The Golden Age of Basketball

Defeating the Lakers in an away game is of great significance to the Trail Blazers. This not only allows them to further widen the gap with the Lakers in the Western Conference rankings, but also stabilizes their No. [-] position in the Western Conference. At the same time, it also greatly improves the confidence of the team.

This is a dignified victory. The main lineups of both sides have been exhausted, and the substitutes have played well. Everyone has tried their best. In the end, the Blazers beat their opponents. It has to be said that this is a manifestation of the Blazers' strong strength.

The confidence of the strong team is being established in the hearts of the Trail Blazers players. This is the only way for a championship team to step on the corpse of the previous king to stand at a higher position.

Of course, it is still too early to talk about the Blazers surpassing the Lakers. This is just a regular season. Last season, the Blazers faced the Lakers in the regular season, but they were still defeated by the Lakers 4:1. The violent beating fully shows that the playoffs and the regular season are two worlds.

The Trail Blazers players also understand this. In order to prepare for the playoffs, the whole team began to enter a period of state adjustment, and Ramsey began to adjust the lineup and inspect marginal players.

Since the Blazers have been hit by a relatively large injury this season, one of the main players has been reimbursed, and the other main players are also on and off, so the team's lineup rotation is a bit chaotic, without a very stable starting lineup and stability. rotation routine.

For a team that is aiming for the championship, every detail of the team must be considered. In the ever-changing NBA arena, one or two details often determine the outcome of a game. , win the game, and go home if you don’t do well.

The problem with the starting lineup is mainly at the point guard position. Valentine's reimbursement gave Colter and Porter a good opportunity to exercise. These two rookies showed maturity beyond their age on the court. In the absence of Big Brother, he supported the team's backcourt organization.

Among them, Colter is relatively more experienced, and his breakthrough is quite sharp. In the case of Drexler's breakthrough, he can often play a miraculous effect in the offense. It was a bad game, and Colter repeatedly performed amazingly in the following games, including magical performances at critical moments.

Compared with Colter, Porter is more talented in terms of talent. After all, he is a first-round pick. His physical condition is obviously better than Colter. He is a tall and large point guard with strong tactical execution ability and a strong heart. Big, able to make some decisive key shots, sometimes some balls are thrown, and Ramsey's heart can't stand it.

As for how to choose between the two, Ramsey also took turns to let them enter the starting lineup, and match them with the other four determined starters to see how they work.

In the game against Seattle on the 21st, Colter started, scored 8 points and 1 assist, and Porter, who came off the bench, had 6 points and 3 assists; against the Kings on the 23rd, Colter started, scoring 7 points and 8 assists, and Porter came off the bench with 10 points and 4 assists ; On the 25th, the Kings played again, Porter started with 12 points and 4 assists, and Colter came off the bench with 8 points and 2 assists.

In this way, the two took turns to serve as the team's starting point guards, and in terms of performance, the two were almost the same, whether scoring, assisting, or dealing with some problems on the field, the two young people competed for the starting position. We do our best to strive for perfection.

In the game against the Warriors on the 29th, the game was unexpectedly quite anxious. As the starting point guard, Steve Colter stayed on the court for 40 minutes and scored 25 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. His performance was quite amazing.

However, the Blazers lost the game by 1 point because of a fatal pass error by Colter in the end, and lost unexpectedly in the away game.

Colter was quite frustrated after the game, because he believed that this fatal mistake not only cost the team a game, but also cost him his starting position in the playoffs.

Porter, who played only 18 minutes in the game, also contributed 8 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Except for his slightly lower shooting percentage, he was more efficient in all aspects, which made Colter feel that he probably had no chance.

Ramsey actually has a headache about this problem. The two rookies are both excellent and fit well with the team. No matter who is allowed to start, Ramsey thinks there is no problem.

But because of this, it became a question of who to start.

After losing to the Warriors, the atmosphere in the Trail Blazers team was still very calm. After all, winning or losing is a common matter in military affairs, and for some strong teams, in the regular season, they would rather lose to a weak team in an upset than try their best to lose to a team. Strong teams, because weak teams won't meet you in the playoffs.

Therefore, the training on March 3 ended relatively early, and the team did not practice extra because of the loss.

However, there are still some players who voluntarily stay for additional training, including Colter and Porter. Now the two are considered to be in a state of competition, but they can also be regarded as making progress together.

