On Jordan's side, when Li Ao and Odom started a fast break, he followed them. Although he definitely couldn't keep up, it was a process.
By coincidence, when he ran near the center circle, he happened to hear what Li Ao said to Billups, and his eyes instantly opened up like bells.
Only then did Li Ao notice that the God of Basketball was also nearby. He was startled and immediately added: "Michael, you are currently the best No. 3 pick in history."
Jordan retreated with satisfaction, but suddenly raised his eyebrows after retreating, now?
He couldn't help but sneer. These words really fit the big spider's playful character.
On the opposite side, Billups silently ran back to the basket to receive the serve. When he advanced, there was no emotion on his face, which surprised him.
Judging from his playing style, he thought Billups was the type of flamboyant and impulsive type like Terry and Van Exel, but it seemed not to be the case.
Billups advanced beyond the three-point line and continued the pick-and-roll singles. Facing Odom's switch, he took a long two-point shot...again, but Joe Smith immediately followed the pick-and-roll and got ahead of O'Neal. Point the ball into the basket and make a tip-in.
He's very accurate when he's on target, and he's unstoppable when he's ironed out. Billups's characteristics this season are already well understood by his teammates.
In the previous rounds, Joe Smith tried to open up as much space as possible after the pick-and-roll, so as not to affect Billups's choice to rush inside. With this ball, Joe Smith began to actively look for better receiving opportunities and rush for offensive rebounds. .
However, although the Timberwolves scored again and chased the score to 31 to 32, the starting lineup with the most physical strength and the strongest team firepower did not have an advantage. Billups' explosive rotation period also did not have an advantage. The initiative had already been lost. In the hands of the Clippers.
Billups, but not alone, passed the ball when he felt that his teammates had better opportunities. After he started to hit the iron, his teammates became more proactive in running. He passed when he needed to, and continued to shoot when he needed to. The Timberwolves' offensive firepower remained At a higher level, scoring 7 points with 3 minutes remaining was a good performance.
But the Clippers scored 9 points during this period!
After scoring 11 points in a row, Li Ao's movement without the ball attracted the attention of many opponents. The shooting opportunities were blocked. In singles, the opponent also moved to defend in advance, but his teammates had more opportunities. Greg Anthony made a shot. An open three-pointer, Jordan scored two consecutive mid-range shots, and Odom gave O'Neal an alley-oop.
After the first quarter, the Clippers led 41 to 38 by 3 points and entered the intersection break, strongly suppressing the Timberwolves who were running rampant on the offensive end!
In the second quarter, Li Ao was replaced and rested. Bibby and Jordan played together, paired with the combination of Big Q, Matt Halprin, and Campbell.
Bibby came up and hit a long two-pointer after Jordan's return pass, opening the point difference to 5 points.
The Timberwolves fought back, and their firepower was still very fierce. It was more powerful than their opponents in the dozen games since the Clippers' opener. For the first time against the Timberwolves, who had changed their style of play, the Clippers did not have a good solution. Suppressing the opponent's offense, but due to physical consumption and the impact of confrontation, after the Timberwolves entered the second quarter and played a team offense, their firepower was much weaker than in the first half of the first quarter.
The Timberwolves' current defense is really bad. Flip Saunders cannot strengthen the defense. The price of strengthening the defense is to weaken the offense. The offense is their strongest weapon now.
Facing the Timberwolves' defense, even though the Clippers' strongest contact point was not on the court, Bibby and Jordan also led the team to play back and forth with the opponent.
In terms of stability, the Clippers, with two major stars, Bibby and Jordan, are even better.
After half the first quarter, Li Ao, Odom, Gerald Wallace, and O'Neal Jr. came on the court, and Bibby continued to play.
After Gerald Wallace came on the court this time, he did a good job in attacking the frame.
Regardless of whether it is Nesterovich or Mark Jackson, their single-player performance in protecting the frame is average.
The two of them can only defend in the three-second zone, but they can't do more.
In previous seasons, Nesterovich's role as a low-post defender was particularly outstanding with the help of Garnett.
But tonight, Garnett was already exhausted on defense to assist Li Ao and Bibby. Odom passed the ball to Gerald Wallace who was cutting in, and Garnett really couldn't take care of it.
