NBA Backer King

  Chapter 209 Leadership Ability

Back in the locker room, seeing Wang Tiejun a little dejected, no longer in the medicinal bath, sitting there in a daze, Kevin Johnson comforted: "Old K, don't be discouraged, the Magic beat the Hornets the day before yesterday and averaged 39 shots per game in the first three games. Shaquille O'Neal was guarded by Mourning and made 6 of 15 shots, the same as you, and only 40% from the field, plus only 19 points from the free throw, his performance was not better than you."

   "You're right, Kevin, my confidence is back."

   Hearing that the guy O'Neal suffered a loss under the double team, Pharaoh instantly felt relieved, nodded, patted Kevin Johnson on the shoulder, and stood up to take a medicinal bath.

  Liu Changfeng has put a lid on the medicine bucket, only showing one head. After putting a towel on his neck, there is no smell of medicine wafting out. He doesn't need to hide in any utility room to soak, just soak in the bathroom.

   In this game, Wang Tiejun thought he would be bombarded by the media, but he was wrong. Most of the media did not target him, but fired at the management, accusing the management of giving up Barkley as a stupid decision.

   For him, under the double-teaming of two superstars + a meat shield, either double-teamed or triple-teamed. Although his performance is low, many media have affirmed him.

  The Los Angeles Times featured an article by famous basketball commentator Max in the sports section, in which Max said:

   "Barkley and a human shield teamed up to encircle Old K, and when Da Meng frequently played weak-side assist defense, he mobilized half of the team's defensive strength, which only shows one problem, Old K is strong on the offensive end.

The reason for the Suns' big defeat is that the old K, who is the core of the team, has a great responsibility, but the biggest responsibility should be borne by the coaching staff. The team loses and does nothing. "

  The Suns also have an away game, against the Warriors on the 16th. The team arranges to leave for San Francisco in the afternoon and will stay there for three nights.

  Wang Tiejun took a leave of absence after breakfast and went to Chinatown in Houston with Liu Changfeng.

   He came here once last season and bought some CDs. This time he purchased a batch of Chinese herbal medicines for refining medicinal oils and taking medicinal baths.

   At five o'clock in the afternoon, the team arrived in San Francisco.

   He tried to make an appointment with Roberts. Unexpectedly, the girl actually agreed, and the two went to the private meeting in the private hotel last time.

   "Old K, can you win the championship this season?" Roberts lit a cigarette and asked casually after the storm.

He hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "The Bulls have such a strong lineup now, even if we make it to the finals, the perimeter from No. 1 to No. 3 will all be destroyed, and the advantage on the inside is not as great as last season. It's hard.

   And even in the West, we wanted to rush out, and Mosaic had a hard time, we just lost to them. "

   "Then you shouldn't trade Barkley at all," Roberts said.

"There's no way to do this. The team wants to train me, and Barkley is not old. How could he be willing to be Luye? If he wants to stay, it is obvious that I will step on him. Just like you, you are willing to give a little star. A supporting role? No matter how good a relationship is." He laughed.

   "Looking at how confident you are in front of the media, it turns out that your acting skills are so good now? Come on, which woman in Hollywood taught you?" Roberts teased.

   "Who else is there? Beautiful Roberts."

   He laughed and said with a smile: "Although I don't have much hope this season, I still have to fight hard. What if it succeeds?"

   said so, but it is really not very sure.

   Judging from the current start, the team's own lineup is good and bad.

   Kevin Johnson's condition at No. 1 is okay, even a little bit better than last season. It's worthwhile for him to practice extra in the offseason, and his condition is very good.

   No. 2, Dan Marley's potential is limited. He averaged 16 points per game.

   No. 3, whether it's Ceballos or Horry, has average strength. No matter how well he plays, he can't reach the standard of a star, just a role player.

   No. 4, currently starting with AC Green, his attitude to play is really hard, but his talent is only average. He can't play the star level at both ends of the offense and defense, and the tonnage is too light, so the defense can't help him much.

   And he himself is still a little tender. When he encounters a super insider combination like Da Meng and Barkley, or even just a double-team of Barkley + meat shield, he is blinded.

   The bench lineup is a bit stronger than last season, with Oliver Miller + Otis Thorpe on the inside, one of Ceballos and Horry on the outside, plus Danny Ainge, not too weak.

   But with such a lineup, it is very difficult to successfully defend the title, and it is very difficult to get out of the West.

   This season is not as good as last season. Both the Bulls and the Mosaic have strengthened. Relatively speaking, the Suns have weakened. One rise and one fall, the strength has been pulled away by a certain distance.

