I’m Really Playing Basketball

After a leisurely All-Star weekend in Phoenix, Chen Xiao took Rose, Lopez and Gibson back to Charlotte.

Because now the Bobcats in the Eastern Conference are ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, and there is a gap between the Heat, Bucks and Raptors in the first three places, plus the gap between the fifth Nets and the sixth Cavaliers. So the situation with the Bobcats is actually quite embarrassing.

Why is it embarrassing?

Because from the current situation, the Bobcats are the only team in the East that has basically determined their ranking.

Is this okay?

In previous seasons, it was good or bad, and the preference was mostly.

And in this season, especially in the season when the Raptors and Bucks can pose a threat to the Heat, the Bobcats' ranking is a bit embarrassing.

Your position cannot be changed, which means the Heat can catch you.

If the Heat really confirm at the end of the regular season that the Raptors and Bucks are not so good, and the Bobcats will be better, then they will definitely get the first place in the Eastern Conference and make the Bobcats second. Round of opponents.

In an environment where the entire Eastern Conference has to be selected by the Heat, other teams can use blur to avoid being caught by the Heat because of their uncertain rankings.

Like the Bulls and the Cavaliers Nets, the record gap between the Bulls and them is less than two games. As long as they realize which position the Heat want, they can turn at any time.

But the Bobcats can't.

And this is where the Bobcats are embarrassed.

Ever since he felt that the Bucks and Raptors had a chance to kill the Heat, Jordan had the idea of ​​fighting luck this season to win the championship again.

As soon as this idea arises, Boss Joe, a guy who is proficient in psychology, will come to work out the most favorable situation for the Bobcats.

Finally, count it, Boss Joe thinks.

"We can't just accept the fate of fourth in the East. Although we are too far behind the Heat and Bucks to catch up, the Raptors still have a chance!"

Because the Heat and Bucks were not released at the beginning of this season, the records of the two teams are very high.

At the beginning of the season, the Raptors, like the Bobcats, also looked at the faces of the Heat, so the record was not that good.

The Bobcats are now 37 wins and 15 losses, while the Raptors are 40 wins and 13 losses.

If you want to say that the gap is big, it is indeed a bit big, and the opponent's strength is stronger than you.

But if you say you can't chase it at all, that's not all.

"We have to try our best to catch up to third in the east!"

If they can catch up to third in the East, the Heat will need to fall from first to second if they want to catch the Bobcats.

For the Heat, the number one is of course easy, as long as they are willing, there is no problem with the number one.

But if you want to be second, it depends on the face of the Bucks.

Even if this is only a small change, Jordan feels that the Bobcats need to pursue it.

According to Jordan, that is, things are done in heaven, and things are done in people.

The Bobcats are now doing their best.

Therefore, the Bobcats must go all out in the next game to see if they can impact the Raptors.

On February 17, the Bobcats played their first game after the All-Star Game and challenged the Magic, which is now eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Regardless of the fact that the ranking gap between the two teams in this game is not small, but the Magic opponent, it is really not good to play.

The Magic are eighth in the East, but they are only two wins away from the fifth and sixth Nets.

This season, the strength of the Magic, the Bulls and the Cavaliers are about the same. The reason why the Nets fell here is mainly because Pat Riley also wants to choose his opponent.

Last season, the Nets were miserable when they were chosen by others.

So this season, the Nets have to hide themselves among other teams, which is best for them.

Therefore, in terms of strength, the Eastern Conference is divided into three grades this season. The first grade is of course the Heat and the Bucks Raptors. This is an epic team. If it were not in the current NBA, it would be anywhere in history. In a period of NBA, all teams can win championships.

The second grade is the super team grade. In any NBA season in history, you can compete for the championship, and even the first hot level to win the championship. The Bobcats and the Nets are this grade.

And the third grade is the Cavaliers, Bulls and Magic, the quasi-super team grade. It is also placed in the NBA in any year to compete for the championship, and the probability may not be the first.

It can be seen from this that the Magic is slightly worse than the Bobcats by one level.

However, the gap in this level is not big, and more importantly, the thickness of the Magic's lineup is really strong.

Although Duncan and Parker Ginobili and Prince were sent away, the thickness of the Magic's lineup can still be said to be one of the strongest in the East.

Lineup Arenas, Hamilton, Turkoglu, Gooden, Howard, this lineup looks the least well-known and strength Turkoglu, this season has played all star status and strength.

In history, Turk Glu and Howard carried the Magic into the Finals this season. There is no doubt that this Magic team is definitely an enhanced version of the Magic in history.

And it's more than strengthening.

This magic has a big book, Pachulia, Jameel Nelson, Pietrus, Alstom and other good players.

This is an objective condition of strength, coupled with Howard's grievances caused by losing the All-Star, let's put it this way, the Bobcats must face the anger of Magic and Howard in this game.

