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On the second day after the Sonics all returned to Seattle, the league also announced the list of 120 candidates for the All-Star voting, with 24 places in each of the east and west, consisting of 24 guards, [-] forwards and [-] candidates. Center composition.

This list is not decided by the team or the league, but is selected by four senior experts, Bill Simmons, Seku Smith, Doug Smith and Ilan Thompson, so the number of places selected for each team does not vary. Not fixed, more or less.

Like the Supersonics, there are four players selected, so it goes without saying that Stephen, the remaining three players are Durant, Wilcox, and Ridnour. The players on the shortlist, fans can Go to the official website of the alliance, click on the name to vote directly, or put a check mark directly on the name on the paper ballot.

If fans want to vote for those players who are not on the shortlist, they must enter the full names of the players. By the end of January next year, the voting process will end, and the starting lineup for the All-Star Game will be generated based on the fans' choices, and then Then the head coaches of the two teams will select the substitute lineup, which will be the players who will play in the All-Star Game.

If it happens that a player is injured and unable to play before the game, the league president David Stern will appoint a replacement, but the replacement must also be on this list and rank high.

In this list, Stephen and Ridnour are guards, and Durant and Wilcox are forwards. Stephen thought that Coupard would have a center position, but he didn't expect that when the list came out, Still let him down.

Recently, Coupard's performance has declined. Stephen knows that this is his laziness. He has talked with him many times, but it has no effect. In Coupard's words, even hard work has no effect. Could it be that it doesn't make much sense to score one or two more points and grab one or two more rebounds per game.

Now his contract can be negotiated for renewal, but the team has never brought it up. Cooper, who was full of confidence, suddenly felt like he was hit, and he couldn't get excited about the game. Stephen knew that Cooper De himself has no lofty pursuits. In his opinion, there is no difference between striving for 300 million a year and earning 600 million. Especially since Stephen doesn't let him spend money randomly, he feels that earning money is useless.

When he gave this reason, Stephen had nothing to say, and he didn't think that it would be a bad effect for him not to let him spend money randomly. No matter in general, Coppard is still lazy because of his own laziness. Second, his talent is limited, no matter how hard he works, he can't reach the All-Star level and get [-] points plus [-] rebounds.

Coupard is at the center position, looking at the entire league, he is only good at the upper level. The main reason is that he worked hard late. When he was at the University of Southern California, he didn't use all his energy on basketball. , basketball is just a stepping stone for him to enter the university.

Without Stephen, it would be impossible for him to enter the league, let alone be selected in the first round of the lottery. When he signed the rookie contract, Coupard felt happy and satisfied. During the period of time, there was no growth. Apart from participating in the team's training, there was basically no personal training. It was only after Stephen's supervision that it improved.

But after all, he is older than Stephen, and it is too late to start systematic training now. At the beginning of the training, it seems that the growth is very fast, and the effect is also very good, but after reaching a certain level, the growth stops. He feels that the training There is no effect, so I don't want to train again.

Training without active awareness, even reluctantly participating, has no effect. In addition to competitions and flying around every day, the training time and items cannot be guaranteed. Coppard's training enthusiasm has dropped significantly, which directly affects his performance on the field. Performance.

It turns out that the team can count on him for the inside offense. Recently, he has seldom taken shots. Although from the statistics, the scoring has not dropped much, but now most of them are put-ups or shots from the basket in the air. Ball offense is already hard to see.

Stephen really wanted to take care of him, and usually tried to pass the ball to him when he had the opportunity, but this guy was too unsatisfactory, and he passed the ball back as soon as he was blocked. It was not easy for Stephen to force him to Fighting, the inside offense that was a bit threatening, has now become only relying on the outside.

People like Robert Horry, Kurt Thomas, and Wilcox, most of their offenses are outside the three-second zone, so they are not really inside offenses. If a team does not attack inside, the opponent will The defense can be extended outward, and the offense from the outside is also a great threat. Combining the inside is the kingly way, but now the Sonics can only rely on breakthroughs to complete the inside offense, and most of them are done by Stephen alone. .