   The next morning, the two were in love again, and then they left the hotel one after another and went their separate ways.

  16, match day.

   At 7:30 in the evening, the two sides announced the starting list.

  Suns: Wang Tiejun, AC Green, Horry, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

   Warriors: Victor Alexander, Chris Webber, Billy Owens, Latrell Prewell, Avery Johnson

  The Warriors did not make the playoffs last season. They were lucky in the lottery. They got the third overall pick. They completed the trade with the Magic in the draft and got the No. 1 overall pick Chris Webber.

   This is a talented inside player. Now his skills are very comprehensive, gorgeous, and his ball quotient is quite high.

Originally, the Warriors had great confidence in this season, but I didn’t expect that Tim Hardaway, the little bug, collided with his teammates in an intra-team practice game before the regular season started, tearing the cruciate ligament in his left knee. There was no way. Only from the Spurs can get a small general Avery Johnson, as the starting point guard.

   But in general, the Warriors still have confidence in the playoffs, and the lineup is not bad.

   This game was not broadcast live in the United States, and CCTV did not broadcast the game. It was only broadcast in the San Francisco area. The two live commentators were Swell Doug and Phylyn Rambis.

Doug said at this time: "In order to compete with the two behemoths of O'Neal and the old K, to be precise against the old K, because O'Neal is in the East, it has little to do with us, unless we can reach the finals, so the team let Alexander put on weight and we got our own meat shields.

  Team Mosaic has limited the old K's performance well through the containment effect of the meat shield. I hope we can limit him tonight as well. "

  Lambis said with a smile: "I believe in the tactical ability of old Nelson, a tactical master of a generation, he is more than a hundred meters stronger than his opponent tonight."

   "Haha..." The two laughed.

   At eight o'clock, the game officially started.

  Wang Tiejun and Alexander stood in the middle circle, ready to jump ball.

  Alexander is 206 cm tall, his original tonnage was 120 kg, and he gained 130 kg in a few months.

   He was the No. 11 pick in the first round in 1991, but his strength and potential are average, and now he has become a meat shield for the Warriors.

   In fact, meat shield players also need to be talented. First of all, your knee joints must be strong enough, and your feet must be strong enough. Otherwise, such a large weight will not last long.

A player like Alexander will definitely not have a long career after gaining weight. The Warriors are simply squeezing his potential value. It is very likely that they will be lost when they are used up. Anyway, the NBA never lacks people, and there are countless people who want to enter this league to earn money. big money.

   "Whistle!"

The    whistle sounded and the referee threw the ball.

"Snapped!"

   The tonnage is too large, and there is no pressure to jump up at all because of the lack of jumping talent. Wang Tiejun smoothly swiped the ball away.

  AC Green opened on the right wing, and the No. 1 draft pick Webber learned the defensive strategy of Dameng, took a step, stood one step outside the right waist in the paint area, and reserved the opportunity to return to the basket.

   On the left wing, Horry ran back and forth at the three-point line, Billy Owens let him take a step, and kept a step away from Wang Tiejun, who was low on the left wing.

  The left wing is low, and Alexander takes the top defense.

   Zhang Lili and Su Qun were in the media booth behind the bottom line, the former whispered: "From the perspective of the Warriors' defensive formation, Nelson copied the defensive strategy of the Mosaic team."

   "Bring it to doctrine!" Su Qun complained.

   "It works."

   shook his head, Zhang Lili said again: "But the Warriors can't replicate the defense of the Mosaic team, the No. 1 draft pick Webber is not a big dream, and small forward Billy Owens is not Barkley.

  Especially Owens, who is responsible for the main defense and double-teaming. Like Chris Mullin, he is a swingman in front and back. Although he is 203 cm tall, he weighs only 100 kg.

   This kind of tonnage wants to double-team Wang Tiejun. Think of the Mosaic team's main small forward Mario Eli, who was hit with a broken rib in the last game. He also has a tonnage of 100 kilograms, so Owens might end up like that. "

   "It's possible, hehe..."

   The two of them whispered, and the offense on the field had already started.

   The Warriors' double-team begins when the ball at the top of the arc goes low on the left wing.

   On the weak side, Webber quickly returned to the basket according to the tactical requirements to prevent Wang Tiejun from slipping and attacking the basket.

On the strong side, small forward Billy Owens, who was only one step away from Wang Tiejun, quickly pounced.

   On the three-point line, Horry asked for the ball, but he was empty, but Wang Tiejun ignored his movement.

