I’m Really Playing Basketball

In the first round of the NBA playoffs this season, in the Eastern Conference, the team with a better record was almost one-sided and bloodbathed the team with a poor record.

But in the West, except for the Spurs, which is No. 1 in the West, and the Suns, which is No. 8 in the West, playing relatively easily, the other three sets of matches are not that easy.

The Warriors, the second-place team in the Western Conference, played against the Jazz. After falling behind 2-0, they were eliminated by Chen Xiao with 40+ points in four consecutive games and four straight games.

Although the final score of this matchup was 4-2, the way the Warriors advanced was even more dangerous than 4-3.

After losing both home games, to be honest, even Warriors fans felt that the team's playoff run this season was about to collapse.

However, no one expected that Chen Xiao's sudden rise would be so rapid.

However, this series also allowed people to see the current reality of this Warriors team.

This Warriors team, except for Chen Xiao, other important players need to be more mature in their performance in the playoffs.

Needless to say, Bill and thick eyebrows.

Both of the Warriors' young core are rookies.

In addition to these two people, even if Clay, a young man who is not a rookie, is actually playing in the playoffs for the first time this season.

Historically, in his first training game this season, Klay shot only 34% from three-point range.

It wasn't until the second training game that Klay was less nervous and his shooting percentage reached 50%. However, although Klay's three-pointers returned to normal because his mentality was not so nervous, Klay was still not used to the confrontation in the playoffs. of.

Klay's shooting percentage at the basket is less than 40%. You must know that in the regular season, although breakthroughs with the ball are not his strong point, he still has a shooting percentage of more than 60% at the basket.

It can be seen that Klay is playing in the playoffs for the first time and how much the playoff confrontation has affected him.

Of course, in fact, because of his extremely strong three-point shooting ability and good confrontation ability, he was actually less affected among the young players who were playing in the playoffs for the first time.

But no matter what, when your team's five main starters, three of them are playing in the playoffs for the first time.

The two core players on the bench, Dragic and Ibaka, are also playing in the playoffs for the first time. Such a team really needs something different if it wants to go further.

The thing that is different about the Warriors in the first round is of course Chen Xiao.

Of course, Chen Xiao is the cornerstone of the Warriors, but if just Chen Xiao breaks out, it will be difficult for the Warriors to win four games in a row.

In this training match, veterans such as Lopez, Barnes and Novak performed very well.

Especially Lopez, facing the Jazz, he used Paul Millsap to top and grab in a very targeted manner. Lopez's performance in the first three games was not very smooth, and Chen Xiao's explosion attracted a lot of defense. , he also took advantage of the situation and surged. In the last three games, he scored 20+ points in three consecutive games.

Throughout the training match, he averaged 19.8 points, 9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. It can be said that it supported Chen Xiao's rampage very well.

Let's put it this way, if it weren't for the fact that there is a small Yao Ming like Lopez inside who can produce stable output, with Chen Xiao's style of play in the next four games, Chen Xiao will face extremely huge defensive pressure.

At that time, no matter how strong Chen Xiao was, he would not be able to score 40 points in four consecutive games without an experience card. It was hard to say whether the Warriors could make a comeback.

Let's put it this way, when Chen Xiao was preparing to take over the game, he was ready to advance 4-3.

In other words, Chen Xiao himself never thought that the final result would be 4-2.

However, although Chen Xiao led the Warriors past the Jazz and into the second round, many people were not very optimistic about the Warriors when facing the Clippers.

The Clippers faced the Mavericks, sixth in the Western Conference, and advanced 4-2. Compared to the Warriors, although the Clippers played fiercely with the Mavericks, everyone can see with the naked eye that the Clippers are not as good as the Warriors. You need to use your own cards to advance.

In this training match between the Clippers and the Mavericks, the little cannon didn't even exert any force. Howard was allowed to rub the Mavericks' inside line throughout the whole process, and then made crazy back-up shots and crazy free throws.

In this training game, Dwight Howard averaged 15 free throws per game and averaged 10 hits per game. The data for the entire training game was 27 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Of course, there were also 5.5 turnovers.

Howard is the main attacker in the interior. Due to his ball control and singles skills, he still makes a lot of mistakes.

