So I am the god of basketball?

In this way, Meng Lang left Orlando after giving the people of Orlando another sleepless night.

At noon on the day he returned to Los Angeles, he received the "December Player of the Month Award" and "Player of the Week Award" trophies from the staff in the locker room.

Counting these two trophies, Meng Lang currently has 9 "Player of the Month" and 16 "Player of the Week" awards. This is already a number that some superstars cannot achieve in their entire careers. But this is only Meng Lang's fourth season.

But Meng Lang also knew that these bits and pieces of honor, that is, the pile of gravel that was put in when laying the foundation, would be nothing if they were directly "poured" with cement.

The "good stone" that truly shapes the "golden body" must be the ultimate awards such as the championship trophy, regular season MVP, and finals MVP.

So Meng Lang only sees these three things now.

Even Meng Lang has only won one regular season MVP now, but the number is meager. If he really is allowed to win two more regular season MVPs. He will even pay a little less attention to this award.

The most important awards at that time will definitely be the championship trophy and finals MVP!

Just make a comparison and you will know:

拿了6个常规赛MVP、2座总冠军以及2座总决赛MVP的球员，相比拿了2座常规赛MVP，6座总冠军以及6座总决赛MVP奖杯的球员，历史地位肯定是要更差的。

Take Chamberlain as an example. He definitely can't be ranked in front of "Magic" Johnson.

No matter when, the championship is the most valuable award in the NBA!
The photos of him receiving the two trophies quickly spread among the media. Combined with the miserable appearance of the Orlando Magic yesterday, it was a stark contrast.

And in the afternoon of the same day, there was another rumor in Orlando, I don’t know where it came from, that Mourning was considering applying for a trade.

An anonymous person who claimed to be a close friend told ESPN media: "He is in pain every day in Orlando!"

As soon as this news came out, Orlando seemed even more miserable.

Because Mourning was the only gain after the Magic sent away the "LV" combination and Grant last summer. Now they can't even keep this only gain. It's simply...

Miserable mother opens the door to Miserable, Miserable is home!
"The New York Times" satirized Orlando, saying: "The biggest difference between the nouveau riche and the real rich is that the latter can manage this wealth well, while the nouveau riche have no ability to control this wealth at all. Therefore, 80% of the nouveau riche eventually become ordinary people! Just like Orlando now!"

When Meng Lang was interviewed by reporters before the game the next day, he was also asked about his views on this matter. Meng Lang refused to answer the question.

because……

"This has nothing to do with me! Compared to this matter, I care more about whether I can win tonight's game!"

In the first home game in January, the Lakers will face...

Portland Trail Blazers.

In the summer of 95, the Trail Blazers sent away the "Glider". At that time, everyone thought that this team would enter reconstruction.

What's unexpected is that they have always been in the playoffs in the Western Conference.

Although it has never reached the top three positions in the Western Conference, this team has always maintained a ranking of 6th to 8th in the Western Conference. This season they took a step further and reached the fifth position in the Western Conference.

Although they are only fifth in the Western Conference, you must know that the Lakers are the first in the Western Conference this season, as well as the talented "young army" like the Golden State Warriors, in addition to last season's overall runner-up SuperSonics, and the veteran players in the Western Conference. A powerful team, the biggest obstacle to the Bulls' second "three consecutive championships" is the Utah Jazz.

Ranked behind these four teams, it can actually be seen that the Trail Blazers this season are considered to be quite strong.

The transformation of this team came from the arrival of PJ Carlesimo.

As a famous coach in the NCAA, Carlesimo is still good at coaching newcomers. His only problem is that he doesn't have enough authority over big-name players. Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't have enough prestige for big-name stars, it may also mean that it has no deterrent effect against some players who have no brains.

After all, this is the first time in the NBA that a player like "Madman" has choked his head coach.

Even a man as manic as Artest wouldn't be able to do such a thing.

When there are no such players, Carlesimo's prestige as a head coach is sufficient, and he is also very good at training the team's offensive and defensive system.

And he can also adapt to local conditions. The arrival of the "Roof of the World", a "late-aged rookie", has added thickness to the Trail Blazers' inside line. But under such circumstances, he still allowed the Trail Blazers to switch offense and defense faster than other teams.

