The Strongest Bishop in the NBA

This year's Christmas game, the most important drama is the matchup between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

These two Eastern Conference teams are currently recognized as the strongest teams in the league, ranking first and second in the odds of winning the lottery respectively.

Although the Wizards are without Wang Xiao to coach, the team that Wang Xiao has built up over the years still exists. The starting five of Curry, Thompson, George, Leonard and Gobert can be described as invincible. The regular season historical record just set this season is unlikely, but there is still no problem with winning more than 60 games steadily.

On the other hand, the Big Four of the Cavaliers did not disintegrate after a failed season. Instead, they made every effort to compete with the Wizards who lost Wang Xiao for the championship.

So far this season, the performance of the Cavaliers has been remarkable. James has evolved more and more terrifyingly, and Howard, Irving and Love have also begun to make changes like Wade to adapt to James' playing style. The data of all three has declined to a certain extent, but the Cavaliers have become stronger, there is no doubt about it.

The Christmas game is at the home court of the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers, who have the home court advantage, took the initiative at the beginning and quickly opened up the point difference under the leadership of James.

The Wizards got off to a slow start, but quickly adjusted their status, gradually relying on the advantages of the lineup to slowly recover the point difference.

When the game reached halftime, the score between the two sides was 61:57, and the Cavaliers only had a 4-point advantage.

In the following third quarter, the Wizards habitually exerted their strength, and a wave of 12:2 attacks instantly reversed the situation and overtook the score, entering the fourth quarter with a 6-point advantage.

In the final quarter of the game, the two sides had a lot of stalemate. In the first five minutes, the two sides scored only 5 points respectively, but in the last five minutes, Curry broke out.

Hitting three consecutive three-pointers helped the Wizards widen the point difference to more than double digits, and then the Wizards have been stabilizing this score and winning the Christmas War at the Cavaliers' home court.

Fans of the Wizards are rejoicing, because this is the second time that the Wizards have defeated the Cavaliers in the regular season.

The Cavaliers fans held their heads in their hands, their eyes helpless and confused.

They can see that the team has tried their best, but still lost the game. They don't know how to beat the Wizards. This team looks so impeccable. Strong players like Green and Butler.

Could it be that the Cavaliers really missed the championship?

It seemed to be so, but Wang Xiao, who watched the whole game, frowned slightly. He clearly discovered the current problems of the Wizards.

This team is a bit different from last season. Although the individual strength of the players is stronger than last season, the overall fluency of the team has declined.

The reason lies in the delivery of basketball.

In Wang Xiao's system, four of the five positions of the Wizards have the ability to attack and pass the ball. When necessary, they can even do it in all five positions. Offensive and defensive transitions and pick-and-roll passes are coordinated to find open players to attack.

But this season, the frequency of the Wizards' passes and cuts has been significantly reduced, and individual singles have increased. Some balls clearly have better choices, but they have not been executed.

"There's something wrong with the team..."

Wang Xiao knew it in his heart.

In fact, the problem of ball distribution is not only a problem for the Cavaliers, but also a problem for the Wizards.

Compared with the Cavaliers, the Wizards actually have more players who need the ball.

Curry, George, Leonard, and Thompson all need a certain amount of possession, as do Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler on the bench.

Although many people, including Curry and Thompson, can play off the ball, they cannot completely play off the ball.

Curry, as the core of the team, cannot play completely off the ball, and neither can Thompson.

This other world is different.

In another world, although the Warriors version of Thompson gives the impression of a lot of offense without the ball, in fact he touches the ball a lot, averaging about 17 times per game at his peak. It was Durant before the Warriors. The Warriors are well-deserved second masters.

And even after Durant came, Thompson's average number of shots per game was not lower than that of the opponent.

But in the current Wizards, he is only the team's fourth offensive option, after Curry, George, and Leonard.

If you play completely off the ball, then the result is that Curry, George Leonard and the three divide up the ball, and Thompson can only be a fixed-point shooter.

Even Thompson, who takes team first as his credo, cannot accept such a result, not to mention that this season is Thompson's contract year, and he also wants a lucrative contract.

So not long after the start of the new season, Thompson's playing style has also changed. After receiving the ball, he will still shoot quickly. If it is not open, he will not pass the ball immediately. Instead, he will try to rely on his personal ability to find some flaws and continue to attack. .

This happens not only to Thompson, but also to George, Leonard, and even Butler on the bench. After all, no one is born content to be the second or third or even fourth leader.

It's just that the Wizards' lineup is too strong, so that the tactical execution is not enough, and they can still easily win most of the duels.

Wizards coach Kerr certainly understands this, but there is no good way.

This is related to the richness of the player's contract when the contract is renewed. There are only so many shots that can be made in a game, and a few players can be divided up at random. Even if he is the head coach, it is impossible to order these players to do so willingly. Hand over the ball, unless he is as powerful as Wang Xiao and has the right to let any player pack up and leave.

So he can only turn a blind eye, when none of this happened.

The Wizards' record is not as good as last season, and the usual head coach Wang Xiao can also use the excuse that everyone is still in the groping stage for leaving the team.

Sometimes, it is not entirely a good thing that there are too many talented players in the team. Fortunately, these players are all mild-mannered and well-behaved players. It's a mess.

If Wang Xiao was still on the Wizards, he would have to consider who would be traded away from the team at this time in exchange for some benefits.

This summer, the Wizards' cap space will face a huge challenge.

The contracts of Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler expire at the same time. According to the current performance of Leonard and Thompson, they will definitely ask for a maximum salary renewal. The contract extension between Green and Butler is also expected to be in the tens of millions.

At present, the Wizards' salary space can only renew the contracts of two players at most, and it is still impossible to renew the contracts of Leonard and Thompson at the same time.