From sparring to superstar

Chapter 338

During the rest days, Li Ao was obsessed with building the tactical system. On the game day, he suddenly found that the situation in the East had changed!

At the moment, people are just shocked that the Pistons exchanged two worthless first-round players and two role players for a top power forward. They wonder what the combination of Wallace and Billups and Artest will mean. What.

However, Li Ao took a look at the Pistons' roster. Compared with the original time and space where everyone was a soldier, the Pistons' bench here is very poor!

During the offseason, in order to retain enough salary space to bring in a top insider, the Pistons gave up contract extensions with Collis Williams, Memet Okur, and Mike James.

Relying on Billups only earning a mid-level salary, and Ben Wallace and Artest each receiving only a salary of $600 million, the Pistons can make room for themselves with Ray Allen, a top-paid player on the team. There is room to forcefully attack Rasheed Wallace.

Now, after two good substitutes, Bob Sura and Lee Nylon, were traded away, the Pistons only have three outstanding substitutes on the bench. Li Ao feels that the others are not as good as the Clippers. Their Bobby Simmons and Matt Barnes are talented.

这三人分别是场均5.6分3板的坎贝尔、场均9.5分3.8板的米利西奇、场均6分2.9板1.1助攻0.9抢断0.8盖帽的泰肖恩-普林斯。

Add Billups, Ray Allen, Artest, Ben Wallace, and Rasheed Wallace, and you have the main lineup of the Pistons.

Li Ao looked at the list and fell into deep thought - was Adelman born at the right time?

If every team rotates eight players, Adelman won't be afraid of anyone.

This season, the Clippers, Spurs, Magic and other teams with top records all have 8-9 main rotations. Only the Pacers are a special case, and now there is another Pistons team...

The trade market was ignited by the Pistons and was very hot, but Li Ao only cared about the Tianzun trade.

It is expected that other famous stars will be traded. Ricky Davis, Marbury, Madman, Old Cat... these people will definitely be traded.

Francis is expected to be traded next, and Alexander will definitely further reduce salary expenses. Last season, the Rockets introduced Antonio McDyess to deceive fans and say they formed a "Big Three" to sell tickets and take vacations every now and then. News said that Antonio McDyess was recovering from his injury and was about to return. Fans came to the scene excitedly... and saw Antonio McDyess wearing a suit.

Now the backlash is coming. The Rockets have been in a slump this season, falling to the same level as the Hornets who moved to New Orleans and the Nets after losing Kidd, ranking among the bottom three in terms of revenue.

The Pistons acquired Ray Allen and Artest, which gave them a higher ceiling, but they also faced the problem of a short-term shortage of role players after the core lineup was assembled.

Li Ao set his sights on Antonio McDyess, who had just been traded back by the Suns.

If he remembers correctly, in the past two years, Antonio McDyess has perfected his mid-range shooting. Although the defensive end cannot fly as high as he did back then, he is still very good and has become a floor-level 2D center. In the end, he was defeated by Joe - Dumas takes a fancy to... this veteran and must grab it!

...

After the trade wave of well-known stars, many high-quality role players have been traded, as well as some transactions to make room for next summer's free market.

The excitement belongs to others, and the Clippers management can only covet it.

They can't join in!
What are the trade plans between other teams and the Clippers?The chips given by the Clippers are poor?Or do you want to help the Clippers continue to win the championship like the Celtics did in the past two years?

Fortunately, they now have a system to build this important thing, and the hot trading market has little impact on the coaching staff and players.

After the defensive system framework was established, the coaching staff worked non-stop to launch the next plan. It was a mistake. As long as the changes continued, the players' attention would not be focused on the lack of depth in the lineup. The hot trading market will naturally have an impact. It decreased.

On the 12th, the Clippers faced the challenge of the Bucks at home.

There were many Trojans fans here tonight. Li Ao, Gerald Wallace, and Bosh, the three most talented players of the Trojans in recent years, competed together.

In order to cultivate Bosh, the Bucks did not renew the contract with Brad Miller and sent him away in a sign-and-trade.

