there is a gap in record between the Heat, Bucks and Raptors, the top three players, and there is also a gap between the Nets, who are fifth, and the Cavaliers, who are sixth. So the current situation of the Bobcats is actually quite embarrassing.

Why do you say embarrassing?

Because from the current situation, the Bobcats are the only team in the East that has basically determined their ranking.

Is this good?

In previous seasons, neither good nor bad, preference was the majority.

And in this season, especially in the season when both the Raptors and the Bucks can pose a threat to the Heat, the ranking of the Bobcats is a bit embarrassing.

There is no way to change your position, which means that the Heat can catch you.

If the Heat really confirm at the end of the regular season that the Raptors and Bucks are not so easy to play, and the Bobcats are easier to play, then they will definitely win the first place in the Eastern Conference and make the Bobcats second. round opponent.

In the general environment where the entire Eastern Conference has to be selected by the Heat, other teams can use blur to escape the Heat's capture because of their uncertain rankings.

For example, the Bulls and Cavaliers Nets, the record difference between the Bulls and the Nets is less than 2 games. As long as they realize which position the Heat want, they can switch at any time.

But not the Bobcats.

And this is where the Bobcats are embarrassed.

Ever since he felt that the Bucks and Raptors had a chance to kill the Heat, Jordan had the idea of ​​trying his luck to win another championship this season.

As soon as this idea arises, Boss Joe, a guy who is proficient in psychology, will come to calculate the most favorable situation for Bobcats.

After all the calculations, Boss Joe thought.

"We can't just accept the fate of fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Although we are too far behind the Heat and Bucks to catch up, the Raptors still have a chance!"

Because the Heat and Bucks didn't let go from the beginning this season, the records of both teams are very high.

The Raptors, like the Bobcats, also looked at the Heat's face at the beginning of the season, so their record was not that good.

The Bobcats are now 37-15, while the Raptors are 40-13.

If you want to say that this gap is big, it is indeed a bit big, and the other party is stronger than you.

But if you want to say that you can't chase it at all, that's not entirely true.

"We must try our best to catch up to the third place in the Eastern Conference!"

If they can catch up to third in the Eastern Conference, the Heat will need to drop from first to second if they want to catch the Bobcats.

It is of course easy for the Heat to be first. As long as they are willing, there is no problem in being first.

But if you want to be second, it depends on the Bucks' face.

Even if it's just a small change, Jordan feels the Bobcats need to pursue it.

According to Jordan, success depends on God and planning depends on people.

The Bobcats are now doing their best.

Therefore, the Bobcats must go all out in the next game to see if they can impact the Raptors.

On February 17, the Bobcats' first game after the All-Star Game was a guest challenge to the Magic, currently eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Even though the ranking gap between the two teams in this game is not small, the Magic's opponent is really difficult to beat.

The Magic are eighth in the Eastern Conference, but they are only 2 games away from the fifth and sixth-placed Nets and Cavaliers.

This season the Magic, Bulls and Cavaliers are about the same strength. The reason why the Nets fell here is mainly because Pat Riley also wanted to choose an opponent.

Last season, the Nets were deceived by others choosing their opponents.

So this season, the Nets should hide themselves among other teams, which is most beneficial to them.

Therefore, in terms of strength, the Eastern Conference is divided into three levels this season. The first level is of course the Heat and Bucks and Raptors. This is an epic team. If it were not in the current NBA, it would be placed in any other level in history. In a period of time in the NBA, there were teams that could win the championship.

The second level is the super team level. In any NBA season in history, anyone can compete for the championship, or even be the favorite to win the championship. The Bobcats and Nets are in this level.

The third level is the level of the Cavaliers, Bulls and Magic, quasi-super teams. They can also compete for the championship in the NBA in any year, but the probability may not be the first.

It can be seen from this that the Magic is slightly inferior to the Bobcats.

However, the difference at this level is not big. More importantly, the Magic's lineup is really strong.

Although they sent away Duncan, Parker Ginobili and Prince, the Magic's lineup can still be said to be one of the strongest in the Eastern Conference.

The starting lineup consists of Arenas, Hamilton, Turkoglu, Gooden, and Howard. Turkoglu, who seems to have the least popularity and strength in this lineup, has played at an All-Star level this season.

