Before 2001, if you asked Wizards fans what you thought was the worst deal made by the management so far, you would get a variety of answers.
But after June 2001, when I asked this question again, the answer I got was definitely the same:
We shouldn't use the 2001 No. 1 pick to select Kwame Brown as the "No. 1 pick"!
If it weren't for this "biggest parallel import No. 1 pick," maybe Michael Jordan's comeback in Washington would have reached greater heights, and Washington would have received greater attention.
Um……
They won't talk about Michael Jordan choosing Kwame Brown.
You might say that, but that's also a private act.
Most of them would say that it was Kwame Brown who failed to live up to his expectations!
Kwame Brown was actually very wronged. He thought he was a guy with strong pressure resistance, but he met a "monster" as a teammate whose pressure ability far exceeded his pressure resistance. And this "monster" also has a status that no one can match.
At this time, more people will blame him for the final defeat.
If he typed it out...
Wouldn't everything be different?
So when Michael Jordan announced his retirement, Kwame Brown was really relieved.
He practiced shooting more last summer, but when the training camp just started, he encountered an injury. When he came back, the head coach no longer had a rotation position for him in the lineup, which made him have a depressing period. Season, including this season, he is still sitting on the bench.
And tonight, he apparently became the "venting bucket" for the entire audience...
No wonder, the main players in the front played so well, why did you have problems as soon as you came on the field?
He was holding back his anger and wanted to give him some response. Unfortunately, his teammates on the Wizards didn't trust him very much and wouldn't pass the ball to him at all.
This caused him to keep doing useless "turnaround runs" on the court.
He looked even more dazed.
This made the curses at the scene even more violent.
At 3 minutes and 34 seconds, the Wizards head coach put all the main players on the court. After thinking about it, he held down Haywood and put Kwame Brown on the court.
He definitely trusted Haywood more than Kwame Brown, but Haywood's defense against Shaquille O'Neal in the first quarter was indeed not ideal. Based on this consideration, he decided to move Kwame Brown to Put it on the field.
This is also the only thing about Kwame Brown that makes him feel excited:
This guy has very stocky lower limbs.
However, when the Wizards fans saw that the head coach kept Kwame on the court, they couldn't help but cursed at him. This burst of curses made the Wizards head coach almost unable to hold back and put Kwame off the court again.
Sometimes, it's not that he doesn't like Kwame Brown, but that Washington as a whole doesn't like Kwame Brown.
As a head coach, some people don't care about the fans' reaction, but among these people, he is definitely not included.
"Man, I believe you can give me a satisfactory explanation!"
He specifically called Kwame Brown to him.
Kwame, who had been denied for many years, felt a surge of warmth in his heart when he heard this.
Is this what trust feels like?
He decided that he must respond to the head coach's trust in him tonight no matter what!
Stan Van Gundy also returned to the starting lineup in time.
The Wizards' starting lineup was in very good shape tonight. Although they relied on Wade to gain some lead at the beginning of the second quarter, it was not very big. The main players need to come on the court to consolidate this advantage.
"Guys, put some more pressure on No. 0 on the opposite side and don't let him play too easily!"
Before playing, Stan Van Gundy specifically called the starter in front of him and made some arrangements for Arenas.
In the first round, Wade followed what Stan Van Gundy said and gave Arenas a very strong physical confrontation from the beginning.
With the "new turtle" in the new season, league referees are very strict about hand contact on the outside, but the Heat benefited from the rigorous training of Pat Riley and had already changed it during the training camp. Get rid of the original "bad habit".
Especially for an honest and obedient child like Wade, now facing a confrontation on the outside, his subconscious reaction is to puff up his chest and form a confrontation with the opponent.
Arenas can no longer observe the position of his teammates in time during the confrontation, and can only look for suitable offensive opportunities while holding the ball.
But the Heat's terrifying help defense advantage was revealed at this moment. The outstanding mobility of Woody and Gerald Wallace made Arenas hesitant in the mid-range.
The calm state of the first quarter was immediately gone.
Although Arenas still forced a layup under the basket in this round, Stan Van Gundy did not yell at the court, nor did he let the court strengthen the defense again. The changes currently happening to Arenas are enough in his opinion.
Because he also has an invincible "Audi" combination!
Kwame Brown was bet on by the Wizards head coach, and he was also observing the positions of Shaquille O'Neal and Woody very carefully.
He wanted Woody to catch the ball more than Shaquille O'Neal.
Because he played against Shaq.
And no player who has ever faced Shaq would want to face him a second time. This guy is really too strong!
So strong that no one can resist.
On the contrary, it was Woody. The media praised him very much, but Kwame Brown had not played against him yet.
Including his rookie season, because Kwame Brown was on the bench and Woody played the third position, the two did not play against each other very often. For such a guy, Kwame Brown believes that he will be easier to deal with than Shaquille O'Neal no matter what, right?
"Snapped!"
A ground pass.
The ball went to Woody's hands as Kwame hoped.
When the ball flew towards Woody, the "parallel import number one" actively moved towards Woody.
Jamison was overjoyed when he saw someone else "throwing himself into the trap" and immediately gave up his position. At the same time, his favorability towards Kwame Brown has increased by 1 point!
This kid is so lovable!
He is worthy of being a rookie selected by North Carolina.
North Carolinians don’t lie to North Carolinians!
No, as soon as he saw the North Carolinians in trouble, he immediately came to help...
In the first confrontation with Woody, because Woody caught the ball, Kwame Brown suddenly exerted force and forced him to take half a step forward before he stabilized his body.
At that time, two words silently floated out of Kwame's heart:
That's it?
Woody was very excited.
It is really rare for a guy to take the initiative and want to fight against him.
In the past, neither Kevin Garnett nor Chris Webber took the initiative even in the first round of the confrontation. They were afraid of Woody's size.
