I’m Really Playing Basketball

Thanks to the Warriors' very friendly schedule at the beginning of this season, the Warriors defeated the Indiana Pacers and Magic, the two Eastern Conference teams that came to challenge, at home before seven consecutive away games in the Eastern Conference. Before the long road trip in the Eastern Conference, the Warriors also achieved the team's longest eight-game winning streak this season.

Regardless of the fact that a winning streak like eight consecutive wins is nothing compared to other strong teams in the NBA, this team is the Warriors.

The last time the Warriors won eight consecutive games was more than a decade ago.

Before Chen Xiao came to the Warriors, there was always a joke in the NBA that everyone was betting on who could win the championship earlier, the Knicks or the Warriors.

Many people say that the Knicks need a hundred years, while the Warriors...

Everyone smiles when they talk about this topic.

Because of the team's fantastic performance in all aspects, the Knicks are already one of the most underestimated teams in the NBA.

The Warriors are actually regarded lower than the Knicks.

However, this is understandable. No matter how good the Knicks are, they still have a big city to rely on that no other team can match.

In short, there is still hope.

As for the Warriors, there really is no hope at all.

Even Warriors fans feel this way and cannot refute such sarcasm from other fans across the league.

However, who would have thought that the team could change so rapidly this season.

A team that had no hope last season jumped to second place in the Western Conference this season.

It can only be said that in the NBA, the most effective way to change a team is to introduce a high-quality superstar.

Not to mention that in the NBA, stars are always the focus of pursuit.

Of course, apart from Chen Xiao, the biggest reason why the Warriors have such a good start to the season is that the league has taken great pains to design the schedule for the Warriors.

This can be seen from the first battle against the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers have a high reputation now, but they are also the team that Chen Xiao is best at playing.

If Chen Xiao chooses an ordinary team for his first game, it will definitely not bring a morale bonus.

If you lose, your morale will drop significantly, and if you win, there will be no benefit. This is definitely not possible, so Chen Xiao can only choose a super team for the first game.

If you choose a super team, whether it's the Bucks, Heat, or Bobcats and Spurs, you'll probably send it.

The Cavaliers are almost the super team the Warriors are most likely to defeat.

It’s not a loss if we lose, it’s a super team anyway.

After defeating such a super team, the morale boost will be huge.

Even if you are not defeated, but you just perform well, you will get a huge morale bonus.

Then, try to arrange some teams that are not that strong in the opening schedule after the Cavaliers.

For the Warriors, who are dominated by young players, if the early schedule is too difficult, it will greatly damage the morale and mentality of these young players.

Only uncounted victories can cultivate the morale and mentality of young people.

When their morale and mentality are developed, they will have the confidence to compete with strong teams.

After all, young people, when they go crazy, can really kill people.

Let’s talk about the current Warriors. Generally speaking, when teams in the Western Conference are going to visit the Eastern Conference for seven consecutive years, basically even the Spurs, the players are trembling and worried emotionally.

But within the Warriors, for this seventh consecutive away trip, the mood is not only not sad, but even exciting.

After all, the biggest challenge for Western Conference players is the Eastern road trip.

This is one of the biggest bosses in a season. If you can conquer such a big boss, it will definitely be exciting.

The Warriors defeated the Pistons 114-107 in Detroit on December 5, the first of seven consecutive games in the Eastern Conference.

The two teams played relatively anxiously in this game. The Warriors' outside touch was average. The splash trio of Chen Xiao, Klay and Beal, who have performed very well outside the three-point line this season, made three-pointers together in this game. The shooting rate was 9 of 24, which is only 37.5%. In fact, this shooting rate is quite good for an average team.

But for the Warriors' trio, it is indeed a bit worse. After all, this season, Chen Xiao's three-point shooting percentage reached 45%, and Klay's three-point shooting percentage was also 42%. Even if the three of them hit Bill, the worst, currently shoots 39.5% from three-pointers.