Gan Guoyang naturally continued to stay for additional training as usual, but this time he stood on the sidelines and began to be a one-on-one referee between Colter and Porter, and the two guys began to fight on the court.

Colter is more flexible and has more experience. It is really difficult for Porter to defend against Colter. Porter's main attack method is jump shots, which is not very beneficial in one-on-one, but Porter The body is stronger and taller, and once he can't shoot, he starts to use his physical advantage to run over Colter.

"Hold it, use the bottom plate, don't use your elbows to push, use your crotch, you will be called for a foul... Strike Porter, but if it is a game, you will definitely be taken if you shoot like this, you You have to lean back." Gan Guoyang not only acted as a referee, but also continued to give guidance to the two.

At this time, Ramsay walked up to Gan Guoyang. He didn't leave early today to see his wife in the hospital.

"Mr. Ramsay, you are still here." Gan Guoyang was also a little surprised to see Ramsay.

"Yes, she's in good condition. I need to spend more time on the team...You two continue!" Ramsey responded to Gan Guoyang, while letting Colter and Porter continue to single-handedly.

"It's really difficult to choose a starter. Both of them work hard and hope to be in the starter."

"That's right, what do you think of Gan, who do you think should be the starting point guard?" Ramsey seemed to be seeking Gan Guoyang's opinion.

"It's too difficult. They are both great and young. Why don't you ask Valentine, is that guy's legs thick again?" Gan Guoyang shook his head and said.

"I asked Valentine. Valentine is more inclined to Porter. He is indeed more talented, taller, and stronger than Colter. He may be better than Valentine in the future." It seems that Ram Qi has already asked Valentine.

"Yes, Porter is indeed more talented, physical fitness, basketball IQ, and learning ability. After all, he was selected in the first round. But...I still prefer to let Colter start."

At this time, Colter broke through Porter and made a layup.

"Tell me your reasons."

"First, experience. Porter has not experienced the playoffs, and Colter performed well in the playoffs last season. You know, the regular season and the playoffs are two worlds; second, Colter has a stronger determination, the whole team knows that he took drugs, now he quit, he is on a new path, I believe in his desire to win; third, Colter feeds me the ball, Bibo Special feeding is better." Gan Guoyang's one, two, and three words are logical, but it feels like the last reason is the real point.

Ramsey gave Gan Guoyang a sideways glance, but what Gan Guoyang said made sense after thinking about it. Colter fed Gan Guoyang really well, better than Valentine, and Porter and Gan Guoyang's cooperation was not so proficient.

Combined with the question of experience, Ramsey also has the answer in his mind.

………………

March is coming to an end soon. The Trail Blazers' schedule in March is relatively easy, much less intensive than the schedules in February and January. The Blazers also passed this critical period smoothly. Throughout March 10 Wins and 2 losses, continue to lead the West.

In April, the league finally entered the closing stage. The strong teams in the playoffs began to enter the adjustment period, while the fringe teams in the playoffs started a desperate competition for the places in the playoffs.

The overall situation in the West is relatively clear. The Blazers have already left the Lakers and Rockets behind. As long as they don’t have an 8-game losing streak at the end of the season, they will definitely enter the playoffs as the No. 1977 in the West. It is the first time they have returned to No. 1978 in the Western Conference since the [-]-[-] season.

The Blazers' opponents in the first round of the playoffs will be the Spurs, Suns and Kings. Among them, the chances of the Suns catching up to the No.8 Spurs are not great. As long as the Kings don't fall, the Spurs will be the eighth in the West.

The Lakers still maintain the momentum of chasing the Blazers and putting pressure on them, but due to divisional rules, they can only rank third in the West, and their first-round opponent is likely to be the tough Jazz.

Compared with the West, the competition in the East is more intense. The No. 8 battle is between the Bulls and the Cavaliers, and the gap between the two is only a few centimeters.

In order to compete for the place in the playoffs, Jordan, who was reimbursed at the beginning of the season, returned early and began to participate in the team's last month of regular season, but the team restricted Jordan's playing time, which also made Jordan very dissatisfied.

Milwaukee is stable in second place. The millennium fourth is likely to meet the third-placed 76ers in the playoffs. This will be their best chance to break the curse of losing streak.

The selection of the major awards in the regular season is also in full swing, and the media is also building momentum for the upcoming playoffs.

The cruel elimination fight of the new year is about to begin.