However, because the Mavericks are not that strong now, the Clippers are also willing to practice Howard's inside singles in preparation for the semifinals or finals.

Regardless of whether we play the Warriors or the Jazz in the semifinals, Howard's inside singles will be useful.

The Jazz's inside line is too short, while the Warriors' inside line is too fast, too thin, and too strong, too slow. These are Howard's opportunities.

Therefore, before the second round of the playoffs between the Clippers and the Warriors begins, most experts in the United States believe that the Clippers are likely to end the entire training match in 6 games.

In the other Western Conference semifinals, many experts are more optimistic about the Spurs, who are No. 1 in the Western Conference. They believe that the Spurs can defeat the Lakers in six or even five games.

The Lakers played the Timberwolves in the first round of this training game until the tiebreaker.

The Lakers are originally an older team, and now they have consumed so much in the first round. Facing the Spurs, who are now becoming more mature and powerful, it is difficult for the Lakers to be favored.

Even if Kobe is indeed the Spurs killer, in the past two years, as Kawhi Leonard has matured and Ron Howard is still in full swing, it has become increasingly difficult for Kobe to beat the Spurs.

However, the Lakers are a super team after all, and Kobe is a super player after all, so there are still variables.

In short, no matter what, after the first round of the NBA playoffs this season, everyone became more excited, because the conference semifinals were really all about strong dialogue!

In the semifinals in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks, who are number one in the East, will play the Bobcats, who are fifth in the East. This is an early stage of last year's Eastern Conference finals. Will Derrick Rose and Stephen Curry, two MVP-level point guards, have to compete again? Stage the ultimate mutual attack spark?

Of course, this time, Rose no longer has Chen Xiao next to him, but Curry still has Durant, and he is an increasingly mature Durant.

Therefore, although the Bobcats are very strong, most people are still more optimistic about the Bucks. Of course, it will not be easy for the Bucks to advance.

The other group of matches is between the Heat, which is second in the Eastern Conference, and the Cavaliers, which is third in the Eastern Conference.

This group is a battle for the league's No. 1 center.

As Oden becomes stronger this season, and Milicic was eliminated in the first round, and Milicic is from Sevilla and plays in Canada, so the second center from the United States Most of the media thought it was Oden.

Of course, from the perspective of NBA players like Chen Xiao, Oden is very strong, but Milicic is still more difficult to deal with, after all, the combination of Garnett + Nowitzki.

Since Oden is already the second center, facing the Heat led by the first center Yao Ming, as long as he surpasses the Heat, let's put it this way, the American media will definitely be willing to lose the position of the first center again to the Americans after eight years. On the heads of Americans.

Therefore, many American experts are looking forward to this showdown between the Cavaliers and the Heat.

Looking forward to the battle between Yao Ming and Oden, even more than the battle between Wade and James.

And here in the West, the Spurs play the Lakers, Kobe Bryant plays Ron Howard, a duel between one of the most popular outsiders in the NBA, plus Ron Howard has Tracy McGrady next to him, the popularity of these three people plus Duncan... tsk tsk , will definitely evoke memories of countless people.

In comparison, the Clippers and Warriors are actually the least interesting.

Of course, as long as Chen Xiao is not out, as the league's number one player, he deserves a spotlight.

In short, every matchup in the conference finals of this year's playoffs is a series with explosive traffic. Many viewers are already gearing up and waiting for the second round of the playoffs.

Of course, before the second round of the playoffs begins, everyone needs to wait a little longer. The league needs to award various regular season awards.

This year's Rookie of the Year was awarded first. In the end, the thick eyebrows defeated Lillard with difficulty and won the Rookie of the Year.

In the first half of this season, his performance with thick eyebrows is definitely the only candidate for the best rookie. After all, he made the All-Star with his crazy performance in the first half of the season.

But the stretch in the second half of the season directly brought Lillard into everyone's field of vision.

Lillard's performance in the Trail Blazers this season is indeed outstanding. As a player who is not very optimistic, he can average 19 points and 6.5 assists per game in the Trail Blazers this season, and his shooting percentage is 43%. This data is still very good. .

If the Trail Blazers can finally reach the playoffs, then there is no doubt that Lillard can finally win the Rookie of the Year, but unfortunately, although the Trail Blazers work hard, although the current Western Conference is still very weak, it was comparable to the Eastern Conference at that time. For example, in the current Western Conference, if you want to enter the playoffs, you still need a winning rate of more than 50%.