All three have a higher three-point shooting percentage this season than the average three-point shooting percentage of the three in this game.

Although Chen Xiao and the others had average outside touch in this game, Lopez was in good shape in this game. He made 9 of 15 free throws and 8 of 10 free throws. He scored a season-high 26 points plus 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. .

This season, Lopez's performance with the Warriors is really surprising.

Even though he has played almost 20 games, his highest score in the season is only 26 points. This is indeed not high, but Lopez rarely stretches his hips in most games this season.

The performance was very stable, with a season high of only 26 points, but Lopez averaged 18.5 points per game this season, and only took 12 shots per game.

So far this season, he is averaging 12 shots per game, shooting 56.4% from the field, and averaging 18.5 points, 7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game.

The performance on both ends of the offense and defense was quite surprising.

As a result, many people say that he is the first choice for the Western Conference All-Star starting center this season.

After all, you need data, you need popularity, and you need popularity. Although his popularity is average, he is on the big platform of Chen Xiao.

Moreover, he himself was a contributor to the Bobcats' Triple Crown, and he is also a player of great status in the minds of league coaches.

Therefore, in a competitive environment like the Western Conference, even if he cannot start the All-Star game, as long as he maintains this performance, there will be no problem at all as an All-Star substitute.

At the same time, he is also likely to become the NBA's most improved player this season.

It can be said that Jerry West took a risk and gave Lopez a maximum-salary contract. He originally thought it would be a big loss contract, but after only playing a quarter of the season, he turned into a profit.

And it’s a big profit.

In the current environment where the league lacks top centers, Lopez not only has the strength, but is indeed very suitable for the Warriors' strikers like Ibaka and Chen Xiao.

And this is even more important than data.

Stable, efficient, able to protect the frame, and also plays a role in the tactical system.

It would be difficult or even impossible for the Warriors to find another center like this in the current league. Yao Ming and Milicic are indeed enhanced versions of this style, but these are not for sale.

The cooperation between Lopez and Chen Xiao this season is indeed a bit like the cooperation between Chen Xiao and a smaller version of Yao Ming.

On December 7, Chen Xiao and the Warriors' road trip continued. This time they challenged Chen Xiao's old team, the New Jersey Nets, now head coached by Jason Kidd.

This season, the Nets' record has not improved much despite the fact that James has returned as head coach.

Of course, the difference is not that bad. The current boss of the Nets, Kyrie Irving, is very strong personally. However, Kyrie Irving once complained to Chen Xiao on the phone that this guard who is extremely capable in singles is not Although he is so tactically literate, he is not very reliable when it comes to leading the team and is not a qualified candidate to lead the team.

Now the base boss hopes to find a team boss like Chen Xiao to come to the Nets.

Why is Chen Xiao like this?

Because although Boss Ji doesn't want Irving to be the boss, he also can't let go of Irving's personal ability. This is a very sharp knife, and his style of play is also really gorgeous. As long as you like basketball, it's hard not to like Irving's style of play.

Therefore, if you want to find a boss for Irving, if you want to convince Irving, you have to find players with strong singles abilities like Chen Xiao, Kobe Bryant and Durant.

Otherwise, even if Xiao Zhan comes and Brother Luo comes, they will not be able to suppress this kid.

This is a kid who thinks very highly of himself.

Of course, those who know Irving's growth experience will know why he is so self-reliant. In the American basketball world when he was young, he was famous as Emperor James, Emperor Oden, and Monarch Irving. He has been number one among his peers since he was a child. When he grows up, he is always the number one pick in the NBA.

How can such a person not be proud?

I have to say that Boss Ji is not willing to give up on Irving, which is indeed correct. In this game, Irving's crazy singles against Klay made Chen Xiao look at it with envy.

"This kid's dribbling is so arrogant!"

Whether it is the ball control or the ball feel, it is pleasing to the eye. In fact, Chen Xiao can see a very strong shadow of Mr. Ke in him.

