I’m Really Playing Basketball

Chen Xiao is now very optimistic about the current strength of the Cavaliers, because Chen Xiao sees peace in the Cavaliers. The temperament of each player is the kind of calmness, peace after experiencing the prosperity of the prosperous times.

Such a team reminded Chen Xiao of the Dallas Mavericks, which looked average in strength.

The Mavericks really caused a lot of trouble for Chen Xiao in the finals. Except for Nowitzki, every other role player on the Mavericks team could suddenly stand up.

And this Cavaliers team is actually far stronger than the Mavericks in terms of strength.

Therefore, Chen Xiao said that this Cavaliers team may really support an opportunity.

After beating the Cavaliers, the Warriors won all three remaining games in December. The Jazz, Bobcats, and Grizzlies. Of these three teams, the Bobcats and Jazz are very strong.

Mitchell, the rookie selected by the Jazz this year, really surprised the entire league.

As a rookie with the 13th overall pick, he has played almost half of the season. His scoring average has reached 20 per game, and his shooting percentage is not low. More importantly, his playing style is mainly singles. , can also take care of the team, and is an excellent outside killer visible to the naked eye.

Let's put it this way, the Jazz, which has outstanding players such as Yi Jianlian, DeAndre Jordan, Gordon Hayward, Ingles, Millsap, etc., lacks such an excellent outside killer who is stable and murderous.

Therefore, the Jazz's record this season is really outstanding. This season, they are second only to the Warriors and are competing with the Lakers, Clippers and Spurs for second place in the Western Conference.

To be honest, the schedule after Christmas is still very unfavorable to the Warriors in terms of team strength.

Fortunately, these games are all home games, and the other Warriors players are down-to-earth and want to prove themselves after experiencing the setbacks some time ago, so they all play very seriously.

Otherwise, with this schedule, even at home, the Warriors may not be able to escape easily.

After finishing all games in December, the Warriors will start their new southwest district road trip on January 3.

But before that, Chen Xiao of the Warriors won the Player of the Month for December this season.

Throughout December, the Warriors had 14 wins and 3 losses, but Chen Xiao personally had 11 wins, which was a complete victory record.

This is also the second time Chen Xiao has won Player of the Month this season.

By the way, this season's Best of the Month is no longer tied with Chen Xiao, Wade and Ron Howard, but Chen Xiao alone.

The main reason is that the data of Wade and Luo Ge have dropped significantly this season. Although Wade and Luo Ge are already in good condition, they do not have a system after all, and they do not have such an indestructible body.

Brother Luo, like Chen Xiao, is actually an ordinary person. Chen Xiao's body has been systematically modified, but Brother Luo has really not been modified in any way.

Although his style of play is not that harmful to the body, it is really difficult for a veteran who is over 35 years old to ask him to make more contributions.

In the NBA, when players are over 35 years old, they are really different every year.

The situations of Wade and Luo Ge are somewhat different. Wade's athletic talent is excellent, but his physical talent (durability) is actually relatively average.

Compared with Wade in history, Wade in this time and space did not suffer such serious knee injuries and has a pair of healthy knees, so his athletic talent means that he is a smaller Jordan, and there is no problem at all.

But compared to Jordan and James, his durability is average.

The decline cycle of Jordan and James' athletic talents is obviously much later than that of Wade.

Therefore, Wade is rarely used this season, or there is basically no lightning breakthrough. Last season, Wade could have lightning from time to time.

And this season, Wade really relies entirely on his body's fake moves to shake off defensive players and make mid-range shots.

By the way, Wade will have his 36th birthday in another half month. Among the three brothers, Wade is the oldest. His birthday was on January 17, 1982, Chen Xiao was on November 11, 1982, and Luo Ge was on 1982. November 14th.

Wade will soon be the first to reach the age of 36 and run towards the age of 37.

For a player like Wade who mainly relied on physical talent when he was young, although his skills are also very good, compared to a player like Kobe, his skills cannot actually support him and ensure that he will still be a superstar when he gets older. Even super huge.

Wade himself knows this very well. This season, his shooting percentage dropped from 54.5% last season to 47%.

This drop in hit rate can be described as a cliff-like drop.