Unexpectedly, Bosh, who played center in college, is more suitable to play power forward in the NBA... Originally, the Bucks could have a very suitable twin-tower combination, but now it is gone.

好在波什天赋确实好，年仅19岁的他新秀赛季至今场均12分7板1助攻1.2盖帽，让雄鹿队管理层可以自我安慰最起码培养他这事儿没做错。

Also, Al Harrington, a talented high school student who was exchanged, also performed very well. He averaged 12.4 points, 6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as the sixth man. He can play almost all positions and is a jack-of-all-trades player.

The Bucks also acquired Joe Smith from the Timberwolves in the offseason.

Joe Smith fed the dog sincerely. He licked his face and ran back to the Timberwolves to follow Garnett. In the end, he was sold by the Timberwolves as a bargaining chip.

However, he got more playing time this season and switched to center, averaging 10.2 points, 8 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, his best performance in the past five years.

In addition to these three insiders, the Bucks also sent Tim Thomas to the Knicks through a three-party trade, and exchanged it from the 76ers for Keith Van Horn, who can play the third and fourth positions. The lineup is pretty good.

外线，雄鹿队有场均13分5板的小前锋德斯蒙德-梅森、场均21分的里德、场均8.6分3.2助攻的投篮型控卫达蒙-琼斯、场均4.5分5.1助攻的传球型控卫布莱文-奈特……

The Bucks management is very enterprising and capable. In the summer of 02, they failed to make a big bet on the Big Three, but they were not discouraged. They are still forging ahead this summer, their operations are very good, and they have formed a very competitive lineup. The eight-man main lineup has scored Both defensive and defensive.

The performance of the Bucks this season, if it were two years ago, they could compete for third place in the Eastern Conference!But unfortunately, the Eastern Conference is no longer the Eastern Conference it was back then. The Bucks played 22 games, with 12 wins and 10 losses, ranking only eighth in the Eastern Conference.

The Bucks' biggest problem at present is their poor ability to organize offense, which is not enough to fully utilize the abilities of their scorers.

This has to mention the embarrassing super genius-Grant Hill.

Last season, Hill still played about 20 games in the middle of the season. Before this season started, the doctor informed the Bucks that Hill was reimbursed.

At 8 p.m., the game between the Clippers and Bucks begins.

Bosh was very happy to play against Brother Spider-Man. He finally competed with this school team legend. Moreover, they are not players in the same position. They will definitely not be as miserable as James and Anthony. They can take advantage of the camera. ...Ah, no, I am asking my senior brother for advice.

But after the game started, Bosh discovered that his senior brother and the rugby player had switched defenses...

Senior brother actually played power forward on the defensive end tonight!
波什211公分、104公斤的体格，加上83的力量，如何与基础力量都有93，外加203公分、105公斤体格的李敖对抗？
Facing Li Ao, Bosh couldn't fight or run...

As for relying on height to make a strong shot, Bosh's height is a bit watery. His bare feet are only 208 centimeters, his neck is longer than ordinary people, and his shoulders are slumped. His shoulder height is basically the same as that of Li Ao, who is 203 centimeters bare feet, and his wingspan is shorter... …

When bullying his junior brother, Li Ao worked harder than bullying the top pick.

Not only did Bosh not play well in this aspect, but facing the Clippers' defense that was no weaker than the top defensive team in the East, the Bucks played very poorly offensively in positional warfare, and the point guard's ability to organize offense was too poor.

However, the Bucks counterattacked very well tonight. Their four main inside players are quick on their feet. Reid is strong in catching and shooting, and Desmond Mason is strong in impact. Under the leadership of Brevin Knight, There was a back-and-forth fight with the counterattack team led by Kidd.

The Clippers failed to gain a clear lead until the middle of the fourth quarter, when both teams were unable to advance and began to compete for the individual abilities of their stars.

Reed faced the defensive defense of Gerald Wallace and Kidd and failed to get up.

Li Ao used three-threat play and post-up play against Desmond Mason, and performed well. He made 5 of 3 shots at the critical moment. Before the official timeout, he beat the Bucks 6-2 by himself, beating the Bucks with only 3 points. The lead expanded to 7 points, establishing a clear lead.