Garnett's defensive performance tonight was still first defense or even the best defensive player level, but the defense of his teammates was really poor.
As Li Ao took over the blame at the last minute of the first half, he hit a long two-pointer against Joe Smith. At the end of the half, the Clippers led the Timberwolves by 6 points, 70-64, entering the intermission.
The Timberwolves performed well offensively in the second quarter, scoring 26 points in a single quarter which was much higher than the league's second quarter average, but the Clippers scored 29 points!
By the third quarter, the Clippers had completely taken control of the initiative. Although the Clippers were unable to continue to widen the point difference under the fierce attack of the Timberwolves, the lead was firmly maintained, with a score of 28 to 27 in a single quarter. , leading the Timberwolves by 7 points 98-91 entering the final quarter.
He scored 15 points in the first quarter, 5 points in the second half, and 7 points in the third half. Li Ao scored 27 points in 23 minutes in the three quarters, which was so exciting!
…
At the end of the quarter, the Timberwolves sent out a combination of Billups, Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, Garnett, and Mark Jackson; the Clippers sent out Bibby, Big Q, Li Ao, Odom, Jay The Ron Collins combo.
The lineup of the Timberwolves surprised Li Ao.
It's not like Billups and Garnett have never played together before, but Trier Brandon and Billups played together in the backcourt as double point guards. Billups was responsible for catching and shooting from the wing. defense.
Seeing Billups controlling the ball behind the top arc and waiting for his teammates to get into position, with no intention of passing the ball to Garnett, Li Ao guessed that the opposing coach might want to give it a try.
Li Ao followed Joe Smith and did not give the opponent a chance to shoot.
Billups singled out Bibby in the top arc, and the Timberwolves sent out a three-forward combination. In addition to being strong in shooting and running, they also had a very important purpose - to allow their point guard to always face the opponent's point guard. One-to-one attack.
Trier Brandon has a speed advantage against most point guards in the league, and Billups has a height advantage against most point guards.
Faced with Billups's wavering style of play, Bibby chose to defend against it.
Although Bibby's defensive ability is mediocre, he has a good attitude and good awareness. His poor defense is due to his poor physical condition. He cannot be blamed for this.
Bibby did what he could, but Billups still got a mid-range shot opportunity. However, Billups' easier singles this time was two-pointers long!
The ball bounced just in the direction of Odom!
Garnett wanted to bypass Odom to grab an offensive rebound. Odom jumped up quickly to get the ball. He easily avoided Garnett's steal with a beautiful behind-the-back dribble and advanced the counterattack!
During the advance, Odom passed the ball to Li Ao. Li Ao drove to the free throw line and successfully attracted the attack of Billups and Joe Smith. Then he passed the ball... Big Q cut in to catch the ball and dunked to score two points.
The Clippers came up and showed off their momentum!
The Timberwolves are in a difficult situation. Li Ao guessed correctly. Flip Saunders really wants to try to let Billups make a wave. If Billups can shoot again, they may turn the situation around at the beginning of the final quarter. go back.
To this end, he even asked Garnett to play a supporting role.
But once Billups can't shoot, the offense collapses!
Billups serves as the core offensive point to connect the whole team. If the Timberwolves are a top defensive team, coupled with his offensive ability, he may be comparable to Garnett.
But the Timberwolves' defense is last in the league, Billups can't support the offense, and his way of organizing offense is incompatible with Garnett...
In the following time, the Clippers went on a 12-6 run, and at 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the final quarter, the Timberwolves called a timeout.
The score came to 112 to 97, and the point difference widened to 15 points!
Flip Saunders has not given up. As the team with the strongest offensive firepower and the most stability in the league in the past two weeks, if they can surge up and the opponent's touch declines, they still have a chance.
Flip Saunders returned to the starting lineup.
On Gentry's side, he guessed that the opponent was going to make a last ditch effort, so he replaced Jordan, Matt Halprin, and O'Neal Jr. Bibby and Li Ao continued to play, replacing them with the most stable lineup.
After the timeout, the Timberwolves attacked. Terril Brandon broke through and scored. Garnett caught the ball and turned around and hit a mid-range shot, starting a counterattack.