It can also be seen from the number of shots taken that the Trail Blazers averaged 27.6 points per game, which is more shots per game than the Sonics' "small lineup."

Even with more possessions per game, the Trail Blazers only conceded 94.8 points per game.

From these two data, we can see why the Trail Blazers are ranked fifth in the Western Conference this season, and are only 2 games away from the fourth-place Warriors!
In this game, Divac, who is also known for his skills and tonnage, met his opponent. Sabonis' experienced offensive and defensive awareness and ability to handle the ball made him tired of dealing with it.

In other words, the "Roof of the World", who is 2 meters tall, drags a crippled leg with shrapnel shells in the leg. He can't play for too long and was replaced in twenty-seven or eight minutes. Otherwise, the score would have been constant. Deadlocked.

There is indeed a reason why he will become Yao Ming's idol.

With his ability to handle the ball, Yao, who is still "Little Yao" now, would probably be drooling if he were watching TV.

The turning point of the game was almost always when Sabonis was off the court. The Lakers narrowly defeated the Trail Blazers 101-90 with an 11-point margin.

However, in this game, Barkley suffered an unexpected sprain and hit his knee hard when he fell to the ground. After he left the field in a wheelchair, he never came back.

So even if the game was finally won, there was not much cheering from the Lakers audience. They were more concerned about Barkley's injury.

This season, Barkley averaged 16.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He is an absolute guarantee for inside rebounds and is also Meng Lang's most convenient "second boss" on the offensive end.

Everyone sees this.

For this reason, if he really suffers a serious injury, such as a season-ending injury, it will definitely be unfortunate news for the Lakers.

Do you think they can still laugh?

Fortunately, judging from the team doctor's examination results after the game, his injury was not serious. Including the bump on the knee, it was also a serious injury.

It hurt a lot at the time, but it was fine after the pain passed.

Just a little sprained!

Coupled with the sprained foot injury, I can come back after only ten or eight days of rest at most.

However, after discussing with the team doctor, Chuck Daly gave Barkley two weeks of rest.

In addition to doing this, I want Barkley to have a good rest. It is also because the season has reached the "injury wave" stage, and for the sake of the playoffs, "forced intervention" is necessary to allow Barkley to spend this period safely.

Barkley originally didn't want to do it.

There was no concept of rotational rest in the 90s.

Stars these days are also relatively innocent. I get so much money a year, and the fans are here for me. Can I choose to stay longer for more rest?
But Chuck Daly gave up his idea with one sentence:

If you want to win the championship this season, the first thing you have to do is to rest these two weeks!
He wasn't entirely thinking about Barkley's health either.

Another reason is that he took advantage of this period to put Ben Wallace in the starting lineup to get more experience. After all, Ben Wallace is also a member of the "Five Small Teams"!
At this stage of the new season, some things are already clear.

If you want to defeat the Bulls this season, then the "five small" lineup is the best magic weapon:

Learn from the barbarians and use their skills to defeat the barbarians!
To deal with the Bulls, you have to use the Bulls method!
It's just that the last game was so effective, mainly because it was caught off guard. Now that opponents know what cards he has in his hand, they will definitely be more targeted. In this way, Chuck Daly needs to improve Ben Wallace's ability and increase the intensity of the "Lakers Five".

After losing Barkley, the Lakers quickly lost two games in a row.

This is different from when he was with the Magic, who suffered massive injuries. But Meng Lang always has at least one "second boss" level player to cooperate with him.

The most important thing is that the teams they encountered were weak.

In these two games without Barkley, the Lakers' first opponent is the Utah Jazz, currently second in the Western Conference, and their second opponent is the Detroit Pistons.

They are not fuel-efficient lamps.

In the first game, the Lakers lost miserably, losing by 13 points.

Karl Malone took advantage of this opportunity and made a powerful output.

He had also waited for many years for such an opportunity to mock Meng Lang.

Meng Lang had only one thing to say to him: "Shut up, Karl, and if you can, make an appointment with me in the octagonal cage again!"