This season's best rookie team is thick eyebrows, led by Lillard and Bill.

Of course, Lillard must be very unhappy just to get a first-team All-Rookie team, so on his social media, Lillard was very dissatisfied and directly dissed his thick eyebrows.

"If I can be on the same team as GOD, I can also become an All-Star in my rookie season, win the Best Rookie of the Year, and even make the All-NBA Team!"

It has to be said that Lillard is still a very ambitious young man.

Lillard has been very good at marketing his image on social media since he entered the NBA. It is obvious that he has no intention of becoming just an ordinary NBA star.

It can only be said that there are not many players in the entire NBA who are not so talented but extremely ambitious like Lillard.

Of course, Chen Xiao will not be involved in the matter between the two juniors, Nongmei and Lillard.

In short, this year's major NBA awards have been full of controversy since the first award.

After the Rookie of the Year, this year's Sixth Man of the Year was given to Manu Ginobili of the Spurs by the league. This is hugely controversial.

There is absolutely no problem with Ginobili's strength, but the key is that Ginobili's data this season is only over 10 points per game.

Let's put it this way, after Maizi came to the Spurs, and with the growth of Kawhi Leonard, the data of the Spurs' other perimeter players inevitably declined, not only Ginobili, but also Parker.

In this case, Ginobili's statistics are indeed not worthy of the honor of the best sixth man.

Especially in terms of statistics and big names, Roy is obviously more suitable.

Roy averaged 16 points per game this season. Although the Bobcats are ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference, their record is the same as the Spurs.

In this case, how can you convince Roy's fans?

However, from another perspective, Roy has won many awards. Without a huge improvement in performance, it is indeed better to replace him.

But for substitutions, you can also replace others, such as Jr. Smith of the Denver Nuggets, or even Ibaka of the Warriors. Jr. Smith averages close to 20 per game and is the substitute player with the best statistics, while Ibaka is used as a substitute. He averaged 10 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.

Let's put it this way, as a substitute, Ibaka is the second player in the blocking list this season.

Coupled with the Warriors' record, giving Ibaka is indeed more appropriate than giving Ginobili.

However, in the end, Ginobili won the Sixth Man of the Year award again in his career.

Compared with the rookie and sixth man awards, the Most Improved Player award goes to Paul George.

The best defensive player award was given to Oden, and the MVP award was finally given to Durant. There is not much controversy about this.

Paul George has been excellent on both offense and defense for the Heat this season, especially in the playoffs this season. He averaged 19 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in the series, and he had a triple-double in G1 of the playoffs.

Not to mention Oden, who is now being hyped as the second center. The inside combination of him and James is known as the combination of Admiral + Olajuwon.

As for Durant, regardless of the team's record or personal performance, Durant is well-deserved to win the second MVP of his career.

By the way, Chen Xiao was once again selected to the All-Defensive Team this season along with Oden, James, Ron Howard and Chris Paul.

And finally, the most controversial award of the annual awards season is about to begin, that is, the best team.

This year's best team, first team, Yao Ming, James, Durant, Chen Xiao, Ron Howard

Second team, Oden, Garnett, Duncan, Wade, Rose

Third team, Milicic, Anthony, Kobe, Curry, Chris Paul

The controversy over this year's best lineup is even greater than in previous years.

First of all, let’s not say which players were selected and which players were not selected.

Let’s talk about the positions of these players selected.

Let's put it this way, although Chen Xiao has played guard, he played most of the time as a small forward with the Warriors, but Chen Xiao was selected for the first team as a guard.

In the second team, Duncan played center most of the time, but was selected as a forward.

In the third team, although Kobe also played small forward, he played most of the time as a guard.

Obviously, this is the Schrödinger position commonly known in the NBA.

Could it be that after Big Eyebrow entered the alliance, he also brought his own Schrödinger position into the alliance?

In history, thick eyebrows have always been a forward and a center, and they have always caused a lot of controversy in terms of awards.

Obviously, there are three thick eyebrows at once, and the controversy can be imagined.

However, amid the controversy, Chen Xiao has achieved one team defense for ten consecutive years and one team for eleven consecutive seasons.