Historically, Turkoglu and Howard carried the Magic to the Finals this season. There is no doubt that this Magic team is definitely an enhanced version of the Magic in history.

And it's not just the starting lineup that's been strengthened.

This Magic also has Ben, Pachulia, Jameer Nelson, Pietrus, Alston and many other good players.

This is an objective condition in terms of strength, coupled with Howard's resentment for not being selected as an All-Star. Let's put it this way, the Bobcats will definitely face the wrath of the Magic and Howard in this game.

However, although the Bobcats were stubbornly resisted by the Magic in this game in Orlando. The game was very fierce and the team encountered great difficulties, but Chen Xiao's personal performance was very outstanding.

The player Chen Xiao faced in this game was not his old rival Hamilton, but Arenas.

Originally, according to Van Gundy's intention, Hamilton was to defend Chen Xiao.

But Arenas volunteered.

And this kid was really good on defense when he was with the Spurs. If he wants to, of course he can.

However, it is obvious that after coming to the Magic, without Popovich's guidance, Arenas put offense first when he met Chen Xiao. As for defense, it is really not that important. .

Therefore, in this game between Chen Xiao and Arenas, it can be said that they fought vigorously on the offensive end, while Howard behind Arenas gritted his teeth and wiped Arenas's ass.

Arenas put all his energy on the offensive end, which allowed the Bobcats to penetrate the Magic's perimeter defense in this game.

This can be seen from the data of Howard of the Magic in this game.

In this game, Howard made 16 of 23 shots and 13 of 18 free throws. He scored a career-high 45 points and a career-high 8 blocks.

Howard wants to be crazy in this game, which is indeed crazy, but this is definitely not the crazy that Howard wants.

He hopes that this game will show his strong power like Yao Ming O'Neal.

But in the end, he frantically blocked Rose, Granger, Lopez and other Bobcat players who broke into his defense zone on the defensive end.

At the same time, on the offensive end, he went crazy to grab the iron from Arenas. In this game, Howard got a total of 19 rebounds, 11 of which were offensive rebounds.

Howard's rebounding ability is really strong now, and both Lopez and Aldridge can't beat him.

In this game, Howard scored an astonishing 45 points, 19 rebounds and 8 blocks.

But people who watched the game will think that he is a supporting role and tool man next to Arenas.

On the contrary, Arenas, who scored 9 of 33 points, 4 of 15 three-pointers, and 11 of 14 free throws in this game, was the protagonist of the Magic team in this game.

Well, Arenas was a little over the top when he met Chen Xiao in this game.

This is actually understandable. When I was with the Spurs, I had to hold it in when I met Chen Xiao. Now I finally have no one to control me. Of course I have to work hard.

His current strength can even equal the boss of Ke, and he is not afraid of anyone, including Chen Xiao.

But obviously, beating the boss and beating Chen Xiao are two completely different styles.

In the past two seasons, although Ronaldo has been unable to control Arenas.

But Chen Xiao can.

Chen Xiao likes Arenas, a super scorer who is impatient in offense. He keeps retreating in defense, and then covers him with his long hands, letting him throw, making him lean back with difficulty, and making him pull up with difficulty. .

In fact, Arenas uses his flexibility to play patiently like Kobe and Nash, which is also difficult for Chen Xiao.

But is Arenas, who has no one to control him, such a patient person?

of course not!

Therefore, this game was really thanks to Arenas being undercover. Otherwise, it would be really difficult for the Bobcats to defeat the Magic 112-107 away from home.

In this game, Rose, Lopez, and Granger all performed poorly. The three of them had average outside skills, but when they got inside, they were swept away by Howard.

The Bobcats won this game because Chen Xiao and Aldridge avoided Howard's defensive mid-range and long-range shots, as well as the stable performance of the second team Roy, Battier and others to suppress the Magic's second team. .

In this game, Chen Xiao made 16 of 30 shots, including 6 of 14 three-pointers and 4 of 5 free throws. He scored 42 points, while Aldridge made 5 of 7 and scored 10 points, and Roy scored 16 Hit 8 and scored 18 points.

It can be seen from this data that the three best performers of the Bobcats in this game all had very few free throws.