最终，靠着李敖的36分4板5助攻2抢断3盖帽、小奥尼尔的15分8板1助攻1抢断1盖帽、以及……

基德的10分16板6助攻2抢断，快船队以93比83力克雄鹿队！
After the game, Kidd looked at his data: ()
Although he doesn't care so much about triple-doubles or not, he got 16 rebounds but didn't get a triple-double... he has to work harder to help the coaching staff complete the offensive and defensive system.

This kind of data happens a lot. Although the mood of the game will not be affected, I can't sleep in the middle of the night!
...

After three consecutive home games, the Clippers took two days off and then came to Texas to play three consecutive away games.

On the 15th, the Clippers narrowly defeated the Rockets 86-81.

When the Madman arrived in Houston, the clamor for a big contract became even more fierce, but his attitude in the game was nothing to say, and he still played conscientiously on the court.

Regardless of age or personality, the Rockets will definitely make a profit by trading an old cat for a madman.

Mobley, who is 28 years old and in his prime, is at best a first-class scorer, while Madman is still a star player who combines offense and defense even at 33 years old.

The Rockets' new backcourt had just been formed, and they almost defeated the Clippers. In the first three quarters, they led the Clippers by 70 points, 66-4.

Fortunately, the Clippers played a sweeping defense in the final quarter, 20-11 in a single quarter, and reversed the Rockets to win.

17号，快船队81比87输给马刺队；19号，快船队92比99输给小牛队，遭遇两连败。

Li Ao has lost two consecutive games against the Mavericks. Li Ao has not faced them for two years.

It was the first time in Li Ao's career that he lost two consecutive games against the Spurs!
The Spurs spent last season almost establishing a system. They introduced several outstanding players during the offseason. Although they failed to get the Roaring God that Popovich longed for, they were already ranked first in the Central Division.

After the Mavericks changed to the unlimited singles flow, their strength quickly rebounded, staying behind the Timberwolves, and may even hit the Spurs for the top spot in the division.

When playing against these two teams, the Clippers' offense was messy.

In fact, when playing the Bucks and Rockets, the Clippers' offense was very poor, worse than in the previous 20 games!
At that time, the Clippers' offense was very simple, including positional battles, interspersed runs, passes, and counterattacks. Although the intensity was a bit lower, they played very clearly. Every player knew what to do when they came on the court.

Now start experimenting with new tactics... The most significant change is that Li Ao takes more shots than last month.

If you can't hit him, throw it to Spider-Man.

For this, the Clippers coaches and players are mentally prepared. This is a pain that they will definitely experience. On the 21st, the Clippers returned to their home court and beat the Suns 113-85. Li Ao threw the ball 25 times in three quarters and scored 15 goals, including 6 of 3 three-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws. To 40 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 1 block.

Being treated as the target of his anger, Marbury was angry, but he could only be helpless and furious.

After the Suns lost to the Clippers, their record reached 4-20, ranking last in the Western Conference and second-to-last in the league, only slightly better than the Hawks' record of 3-20.

On the 22nd, the Clippers faced back-to-back challenges from the 76ers at home.

This year is the darkest year of Iverson's career.

He finally recovered last season and was fully active for the first time in his career. However, the team's strength was too poor. He averaged 43.7 minutes per game in the regular season and 47 minutes per game in the playoffs. He suddenly suffered a lot of injuries before this season. He missed 25 of 12 games, with an absence rate of nearly [-]%.

In the 13 games he played, the 76ers actually played pretty well, with a winning rate of more than half, 7 wins and 6 losses.

His personal performance is also very good, averaging 26.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

But in the 12 games he was injured, the 76ers had 3 wins and 9 losses.

Since reaching the Finals in 76, the 2001ers management has been in a daze, and its operations have become more outrageous year after year.

Last season, Derek Coleman was re-signed with a high salary, and Van Horn was introduced, who Larry Brown will not use.

This year, the 76ers replaced Chris Ford, the head coach who can play offense, but they traded away Van Horn. Forget it, they also used the space they finally freed up to pay $2 million over two years. Signed Glenn Robinson to a salary contract...

Big Dog failed to get the long-term contract he wanted during the offseason. After being cheated into getting a two-year contract, he is as smart as he is. He already knows that working hard to get 20+ is useless. There is no second fool to cheat him. Well, he played very casually this season, averaging only 16 points, 4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

The 76ers currently have 10 wins and 15 losses, ranking No. 9 in the Eastern Conference.

Looking at the rankings, the 76ers seem to be pretty good, but the Bucks, eighth in the Eastern Conference, have a record of 15 wins and 11 losses...

The Pacers, Magic, Pistons, Raptors, Knicks, Wizards, Heat, Bucks, Eastern Conference playoff teams and non-playoff teams, the early part of the season has not passed yet. The record has been discontinued.

Some are proactively failing, such as the Bulls, Hawks, and Celtics; some are unlucky, such as the Hornets whose star player has been reimbursed, the Nets who cannot retain their super giants, and those who have been dragged down by Ricky Davis for four seasons. Cavaliers in one season.

As good as the top eight in the Eastern Conference are this season, Dora is among the bottom seven.

艾弗森今晚20投8中，拿到25分9助攻3抢断，率领76人队拿到91分。

This offensive performance is quite good. In recent times, the only team that can score more than 90 points against the Clippers is the Mavericks.

But after Larry Brown left, the 76ers' defense collapsed, allowing an average of 99 points per game, a new high since Iverson's rookie year in the 96-97 season.

The Clippers defeated the 104ers 91-76, winning back-to-back games.

After 26 games in the early part of the season, the Clippers' record reached 20 wins and 6 losses!
...

The Clippers have two days off on the 23rd and 24th, and will have a Christmas Day game against the Raptors at home on the 25th.

Li Ao thought he would have a Christmas Day matchup with Yao Ming for several years. As a result, Stern did not arrange it that way. Instead, he arranged for him to face off against Carter and Yao Ming against O'Neal.

Apart from anything else, he thought it was a good arrangement for the Lakers to play away from home on Christmas Day. It would be very interesting to see the fans next door complaining on the Internet.

After the early part of the season, the Clippers averaged as low as 85.1 points per game. Only the Spurs, who averaged 84.4 points per game, were lower than them. Li Ao did not expect that one day they would play such basketball.

According to the current trend, it is not impossible for them to catch up with the Spurs.

Fortunately, they scored more than 100 points in the last two games, and the decline in points per game has been temporarily stopped, averaging 92.1 points per game.

The Pacers are averaging 91.4 points per game so far this season and conceding 85.6 points per game; the Spurs are averaging 90.1 points per game and conceding 84.4 points per game.

Comparing the two teams, the Clippers' data is still better.

During the two-day break, the Clippers did not arrange any training, and Li Ao did not think about the troubles of building the team system. He took a good rest for two days and spent Christmas Eve happily.

On the 25th, the Clippers ushered in a Christmas Day game against the Raptors at home.

卡特17投10中拿到23分4板5助攻、安东尼奥-戴维斯19分9板、唐耶尔-马绍尔三分球6投5中全场拿到22分、阿尔文-威廉姆斯8分2板6助攻……猛龙队以86比82险胜快船队。

Trailing by two points and without the ball at the last moment, the Clippers committed a tactical foul on Antonio Davis. However, although the blue-collar insider did not shoot well, he was very stable in free throws. He has a 75% shooting rate this season and made two free throws. A steady hit killed the Clippers' last hope.

Carter's long-range shots are becoming more and more stable. Carter, whose athletic ability was not ruined by Bowen's second and third shots, has successfully improved to 26, which is beyond the top level, at the age of 95.

The offensive ability seems to have come to an end, averaging 25+ points per game, but it is becoming more and more stable. This season's field goal percentage has reached 47%, a career high, and the three-point shooting percentage has also reached 41.5%.

The defensive end has improved a lot, almost to the level of a madman when Li Ao first entered the NBA. Being selected for the best defensive team depends on luck, but compared with before, when the offense surged and the defense was like a sieve, it is much better.

Li Ao estimated that Carter should have focused his training on defense, and there was no significant improvement in offense this year.

However, Carter still likes to face the defense when he rushes inside, which may also affect the further improvement of the new Flyers' offensive strength.

The Christmas game can be regarded as the kick-off game in the middle of the season. This year’s mid-season got off to a bad start...

The season still has to go on. The Clippers are currently in the midst of a 6-game winning streak with 3 games left, followed by back-to-back games on the 27th and 28th.

The 26th is a rest day. As in previous years, the Clippers training intensity became less intense after Christmas, and there were basically no training arrangements the day after the game.

For them this season, it will inevitably affect the progress of system polishing, but Gentry still reduced the number of training sessions. Health is the most important thing.

The Kings' lessons learned from the past are there. No matter how perfect the system is and no matter how tacit understanding the players have, it is nothing without health protection.

Li Ao did not stop training, and losing gave him motivation.

This season he has played one-third of the game, and the number of singles has exceeded the entire last season. His singles skills have improved faster than in the past three seasons.

Having the opportunity to let go in the game is indeed a necessary condition for progress.

But he feels that it is important to have the opportunity to throw in the game, but the solid basic skills he has accumulated over the past four years are the foundation.

After one day of training, in the evening, Li Ao learned from Schwartz that Baron Davis had been traded!
Baron Davis has nothing to do with Schwartz's agency. Schwartz told Li Ao about this because Baron Davis' next team is the Knicks!
The Hornets and the Knicks reached a deal, and the Knicks sent Kurt Thomas and Tim Thomas in exchange for Baron Davis.

Mashburn was reimbursed and the Hornets' record dropped to a low point. Last month, the media broke the news that the Hornets management was dissatisfied with Baron Davis' ability to lead the team.

Li Ao also remembers that Baron Davis would be sold cheaply in the past two years. In 04, there were mature center Okafor, talented high school students Howard and Livingston, and in 05, there were four talented point guards.

According to the Hornets' behavior, it has been determined that Baron Davis will not become a top star, and it is normal to sell him off.

The Hornets exchanged Baron Davis for the double Thomas forward combination, which is much better than the original operation of getting a few scraps from the Warriors in time and space. In the future, whether it is to get Howard, Okafor, or Paul , Deron, Kurt Thomas in the 95 class and Tim Thomas in the 97 class are all at their peak and are very good supporting veterans.

But the news he heard from Schwartz before was that the Suns and Knicks were about to complete a deal...

Schwartz answered Li Ao’s confusion.

The Knicks and Suns did come close to completing a deal, but the deal fell through after Knicks owner Dolan contacted Marbury in advance.

Dolan asked Marbury what role he wanted to play after joining. Marbury replied - "I will lead the team to win as the boss of the team. The little giant is the most promising young center. With his assistance, I Definitely can play better.”

On the other hand, Baron Davis said he would grow up with Yao Ming.

The two point guards have about the same strong statistics this season and their performance in leading the team is about the same. Dolan made a choice that is more in line with economic interests.

24-year-old Baron Davis and 23-year-old Yao Ming are indeed more suitable in terms of age.

Li Ao took a look at the Knicks' latest lineup and exchanged two high-quality role players for a first-class point guard who is still in the growth stage. The Knicks must have made a profit from this deal.

The core combination of Baron Davis, Alan Houston, and Yao Ming is also more promising than before.

But this deal has made the Knicks' originally strong interior group very weak. Apart from Yao Ming, the only interior players left for the Knicks are Vin Baker, Michael Doleak, and Osela Hanington. , these three were the Knicks' previous No. 4-6 insiders.

There is also the injury risk of Alan Houston...

But no one would have imagined that Alan Houston, who missed only 23 games in total in the first ten years of his career, would suddenly collapse. A career-destroying injury like knee stress fracture might be the reason why he was as good as an iron man in the first ten years of his career. caused by attendance.

This little giant of time and space had a lot of hardships at the beginning of his career!
However, Spider-Man is now facing the biggest setback of his career so far, starting with 20 wins and 7 losses. This record is his worst year except for his rookie season.

Call the little giant to send blessings and complain!

(End of this chapter)