Every time this sentence is spoken, it is like a "winner" shot at the last second, and the "postman" cannot say a word at all. How can he still have the courage to make an appointment with Meng Lang in the "octagonal cage" now?

You know, during this game, he also faced off against Meng Lang, so he could clearly feel that Meng Lang's strength had increased a lot.

His "punch" is probably even heavier now!

I was able to beat the shit out of him last time, now...

He really didn't dare to think about it. You said that in such a situation, how could he dare to take on such a problem?

We lost well against the Pistons, losing by 7 points.

The biggest problem in this game is that the opponent's rebounds were blown away very hard. The Lakers lost by almost 11 rebounds.

In addition, without Barkley, there is no sustained damage under the basket, causing the opponent's defense to be very spread out, and the Lakers' outside shooting quality has also been greatly affected...

Meng Lang averaged 34.5 points, 7.5 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in these two games. He deliberately increased his offensive firepower.

But his scoring method is relatively simple.

Especially when holding the ball, when holding the ball, he plays with his back.

Offensive methods such as holding the ball and attacking the frame are not used frequently.

Mainly because of his larger size.

The explosive power is not up to the level of McGrady and Wade.

In this era where there is no "three-second zone", it is indeed impossible to do 1vn alone.

Generally, his breakthroughs with the ball end with "breakthrough points"!
He himself was not satisfied.

Of course, he didn't really let go.

Otherwise, with his condition in these two games, he might have averaged 50 points per game!
But he knew very well Chuck Daly's purpose in letting Barkley rest more. Just give Ben Wallace more opportunities to show off. So he still has to play as usual this season.

Let him gain experience.

Although the Lakers lost these two games, Ben Wallace performed pretty well, averaging 34.2 minutes per game and scoring 6 points and 8 rebounds.

His performance as a rookie has been very good.

Of course, his most eye-catching aspect is his defensive ability that cannot be reflected in statistics.

In the future, Ben Wallace will be able to win four "Best Defensive Player Awards", which actually depends on his defensive ability.

It can be seen that this guy's sense of smell in this area is really terrifying!
Game experience is the key to catalyzing his ability in this area. I don’t know if facing two strong opponents in a row made Ben Wallace accustomed to the rhythm of high-intensity confrontation. Next, when facing the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics, two completely bad teams, he was stunned and scored two consecutive "10 plus 10" statistics.

Chuck Daly clapped excitedly on the sidelines and was happy for him.

Speaking of which, Ben Wallace's hair has obviously grown out at this moment, looking like a "short broom head".

"I've grown longer and stronger!"

After starting 4 consecutive games, Ben Wallace is probably familiar with the rhythm of starting. After the Lakers' 3 games, 2 wins and 1 loss, his performance has also become stable, averaging about 8 points and 8 rebounds per game. .

Come to think of it, this is also the pinnacle of his real power...

It seems that there is still a big gap between the 9.7 plus 12.7 in his peak period. But there is no way. The growth of any player is not achieved overnight and requires experience season after season.

Without the Thunder's support for two seasons, there would be no "Death" Durant;

Without the experience of missing the playoffs twice in his career, LeBron would not have the desire for his teammates later;

Without the painful experience of losing to the Eastern Conference in 8 years, Jordan would not have been filled with tears when he won the first championship;
Meng Lang should be like this, but who made him a "bad guy"!

As for the ability cards and accompanying skill cards on him, many of his shortcomings are made up for by unnatural power.

For example, "Mr. Big Scene", and another example, "The Last Shot"...

These skill cards are the reason why his state can be as stable as a robot and rarely fluctuate.

Of course, if Meng Lang had the physical talent and basketball talent like them, there would be no need for cheating. God is allowed to cheat on them, but Meng Lang is not allowed to cheat on himself?

On January 1, Barkley returned after two weeks of rest. Facing the Houston Rockets, Barkley scored 18 points and 2 rebounds in his first game back.

For an old comrade like him, a two-week break is really like plugging in the charger when a cell phone is out of power. When playing this game, Barkley felt like he was back at the beginning of the season!
So why is "taking turns" so good?
Barkley seemed to have opened the door to a new world.