After all, NBA defensive players are not fools. Last season, Wade could still break through with lightning. This season, Wade has no lightning breakthrough, and his breakthrough power is no longer enough.

In this case, the opponent's defense against Wade can naturally be very targeted.

Without a lightning breakthrough, Wade can still shoot 47% from the field. It can only be said that Wade's fake moves are too good. At the same time, his mid-range shot is indeed a bit superb. The taste is gone.

By the way, overall, Wade's aging is the most visible among the three.

Chen Xiao has already transformed into an insider, and he is still very dominant now.

As for Luo Ge, his career has not been based on talent, so aging has a limited impact on Luo Ge's strength. Aging only affects Luo Ge's physical strength. Luo Ge can only maintain a high level for about 30 minutes now. .

Therefore, these days, Wade has been telling Chen Xiao and Luo Ge that he hopes to finish his last contract.

But if he wants to leave the NBA with dignity, like Kobe Bryant, he may not be able to stay in the NBA next season.

To be honest, for a top ten star in history like Wade, it is humiliating for him to average about 15 points per game in the NBA with a 43% shooting rate.

Therefore, what Wade means now is that he will retire after finishing this season.

Of course, the premise is that the Warriors successfully defend their title this season and he wins the NBA championship. This will be the perfect ending.

Therefore, for Wade this season, his goal is 30,000 points + championship.

It is not difficult to score 30,000 career points. Wade can easily reach it. After all, it is not that far away.

But the champion…

This requires some challenges, it should be said that it is a big challenge.

Last year's Finals, the Warriors' three top singles players took turns responding to Curry's style of play. I'm afraid it won't be that easy in this year's Finals.

And that's the deepest secret of the Warriors' season.

The dominance of the Warriors' three core players has declined this season.

Therefore, the Warriors this season are particularly in need of thick eyebrows. Clay and Devin Booker, and even Jaylen Brown, Curry Jr., Norman Powell, and even VanVleet take on more responsibilities for the team.

Of course, it would be better if the three rookies Wood, John Collins and Allen can grow up this season.

But it's difficult. It's difficult for these three to be useful from the time they were rookies until the finals.

After all, not everyone in the NBA has such a big heart.

Last season, Jaylen Brown, a rookie, played in the Finals. This is already considered the beginning of the Warriors' history.

But the better news is that the young man Jaylen Brown of the Warriors has really made great progress this season.

He averaged 10 shots per game, scored 13 points per game, shot 40% from three-point range, and averaged 2 three-pointers per game. He was able to shoot and defend, and he also had a certain ability to play the ball and his athletic talent. He is outstanding and has good ball-holding ability. The key is that last year's finals proved that he has a big heart and is simply a hexagonal warrior.

So don't think of Jaylen Brown as a substitute this season. In fact, he is the first substitute for Wade and Luo Ge. His playing time is comparable to that of the team's sixth man Devin Booker.

He has surpassed Curry Jr. and became the team's true seventh man. He can also be said to be tied with Devin Booker as the sixth man.

By the way, Jaylen Brown's growth is visible to the naked eye, and Devin Booker has also grown tremendously.

It can only be said that the Warriors' finals over the years have really been able to cultivate players with real potential.

The growth of these young people is also an important reason why Chen Xiao still has expectations for the team's performance in the next two years.

Otherwise, facing a super team like the Bucks, to be honest, if he only relied on three of him, Wade and Luo Ge, he would not have that much confidence.

By the way, the best player of the month in the West in December is Chen Xiao, while in the East it is Curry.

Curry has won the Best of the Month award for two consecutive months, just like Chen Xiao.

In this regular season, Curry has been completely unstoppable.

That three-pointer, that terrifying impact on the game, in last year's finals, even the Warriors couldn't stop Curry in his prime. How many other teams in the league can stop him?

Therefore, the Bucks performed best in the regular season this season. The entire league once again saw the crazy three-point shooting offensive performance led by Ray Allen.

Curry has shown it once before, but he was still too immature. But now, Curry is really mature, just like the Ray Allen who could compete with Chen Xiao.

Therefore, the NBA regular season MVP this season is still a battle between Chen Xiao and Curry.

