The rest is just noise

Chapter 1,314 The Rookie of the Year Thief

On the surface, Wilson didn't have a positive reaction to winning his third career MVP, but his status in the remaining two games against the Spurs in the semifinals spoke volumes.

Game3

For the Spurs, this is a life-and-death game for the season.

If we lose, we will be behind 3-0 by a big score, and then we can basically clean up the preparations for the offseason.

However, Wilson's state in this game was even more terrifying than in the previous game.

Wilson played 30 minutes and made 14 of 14 shots, including 4 three-pointers. Without free throws, Wilson turned the game into a shooting game. He scored 32 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, leading the team to crush the Spurs.

"We've tried everything we could to stop him, but to no avail," Popovich said. "Benj is undoubtedly the best player in the league."

Louis' job here is easy.

Because Wilson is in such good shape, it will be difficult for the Lakers to lose the game as long as they play around him.

Moreover, the impact on the young people in the team was even greater.

Wilson's dominant performance made Garnett feel that he may never reach this level on the offensive end. However, he should have his own development path.

Garnett wants to be a superstar who can be paired with a player like Wilson without distinction.

Nash further felt the impact and deterrence of offensive threats from Wilson.

Wilson's strength lies not in his 14-for-14 shooting performance, but in his flawless combination of personal offense and team offense.

Louis' system amplified his power and made it explode.

However, in the final analysis, the two are mutually beneficial.

Louis needs a super giant like Wilson to implement his system, and Wilson is the unstoppable conqueror only in Louis' system.

What Nash is thinking is that if his ball-handling threat can reach Wilson's level, maybe...?

Kobe was most shocked by Wilson's performance - or in other words, he felt annoyed. He was annoyed why he couldn't discover Wilson's greatest shining point earlier.

Because Wilson has played like this since his debut.

At that time, Kobe only thought Wilson was the superstar of the Knicks system, because most of his points were obtained through tactics.

Even if the playoff record between Wilson and Jordan remained undefeated before 1996, Kobe still believed that Wilson won because his teammates and coaching staff were better, and Jordan was the stronger one, regardless of the quality of his game.

, technical reserves, and influence on both offense and defense, there is no doubt that he is the strongest.

Why can't he beat Wilson?

Kobe's mind flashed back to what Liu Yuqing said to him during the preseason training camp - "I'll give you a piece of advice, the game is not one-on-one."

Maybe this sentence is the answer.

Wilson is not the strongest one-on-one player, he is not even the strongest active player, but he is and will be the strongest five-on-five ace.

He can defeat Jordan with the help of the other four people, but no matter whether Drexler, Olajuwon, or Barkley is standing next to Jordan, he cannot have a similar chemical reaction with them.

He can always only prove his strength on an individual level, while Wilson always proves himself on a team level.

This fact had a subversive impact on Kobe's view of basketball.

Just like a person whose three views have been destroyed, he either admits that the ideas he has accepted since childhood are wrong, or he has to be deeply tortured by the mental internal friction of self-contradiction, questioning, argumentation and counter-argument.

"Benj is really amazing!" Benj pushed Kobe, "Are you convinced tonight?"

Kobe said helplessly: "Leave me alone."

"I'm just annoying you! I'm just annoying you! Why don't you say anything?"

Kobe said displeasedly: "After he played such a good game, don't you have any feelings at all?"

"How can I feel? I just want to train hard and hope to have more playing time in the second season."

Kobe arrogantly expressed his understanding of Ben's pragmatic ideas.

This is indeed something that big books should consider. As for what a style of play like Wilson means to players, this is a very profound issue that noble lottery picks should consider. Don't make it difficult for low-energy second-round picks.

Already.

Back in the locker room, Barkley shouted excitedly: "We must win the next game with all our strength! I don't want to play the fifth game!"

"Hey, do you really want to meet your spiritual mentor, Coach Riley, for the Western Conference Finals?" Louis said sarcastically to the fat man.