Chen Xiao's favorite is the Mamba-type defender.

Moreover, Irving is not a relatively low-level Mamba like Crawford and Lu Wei. Irving's Mamba temperament is the same as that of Ronald Ko, very high-level.

Because, as a Mamba-type player, offensive stability is the key to determining whether he is high or low.

Mamba can be both insane and crazy. However, when you are not crazy, most of the time you are not poisoning your own people, but you can still kill your opponents. Then you are an advanced Mamba.

If you are not crazy and spend most of your time working as an undercover agent poisoning your own people, then you are a low-level Mamba.

To be honest, there are a lot of low-level Mambas in the NBA, and there are even one or two every year.

But high-level Mambas like Irving are extremely rare.

After all, Mamba's style of play is contrary to efficiency and stability.

But Irving had a shooting percentage of close to 47% in his rookie season. You know, his Mamba style of play means that almost every offense is a pleasing and difficult offense.

Irving's shooting percentage in his rookie season was even higher than Bryant's career average.

It can only be said that Irving's three-point shooting ability is better than that of Ko.

If he can find the back-up ability that Olajuwon learned from Kobe and improve his ability to cause damage, he may even be more threatening than Kobe.

However, Chen Xiao took a closer look at Irving's figure and felt that it would be impossible for him to learn a post-up game as strong as Ke's, and his physical strength might not be as good as Ke's.

The future height should not reach the level of Kebo, but in terms of offensive threat, he can become a super top second-in-command.

In this game against the Nets, the Warriors also won relatively easily, 119 to 112, winning by 7 points on the road.

Although the score was close, it was because the players on both sides actually played relatively friendly, and neither Chen Xiao nor other players on the Warriors side made any deadly moves.

Moreover, there is no way to kill him. There is still a bronze statue of Chen Xiao outside the Nets home court.

Chen Xiao came back to play this time, and all the Nets fans still shouted MVP.

So after the Warriors took control of the game in this game, that was it.

On the contrary, Irving and Klay were a little angry in this game.

In this game, Klay was beaten miserably by Irving. In this game, Irving faced Klay's defense and made 15 of 29 shots, 5 of 9 three-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 39 points. It can be said that this Irving was definitely a hit in this game.

Watching all kinds of fairy balls, Chen Xiao felt relaxed and happy on the court.

Generally speaking, it is difficult for defensive players to withstand a blow like Irving's.

But Klay is different. Not only did he withstand it, he even exchanged offense and defense with Irving in this game. If you rush me like crazy, then I will run and shoot you.

With the help of Chen Xiao and his teammates, Clay made 8 of 16 three-pointers in this game, 10 of 20 in the game, 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 31 points in the game.

It can be said that although Klay's style of play is not as gorgeous as that of Irving, from a visual point of view, this game is definitely evenly matched between the two.

"Chen, this kid on your team is also very tough!"

Just like Chen Xiao sighs and appreciates Irving's strength and style of play.

Boss Ji was also full of praise for Clay beside Chen Xiao.

Indeed, there are not many players who can withstand Irving's impact and reflect Irving in this situation, especially young players, there are almost none.

"Hopefully they can become a very interesting pair of enemies in the future."

On December 7, after the Warriors defeated the Nets on the road, they defeated the Wizards back-to-back on December 8, 111-107.

In this game, the Wizards' leading guard James Harden organized the Wizards' offense very well.

If we say who is Lopez's biggest competitor for Most Improved Player this season, then there is no doubt that it is Wizards guard James Harden this season!

This season with the Wizards, he averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals per game. Not only did his statistics stand out, but the Wizards' record also improved a lot this season.

Although it is impossible for the Wizards to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this season, as long as the Wizards can perform well in terms of record, it will not affect James Harden's award.

Of course, it would be better to make the playoffs.

After three consecutive sweet away games, on December 10th, the tough battle of the Warriors' road trip is finally coming.

And the first opponent is the defending champion, the Bobcats!