Currently, Curry has the highest odds. Curry’s data is much better than that of Chen Xiao. The two teams have similar records. Chen Xiao won it last year. If he wants to defend the title this year, he needs a better performance, and this is Chen Xiao’s. Xiao's disadvantages.

So most of them actually prefer Curry to win the regular season MVP for the first time in his career.

Of course, Chen Xiao, who has won the regular season MVP five times, does not care so much about this award.

It's better to have it, and it doesn't matter if you don't have it.

If you ask him to compete for MVP and statistics with Curry, a young and elementary school student, he will definitely not be able to do it.

In January, after defeating the previous Western Conference opponents, the Warriors got off to a five-game winning streak in January. However, after defeating these five Western Conference opponents in January, the Warriors' challenge came again. This time, the Warriors will Will once again start a continuous road trip in the Eastern Conference.

And the first opponent will be on January 12, facing the Bucks, who are currently ranked second in the league.

On January 10, when they played the Clippers at home, the Warriors did not deliberately rest Wade and Ron Howard.

To be honest, the Warriors don't want the Bucks to know more about the current status of Chen Xiao, Wade and Ron Howard.

Although everyone is not blind, it can be seen that the strength of Wade and Ron Howard has declined, but as long as you have not faced them in person, you may think that the other party is pretending.

The Warriors have no such idea of ​​confusing the Bucks.

Mainly, the future hope of the Warriors is young people such as Jaylen Brown.

Therefore, the Warriors are more willing to give them more opportunities to face strong opponents.

So in this game against the Bucks, the Warriors' starters are Chen Xiao, Big Eyebrow, Jaylen Brown, Klay and Devin Booker.

Although the starting lineup was changed in this game, the Warriors' style of play remained unchanged.

It's still the outside players who take crazy turns to beat Curry in isolation.

Against Curry, you need to take the initiative to consume him and not let him focus all his energy on the offensive end.

The players who take on this task in this game are, of course, Jaylen Brown and Devin Booker.

How did these two people accomplish this task in this game?

If you want to say success, it doesn't seem to be considered a success. Devin Booker made 11 of 21 in this game, 3 of 9 three-pointers, and scored 28 points. Facing the league MVP, he played this level of offense, really Not bad, but in this game, Devin Booker's 9 turnovers were very eye-catching. It can be seen from the mistakes that Devin Booker is not very accustomed to such a heavy task.

At the same time, it can be seen from Devin Booker's offensive efficiency that he can take on the task of beating Curry in isolation.

Maybe his efficiency and stability are not as good as Wade and Luo Ge, but he is young, hardworking, and has certain abilities, which can be worthy of focusing on training.

In addition, Jaylen Brown's data in this game was 7 of 18, 3 of 8 three-pointers, and scored 18 points.

Jaylen Brown's task of consuming Curry in this game was not as good as Devin Booker's. His figure is very superior, but his singles ability is not as good as Devin Booker's. Although he is very confident, his ability is not in place, so he still needs Keep up the hard work.

So, generally speaking, although the Warriors lost to the Bucks 120-123 in this game, this game also allowed the Warriors to see clearly how strong the young people on the team have grown.

To be honest, although the Warriors lost this game, the Bucks were not so happy after winning.

After all, the two veterans of the Warriors, Wade and Ron Howard, did not play a minute in this game!

Therefore, although the Bucks ranked first in the league with their victory in this game, Ray Allen was very humble after the game.

"This is not the strongest Warriors team, we are still challengers."

After losing to the Bucks, the Warriors faced the Cavaliers back-to-back on the 13th. In this game, the Warriors rested Chen Xiao, Wade and Ron Howard. In the end, the Warriors lost 108-118 on the road.

Losing this game is natural.

After losing two consecutive games to the Cavaliers, the Warriors defeated the Raptors and Bulls with all their main players, ending their four-game road trip in the Eastern Conference.

After four consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference, the remaining opponents in January are Houston, Knicks, Timberwolves, Celtics, and Jazz.

The Warriors also ended their remaining games in January with a winning streak.

Before the All-Star voting results were released, the Warriors temporarily ranked second in the league with a record of 46 wins and 5 losses.