He didn't expect that this silent "parallel import number one" would be a tougher guy than them.
OK OK!
This is great!
Woody immediately regained his focus and began to compete with Kwame Brown.
The first one was a stand-up confrontation, so Woody didn't use his "big killer".
This confrontation made Kwame Brown feel that Woody was nothing more than that.
These reporters always exaggerate.
But the next second after the confrontation, while Kwame Brown was still accumulating strength, Woody's second impact was already in front of him.
"Bang!"
Kwame Brown's body began to shake.
At this moment, Woody thrust his butt so hard that he took a big step back.
A large space appeared between the two people who were originally very close to each other.
In Kwame Brown's surprised eyes, Woody quickly turned around and rushed to the basket, completing a one-handed dunk.
What?
Does the Wizards have no one to defend?
Jamison was under the basket, but he was firmly blocked behind Shaquille O'Neal and couldn't get past him. He really couldn't do anything except stand there with his hands on his hips.
"Damn guy, what on earth can you do!"
"Who can tell me how this guy became the number one pick!"
"Kwame Brown, get out of Washington! We don't need a softie like you here!"
…
In the slow-motion replay, it can be clearly seen that Woody pushed Kwame Brown away in just two moves.
This can't help but make Washington people a little angry.
Even if Woody's back hit is really powerful, it only takes two touches to knock you away.
Besides Woody being awesome, are you also good enough?
There were boos.
Jamison originally wanted to reach out and pat Kwame Brown's butt and comfort him, but he couldn't help but retracted his hand.
He understands the feeling of confronting Woody, but he is also afraid of becoming the target of public criticism.
He could only comfort Kwame Brown with his eyes:
Brother, hold on, I will always support you silently behind your back!
The score difference came to 7 points.
Arenas continued to encounter tough confrontation from Wade in this round.
And in the confrontation, Wade gradually got used to Arenas's style of play and began to keep up with his rhythm.
Arenas, who originally planned to hit one himself, saw that he could not get rid of Wade, so he could only throw the ball to Larry Hughes next to him when he crossed the free throw line.
Hughes's lack of long-range shooting ability became an obstacle for the Wizards to score at this moment.
Although Arenas and Hughes used to cooperate in the past, Arenas passed the ball to Hughes after breaking through.
But at that time, Arenas basically broke through with the ball to disperse the opponent's direction. Hughes's second breakthrough can get a very good shot opportunity. But this time it was different. When Hughes rushed to the basket with the ball, Arenas was waiting for him without any defense.
Hughes tried to use "three steps slow" to hit a time-lag layup, but Woody's open arms were like tracking "positioning missiles", following him until the end, when the ball left his hand When he comes back, it explodes.
"Bang!"
With a "big shot" full of visual impact, Woody fanned the ball directly beyond the three-point line.
Hughes followed the ball with his eyes and ran backwards subconsciously.
The ball was controlled by Gerald Wallace.
But the Wizards' defense speed is still very fast, and Hughes and Arenas' defense speed is not slow.
Gerald Wallace, who was holding the ball, did not force an attack. Instead, he chose to slow down and wait for Als to pass the half court, then gave the ball to the latter to let him stabilize the rhythm.
"Alston's role in this lineup is reflected!" Bill Walton praised.
A team like the Heat actually needs someone who can control the rhythm.
For example, in this round, it is actually possible to attack forcefully, but Shaq needs to follow up very quickly, which will consume a lot of his physical energy.
Instead of doing this, it is better to wait for Shaq and Woody to pass the halftime normally.
Anyway, judging from the current situation in the first half, as long as Shaq and Woody compete for positions under the basket, the Wizards basically have nothing to do with them.
The Wizards also knew what they were thinking, so they interfered with Alston very strongly. However, Alston showed his skillful ball control ability and his "softness" like a loach. Arenas' various high-pressure confrontations, he still calmly controlled the ball.
Bill Walton performed well. As a street ball player, it is rare to have such stability.
Kwame Brown was not so easy to admit defeat. He once again signaled to his teammates to let Woody catch the ball and leave Shaq alone.
Jamison decisively gave up the position of confronting Woody to him, and at the same time, his favorability towards him increased by 1 again!
Those who are willing to resist at such a time are all good brothers!
Kwame was really working hard and wanted to prove himself in front of the people of Washington, but he was really helpless in the face of Woody's big butt.
And after testing in the last round, Woody's confrontation in this round was obviously much stronger than before. Kwame Brown gritted his teeth and held on, and was very experienced in using Woody's "butt sticking" skill. At the same time, he took a step back. Although he did not resist Woody, he could still defend in front of Woody!
In this way, Woody cannot face the frame, and he is equivalent to guarding Woody.
But what he didn't expect was that Woody turned around and faced the frame without enough space, and then threw the ball directly from his side towards the backboard.
Kwame Brown's physical fitness is definitely not bad, but the problem is that Woody's move happened suddenly. With Kwame Brown's mind, he never imagined that Woody would do this, so when the ball flew out of Woody's hand At this time, he subconsciously raised his hand to stop Woody, but this just gave Woody the opportunity to get past him and get to the basket.
"Bang!"
Self-shooting and grabbing, Woody attacked twice and completed a dunk.
Now, the words of Washingtonians are even worse.
Kwame Brown acted like a moron in front of Woody in this round. He couldn't keep up with Woody's rhythm and was completely played by him. This scene was a huge blow to the entire team.
The head coach of the Wizards sighed and took Kwame Brown off the court. He knew very well that if Kwame was not taken off, these fans would greet his family!
Kwame Brown walked off the court with a frustrated look. He was helpless, but he also knew that he once again failed to seize the opportunity and let it slip away.
(End of chapter)