In fact, the Bobcats only took 14 free throws in this game, while the Magic took 37.

As for the reason, it is entirely because of Howard's help in defense inside.

The Bobcats don't have a big center like Yao Ming who can suppress Howard in the paint. Howard can do whatever he wants in the paint to help defend, and other Bobcat players can't get to the basket at all.

Even for Chen Xiao, it was difficult to get to the basket and face Howard's help defense.

"Howard's defense is really good this season. He can definitely be regarded as a team's defense."

After the game, Chen Xiao couldn't help but admire.

Although Howard was very dissatisfied after the game.

But don't tell me yet, Howard and Arenas are really a perfect match.

Arenas is not serious when defending, and can crazyly brush up defensive statistics and defensive perceptions for Howard.

Arenas' crazy hitting when attacking can assist Howard with a lot of offensive rebounds.

After coming to the Magic this season, Howard is now averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and blocks per game.

So far, he is averaging 23 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.

Among them, 15.8 rebounds and 5.7 are offensive rebounds.

And this is why Howard feels so excited about his failure to be selected as an All-Star.

At the same time, Howard's statistics this season are also the reason why he was not selected as an All-Star.

Because his data looks explosive, but he is more like a role player in the game and basically has no impact on the team's offense.

The defense blocks shots like crazy, and the offense rushes for second offense like crazy.

So when an Eastern Conference head coach privately accepted this question from a reporter, he responded like this: "Selecting the All-Stars is not selecting the best defensive player. I suggest that this year's best defensive player voting can be left to our coaches. By then we will definitely be able to vote for the best defensive player." Select Howard, I will vote for him anyway, he is a good player, and Howard is a good defender!"

With this said, do you think Howard is happy or sad?

The coach's words seemed to sound like a compliment, but when you think about it carefully, they sounded like sarcasm.

In this era of extremely fierce competition, Roy has not yet been selected as an All-Star. You, a mediocre Howard who cannot attack, want to become an All-Star?

But is it Howard's fault?

Howard has always aligned himself with his idol Garnett and his imitator O'Neal. He hopes to become an offensive killer, not a defensive killer.

But in the end, whether it was the Spurs, Team USA or the Magic, everyone seemed to put him in the defensive core position by default.

Even when he came to the Magic, he had a very high status. Even Turkoglu and Van Gundy, the team's offensive core, did not let him play like O'Neal and Yao Ming.

This is very depressing.

He feels that this is not his problem, but it seems that everyone's choice is in favor of this being his problem.

Therefore, after this game, everyone across the country praised him for his good defense. Even Chen Xiao praised him for his good defense. The expression on Howard's face was very complicated, as if he felt uncomfortable after eating something strange.

Is it useful to feel uncomfortable?

Of course it's useless unless Arenas can see it, but does Arenas see it?

Of course it can't be seen.

On February 18, the Bobcats played back-to-back games against the Magic at home. The Magic lost again 92-100 on the road. In this game, Howard made 7 of 8 from the field and 10 of 14 free throws. He scored 24 points and also grabbed 16 rebounds. and 6 blocks.

This game was played like a replica of the previous one.

Howard's statistics are still the Magic's best, but he still looks like a large role player.

After beating the Magic at home and away, the Bobcats won the remaining six games in February.

Between losing to the Clippers on February 9 and defeating the Clippers on February 28, the Bobcats won nine consecutive games.

At the same time, the Bobcats' record also reached 45 wins and 15 losses.

Well, with this wave of winning streak, the Bobcats are not close to the Raptors' record, but are closer to the gap between the Heat and Bucks.

Because during the Bobcats' winning streak, the Raptors were also on a winning streak, during which they also defeated the Heat and Bucks respectively...

This embarrassed Boss Joe.

Chen Xiao could feel the twitching embarrassment on Boss Qiao's face when he looked at the Eastern Conference rankings.

On the other hand, the other Bobcat players had very complicated expressions on their faces at this time, wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh.

"Boss Qiao asked us to chase the Raptors. As we chased them, we suddenly discovered that the Raptors were stronger than the Heat. This was too... embarrassing."

Yeah, embarrassing and, at the same time, brutal.