Healing Basketball

   Chapter 450 450. The Warden's March Madness

   The Trail Blazers are heading into a crazy late season, and so are the rest of the team!

   The season sprint phase has begun!

   Each team has only about 15 games left to play. Whether it is a playoff berth, a ranking, or a worse record, the competition is already heating up.

   On March 25th, the Suns defeated the visiting Cavaliers at home and won their 55th victory this season, becoming the first team to win 55 this season.

Because of the pressure brought by Liu Xiu, Nash and his teammates played extraordinarily hard. The overall performance of the Suns in the regular season was slightly better than Liu Xiu's impression, and for a team as strong as the Suns, it was slightly better. For a little bit, for some mid-level teams, they have been able to form a stronger strength to suppress. For the abuse of vegetables, the Suns are the strongest this season. The weak teams that tried to upset were run by the Suns It collapsed immediately after a wave, so the Suns' record was better than Liu Xiu's impression.

   There are teams that try their best to be the best, and naturally there are teams that want to be the worst. The Blazers will face the next opponent.

After a day of rest after playing back-to-back, at 8 p.m. on March 25, the Trail Blazers ushered in a challenge from the Lakers at home. Liu Xiu played 37 minutes and made 17 of 32 shots, including 5 of 8 three-pointers, plus 4 Hit 4 free throws, Cyclonus 43 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals!

It can be seen from the free throws that the Lakers don’t have much struggle on the defensive end, and the Lakers’ offense is also very bad. With Liu Xiu’s 11th single-game 40+ this season, the Trail Blazers defeated the Lakers 112-88 Team, improving the record to 50 wins and 18 losses, becoming the 5th team to win 50 wins this season!

After losing to the Blazers, the Lakers suffered a 10-game losing streak, and their record fell to 28 wins and 40 losses.

Liu Xiu looked at the record of the Lakers, and had to admire the courage of the old Buss, and replaced it with Little Buss or Jenny Buss. At this time, he had to think about the so-called 'the glory of the Lakers', but the old Buss said what he said. Damn, it didn't start to rot until after the All-Star weekend, and it can be so bad!

   After this 10-game losing streak, the Lakers dropped to 13th in the Western Conference, "surpassing" the Warriors with 28 wins and 39 losses!

  Although it is impossible to surpass the Eagles, Hornets, and Bobcats in front of them, the Lakers have reached the seventh bottom in the league, and there is still hope to compete with the Magic, Jazz, and Raptors for the fourth bottom.

   Liu Xiu is very curious, if the Lakers get the No. 1 pick, will they choose Bogut?

The probability of    is not high. The Lakers rarely select forwards themselves, and like to directly pick up and use free agent centers that other teams don’t want.

  But what if the Lakers management got a brainstorm? After all, it's an Australian genius who calls himself Duncan White.

  …

   After the 3 main games of 3 games in 4 days, on March 26, the Trail Blazers left Portland, this time with a wave of three consecutive visitors.

  The opponents are the Suns, Jazz, and Sonics.

   Fighting the next day, without back-to-back, Liu Xiu feels that the schedule is still good.

   And in addition to the Jazz, the other two teams are his targets.

   As for not wanting to play the Jazz... Now he doesn't want to play any kind of hand-to-hand opponents, especially the Jazz, a team that they don't really want to win but want to always maintain the discipline to defend forever.

   It's not that he is afraid of such an opponent. He fights the same way. The key is his teammates.

   At 3 p.m., the Blazers came to Phoenix, checked into the hotel, and had a meeting to discuss tomorrow's game.

   This game is not only valued by Liu Xiu, but also by the entire team.

   Already lost to the Suns twice, it's time for a win at the end of the season! Must fight!

All hit this, 50 wins and 18 losses, there are 14 games left, 55 wins are appropriate, and there is even a certain probability of rushing to 60 wins, Liu Xiu once again has expectations for the highest honor... Eh? Why say it again?

   Because he also expected the same when he entered the playoffs with 58 wins and 24 losses last year, but unfortunately he was beaten in the second round...