This feeling once appeared when he seduced Ami XXOO next door when he was sixteen or seventeen years old. Now he felt it again.

It can be seen what kind of novel experience this "rotation" brought him.

With an outstanding "comeback performance" and a victory, Barkley left Houston. When leaving the arena, he turned his head and glanced at Olajuwon and Drexler, the "elders" of Space City, and thought in his heart A little more fortunate:

Fortunately, I didn't come to Space City to join forces with these two funny guys.

After Meng Lang went to the Lakers in the summer, Barkley once wanted to go to Houston, because the Rockets twice fell behind 1-3 in the playoffs and eventually eliminated the Suns 4-3.

He has personally experienced Olajuwon's evil nature.

Join if you can't beat it!

This is nothing to think about.

But in the end he chose to go to Los Angeles and join forces with Meng Lang.

At that time it was "choose 2 from 1", but now in his view, this is "the choice between heaven and hell"!

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Olajuwon and Drexler are obviously not as good as last season this season. If they really join the Rockets, it will be me, the "old pig", who suffers!

Oh, god, you still dote on me, the "old pig"!
Buckley decided to go to church this Sunday to thank God.

What he didn't know was that when they watched him leave, Olajuwon and "Glider" had bitter expressions on their faces:

This car is really running like a "big Ben"!

Both brothers knew that Barkley was planning to come to Houston because they talked about it specifically during the summer. But in the end Barkley chose Los Angeles, and since then his phone calls have been unreachable...

Seeing that his life was going so well now, "Big Dream" and "Glider" looked at each other, and both saw each other's "sadness in the balls"!
I'm not only afraid that my brother will suffer, but I'm also afraid that my brother will drive a Land Rover.

The Rockets are now barely ranked 8th in the Western Conference, only 9 games behind the 3th-place Kings.

Oh, now the difference is only 2.5 games!
Just now, the hanging man who didn't join them pushed them!
Such an "unlucky guy" who had allowed them to complete "big comebacks" twice in the past actually turned over like this.

Not happy, not happy!

They are very depressed, and equally depressed is the Rockets management.

Originally, when Olajuwon wanted to leave in the summer, the market was very good. After all, "Big Dream" led the team to the finals twice in a row. Therefore, he is not in a hurry to make a move, thinking that "Big Dream" will continue to perform outstandingly in the new season, and he will be sold at a good price.

But who would have thought that after the start of the new season, "Big Dream"'s status has declined a lot compared to the previous two seasons... Now the number of teams interested in him is getting smaller and smaller, and the chips given are also becoming smaller. Much lower.

Can……

At least there are still teams making offers!
What really worries the Rockets management is Drexler. This season, his scoring average has dropped further from 19.3 points to 18 points per game.

With such data, for a guy like him who mainly relies on scoring, he can no longer be regarded as a first-class "scorer".

As for his defense...

Needless to say, when I was young, the second position was almost at the level below Jordan. But with the arrival of 97, when he reached the age of 35, there were often situations where young defenders relied on explosive power to pass him in one step.

Now he is in the free market and can't even get a high-ranking first-round pick!
It is also for this reason that now the Rockets management can only drive up the price of the "machine" through package sales.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken action on “Big Dream” until now…

Now the Rockets' management is just like those "sages" who just finished their hand rush, regretting it endlessly:

If he had known that Xia Tian would have taken action against these two people.

Shortly after Barkley returned, Johnson and Wilkens also suffered injuries. But they were all minor ailments, and they all returned after two or three games of rest.

Looking at this "injury wave", the Lakers' situation is pretty good. What they are most worried about is whether Meng Lang, who was reimbursed for the season last season, will suffer another season-reimbursing injury during the most tiring period of the season.

This is also one of the reasons why some media looked down on Meng Lang last summer.

However, Meng Lang's record is too good. In the eyes of the teams that are striving to compete for Meng Lang, these negative media are all helpers invited by their opponents, so no team pays attention to these news.

And now, Meng Lang has also proved that he is definitely not a "vulnerable physique".

The Los Angeles media breathed a sigh of relief.