Buckley directly said: "CTMD Pat Riley..."

However, Louis also hopes that the semifinals with the Spurs will end as soon as possible.

Because the Eastern Conference semifinals have begun to move in the direction of Louis and everyone who wants to watch the excitement.

The Heat and Celtics, and the Knicks and Magic, two rounds of the Eastern Conference semifinals that attracted a lot of attention. The Heat and Knicks, who were even more promising, all fell behind 1 to 2.

Especially Miami was "wonderful". After the third game, the Heat lost to the Celtics by 10 points. After Manning was beaten by Malone, he directly told the media: "We have people who don't want to win."

Then, second-in-command Petrovich did not tolerate Manning at all, and said in the same words: "Someone is unhappy, and this is the reason why we lost."

Louie absolutely believed that Manning might have gotten into a fight with Petrovic on the field.

In order not to miss this historic NBA media moment, the Spurs quickly died.

You were all beaten 3-0. You don’t really think there is such a thing as losing three to four, right?

Game4

The Lakers are ready, but the Spurs seem to be out of spirits.

David Robinson had a poor start. He had several misplaced opportunities to hit Barkley in singles, but his shots were either short or missed.

This caused Louis to abandon his three-game "Kill Robinson" strategy and instead target Iverson and Mashburn.

Mainly Iverson.

Rookie Allen Iverson is actually not worth targeting at a strategic level, so Louis is just changing his thinking slightly.

As a result, Iverson was not in good condition, and after being targeted, his performance became even worse.

Mashburn, who is usually the least efficient and the one the Spurs least expected, turned out to be the most impressive person tonight.

Robinson made 6 of 19 shots and scored 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Iverson transformed into a blacksmith in the Holy City, and he was full of Mamba mentality from beginning to end. The more he failed to make a shot, the harder he had to make one. Popovich tried to persuade him but it didn't work. He made 6 of 35 shots from the field, and the basket was knocked crooked.

.

Iverson's performance was even used by Louis to educate Kobe, starting with "If you dare to play like him...", but Kobe repeatedly promised that he would never play like this until his death. It was really selfish.

Every time Kobe said this, Louis would pinch his face, and the reaction from the pain nerve reminded him that, yes, this is a Kobe Bryant who took "trust your teammates" and "don't be too selfish" as words.

The world of catchphrases.

As for the Spurs, the CPU was burned out and without a spare, a disastrous defeat was inevitable.

Popovich, who is still very immature, can do nothing about this situation and can only watch the Spurs face the defeat in the most miserable way.

122 to 98

The Lakers defeated the Spurs by 24 points and eliminated them 4-0.

"See you next year, Greg."

Popovich saw the sincere joy on Louis' face, and it seemed that defeating the Spurs was a very happy thing for them.

"See you next year, Coach Lu." Popovich is determined to make this team stronger, but the prerequisite is that Iverson must put away that damn temper.

At the same time, in the classic "hug and say goodbye" session at the end of the series, Kobe said something unbearable to Iverson: "I think the real best player of the year should lead his team to advance.

Conference finals, what do you think?"

The corner of Iverson's mouth twitched uncontrollably...

A guy who averaged 13 minutes a game in a series says a guy who averaged 39 minutes a game in a series doesn't deserve Rookie of the Year because he lost the series?

What's even more outrageous is that Liu Yuqing hugged Iverson after Kobe and said flatly: "Goodbye, the thief of the Rookie of the Year."

"Are you serious?"

Iverson asked seriously.

Liu Yuqing didn't reply, just waved.

Iverson came to Wilson with suspicion and discomfort.

Wilson looked at him regretfully: "You played so poorly tonight. Beane's theory of award plagiarism has a basis for argumentation."

Iverson couldn't bear it anymore.

"You don't really think he's more qualified to be Rookie of the Year than me, right? Are you mistaken?!"