It’s another game day.
The Golden State Warriors ushered in their 17th game at their home court at Oracle Arena. Their opponent in this game was the Mavericks from Dallas.
This opponent ranked eighth in the Western Conference last season and played the San Antonio Spurs 3-4 in the first round of the playoffs. It almost annoyed the Spurs. It can be said that the overall strength is not bad. .
The team has main players such as Dirk Lowitzki, Chandler Parsons, and Amar'e Stoudemire, as well as outstanding defenders like Rajon Rondo who once played with Boston's Big Three. .
The most important thing is that they also have Monta Ellis, the former core of the Warriors. Monta Ellis was selected by the Warriors with the 40th overall pick. Not many people were optimistic about him at first. After all, he was only a second-round pick.
In this league, there are so few second-round picks who can produce that they can almost be ignored.
But under such circumstances, Monta Ellis gradually climbed up to the main position with his own efforts, and even once won the favor and trust of head coach Don Nelson, becoming the core player of the Warriors.
Unexpectedly, the Warriors later encountered changes, the team was divided and collapsed, and management problems emerged one after another. Monta Ellis could have seized the opportunity under such circumstances, but he failed to live up to his expectations and encountered the team one after another due to personal matters. Suspensions and penalties.
In this way, in the 2009 draft, head coach Don Nelson insisted on going his own way, ignoring the obstruction of the team management and Monta Ellis, and chose Stephen Curry, who was in the same position as Monta Ellis.
At first, Monta Ellis thought that Stephen Curry was here to be his little brother, but as time passed, it wasn’t until the day he was traded that he realized that the young man with an immature appearance was not here to be his little brother. As a substitute.
The backcourt combination of the two did not exert its due power, so Monta Ellis' departure is not surprising.
Now facing his former club, the former core player who was forced to leave, even though he has a good relationship with his former teammates in private, still won't relax on the court.
Before the game officially started, Warriors players gathered in the locker room.
Head coach Steve Kerr didn't have much to say. He only told the players a few things to pay attention to, and then sat aside to rest.
As the team was about to enter, team general manager Bob Michael appeared at the door of the locker room.
"Steve, come out."
Bob Michael lowered his voice and said something.
None of the players noticed him, except coach Steve Kerr.
Soon, coach Steve Kerr walked out. As soon as he walked out, he was pulled into a corner by Bob Michael.
Bob Michael continued to narrate, and Steve Kerr's face gradually turned cold.
"I disagree."
"This is a very irrational approach!"
Steve Kerr responded.
Bob Michael sighed helplessly, "I don't want to do this either. I agree with you... But the team's shareholders have ideas about this matter, and even the boss supports them in doing so... ....I argued with them for a long time before easing the matter..."
"Then you just do what I say! I know this is a difficult decision, but if the team's problem is not big, then we can only do this... The current compromise may be able to In exchange for future support, otherwise these guys will not give up..."
Bob Michael patted Steve Kerr on the shoulder and left quietly.
Steve Kerr was stunned for a long time, and then he shook his head helplessly, "Damn it! Why are there always guys like this holding the team back?"
The players entered quickly.
The moment the Warriors came on the field, the Oracle Arena was filled with cheers. Stephen Curry was originally the most popular on the team, and the applause given to him by the fans could almost drown the entire arena.
But since Zhao Feiyang arrived, everything seemed to be changing quietly.
"Zhao."
"Zhao."
Countless Asian fans cheered and shouted on both sides of the stands. The madness they showed made other Warriors players look in disbelief.
Even Stephen Curry was in a trance at a certain moment.
"This feeling... as if Zhao is the leader of the team... these fans are too crazy..."
Draymond Green is even more jealous.
As he walked through the crowd, he saw Asian fans waving wildly, with disgust and displeasure written all over his face, but it only took him a moment to regain his composure.
Draymond Green is not stupid. He knows that the cameras on the scene will be pointed at them at any time. If his expression is captured on the big screen, or if any fan or reporter captures this scene, I am afraid that he will immediately become the center of public opinion. Topic person.
No matter what he thinks in his heart, what he says must be "correct" and must be in line with the public's values.
Otherwise, it's only a matter of time before he leaves the league.
Players from both sides quickly took to the court.
As the core, Stephen Curry also shook hands and high-fived his former big brother Monta Ellis. This rare scene was recorded by the live camera. Countless fans gave applause and cheers to the former star Monta Ellis. Sri Lanka.