   "Boom!"

When Owens pounced, Wang Tiejun's left foot did not move, and his right foot suddenly swung outwards. A ferocious Tieshan leaned against him. The former groaned, and under the strong leaning force and reaction force , the 100 kg body is thrown directly backwards.

   "Good job!" After the bottom line, Su Qun shouted excitedly.

   "Boom!"

   In the second Tieshan hit, Wang Tiejun knocked off the human shield Alexander.

   Gained space to shoot, and he no longer attacked the basket, got up and played a frontal hook. Alexander, who was knocked away, failed to make defensive moves.

"brush!"

   was almost open, and the ball landed in the basket with great precision.

   "Billy, are you alright?"

   On the sidelines, old Nelson shouted.

   "It's fine." Owens got up with some difficulty.

   He felt that the right chest that was hit was very tight, and he had to open his mouth to breathe, but the bones should be fine, there was no stinging feeling of broken bones.

   "Do your job," Nelson instructed.

   He nodded, the head coach canceled his double team.

The Knicks regret copying the defensive strategy of the Mosaic team. He doesn't have Barkley in his hands, and Barkley's fat body is hard to be injured even if he is hit by the old K. Moreover, the defensive experience is too rich, too slippery, and will not Easy to give old K a chance to hit him.

But the average small forward is too light. Going to double-team a particularly brutal character like Old K is a huge disadvantage. If you are not careful, you will be injured. will be injured.

   "Chris, be careful." He shouted at Webber again.

   This is telling Webber, don't try too **** defense, let's focus on offense, use offense to overwhelm the Suns, and still win the game.

   Under this guiding ideology, the two sides started an offensive war.

  The meat shield Alexander played only 23 minutes in the whole game, and he committed six fouls. He was beaten by Wang Tiejun. The Warriors' interior line became weaker and weaker, and he was allowed to take whatever they wanted.

   But Webber deserves to be the No. 1 overall pick. He made 9 of 12 shots on Green's head, hitting a terrifying 75% and scoring 21 points.

Including Webber, a total of four Warriors scored 20+ points. The future madman Sprewell scored the Warriors' highest 23 points. Small forward Owens also shot Horry and scored 22 points. Johnson made 9 of 15 shots and scored 20 points.

   Plus Alexander scored 4 points, the five teamed up to score 90 points, and future Hall of Famer Chris Mullin scored 14 points off the bench.

But the Warriors are an oddball, not counting the bench Chris Mullin, the other five substitutes added up to 29 minutes of playing time, 0-of-5 from the field, three of them didn't get a single shot, and the five teamed up to contribute zero points .

   In the end, at 116:104, the Warriors, whose backup lineup was too rubbish, lost the game at home. No matter how strong the main lineup was, it could not restore the fate of defeat.

In 45 minutes, Wang Tiejun made 13 of 20 shots, with a shooting rate of 65%. He attacked the basket 10 times, accounting for 50% of the game. He hit 8 goals, missed two shots, made 10 shots in the past two points, and hit 5 goals. Not bad.

   With 6 of 11 free throws, he scored 32 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in this game.

   In the first 6 games, with 5 wins and 1 loss, the Suns ranked third in the Western Conference, second only to the Mosaic team and the SuperSonics who have won 6 games.

   Next, the Suns will return to Phoenix for four consecutive home games, including a back-to-back. No. 19 and No. 20 will play the Blazers and Cavaliers in a row.

  On the morning of the 17th, Comrade Wang and Roberts had another date, and then boarded the plane with the team in the afternoon.

   On the 19th, the Suns defeated the bad team Trail Blazers, but in the second day's back-to-back, they played poorly and lost to the bad team Cavaliers.

   6 wins and 2 losses, or third in the West.

  Mosaic has 7 wins and 1 loss, ranking second in the West.

This team just lost to the Knicks on the road. Barkley returned from an old injury and played only 23 minutes. The two teams played in overtime. The Knicks' Starks hit a three-pointer in the last minute. , lore the opponent.

   Last season, the Suns' Western Conference opponent, the Supersonics, won all eight games and was still the first in the Western Conference.

   The fourth-year Payton has become more mature, and his strength at both ends of the offense and defense has improved rapidly. In addition, he has introduced German insider Schramf, and his strength is stronger than last season.

  Eastern, the bulls are the best in the world, and they also won all eight battles.

