Healing Basketball

  Chapter 845 845. Inevitably empty

  On February 26, 2007, the Trail Blazers officially laid off two non-guaranteed contract players.

Although the two have been with the Trail Blazers this season, they only played 73 minutes together, which is only more than the "second center in the East" Milicic played more than half a season under Larry Brown. two minutes.

  But the two of them can stay in the Trail Blazers for so long, purely because of Paul Allen's "human touch after winning the championship".

   If the championship is not won, the players love to leave, and they can change at any time.

   But winning the championship is different, and winning two consecutive championships is even more different.

   If it is not necessary to change the lineup, Paul Allen does not want to change this season.

Fortunately for the vice president, their lineup is good enough, and the age structure is actually okay, but the past two years have been too tiring, and the self-discipline of the inside core is comparable to the former No. 1 center in the league... Otherwise, he will definitely become the No. 2 coach. The big family confronted each other.

  Occasionally, he still hopes that the boss will have a brain twitch, and then he has enough reasons to "overhead" the boss with the coach. It's exciting to think about it... two-time vice president, at worst, he will be fired, and he will not worry about finding a next job.

   After laying off two non-guaranteed contract players, the Trail Blazers announced the signing of Eddie Jones, who reached a buyout agreement with the Grizzlies during the All-Star weekend.

This season, due to injuries, Eddie Jones did not play for a while at the beginning. After his comeback, the team has entered a dilemma where the head coach resigned, the record collapsed, and his teammates competed for the shot. 'Integrated, he couldn't compete for the right to scrimmage the ball, so after playing 29 games this season, he averaged less than 10 points per game for the first time in his career, with only 5.9 points, 2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1 steal.

   But he was the starting small forward for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 11.8 points per game and making two three-pointers per game.

The Grizzlies have been rotten to the bottom of the West, and the management wants to reduce the salary below the luxury tax threshold. This season, Eddie Jones, who holds the Grizzlies' highest $14.86 million, was killed during the All-Star Weekend. The Grizzlies amnesty with the Houston clause.

  Eddie Jones, who is close to 15 million US dollars, is a junk contract, but Eddie Jones, who only requires a basic salary, is a proper piece of meat and potatoes, and has been sought after by various championship teams in the past few days.

  The major media have predicted Eddie Jones' next home. Not many people expected him to join the Trail Blazers!

  …

  Don't talk about others, the Trail Blazers management themselves are quite surprised.

   This year, their Prison team has a new nickname—the Portland Prospects.

  In the middle of this season, many veterans bought out and changed teams. The Trail Blazers approached them all, but they were all declined.

  When contacting Eddie Jones, John Nash basically had no hope, but the other party was very interested. After talking for a few days, he really signed it...

  At noon on the 26th, after Eddie Jones signed the contract with John Nash in Memphis, he left Memphis for Minneapolis directly, communicated with the coaching staff until midnight at night, and joined the team training early the next morning.

   Liu Xiu was pleasantly surprised that the new aid was so active.

  Multiple players are always good, and he is a veteran with more than ten years of ball experience, which is just right at this time.

  Of course, he didn't pin his hopes on a 35-year-old veteran who joined midway, but a newcomer finally came to the village, and he is still a very reliable player, so there will always be expectations.

As for the two 'sparing partners' leaving the team, Liu Xiu will still feel a little bit sad about the departure of the teammates he sees every day... Mainly because of Luke Simchel, the 216 cm big center, it is difficult to find a job in the NBA now. The 'Shark Bonus' is no longer available.

  As for Jeremy Richardson, a basketball lover who can't play and can only go home and inherit the family business, Liu Xiu thinks he should do whatever he wants.

  The addition of new aid has little impact on the Trail Blazers team. Not surprisingly, an insider will be introduced later to increase manpower.

  After a day of preparations, at 7 pm, the Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves faced off at the Target Center.

  The game was very intense. The Timberwolves once led the Trail Blazers by 11 points, but under the leadership of Liu Xiu, the Trail Blazers recovered the score.

In the second half of the fourth quarter, Liu Xiu made two consecutive three-pointers from the outside, added a counter-attack dunk, a mid-range emergency stop jumper, and a three-pointer was fouled and made all 3 free throws... During the half quarter, Liu Xiu Hurricane scored 13 points on 4 of 6 shots, and single-handedly withstood the Timberwolves' counterattack.

He made 15 of 30 shots, including 2 of 5 three-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws. Liu Xiu scored 37 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Improve to 43 wins and 14 losses!

The newcomer Eddie Jones got 9 minutes of playing time, 2 of 3 shots, 4 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. His performance was not bad. The two points in the open space were quite stable. He had rich defensive experience, shrinking defenses, retreating and commanding formations They all have a set.

  After playing the Timberwolves, the Trail Blazers came to Atlanta in the east, rested for a night, and a new month arrived.

   On the morning of March 1st, the league announced the latest Best of the Month awards.

  Rookie of the month.

  East: Sheldon Williams of the Hawks, averaging 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

  West: Rudy Gay of the Warriors, averaging 14.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

  Best Coach of the Month:

  East: Magic coach Brian Hill; West: Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

   Player of the month:

  East: Arenas of the Wizards, 7 wins and 4 losses, averaging 34.1 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

  West: Tony Parker of the Spurs, 10 wins and 0 losses, averaging 21.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, 10.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game, shooting 49.3% from the field and 70.6% from close range...

   After seeing the announcement of the awards, Liu Xiu lit an 86-year cigar, and the best of the month broke for 3 consecutive months.

  He knows that this is normal, 10 consecutive 40+ will be broken, 3 consecutive monthly best will be broken, and there will be emptiness after the climax... But it is very uncomfortable!

  At 6:00 p.m., at the Phillips Arena, the Trail Blazers' away game against the Eagles began.

   22 wins and 36 losses, the Eagles are still a small team, but they have broken away from the ranks of bad teams, and they are getting better every year under the leadership of Mike Woodson.

  Joe Johnson has become an average 25+ scorer per game, ranking among the top in the league.

  Faced with the Trail Blazers, who are eager to win but overconfident and arrogant, the Eagles played quite well.

  In the first quarter, the Eagles led the Trail Blazers by 9 points 24 to 15. In the second quarter, they opened up another 5 points difference with 27 to 22, leading the Trail Blazers by 14 points at halftime.

   In the third quarter, Liu Xiu and McDyess hit the pick-and-roll and broke through. After breaking into the inside line, they continued to attack Josh Smith's offensive frame and helped the team open the situation.

   On the final attack of the third quarter, Liu Xiu caught the ball at close range and threw it directly, making a hollow hit, helping the Trail Blazers narrow the point difference to single digits!

  (end of this chapter)