But in fact, this has something to do with Meng Lang adjusting his playing style.

After his strength increased last season, Meng Lang became very tough on the defensive end, with more physical confrontations than in the previous two seasons. But as a result, he suffered injuries during the confrontation. So much so that Meng Lang desperately wanted to get skills like "injury immunity".

It's a pity that he didn't draw such a card in Xia Tian.

Therefore, this season, he consciously reduced his strong force on the defensive end, contented himself with keeping his position, and at the same time focused on assisting defense.

To put it more bluntly, it lacks the defensive aggressiveness of last season.

This is why his strength has increased so much, but his defensive ability has not received more attention.

But this is also the best way to handle it under balance. It's not that he doesn't defend, nor does he have no defensive enthusiasm. Anyway, he can ensure that his defense is above the Lakers' average level and will not hinder the team's defensive quality. Then use more offensive influence to change the game.

It's better than being injured and sitting out.

As far as this "injury wave" is concerned, the Lakers have not been greatly affected. At least their rotation was restored to integrity at the end of January.

Compared to them, there are other teams in the league that are much more affected.

For example, Rodman suffered another injury and is expected to take 10 games to return. You must know that he had already suffered a similar injury at the beginning of the season, and he was knocked down by the same injury again this time. It's really hard not to worry about whether the frequency of injuries will become more frequent.

Jordan didn't have much reaction to this: "He is already 36 years old. I saw Chris's ten-year-old daughter two days ago. She told me that her father went to the hospital two days ago because of a cold and died for three days. The water has improved."

Chris is a reporter for the Bulls and is as old as Rodman.

"So this is normal. Dennis will be absent for a while, but when he comes back, nothing will change!"

Rodman almost shed tears when he heard Jordan's support for him.

His injury this time was somewhat self-inflicted. Of course, it wasn't the first time he had experienced something like this. Jordan used to be the last person to allow this kind of thing to happen, but when it happened to him, Jordan was willing to turn a blind eye, which made him feel his weight around Jordan. This is also the reason why he was so angry with Jordan.

It's just that Jordan's "understanding" only lasted until February 2.

Because when he said this, he obviously didn't think that they would be sitting at home on this day to meet the challenge of the Lakers. This is also the last time they play against the Lakers in this year's regular season.

When losing the "Christmas War", Jordan expressed his attitude to others:

We must win the next game against the Lakers!

But now Rodman's injury has made this game less suspenseful.

Jordan and Pippen were completely unable to withstand the entire Lakers team. After the first quarter, the Lakers established a double-digit point difference. Although the Bulls, led by Jordan, made another very strong counterattack in the second quarter, they came back in the second half and played for about 8 minutes. The team surrendered when facing the Lakers' "Five Small" lineup.

Jordan still wanted to stand up, but the "old technician" on the opposite side kept rubbing Longley, the Bulls' "sensitive point", and did not look for opportunities from his point at all.

Although he tried hard, the Bulls couldn't hold it back and let it go.

And then there’s…

The army was defeated like a mountain!
109 to 94, a 15-point difference, the Lakers swept the Bulls in the regular season.

This is the only team to do that this season.

Meng Lang "only" scored 28 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals in this game. Compared with Jordan's 38 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, there is some gap. But without victory, this data has become an illusion, and it will shatter if you throw a pebble at it!

Jordan wasn't even that excited when he received the "January Player of the Month Award" the next day. When he entered the United Arena, his entire look was gloomy. Rodman smelled the smell of gunpowder as soon as he entered the locker room. He was so sensible that he didn't speak for the entire day.

He obviously also knew how inappropriate his injury was.

Along with January's "Player of the Month", this year's "All-Star Starting" lineup was announced.

The influence of Meng Lang's move from Orlando to Los Angeles is reflected. He received a total of 115 million, which is a very remarkable achievement without the support of China. You know, even Grant Hill only had 106 million votes.

He was the "voting king" in the past two years!

It's a pity that although Meng Lang surpassed this "voting king", he was not the final "voting king"...

The final "vote king" of the 1997 NBA All-Star Game belonged to Michael Jordan!

126 million votes! (End of chapter)