Jordan lost three consecutive championships, failed to create a dynasty, and his father was shot and killed by two gangsters. Under the double stimulation, this season was awe-inspiring from the beginning. He averaged 35.6 points per game in the first eight games, ranking high in the league. First.

   He won the 7th scoring title last season, and only averaged 32.6 points per game. This season, the desire to score is stronger. No one knows what records he will create this season after being stimulated.

   On the 24th, after four days of rest, the Suns ushered in the challenge of the Nuggets.

  I had rested for a few days, and I should be in good shape, but I was just too relaxed and played too casually. Taking the ball was a wave shot, but I lost the game.

   Kevin Johnson, who had a good start, lost this performance, making only 5 of 16 shots, and only got 12 points and 6 assists.

   Dan Marley also made 3 of 14 shots and scored only 8 points.

   The perimeter was all rushing, the tempo was too fast, Wang Tiejun ran uselessly on both ends, wasting his physical energy, and he didn't get many opportunities. He made 8 of 14 shots, plus 4 of 6 penalty points, just got 20 points.

   Head coach Westphal was furious and, rarely, got angry in the locker room.

   His ability is average, but he is very soft in dealing with players, but this time he was really angry, and even team leader Kevin Johnson was said a few harsh words by him.

He asked: "Kevin, you know, you only have three breakthroughs in the whole game, and the other 13 are all outside jumpers. Have you forgotten what you are good at? Are you training extra in the offseason just to make waves on the court? Can't you see Old K asking for the ball inside?"

   "Coach, I'll pay attention next time."

  Kevin Johnson's face flushed, and he immediately admitted his mistake.

   Westphal challenged Marley again, asking, "And you, Dan, what's your hit rate tonight?"

  Dan Marley murmured, "About... 30%."

   "No, it's only 21.4%, and I'm older than that." He sneered.

   "I see." Dan Marley's head fell to the floor.

Westphal spit at Robert Horry again: "Horry, you got seven passes from Kevin tonight, only one you gave to the old K, and the other six times you shot all yourself against the defender. , but only hit two.

   Now you tell me, are you hungry for shots? Who allowed you to do random shots? Don't you know what you're capable of? You're good at open jumpers, not on the ball. "

  Horry's black face can't see the color, but his head is the same as Danmar, and it's almost on the floor.

   But he complained aggrievedly in his heart, can you blame me? After getting the ball, Old K would rather be double-teamed than never give it to me. He doesn’t trust me at all. I’m a superfluous player in the starting lineup.

   "Green, you are sleepwalking tonight, are you going to see the doctor?" Westphal sprayed Iron Man Green again.

  Green also had nothing to say, he was really out of shape today.

   "Today I want to praise the substitute players, you guys played well, some people who play hard should be rewarded... Otis, Ceballos, you will start off the court."

   Westphal saw that the attitude of several starters was not bad, so he let them go and started to praise the bench who played well tonight.

   "Yes, coach." The two replied excitedly.

   The two people who were removed from the starting lineup lamented in their hearts, and if this goes on, they don't know when they will be able to come back.

"hey-hey…"

   Seeing that the head coach didn't say anything about him, and the other starters were sprayed, Comrade Pharaoh laughed smugly.

   "Old K, what are you laughing at?"

Seeing his smile, Westphal's fire came out again, and immediately said: "As the core of the team, as the leader of the team, when you see your teammates throwing waves, have you stopped them? Did you say a word?"

  “…”

  Pharaoh is speechless, does the core want to do this job? But when Barkley was around, he didn't do that either.

   He has only been a core for a few days. How can he know how to be a core, and no one has taught him. Barkley and Kevin Johnson are actually not qualified leaders, and everything is still being explored.

  The core of the team is very important to the team.

   A leader with ordinary leadership ability, no matter how strong the team lineup is, can't be tied together, but a leader with top leadership ability can twist the entire team into a rope and stimulate the morale of the team.

  For example, Jordan is the top team leader, and Pippen grew up in his persecution and trash talk.

   And the Knicks' Ewing is far inferior to Jordan in this regard. The team leader is actually the villain Charles Oakley.

   Even David Robinson can't handle Rodman, but his leadership ability is only average.

   Colangelo watched the players on the side. He found a problem. The attitude of some veteran players was not as good as last season, and they were a little slack.

   But this is also what the team should be after winning the championship. When the honor is in hand, some players just want to mess around after they get big contracts.

   6 wins and 3 losses, the Suns are still third in the West, but tied for third, and the Jazz have the same record.

  Cha Cha, the Suns will face the challenge of the Jazz at home on the 27th.

   (end of this chapter)