When the Clippers attack, Bibby and O'Neal rush into the paint on a pick-and-roll. The Timberwolves shrink their defense and block the cut. Li Ao runs back and throws Szczerbiak away and takes a step outside the free throw line. After receiving Bibby's pass, the long-range shot from the front Two-point shot...also scored!
His personal score increased to 31 points! 30+ points in a single game for the second time this season!
In the middle of the next quarter and a few minutes before and after the official timeout, the Timberwolves shot a super-high 6-for-10 shooting rate, including two three-pointers, plus 2-for-2 free throws, scoring 14 points in 5 minutes.
The Clippers' firepower was slightly inferior, but they were stable. In these 5 minutes, Li Ao scored a three-pointer from the sideline. Jordan scored 4 points on 2-of-4 field goals. Coupled with Bibby's two-pointer, the Austrians scored 4 points. Dom broke through and caused a foul and made one of two free throws, steadily scoring 10 points.
At 9 minutes and 53 seconds of the last quarter, the score reached 124 to 113, and the Clippers still led by 11 points!
When the Timberwolves attacked, Garnett rushed inside and scored two points with a one-handed dunk, narrowing the point difference to 9 points.
In the transition between offense and defense, Li Ao, Jordan, and Bibby scored consecutively from mid- to long-range. The Timberwolves chose to expand their defense this time.
Li Ao received the ball on the right side of the three-second zone and was stuck by Joe Smith, who was changing defense. At this time, O'Neal Jr. cut in from the baseline. Li Ao seized the opportunity and drove the ball straight to the basket!
Garnett immediately took the ball back when Li Ao passed it to the basket, but O'Neal did not go straight for a layup. Instead, he caught the ball, turned around and retreated to the left sideline of the three-second zone, and made a jump shot from close range... Garnett Te was exhausted and could only watch as O'Neal Jr. hit a jumper from close range!
126 to 115, the Clippers continue to maintain an 11-point lead!
With one and a half minutes left, the Timberwolves failed to defend the ball, and their belief in a comeback was completely shattered.
The Clippers have also reached the end of their strength. They are fighting for this in the second game of back-to-back games. If it weren't for the opponent's poor defense, their firepower would really not be able to last at this time. In order to ensure the offense, even Jordan played 32 minutes tonight.
In the last minute and a half, the two teams fought several times, but neither team scored again.
At 10:21 pm, the final whistle sounded.
Garnett scored 30 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, Trill Brandon had 12 points and 8 assists, Billups had 20 points and 3 assists, Szczerbiak had 19 points, Joe Smith had 16 points, Timberwolves 5 People score in double figures and still lose to their opponents.
Li Ao made 12 of 22 shots, including 4 of 7 three-pointers, plus 6 of 8 free throws. He scored 34 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.
Jordan scored 23 points and 4 assists, Bibby had 20 points and 7 assists, O'Neal Jr. had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Odom had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists...
The Clippers defeated the Timberwolves 126-115 and won 4 consecutive victories, improving their record to 14 wins and 1 loss!
The Timberwolves suffered their fourth loss of the season and fell from second place in the Western Conference.
Flip Saunders rubbed his fingers helplessly. He really couldn't win the Clippers.
This opponent is so different from other teams that focus on defense. When other teams see them soaring, they think about how to defend them, even at the expense of offense.
What he needs to do is simple, he just needs to break the opponent's defense.
But the head coach on the opposite side became even more excited after seeing that he couldn't defend himself, and attacked them regardless.
And it really got the opponent excited!
They scored 38 points in the first quarter, but they could not outperform the opponent. They failed to gain an advantage during the period when they had the strongest firepower. They were in a state of exhaustion after that.
If he loses, he can only adjust his mentality and focus on the next game.
…
The offensive battle between the Clippers and the Timberwolves made fans excited.
The Clippers' triangle offense in the first quarter made people's eyes shine.
The match between Li Ao and Billups for the No. 3 overall pick was wildly speculated by fans.
Li Ao suffered a little loss this time. Although he won, it was Billups who was more talked about.
Like the Clippers fans at the scene, the fans in front of the TV were also surprised that Billups, who had been struggling for four years, actually played!
The Timberwolves' offensive performance also surprised many people. So far, apart from the Lakers, there has never been a team that can score more than 100 points on the Clippers before. The Timberwolves are the second team.
Li Ao was in a good mood after winning back-to-back games. He scored high points and was in a better mood. He had a rare sleep the next morning. He didn't get out of bed until his mother asked him to have breakfast at around 8 o'clock.
When he came to the living room, he saw little Roy lying on the crib staring at him with big eyes. He went up and poked his son and said, "Strange, I seem to have seen your eyes somewhere before."
The mother on the side said speechlessly: "His eyes are exactly the same as when you were a child. Just look in the mirror."
"No wonder, I just said why these eyes are so beautiful."
"..."
The mother looked at her son's narcissistic look and really regretted giving birth to her son who was too handsome.
However, his husband is also very narcissistic and often regards himself as a 'middle-aged handsome guy' in private. Forget it, he's used to it.
After breakfast, Li Ao accompanied Vivian to read the Dragon Ball Frieza chapter.
Although he had watched it countless times, he still felt shocked and excited when he saw the moment when the Super Saiyan was born. All cartoons and all anime protagonists were eclipsed at this moment.
…
In the afternoon, Li Ao left Los Angeles with the team and came to the Denver Plateau.
After a night's rest, on November 30, the last game day of the first month, the Clippers came to the Pepsi Center to challenge the Nuggets away from home.
The Nuggets are a perfect example of bad luck.
In the offseason, the Nuggets traded Van Exel and Reeve LaFrentz for Juwan Howard and former No. 1 high school student in the country, Donnell Harvey, and signed Tim Hardaway. and Avery Johnson as a supplement.
Using a premium of 2 years and 5 million U.S. dollars to renew the contract of veteran George McLeod, the Lakers' offer to the forward and defensive line pitcher is 2 years and 4 million U.S. dollars, and there is no other higher offer.
This operation of the Nuggets is naturally for the purpose of re-entering the playoffs in the new season. They were just short of this in the middle and late stages of last season. Now they have returned to a stable inside field averaging 18+ per game. They feel that they have made a breakthrough, so they take the offseason. The media also regarded them as strong playoff contenders.
Then, after two games in the new season, their star player, Antonio McDyess, who averaged 20+10 points per game, suffered a serious left knee injury and needed to be sidelined for 12 to 16 weeks.
Without their best player, the Nuggets have 6 wins and 9 losses in the first 15 games. Their chances of making the playoffs are basically gone. Even if McDyess can return to his original form after his comeback, there is no chance of reaching the season. Postgame.
However, the Nuggets are very lucky tonight, and the Clippers who came to challenge are generally in a slump!
We had just played a back-to-back game. In the second game of the back-to-back game, we fought to the last minute with the Timberwolves. For the third game in four days, we came to the plateau of Denver. Most of the Clippers players were in poor physical condition. After the first quarter, they finished with 14 10 points behind the Nuggets 24.
In the second quarter, Li Ao gave up and started to make waves. He made 5 of 9 shots in a single quarter, plus 1 of 2 free throws. He scored 11 points and led the team to bite the score. The score in the single quarter was 21 to 22. At the end of the half, The Clippers trailed the Nuggets by 11 points, 35-46.
Under the leadership of Li Ao, the Clippers found their offensive status in the third quarter, scoring 31 points in a single quarter. Gerald Wallace, who came on the bench, seized the opportunity and continuously attacked the inside. He scored in 8 minutes in a single quarter. 9 points, showing his extraordinary talent.
But the Nuggets saw a chance to win and played very hard!
Especially Juwan Howard, he blamed two teams for his tragic experience this year, one is naturally the Mavericks, and the other is the Clippers.
No other reason, just pure anger.
Under the leadership of Juwan Howard, the Nuggets also surged in the third quarter, scoring 30 points in a single quarter and holding on to their lead! After three quarters, the team continued to maintain a 10-point lead at 76-66.
In the final quarter, the Nuggets' momentum faltered, and they only scored 16 points in the first 9 minutes.
However, the Clippers' momentum also weakened, scoring only 19 points in 9 minutes. When entering the timeout, they trailed the Nuggets by 7 points, 85-92.
In the last 3 minutes, Li Ao threw hard from the outside. At 11 minutes and 55 seconds of the last quarter, Li Ao faced James Posey's defense and hit a three-pointer. During this period, he made 3 of 6 shots, including 2 of 4 three-pointers. Scored 8 points alone.
But the Nuggets' Juwan Howard also scored two mid-range shots and scored 4 points to maintain the advantage!
After Li Ao hit a three-pointer, O'Neal Jr. fouled Nuggets center Giden Hamilton. Giden Hamilton went to the free throw line and made one of two free throws, opening the point difference to 4 points!
At this time and this point difference, the Nuggets sealed the victory!
After the Clippers called a timeout, Li Ao missed the three-pointer he threw directly after the ball. He played 41 minutes tonight and was drained.
Juwan Howard grabbed a defensive rebound and the final buzzer sounded.
Juwan Howard scored 26 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, Avery Johnson had 10 points and 10 assists, James Posey had 12 points, George McLeod had 18 points... He made 15 of 33 shots, including three-pointers. Li Ao scored 41 points on 4-of-10 free throws and 7-of-10 free throws.
93 to 97, the Clippers lost their third away game in four days.
…
Li Ao scored 41 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
He was in really good shape last night. If his teammates performed normally, he could steadily take fifteen or six shots and score over 20 points.
But besides him last night, the second highest scorer was Gerald Wallace, who scored 13 points.
Jordan only scored 5 goals and 12 points in 14 shots. Physical strength affected him more than defense. If he had sufficient physical strength, first-defense players such as Kobe, Doug Christie, and Payton would It's hard to guard him to this point.
The next day, a new month arrived, and Li Ao returned to Los Angeles with the team at noon. A piece of good news calmed his depression of losing.
Relying on his crazy performance of 14 wins and 2 losses in a single month, he averaged 24.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 3.2 blocks per game, and won the first Western Conference Player of the Month award in NBA history!
Those defeated were Kobe, Webber, Nash and Garnett.
Weber performed extremely well in the first month and was at his peak, with 11 wins and 4 losses, averaging 26.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.2 blocks per game.
Garnett had the best start of his career, with 11 wins and 4 losses, averaging 22.4 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
Nash played 16 games in the first month, averaging 20.3 points and 8.6 assists per game, with a record of 10 wins and 6 losses, which was slightly worse.
Kobe played full attendance for the first month in three seasons, averaging 28.5 points, 6 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.2 steals in 14 games, shooting 48% from the field, and 25% from three-point range.
In addition to the three-pointers, Kobe's performance in the first month was impeccable, and he was very ready to counterattack and seize power. His record was 10 wins and 4 losses, but he couldn't stand up to the Spider-Man team who stayed in his house. The record was too good.
Compared with the fierce competition in the West, there is no suspense about the best in the East in the first month.
Kidd achieved a record of 10 wins and 5 losses in 15 games in the first month, averaging 16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and won the first Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in NBA history.
After receiving the monthly best reward of 20,000 achievement points, Li Ao immediately went to surf the Internet.
He saw that although they lost to the Nuggets yesterday, the media had a very high overall evaluation of them, saying that their first month was a dream start.
The media conducted detailed analysis of their first month's performance.
.T Sports focused on analyzing Bibby’s performance.
Although Bibby's statistics this season are about to average 13 points and 6 assists per game, and he often scores in single digits, he has wiped out the title of "data brush".
Because of his poor record before, the media compared him with Brevin Knight. If it weren't for the fact that his averages of 13, 14, and 15 points per game in the past three years had steadily improved, and his shooting percentage was quite good. Last season's shooting percentage was as high as 45%, and his three-point shooting percentage was also 38%. Maybe he will be given the title of second place in the parallel import list.
Although Bibby didn't score much, his key ball ability was praised by Barkley, Kenny Smith and others.
The assists are not as high as before, but .T listed the data. When he is on the court, the Clippers' tactical execution success rate and shooting rate are much higher than when he is not there. He uses his unique court control ability-ball distribution. , sorting out the team's offense in an orderly manner.
Bibby's performance in ball distribution was evaluated by Barkley as "not easy."
Li Ao also found it very difficult. He often saw Bibby directing Jordan to run under Jordan's angry gaze. It's great to have a senior brother!
That’s right. Apart from .T, Li Ao didn’t see much analysis of Bibby from other websites. Moreover, .T’s analysis articles about Bibby didn’t have high click-through rate and reply volume. The scandal between Big Q and Brandi, They all get more attention than Bibi... Senior brother is ignored by most people.
Jordan's efficient performance of 18 points in 26 minutes per game, Odom's move to the second team as a pseudo-starter, O'Neal's steady improvement in both offense and defense... Li Ao saw that almost everyone in their team was praised.
Gentry, who won the Western Conference Coach of the Month, has been praised by the media for his understanding and utilization of new rules, helping the team lead the league in building a tactical system.
The Eastern Conference coach of the month is Byron Scott of the Nets.
Li Ao was also praised.
Although his points and assists are not as good as last season, his shooting percentage has improved significantly. That is to say, he hit too much last night and dropped to 48.9%. At the beginning of the season, his shooting percentage was above 50%, and before last night it was 49%+.
He was most praised for his improvement in three-pointers. In the first month, he played 15 games and made a total of 29 three-pointers, averaging 1.93 per game, ranking 15th in the league, and his shooting percentage was 38%. Looking at the whole country, League, top-level performance.
That's right, the media always mention the Lakers from time to time and use them as weapons to stomp on the Lakers. In this regard, he said - when they perform well, please continue to do so!
He shouldn't be too happy to see Lakers fans being so angry on news pages and forums.
The Rookie of the Month was won by Jamal Tinsley, who averaged 10.2 points and 8.4 assists per game, and Gasol, who averaged 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game.
The Pacers traded back a late first-round draft pick and selected a playmaker. This vision is also amazing. Li Ao feels that Big Bird is no worse than the Spurs' general manager RC Buford and the Grizzlies' logo man.
…
After playing three games in four days, the Clippers got two days of rest. On the 1st, after finishing the news, Li Ao did not go to training, but stayed at home to accompany his aunt in the hospital to play Super Smash Bros., which was just released by Nintendo at the end of last month. , Vivian also likes to play games, but mainly side-scrolling clearance games with beautiful graphics, or Nintendo cartoon-style games.
After a day of rest, on the 2nd, Li Ao returned to the state of the season. He got up early and went to the Memorial Stadium early for additional training.
At 9:30 in the morning, the coaching staff held a team meeting.
During the meeting, they first reviewed their performance last month. When Doug Collins, who was in charge of analysis, analyzed the performance of each player, Li Ao saw that Jordan had a bad expression.
Playing an average of 26 minutes per game, it can be seen that the old basketball god is still very dissatisfied.
However, Li Ao is not worried about this. He scored 18 points with a shooting rate of 47%. With such an efficient performance, the shooting rate is still rising steadily. He believes that the God of Basketball will like this feeling of being able to output with all his strength as soon as he comes on the court instead of playing behind. If your performance plummets and you are beaten by a small role, even if you don't like it, there are still head coaches and senior brothers who will bow to the God of Basketball.
After reviewing last month's performance, Gentry arranged the tactical adjustments and running-in plan for the next month.
There is less and less time for them to adjust. After Christmas, they will enter the middle of the season. At that time, they will have to compete with other strong teams that have already adjusted.
Li Ao listened to Gentry's arrangements and felt that the coaching staff was quite difficult.
It's all the next door neighbor's fault!
Trading Campbell with Piakowsky and Rafonso Ellis will have a significant impact on their running-in progress and overall strength.
The core purpose of their trade back to Campbell is to deal with the Sharks. Campbell actually has strength, and his hard power is much stronger than Jaylon Collins, but for their team, he is young, has better mobility, and has a better sense of eating pie. A good Jaylon Collins is a more useful center against most opponents.
But the coaching staff must also give Campbell a certain amount of playing time to ensure the veteran's condition and take care of the veteran's emotions.
Li Ao really couldn't help the coaching staff in this regard. He remembered that after O'Neal entered his peak period, he never lost his dominance due to opponents' targeting and changes in rules, even when he faced the Pistons in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals. Team, O'Neal also maintained an average of 20+10 per game, with a shooting percentage of over 60%. Only time can make O'Neal lose his dominance.
However, this problem is not only a headache for the Clippers, every strong team competing for the championship must face this problem. Even the Mavericks have traded back the big center LaFrentz. Li Ao saw the news rumors and even The Mavericks are looking for a meat shield center...
When everyone suffered the same torture, he felt less tortured.
After having a meeting all morning, Li Ao's head felt a little swollen.
He began to envy Big Q, Boykins, and Campbell, a group of teammates who didn't have to use their brains in meetings. It was tiring to use their brains too much.
After lunch, he was ready to take a nap to recharge for the afternoon training.
He had just returned to the training ground. He had eaten early and came to practice the three-pointer from the corner. Big Q's words instantly cheered him up.
"Boss, have you heard that Stackhouse was sent to the Bulls, seemingly to trade Artest and Miller..."
…
On December 2, 2001, the Pistons and Bulls completed the transaction.
The Pistons sent Jerry Stackhouse and acquired Ron Artest and Brad Miller from the Bulls.
After hearing the news from Da Q, Li Ao woke up instantly and went to the coaching staff's office to borrow a computer to check and saw that the transaction had really happened!
The transaction noted Stackhouse's performance of 29.8 points per game last season.
After Carlisle came to the Pistons this season, the Pistons' overall performance improved significantly, but Stackhouse's role was much less, averaging only 21 points per game. There are rumors that Stackhouse is very dissatisfied with the new coach.
Stackhouse is dissatisfied with Jim Carrey, which Li Ao thinks is normal. Facts have proved that when Stackhouse was the core, the Pistons did not even have the strength to make the playoffs. Stackhouse was not the core and was treated as When the scoring puzzle was used, the Pistons had surpassed the Celtics and Hornets and were third in the Eastern Conference. However, the prospect was unwilling to just be a scoring puzzle. It would be a matter of time before he was sent away.
However, it was Artest who was replaced!
Ben Wallace became teammates with Artest, and he was disillusioned...
So the big Auburn Hills battle is just gone?
He was still waiting for that fight to clear his name!
Li Ao's mentality exploded for a while. When he opened the NBA official website, the Pistons' lineup had been updated.
Artest, Brad Miller, Ben Wallace, he made a "tsk, tsk" sound. This frontcourt combination will take a year or two to grow under the training of Carlisle. ...thinking about it made him feel numb.
But hey, this is the East!
Good luck to Stone Buddha!
However, after the Pistons sent away Stackhouse, the backcourt was really empty. I don't know if Billups will go to the Pistons.
Li Ao found it quite strange. Billups was so happy playing as the sixth man for the Timberwolves. Why did the Timberwolves not renew his contract, and was finally taken advantage of by the Pistons? Look at Billups's happy face, and the Timberwolves There should be no contradiction. The Timberwolves are not a team reluctant to spend money...
The Pacers actually didn't trade Jaylen Rose for Artest. Is it because they took away O'Neal and the Birds' rebuilding plan changed?
Li Ao didn't bother with these, he would always know the answer in the future.
Anyway, he feels that the current NBA is becoming more and more interesting. There are many unknown things, and it is getting harder and harder to open the 'eye of the sky'. However, the unknown makes him more excited!
…
Stackhouse, a scoring champion in people's eyes, was traded, which attracted widespread attention.
Some people think that the Pistons are "out of trouble", while others think that the Pistons are out of their minds. There is quite a controversy.
This happens every time a high-profile player is traded. Many people even complained about this player the day before, but after this player is traded, they can immediately become fans of this player and criticize the transaction...
After reading the news for a while, Li Ao put the matter aside. He lay down on the couch, closed his eyes, and forced to turn off the phone to rest. He could not delay his preparations for war because of watching the excitement.
This month, they not only have a heavy burden of system adjustment and tactical adjustment, but the schedule is also difficult. How easy it was in the first month, they have to pay it back this month. They had a dozen home games last month, and this month they have ten more. A few away games.