  Last season, Liu Xiu learned from experience, learned lessons, and learned that winning the championship is not so easy, he can't be too ambitious, he has to take it step by step... Therefore, his current goal is still to compete for the championship.

   The team that must win 55 wins, not aiming for the championship, Liu Xiu felt sorry for herself!

  …

   With the 'Paul Allen' landing in Phoenix, there is more and more talk and media coverage of the Trail Blazers' road game against the Suns tomorrow.

   A topic popped up, the only division-leading team not beaten by the Trail Blazers - the Suns.

   The Heat, the top team in the Southeast Division, and the Trail Blazers have won.

   The first place in the Southwest Division has been the Spurs for a long time. When the Spurs were the No. 1 in the Southwest Division, the Trail Blazers played against the Spurs 3 times and won all of them.

   In the Central Division, the Trail Blazers won once when the Pistons were top; the Trail Blazers also won once when the Pacers were top.

  The top spot in the Atlantic Division has always been the Nets, and the Trail Blazers have won once.

   The Trail Blazers in the Northwest Division have always been No. 1. The only division No. 1 the Trail Blazers have not beaten is the Suns, the No. 1 in the Pacific Division.

   When Liu Xiu saw this topic aroused heated discussion among fans, at first glance, he thought it was a very powerful thing, and it was indeed very powerful... But think about it carefully, can the media come up with this strange topic? It has become a hot topic!

  Tracked the source and traced which media the topic was initiated... Sure enough, it was ESPN.

  Liu Xiu feels that Fliggy's business capabilities have declined a bit recently, and they haven't come up with any hot topics...

   Just thought of Fliggy, when Liu Xiu refreshed the T.N.T sports official website, he swiped to Fliggy's basketball column and updated a new article.

  Liu Xiu took a look, good guy, bragging about him.

The content of   Fliggy's column this time can be summed up in one sentence - the Warden's March Madness begins again!

The argument is simple too - after the suspension, the Warden played 8 games and averaged 32.5 points, 6 of the 8 games scored 30+, and the two games that didn't get 30+, the Blazers won both very easily. , There is no need to get high scores, nor do you try to get high scores. They scored 27 points against the Grizzlies and scored 25 points and 10 assists against the Rockets.

  If it weren't for those two games, it was easy to win, and there was no need to soar high scores, Liu Xiu would continue to soar 30+ in March!

   And 6 wins and 2 losses in 8 games, allowing the Blazers to maintain a 75% winning rate to enter the playoffs.

  The two arguments given by Barkley this time are very, very hard, score + record, simple but impeccable!

   After this article came out, it was quickly forwarded by major forums, and even the NBA official forwarded it!

Regarding Liu Xiu's state in March, there was actually some discussion after he played the fourth consecutive guest in the Southwest Division, but the discussion was not so focused. Now there is this column by Barkley, 'The Warden's Crazy March' This topic is on fire!

   Of course, no matter how 'impeccable' the argument is, someone will come out to refute it. It doesn't matter whether there is a basis for refutation, it just needs to refute...

   When Liu Xiu saw these two arguments, he also suddenly found out that he has played so well this month! It seems to be in very good condition.

  Last year at this time, it seemed the same!

   But after thinking about it carefully, he found that it is not that his state is exceptionally good, but that his state is more stable than other stars.

After March, the competition of each team has become fierce. The stars are fighting fiercely. Influenced by physical strength, injuries, etc., the state fluctuates greatly. In March, generally speaking, everyone's score, assists and other data list as a whole. The stage of decline is also the stage of the overall rise in the list of rebounds, steals, blocks and other data.

   But he wasn't affected by that, and his performance has been smooth, maintaining the highest level he can achieve!

   Under the fluctuations, his average data did not drop but rose in March, which is normal.

  Thinking of this, Liu Xiu thought of another player who is praised at the end of every season - Tim Duncan.

  Duncan also performed exceptionally well in March and April every year. He only won the Player of the Month award three times in his career, two in March and April.

  Duncan is also in his best form throughout the season, very consistent, so it always seems to be playing best in March-April.

  Duncan's Player of the Month Award has a very strange number. He has two MVPs in the regular season, but there are only 3 Player of the Month awards! The reason is that although his overall performance in one season is in the top five in the league every year, he rarely outperforms everyone in a single month, and he has no explosive attributes.

  Liu Xiu used to think that he was accustomed to filling up his state in March when he played the NCAA Crazy March. Now I find that there may be some factors in that aspect last year, but more of it must be the function of 'simulated training mode function repair'!

   Not only this season, but in the future, in the sprint stage of the season in March every year, he will be able to 'super-level performance'!

   After discovering this, Liu Xiu was ecstatic!

   There is no need for him to do anything, and he will be able to have a state advantage in March every year. Is this not something to be happy about? What is there to be happy about?

  Because of this, his confidence has improved a lot when he thinks of the game against the Suns tomorrow!

  …

  …

   At 7:10 pm on March 27, 2005, at the Phoenix Arena, after a day of preparation, Liu Xiu led his teammates into the stadium.

   Liu Xiu heard the boos, laughter and jeers.

   "Warden, please enjoy losing again."

   "The light of the sun will dispel the darkness!"

   "You are number one in boxing, and you are not the opponent for number one in basketball!"

  “…”

  “…”

  The fans are very targeted, which is aimed at Liu Xiu alone.

  It was the turn of the home team players to play, and the atmosphere of the scene changed suddenly, with cheers and screams constantly...

  Suns fans want to blow the Blazers' morale and confidence with their enthusiasm, but that's too childish for a Blazers team that owns the Devil's home.

  Randolph joked to Liu Xiu: "Warden, I didn't expect you to be so popular in Phoenix, do you like it here?"

  Liu Xiu Ying said: "I like it very much. The fans here are really polite. For our fans, I feel strange that I don't greet the other's ancestors eight generations when encountering such a popular game."

"Hahaha…"

  Randolph laughed, but he found that there really seemed to be such a strange phenomenon—the richer the city's basketball fans, the less qualified they were when they watched the game.

You can feel it only by comparison. The gap between Portland and Phoenix is ​​not too big, not so obvious. If you compare the Knicks' home field with the Cavaliers' home field, the one with a less quality atmosphere is definitely the Knicks. Team home.

   But this is only relative. If the game is fierce, the fans at the scene seem to have no quality... Yao Ming's home court is a special case.

   When Liu Xiu and Randolph were chatting, the top five starters of the Suns entered the court successively.

   Liu Xiu's attention is focused on the man - Steve Nash!

"Phoenix Suns, 55-14, 110.8 points per game, 103.1 points per game, 47.7% shooting, 44.5%, 39.6%, 39.6%, 3-point shooting 33.5%, averaging 9.9 3-pointers per game, limiting opponents to 6 3-pointers per game…”

"Steve Nash, 31 years old, 191 cm, 88 kg, PG, ability rating 96, offense 95, defense—, 93 three-pointers, 96 mid-range shots, 90 layups, 100 passing, 93 speed, 72 strength, Bounce 68, Stamina 98…

  Averaged 16.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists per game…

   Shooting 50.6% from the field, 44.1% from 3-point range, 89.9% from the free throw line…”

  Compared to the last match a few months ago, Nash's shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage have dropped, which is normal, it's just a return to normal.

   However, the free throw percentage did not drop, but rose, up a few percentage points, and it was 0.1% less than the 180 club!

   Liu Xiu remembers that Nash will become the top card of the 180 club in the future.

   This 180 club is not as simple as 180 shooting percentage + three-point shooting percentage + free throw percentage, but at least 50% shooting percentage, at least 40% three-point shooting percentage, and at least 90% free throw percentage...

So far, only 4 people, including Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Mark Price, and Steve Kerr, have done it 5 times in total. Larry Bird has done it twice, ranking first in history. .

  A player who can enter 180 clubs once in his career can be blown to the sky.

   Before Nowitzki's 180 clubs in a single month, he became an MVP candidate in people's eyes.

   Liu Xiu remembers that even in the small ball era in the future, super pitchers like Curry and Durant will only enter the 180 club once in their careers.

   But Nash will enter the 180 club for three consecutive years in the future. When he retired, he entered the 180 club a total of 4 times, far ahead of others.

   "Amare Stoudemire, 22 years old, 208 cm, 110 kg, PF/C, ability rating 89, offense 93, defense 65...Averaged 26 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 blocks per game..."

   "Sean Marion, 26 years old, 201 cm, 103 kg, SF/PF, ability rating 90, offense 87, defense 91, rebounding 95...Averaged 19.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1.5 blocks per game..."

  Liu Xiu carefully looked at the ability evaluation of the Suns players and found one thing - the data of the Suns' scorers was higher than the data they should have displayed for their strength!

Like Xiaobawang, he shows the strength of a close to the top level insider, but the data is the data of a super scorer; the same is true for Marion, the first-class offensive ability, but it can not be the first scoring point. The next game averaged 19+.

The same goes for   Big Q, Jim Jackson, Barbosa and others.

   One of the few things that happened to the Suns was Joe Johnson. In the Suns, the talented scorer's offensive performance was greatly limited and he couldn't give full play to his abilities.

   Liu Xiu has seen rumors that Joe Johnson has rejected the 4-year $40 million contract extension offered by the Suns, refused to continue to be Nash's helper for the next four years, and wanted to test the waters of the free market.

  Although his separation has been decided, Joe Johnson's professional attitude is unquestionable, and he is still conscientious in playing. The exaggerated performance of averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game with a 48% three-point shooting rate shows how committed he is to the game.

   When seeing Jim Jackson and Joe Johnson standing together, Liu Xiu remembered an interesting thing.

It seems to be the time period when Joe Johnson's contract extension was not negotiated. The Suns wanted to get the Rockets' Jim Jackson, and planned to use Joe Johnson for it. As long as the Rockets took two future first rounds at the same time as return, they would be Send Joe Johnson to the Rockets.

But the Rockets refused, and almost gave Jim Jackson to the Suns. As long as a non-guaranteed contract expired, Rao Colangelo, who was accustomed to his father's face, was stunned, and the Rockets refused. The reason is because Joe Johnson is only willing to renew his contract at a maximum salary.

The Suns can only give Joe Johnson an average annual salary of 10 million yuan, because Marion has a maximum salary, Stoudemire must renew his contract with a maximum salary, and Nash also has a salary of 10 million yuan, so he can't afford Joe Johnson's salary. Well, otherwise, Colangelo Jr. wants to keep Joe Johnson forcibly. If the money is enough, things are still easy to talk about.

   On the Rockets side, the salary has not reached the salary cap this season...

In the original time and space, Liu Xiu had never heard that Joe Johnson almost joined hands with Yao Ming. He estimated that it was because the Rockets already had McGrady as a swingman, and Colangelo's ability might not be very good. Eating, but there is nothing to say about the human touch. When it is easy to get together and break up, I will help Joe Johnson find a more suitable environment.

  …

  The hostility of the fans at the scene to the Trail Blazers was particularly strong, much stronger than the hostility of the Trail Blazers fans to the Suns. What I didn’t know was that the Trail Blazers won the Suns twice.

  Because the Suns are the No. 1 team in the West, it would be fine if they didn’t get to this point, but after getting to this position, the feeling of worrying about gains and losses came.

The last time the Suns became No. 1 in the regular season was 12 years ago. Suns fans don’t want to lose all of this. The Trail Blazers, who ranked second in the West for a long time, are naturally the most feared by Suns fans. 's team.

Although the popularity and madness of the American West Arena is not as good as that of the Rose Garden Arena, the hostility and pertinence of the Suns fans are more clear. This atmosphere is actually liked by the players who are playing. After the entrance ceremony, the two teams When the players greeted, it was more gunpowder than the previous two games, and the fans were aroused by the emotions. The already strong desire to win was further enhanced in this environment.

   Had a friendly and friendly exchange with Nash, Liu Xiu returned to his bench, and the system prompt came!

   "The wave of running and bombing set off by Son of the Wind swept the alliance, dazzling like the sun, shining brightly... Mission: The opposite of light triggers..."

   (end of this chapter)