Beep.
The game officially begins.
Zhao Feiyang sat on the sidelines and watched the game as usual.
He has performed well recently and is more stable than Klay Thompson. It is not impossible if he uses this to force the team to start.
But Zhao Feiyang did not do this. Instead, he accepted the arrangement as a substitute.
In the past with the Miami Heat, he played no less than 25 minutes per game, and sometimes even played 35 minutes, but now he is very comfortable, averaging 20 to 25 minutes per game.
This not only ensures that the experience card time is not exceeded, but can also be used together and protects one's own health.
The competition on the field gradually became more intense.
The first quarter ended with a duel between Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis. As point guards, the two each displayed their own unique skills and continued to help the team score.
Stephen Curry just threw a three-pointer here, and Monta Ellis broke through to the basket and made a throw in the defense of two players.
The two of them didn't have too many frontal confrontations, but they increased a lot of opportunities for breakthroughs or shots.
At the end of the first quarter, the Golden State Warriors led by 2 points. Stephen Curry scored 14 points and Monta Ellis scored 11 points.
Judging from performance and data alone, Monta Ellis seems to have lost to Stephen Curry.
In other words, he can no longer threaten his little brother's status. Even if he does not leave the Warriors, his performance may not necessarily defeat Stephen Curry.
call out.
As soon as the first quarter was over, the second quarter soon began.
Zhao Feiyang appeared on the stage under the arrangement of head coach Steve Kerr.
As soon as he came up, Zhao Feiyang seized the opportunity to dribble the ball for a fast break. After halftime, he entered the basket and made a pull-up layup. He won the applause of the audience with his wonderful performance of passing three Mavericks players and scoring in a row.
Within two minutes, the Mavericks made a mistake in their offense. Zhao Feiyang rushed into the crowd to pick up the falling basketball.
Under the interference of the Mavericks defensive players, Zhao Feiyang took another shot.
Uh-huh.
A three-pointer went into the basket cleanly.
Seeing that Zhao Feiyang was playing more and more smoothly, and the Mavericks team on the court could not stop him at all, suddenly, a whistle sounded on the sidelines, and head coach Steve Kerr replaced Zhao Feiyang.
"what's the situation?"
"This has only lasted less than 5 minutes! Why did you replace him?"
The fans at the scene were confused.
Zhao Feiyang was also puzzled.
He walked off the court and asked head coach Steve Kerr, "Coach, why did you replace me? I'm in good shape now..."
"Just because you are in good condition, you need more rest and let the substitutes play more. We will definitely be able to win such a game, so we don't need the main players to work too hard..."
Zhao Feiyang didn't think much about it.
It is not uncommon for the regular season to go wild in the playoffs. Especially the core players of some teams will choose this method to save energy in order to cope with the cruelty of the playoffs.
However, what Zhao Feiyang did not expect was that from the moment he sat on the bench until the end of the live game, he would not be able to get on the court again.
But other players rotated smoothly, even Stephen Curry still played more than 20 minutes.
The final result was not surprising. The Warriors successfully won their opponent and defeated the Dallas Mavericks who came to play on the road.
The competition between Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry ended with Stephen Curry scoring 31 points.
Zhao Feiyang came on the court for less than 5 minutes and scored 7 points, which is not bad in terms of efficiency, but when compared to the entire Warriors team, such a score is really inconspicuous.
In addition, Stephen Curry is too sharp, especially when the Warriors are on a winning streak. It seems that the team's victory is entirely based on Stephen Curry.
After a 17-game winning streak, the Golden State Warriors continue their campaign.
This time I came to play away from home in Portland.
The opponent is the Western Conference team Trail Blazers. This team is very strong. It reached the Western Conference semifinals last season and is currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference this season. In terms of strength, it does not look much worse than the Golden State Warriors.
Facing such a powerful team, it stands to reason that a leader of the second team like Zhao Feiyang will not have less playing time.
However, this time, head coach Steve Kerr still only gave Zhao Feiyang less than 5 minutes. After he came on the field, he didn't play much before he was replaced on the field again and sat on the bench until the end of the game.
Such an arrangement would certainly attract the attention of fans on weekdays. Unexpectedly, the Warriors once again defeated the Trail Blazers in this game.
The score between the two sides was 122 to 109.
The 13-point gap gives the Warriors no pressure to win. So, when the team wins a big victory, how long Zhao Feiyang will play is naturally not an important issue.