However, compared to last season, it is still very good. When they need the most time and weak opponents to polish their tactics, they were given a good enough schedule in the first month.
The next day, December 3, the Clippers faced the challenge of the Nuggets at home.
The 'enemies' were extremely jealous when they met.
The Clippers players, who just lost to the Nuggets on the road, were very irritable tonight!
After the game started at 8 o'clock in the evening, Odom, Matt Halprin, and Li Ao took turns to defend Juwan Howard. Even Odom defended with his life.
Even Gerald Wallace, who was rotated on and played 10 minutes, caught Juwan Howard and beat him to death.
Juwan Howard, who played 40 minutes in the game, made only 3 of 15 shots, plus 4 of 5 free throws, and only scored 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
Juwan Howard was targeted in this way, and the rest of the Nuggets had more opportunities. James Posey scored 28 points and Woshan Leonard scored 20 points.
But apart from the three of them, the rest of the Nuggets only scored 22 points combined.
The Clippers' fierce attitude was completely different from the previous two days, and many Nuggets players were immediately frightened.
That day they just took heart after seeing the chance to win, but tonight they saw the defeat and the frustration caused by McDyess' reimbursement returned.
For the Clippers, Jordan played 27 minutes tonight, making 8 of 15 shots, plus 7 of 8 free throws, and scored 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Li Ao performed normally tonight. Although he lost the last time he played against the Nuggets, he also figured out the opponent's defensive routine. He made 10 of 19 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers, plus 6 of 6 free throws. 27 points and 6 rebounds. Since he just scored 41 points in the last game, after he hit a few goals tonight, the opponent's flanks on him increased. He always had good passing opportunities after receiving the ball. 34 minutes He received 7 assists in playing time, his third highest score this season, plus 3 steals and 3 blocks.
Coupled with Odom's 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, Bibby's 12 points and 5 assists, O'Neal Jr.'s 15 points and 10 rebounds... the Clippers revenged the Nuggets 105-80.
When it comes to garbage time, the Clippers, a group of players who have been led by an unnamed No. 0 player to be open-minded, are still unwilling to relax their defense...
After the game, the imperial court commented on the game - a gentleman's revenge, from beginning to end.
…
After taking a good breath, Li Ao completely drained away the depression of losing to the Nuggets.
The next day, after finishing the extra practice in the morning, Li Ao saw the news that the Kings came to Los Angeles!
Li Ao has been waiting for this opponent for a long time!
After lunch, he came to Memorial Stadium. After the preparation meeting started at 1:30 p.m., Li Ao could also feel the importance the coaching staff attached to the Kings.
After all, this is the team that eliminated them in the playoffs last year. They have personal experience of how strong their opponents are.
And this year, as Peja's strength improved and Webber entered his heyday, the Kings' strength improved again. They started with 12 wins and 4 losses, beating the Lakers, Timberwolves, and Mavericks to rank second in the Western Conference.
Before Li Ao practiced at home in the morning, he watched half an hour of video clips of the Kings' last two games. It was really good!
Of the 4 games the Kings lost, 1 was lost to the Timberwolves. The score in that game was 102 to 120. Webber was defeated by Garnett and Princeton did not play. The points were not soaring; 1 game was lost. The Lakers were defeated in that game, but that game showed the Kings' tendency to miss out at critical moments; in the other two games, the Kings' outside shots were inaccurate, and they were upset no matter how hard they shot.
Although the Kings' offensive ability at critical moments is still not very good because they did not get Bibby, the strength of the Kings is that for most teams, it is simply impossible to force the Kings to the time when they need their offensive ability.
The coaching staff's tactical ideas when preparing for the game must be very good. They should maximize their strengths and avoid weaknesses, and make good use of their advantages... but the specific situation will only be known when the game is played.
After the preparation meeting, the Clippers conducted two hours of training, focusing on defense, and on the offensive end, they mainly practiced receiving shots in tactical coordination.
After the afternoon training, Li Ao received a system prompt.
"Congratulations to the host for raising the three-point rating from 79 to 80, reaching an excellent level."
"Congratulations on the host's comprehensive evaluation rising from 83 to 84."
"Mission: Advance to the first level! Trigger."
(End of chapter)
