The Pope of Basketball Community

Due to the appreciation of "Smiling Assassin" Isiah Thomas, Damon Stoudemire was selected by the Raptors with the seventh overall pick in 1995, and became the core of the team's offense as soon as he joined. He is rated higher than Camby and is the only Raptors star touted by the media before. He has played star data for two consecutive seasons, and many fans are dissatisfied that he was not selected for the All-Star Game.

Precisely because many people thought he was a star, Stoudemire's self-confidence was over-inflated. Even though he had privileges in the team, in the 1996-97 season, he and his agent forced the management and insisted on leaving the team. His reason is that he wants to join a strong team and compete for the championship.

At that time, Stoudemire placed himself at the level of Iverson and believed that he would also be a star if he went to other teams. Now he regrets it too much. He has joined a strong team and cannot be the core player with his abilities. In the Trail Blazers, he is at best the fourth option on offense this season.

He only made two shots, and the coach became dissatisfied. This kind of treatment was completely different from when he was with the Raptors.

Basketball is just a business. As Stoudemire grew up, he realized how difficult it was to gain status in a team and build relationships with coaches and teammates. He had a perfect start and gave up on himself. No one is coaxing him to be a star, and he can no longer be as selfish as he was with the Raptors.

The Raptors are closer to the championship than the Trail Blazers, but Stoudemire has no chance to do it again. This is the most ironic. His failure to play under Yang Rui was like meeting a girl he liked on the street but not pursuing her to ask for her contact information, leaving a lifelong regret.

Smith and Rasheed set a pick-and-roll and took two steps to Rasheed. Facing Christie, the latter turned around and made a straight-arm jump shot, but missed due to interference. O'Neal Jr. grabbed the rebound.

The Blazers' rebounding ability is average, and they mainly rely on collective fighting. Carter and Miller help their teammates block people, and it is much easier for O'Neal to get rebounds. His teammates are interested in helping him play and produce good data.

Boykins dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, Miller received the ball and organized, Carter led Pippen to the right, Miller dribbled the ball to create a little space, and passed the ball to Boykins. The latter relied on O'Neal's cover to cut inside, and Stoudamire was blocked for a while.

Rasheed had good sense and quickly changed defense. Boykins circled around the basket.

The ball was passed from the right corner to O'Neal on the left.

O'Neal Jr. used his body to squeeze away Stoudemire to catch the ball and made a jump shot. Rasheed was too late to pursue him. Stoudemire jumped up and couldn't cover it, and the ball went in. 11 to 2.

When the Trail Blazers attacked, Stoudemire also took advantage of his small size. After the pick-and-roll, he passed Miller, attracted the pursuit of the ball, and assisted Sabonis to score a high mid-range shot. 11 to 4.

The Raptors made a mistake in the next round. Miller's intention of passing the ball to Carter was too obvious. Pippen successfully stole the ball and passed it to Stoudemire on the fast break. The latter singled out Boykins and forced a layup, causing a foul. All free throws. 11 to 6.

In the Raptors' position battle, O'Neal Jr. caught the ball after covering, hit Stoudemire in a misplaced position, turned and made a jumper. 13 to 6.

No matter how soft the media and fans are on O'Neal, his jump shots when out of position give many teams a headache. The small man cannot block shots, but his turn is smooth and his touch is soft. It's not a disadvantage for a big man to play like a guard.

After another three minutes of play, the Raptors led 22-15. Trail Blazers coach Dunleavy called a timeout first, replaced Sabonis and replaced him with Brian Grant.

The Raptors center moved outside the three-point line, Sabonis could not play his role in protecting the frame, and the defense against breakthroughs was still a weakness. The reason for the substitution after playing for a while was because Dunleavy was also interested in offense, and the organizational skills of the two substitute insiders could not be compared with Sabonis.

Camby continues to sit on the bench. He is also a person who was cheated by the trade. He doesn't know how to organize and has poor shooting, both of which displease Dunleavy. When he was given a chance to perform last season, Camby failed to grasp it. Instead, he showed the characteristics of a glass man.

This season, Camby only played 15 minutes per game. He was a pure blue-collar player and was far from as prosperous as he was with the Raptors.

With this amount of playing time, no matter how good his physical fitness is, it is impossible to obtain good statistics. Camby only feels that his future is bleak.

Only half a minute later, Yang Rui also made a substitution. Boykins and Carter came off, and Hornacek and McGrady came on. The defense changed from man-to-man to pseudo-zone defense. McGrady guarded the Blazers' top three-pointer Smith from outside. The other four people shrank near the restricted area.

Grant can't shoot a few shots a game, and his height of 2o6m can easily interfere with his shots, so he has nothing to worry about on the offensive end.

Seeing that he couldn't open up the offensive end and had no "good cards" that were good at scoring, Dunleavy was a little angry. Although O'Neal was also a marginal player under him, at least the mid-range shot was more reliable than Camby, so it was better not to trade.

The Blazers' radio station broadcasting the game was also dissatisfied. "The role of a player really cannot be judged by reputation. Camby's statistics in the Raptors are just bad. His role in the system is not as good as O'Neal. Now it seems that the Blazers lost in that transaction. They gave away one A future All-Star in exchange for a blue-collar guy.”

In the second half, McGrady and O'Neal Jr. ensured the offensive firepower. The two played pick-and-rolls to find mismatch opportunities. Hornacek, Miller, and Christie waited for opportunities outside the three-point line and did a good job of moving the ball.

The Raptors led 35 to 25 by 10 points.

O'Neal Jr. performed best, scoring 10 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, almost scoring a double-double in a single quarter. McGrady played only 5 minutes and scored 11 points, making 4 of 5 shots, 1 of 1 three-pointers, and 2 of 2 free throws.

In the second quarter, Carter, who had taken a break, returned to the court. The other four players were Curry, McGrady, Detrev, and Willis.

Fans quickly discovered that this adjustment was targeted again.

The Blazers' swingman Bunch Wells has strong impact and physical strength. Because he returned from injury, the Blazers did not renew the contract of John Wallace, who is also good at chaos. If Christie or Hornacek were defending, it would be difficult to block his forced breakthroughs and backs. Carter is stronger and faster than Wells, and is not afraid of confrontation.

Wells made three shots against Carter and was restricted.

After "Little Bug" Bogues came on the court, he also failed to show off against the Raptors' pseudo-zone defense. He is shorter than Boykins and is the shortest player in NBA history, only 162m tall. He has sharp breakthroughs and excellent passing awareness. His shortcoming is shooting, and he is also a "traditional defender".

Pippen didn't do much better with the bench. After leaving the Bulls, he seemed to have suddenly forgotten how to shoot and became a defensive blue-collar, averaging only 12.5 points per game.

Inside, Camby and Grant also have limited shooting range, and the Blazers' bench lacks three-point shooting points.

Breen commented: "Many people still don't admit the importance of three-pointers, even if reality slaps them in the face again and again. Teams with stable three-pointers are better than teams that can't open up space. It's not just the Raptors. , the Lakers, Spurs, and Knicks have all proven this."

Fraser: "It's not enough for the Trail Blazers to just rely on Smith and Stoudemire to shoot three-pointers. Their total salary this season is as high as 7,000 million, and they can no longer sign any more, unless a team is willing to trade to help the Trail Blazers in the mid-term. A handful, otherwise it will be difficult for them to play in the playoffs." 8

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . Mobile version reading URL: