no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 165 The Windy City Rose
While the Bulls were waiting for the end of the first round, the league successively announced the winners of the second and third batches of awards.

These are also the awards that attract more attention from the outside world, including Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), Best Rookie of the Year, and Regular Season MVP.

The first announced Rookie of the Year sparked a heated debate among fans.

With averages of 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 50.6% field goal percentage, Griffin was elected the Rookie of the Season.

Judging from the data alone, Griffin deserves the title of Rookie of the Year.

But the problem is, Griffin was a rookie drafted last year.

He was supposed to compete with Xu Yong and Tyreke Evans for Rookie of the Year, but due to injuries, he did not appear in the NBA until this year.

Although this is indeed his rookie season in the NBA, it is obviously unfair to the 2010 rookie.

This year's No. 16.4 pick, John Wall of the Wizards, averaged 4.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and [-] steals per game. Under normal circumstances, this performance would definitely win the Rookie of the Year.

Although both of them are playing in the NBA for the first time, Griffin has already been exposed to the NBA as early as last year, feeling the environment and atmosphere of the NBA, and is familiar with the team's tactics, including diet control, training methods and other aspects. here we go.

In fact, this situation has already happened to Oden in 07, but Rose finally defeated Oden and became the Rookie of the Year, so there was no controversy.

Compared with the Rookie of the Year, the result of the Best Defensive Player is undisputed.

With averages of 14.1 rebounds (second in the league), 1.4 steals (a career high) and 2.4 blocks (fourth in the league) per game, Howard was elected the league's best defensive player for the third consecutive year.

It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time in NBA history that someone has done this.

Then there is the MVP award that attracts the most attention from the outside world.

Rose was ultimately elected MVP with nearly 30% of the votes, beating out Howard (18%), James (13%), Kobe Bryant (11%) and others.

As a result, he became the youngest player in NBA history to win the MVP at the age of 22.

It is worth mentioning that Xu Yong also received nearly 14% of the votes in the MVP vote.

This data even surpasses James and Kobe.

This wave of results has also attracted heated discussions among fans on social media, even to a degree far greater than that of the previous Rookie of the Year.

"This vote is not fair at all. Xu actually got more votes than LeBron and Kobe? He is just a second-in-command!" A comment from "Bronny Future Superstar".

"No, on the contrary, Xu should get more votes. The data does not fully reflect his role. He is the key to the Bulls winning many key battles." Comment from "KBforever".

"Haha, what are Kobe's statistics back then? When he teamed up with Shaq, his MVP vote share never reached 3%, even though he averaged 28.5 points per game." Comment from "Kobe-mr.81".

"Compared to Xu, Rose should be questioned more when he wins the MVP, right? His scoring comes more from Thibodeau's defensive counterattack system. Without that system, he won't be able to score so many points." From "only.king" comment of.

"Who is the key player for the Bulls to eliminate the number man? Rose is indeed not worthy." Comment from "Lakers Nation".

"Although MVP represents the regular season, if you can't make it to the playoffs, then the MVP is undoubtedly the best." A comment from "only.king".

"Rose's shooting is still unable to break the zone defense. Although his assists are good, his passing awareness is still poor. He is young and excellent, but he really does not deserve the label of 'Youngest MVP'." From "TD Rookie of the Decade" "comment of.

"The person who deserves the MVP the most is Dwight Howard. As an inside player, his scoring average ranks 12th in the league. He has DPOY three times in a row. He has brought the Magic this season to a height beyond their strength. ” Comment from “Dwight Howard”.

User "Dwight Howard" deleted the comment.

"??"

"Howard's statistics are superhuman, but he can't even prove that he is the league's number one center." Comment from "only.king".

"In a sense, Dwight is LeBron at the center position, with the same strong physical fitness and the same rough skills." A comment from "I will not leave Cleveland" (this user has been reported).

"He always struggles when facing Yao." Comment from "TD Rookie of the Decade".

"Unfortunately, Yao came to the Eastern Conference. What's even more unfortunate is that the Magic's opponent in the second round is the Bulls." came the comment "Lakers championship".

……

As the playoffs reach the second round, not only the fans' attention begins to increase, but the media's promotion of the game is also following up.

ESPN conducted a survey on the upcoming four conference semifinals matches (Thunder Grizzlies, Lakers Mavericks, Bulls Magic, Heat Celtics).

Questions in this survey include "Which team do you think will win?" "Which group will have the greatest suspense?" "Who will be the key figure in determining the trend of the matchup?" etc.

The results of this survey show that among these four groups, the Thunder, Lakers, Bulls, and Heat received more votes in order.

In the most suspenseful survey, the Thunder and Grizzlies topped the list, followed by the Heat and Celtics, the Bulls and Magic again, and the Lakers and Mavericks were considered the least suspenseful matchup.

In the selection of key figures, the four groups are: Durant, Kobe, Yao Ming, and Wade.

Compared to the fans, ESPN is the real topic maker. The results of this survey full of interesting points will continue to increase the attention of the following conference semifinals.

……

Chicago, United Center training facility.

The Bulls are still preparing for the second round.

Because their record ranks first in the league, they will have home field advantage in all series, which allows them to wait and see in the series.

However, because the waiting time is a bit long, the team's game status has become an issue.

In order to solve this problem, Thibodeau's choice is to conduct high-intensity single-quarter full-court competition in training.

It's the kind in history where Jimmy Butler led a group of substitutes and defeated the main force of the Timberwolves.

Mixing the main players and substitutes, Thibodeau and Malone each coached a team, and they worked hard on the court.

Yao Shark duels, fighting each other with two guns, biting defensively.

If outsiders had watched the intra-team competition, they would have thought it was the conference semifinals that started early.

After the game was over, Xu Yong and Yao Ming sat on the sidelines to rest.

Yao Ming patted Xu Yong's shoulder shortly after sitting down, and then gestured with his head to Ross, who was sitting in a daze not far away.

During the match, Rose's condition was fine, but his mood was a little off.

Although Rose is not usually that talkative, it is easy to tell the difference between being talkative and unhappy.

Xu Yong nodded. In fact, he didn't need to guess too much to know why Ross was doing this.

Originally, it was a great thing to win the MVP as the youngest player, but with the overwhelming doubts on social media, no one was happy.

In fact, most of the doubts on the Internet are from the perspective of fans. From the team's perspective, Rose is very important to the Bulls.

Because he is the most lethal player in Thibodeau's defensive counterattack system, similar to Wade of the Heat.

As for the positional battle, the Bulls played one large and four small for most of the game, and the ratio of defensive counterattacks was not much lower than that of the Heat.

Therefore, in the current Bulls team, Rose and Xu Yong have a tacit understanding and complement each other, and one is indispensable.

Moreover, Rose is the kind of absolutely team-oriented player who is willing to hand over the ball to Xu Yong in positional battles, which is something that the core of the average team cannot do.

This was especially obvious when playing numbers in the first round. Xu Yong averaged 27.5 points per game, which was based on the number of shots taken first in the team.

So the current comments from the outside world are very unfair to Rose.

It's just that it's hard for Xu Yong to talk to Ross, because now those complicated people on social media are setting the pace and sowing discord.

Although this will not cause problems within the Bulls, the effect of his chat with Rose at this time will definitely not be very good.

In fact, it is far better to say it than to do it.

Let Rose play a performance that can answer the doubts of the outside world, which is more effective than anything else.

……

After heated discussion among fans on social media and adequate warm-up by ESPN, the conference semifinals finally kicked off.

The two groups in the East and West will face each other. The Bulls and Magic, and the Thunder and Grizzlies will start first.

At the United Center, the emotions of Chicago fans were running high.

The results of ESPN's survey are not groundless, because during the regular season, the Bulls' record against the Magic was 3-0.

Because of the restraint inside, the Bulls are much more confident against the Magic than against the Heat.

So eating popcorn, drinking fat water, and watching the home team ravage their opponents, are you excited about this experience?
Of course, the start of today's series is a bit special. There is an awards ceremony before the opening ceremony.

Rose will receive the controversial MVP trophy before the game.

Of course, the controversy was someone else's, and the United Center was filled with deafening cheers as Rose took home the trophy that represents a player's highest honor.

After Jordan, another person from the Bulls won the MVP trophy, and the title of "Youngest" was hung on the front of the trophy. How can this not be rare?

Rose was still a little nervous at first, but when he heard the cheers of the fans, and when he turned around with the trophy, Xu Yong took the lead, and the Bulls players stepped forward to hug him one after another, a smile appeared on his face.

With the support of fans and teammates, those doubts seem less important.After the award ceremony, the two teams warmed up before the game, and the on-site photographer showed a split shot of Howard and Yao Ming.

According to past experience, the matchup between the two centers tonight will be the key and focus of the match between the two sides.

After the warm-up was over and the opening ceremony was over, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Magic: Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, Turkoglu, Brandon Bass, Howard;

Bulls: Rose, Xu Yong, Artest, Battier, Yao Ming.

The Bulls made some adjustments to the starting lineup tonight and directly set up a starting lineup with one senior and four juniors.

This is still relatively rare after the middle of the season, but this is obviously aimed at the Magic.

The Magic's starting power forward Buss is not a singles player with the ball, and his height is about the same as Battier.

The game between the two sides started immediately. Amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, Yao Ming returned the ball to the Bulls' half, officially kicking off the game.

The Bulls advanced to the frontcourt.

Howard directly defended Yao Ming and did not give Yao Ming a chance to easily catch the ball.

And the players on both sides are always ready to shrink to the basket to help defend.

The Magic obviously focused on defense.

Rose took the ball and glanced at Xu Yong. Xu Yong directly signaled him to play, and then moved to the weak side to contain the defense.

This is what Xu Yong calls "doing".

His performance in the first round was inseparable from Rose's handing over of the ball, so for the rose to bloom now, he naturally needs to be a green leaf.

And his decision to do so was not a sudden one.

Just like he has an advantage against Meeks, Rose's opponent Nelson is a short and stocky guard with a height of 1 meters. Rose has a great advantage against him.

Rose understood Xu Yong's move, and he didn't hesitate. He dribbled the ball and accelerated past Nelson.

Nelson is very tough in confrontation. Although he is short in height, he is not slow.

However, this is relative, especially as strong defenders generally move laterally slowly, which Rose suffered greatly from.

Almost instantly, Ross crossed Nelson into the early morning road.

When the Magic put all their attention on Yao Ming, they completely forgot about the lethality of the Bulls' new MVP.

Rose passed Nelson and almost instantly inserted himself into the Magic penalty area.

Yao Ming's reaction at this time was also very fast. He was originally bypassed and had no chance, but now he turned half of his body and blocked Howard from the penalty area.

Because the Bulls have a small lineup with one player and four players, no one else on the Magic team can help defend the paint so quickly at this time.

So it was almost extremely easy. Rose reached inside and pulled the lever and easily put up a basket.

The fans cheered instantly. They couldn't see anything too detailed. In front of their eyes, Rose, who had just won the MVP, had a high desire to attack, and he scored in the opening game.

In the Magic's offense, Turkoglu organized the ball on the outside.

Speaking of which, the relationship between the Magic management and Turkoglu is also very interesting. Originally last season, the management felt that the combination of Turkoglu and Howard was not high enough, so they made a three-way trade with him in exchange for Carter.

As a result, after the replacement, it was discovered that Howard's performance was serious without Turkoglu, and then he was replaced from the Raptors this season.

This wave of good horses wasted no time. Although some of them slapped themselves in the face, the effect was very good.

Turkoglu reached out to signal after holding the ball, and Howard pulled up to the high post to play a pick-and-roll.

The two cooperated tacitly. After Howard dismantled the ball, he cut to the basket, while Turkoglu looked at all directions and chose to lob the ball to Howard.

After Howard got the ball, he directly knocked Battier away, and when he pulled it out, he violently abused the frame with both hands.

Howard was actually very unhappy, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to social media to say something like that, because that was the closest he got to the MVP.

So after completing the dunk and hearing the whistle, he shook his arms vigorously before landing.

But just when he was about to roar again, the referee's gesture abruptly interrupted him.

The whistle just now was not 2+1, but the referee blew his offensive foul!

As the league's best player at making offensive fouls, Battier stood outside the reasonable collision zone early on.

Howard raised his hands and looked at the referee in confusion. After confirming the penalty, he showed his signature sunny smile, shook his head helplessly and retreated.

This foul is critical because the Magic's power forwards, whether it was Lewis before or Buss now, don't have much ability to help defend.

Once Howard gets into a foul crisis, the Magic will become even weaker inside.

After the Bulls' offense opened up space on the court, Rose continued to break through with the ball from the outside.

Nelson followed Rose this time, but Rose changed direction without slowing down and still passed him cleanly.

For two consecutive rounds, Nelson proved one thing: he really couldn't guard Rose.

Rose went to the basket again, and he was really too fast. Bass on the weak side had already consciously moved in early, but it was still too late.

However, Howard squeezed past Yao Ming and got in front of Rose.

He just received an offensive foul, and he must get that tone back in this defensive round.

Aiming at Rose's shot, Howard found the right angle to block the shot.

However, Rose showed his physical fitness in the air. After the confrontation, he avoided the block with a big drawbar that was obviously stuck in the air and went to the other side for a layup.

This ball is difficult, especially after the confrontation, Howard used his strength to push Rose away.

However, Rose was stunned to complete the shot while losing his balance.

"beep!"

The referee's whistle sounded again.

"boom!"

The basketball also fell into the net bag with a spin after hitting the board.

Rose scored this difficult 2+1!

And more importantly, this is Howard's second personal foul.

Howard played less than 1 minute in the opening game and was blown off!

Rose lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground, but after seeing the referee's gesture, he jumped up from the ground and let out a rare roar.

Obviously, he who won the MVP is under greater pressure than Howard who missed out.

But the 2+1 he scored directly in front of Howard just now vented all his emotions.

And after roaring, he successively found Yao Ming and Xu Yong to high-five.

Just like he didn't need to say hello in advance when making a wedding dress for Xu Yong at the All-Star Game, even though Yao Ming and Xu Yong didn't say hello to him, he could fully feel what they did for him tonight.

This is a real team.

Rose went to the free throw line for an extra penalty.

The Magic were also forced to make a substitution, replacing Howard with Ryan Anderson.

Howard no longer smiled when he came off the field. Instead, he couldn't help but kicked the bench when he walked to the bench.

When the outside world thought that the Magic had no chance, he held back his energy and wanted to respond to them with a performance and prove his MVP-level strength.

As a result, he never expected that his warm blood would end before it even started.

"MVP! MVP!"

At this time, the scene was already filled with cheers from Chicago fans.

The fake MVP has ended, and the real MVP has just begun his performance.

"Shh!"

Rose hit the extra free throw as the fans cheered, and he scored 5 consecutive points in the opening game.

Tonight, the roses are fragrant.

(End of this chapter)