However, if you rely entirely on Stephen to complete this work alone, it will consume a lot of physical and mental strength of Stephen, and there is a very high risk of forcing a breakthrough to the basket, and there are normal and abnormal injury factors, so Stephen I really want to find someone to help share it, but unfortunately I can't find such a person in the Sonics.

Originally, Stephen wanted to use the excuse of being an All-Star to let Coupard perform well. Coupard still has a lot of ideas about the All-Star, and Stephen also felt that given the current status of the team, there should be Coupard's name , I didn't expect that people didn't see Coupard at all.

But this also gave Stephen another excuse, that is, people underestimate him. Ridnor can still enter the candidate list as a substitute, and Wilcox's data is not as good as yours, and you can also enter. Is there any use for Stephen? I don't know.

After pulling Coupard over to talk to him, Coupard yawned first, and then said: "No matter who gets in, it's just a shortlist anyway, and they won't be able to make the All-Stars in the end. With Yao's name, how can it be possible?" It is impossible to take away his starting position, and the coach chooses the substitute, let alone me."

As soon as he heard that Coupard had no confidence, Stephen wanted to get angry. This guy has no pursuit at all, and he is too realistic in thinking about the problem. If he thinks there is no hope, he will not work hard. You have no reason to persuade such a person. advise.

"Okay, I found out that it's a waste of my time to tell you more, and I won't waste my time anymore. I can't control you anymore. You can do whatever you want. The future is in your own hands, not mine. The future." Stephen waved to Coupard very depressed, telling him to leave quickly, so as not to get in the way of his own eyes.

"Boss, listen to me, I know you are doing it for my own good, and I also want to work hard to achieve a career, but I find that it doesn't make any difference to me whether I work hard or not, so I don't want to work hard anymore, I know You are right in persuading me, but I am really not the kind of person who has lofty ideals or revenge, so you should let me go."

Seeing his self-conscious depravity, Stephen stretched out his hand angrily, pressed him to the ground and beat him up violently. Then he felt that it was useless to beat him, so he waved his hand to let him go. Well, there is really no way to do this. He doesn't want to work hard, so he can't force him to work hard.

And he is not the only one who does not work hard. Robert Swift is not much better than Coupard. Basically, in every away city, Swift has to go outside to have fun. Sometimes Coupard is coping. Training with Stephen, Swift basically did not train once more, even when Stephen and the others were training, he even bothered him.

But even if he is dissatisfied with the two of them, Stephen has nothing to do. It is difficult to find inside players like Coupard, and even if they are traded with other teams, there is no suitable target, and the team also has no ability. Get the bargaining chip.

As soon as Coupard left, Wilkins ran over again. This guy looked dissatisfied, holding the All-Star candidate list in his hand, and complained to Stephen: Why are substitutes like Ridnour He could be on the list, but he couldn't.

Stephen smiled wryly. Wilkins' recent performance is indeed good, but it has nothing to do with whether he can be included in this list. There is a bias in the selection. People don't know when it started brewing, Wilkins Sri Lanka only started to break out in the last few games.

And even if you have performed well recently, it is still compared with the team. Looking at the whole league, it is the same. In fact, Stephen knows the main reason for his depression. The main reason is that Ridnour has also entered the name. , Only then was dissatisfied.

Stephen just persuaded him a few words, nothing more than that it is useless to be on the list, no matter whether he is a starter or a substitute, nothing will happen to him, as long as he works hard, there will be opportunities later, etc., basically Ku What Pad just said.

For the two of them, Stephen also found it very funny, one didn't care, and the other cared a bit too much. It would be great if Coupard pursued as much as Wilkins, alas, Stephen himself I don't worry much about whether I can be selected. With my current statistics and the team's results, it would be unreasonable not to be selected.

If selected, this is also the first time that Stephen has appeared in the All-Star Game. He used to play in the Rookie Challenge. If he hadn’t been banned last season, Stephen might have also participated. From Coupard and Stephen saw different attitudes towards Wilkins, and Stephen himself was very much looking forward to his All-Star trip.