However, although the Bobcats in Orlando's game were stubbornly resisted by the Magic, the game was very fierce and the team encountered great difficulties, but Chen Xiao's personal performance was very good.

In this game, the player Chen Xiao faced was not his old rival Hamilton, but Arenas.

Originally, according to the meaning of Van Gundy, Hamilton was defending Chen Xiao.

But Arenas took the initiative to ask for it.

And this kid is really good defensively with the Spurs, if he wants to, of course he can.

But, obviously, after coming to the Magic, Popovich’s face-to-face life disappeared. When Arenas met Chen Xiao, he put the offense in the first place. As for the defense, it really wasn’t that important anymore. .

Therefore, the game between Chen Xiao and Arenas can be said to be a hit on the offensive end, and Howard behind Arenas is gritting his teeth and wiping the **** for Arenas.

Arenas put all his energy on the offensive end, which allowed the Bobcats to penetrate the Magic's perimeter defense in this game.

This can be seen from the data of Howard of the Magic in this game.

In this game, Howard made 16 of 23 and 13 of 18 free throws. He scored his second-highest career with 45 points and the second-highest career with 8 blocks.

This game wants crazy Howard, really crazy, but this is definitely not the crazy Howard wants.

He hopes that this game will show his great power like Yao Ming O'Neal.

But in the end, they blocked Rose, Granger, Lopez and other Bobcats who broke into their defense zone crazy on the defensive end.

At the same time, on the offensive end, they went crazy to grab the iron played by Arenas. In this game, Howard got a total of 19 rebounds, 11 of which were offensive rebounds.

Howard's rebounding ability is really strong now, both Lopez and Aldridge can't get him one.

Howard scored 45 points, 19 rebounds and 8 blocks in this game.

But people who watched the game would think that he is a supporting role and tool man by Arenas.

Instead, it was 9 of 33, 4 of 15 three-pointers and 11 of 14 free throws. Arenas, who scored 33 points, was the protagonist of the Magic in this game.

Well, in this game Arenas met Chen Xiao a little bit.

This is actually understandable. When I met Chen Xiao in the Spurs before, I was holding back, but now no one can care about myself. Of course, I have to work hard.

His current strength is as good as five to five for the boss of Ke, and he is not afraid of anyone, including Chen Xiao.

But obviously, fighting against the boss of science and Chen Xiao are completely different styles.

Although the boss of Kobe in the last two seasons can't control Arenas.

But Chen Xiao can.

Chen Xiao likes Arenas, a super scorer who lacks patience in offense. The defense keeps retreating, and then he goes to cover him with a long hand, let him throw, make him difficult to fall back, and make him difficult to play. .

In fact, Arenas used his dexterity to play patiently like Kobe and Nash, Chen Xiao is also very difficult to get.

But Arenas, who has no one to control, is such a patient person?

of course not!

Therefore, this game is really thanks to Arenas, who is undercover, otherwise the Bobcats will really have a hard time beating the Magic 112 to 107 away.

In this game, Ross, Lopez, Granger did not perform well, and the three of them felt average on the outside, and they were swept by Howard inside.

The Bobcats can win this game, thanks to Chen Xiao and Aldridge's mid-range and long-range shots hiding from Howard's defense, as well as the stable performance of the second team Roy and Battier, which suppressed the Magic's second team. .

In this game, Chen Xiao made 16 of 30 of the game, of which 6 of 14 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, scored 42 points, while Aldridge scored 5 of 7 and scored 10 points. Roy was 16 In 8, scored 18 points.

It can be seen from this data that the three best performers of the Bobcats in this game had few free throws.

In fact, the Bobcats made 14 free throws in this game, while the Magic made 37.

As for the reason, it's all because of Howard's defense inside.

The Bobcats do not have a big center like Yao Ming that can suppress Howard in the interior, allowing Howard to do whatever they want in the interior, and the other players in the Bobcats simply can't kill the basket.

Even Chen Xiao, it is very difficult for Howard to help defend under the basket.

"Howard's defense is really strong this season, and he can definitely be regarded as the defense of one person and one team."

After the game, Chen Xiao couldn't help but admire.

Although Howard was very dissatisfied after the game.

But let's not say, Howard and Arenas are really a perfect match.

Arenas is not serious in defensive, and he can frantically brush up the defensive data and defensive perception for Howard.

Arenas' crazy irons on offense can provide Howard with a lot of offensive rebounds.

After coming to the Magic this season, Howard is now averaging points, rebounds, and blocks per game, all of which are career highs.

He has averaged 23 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game so far.

Of these, 15.8 rebounds and 5.7 were offensive rebounds.

And this is why Howard has the atmosphere of losing himself to the All-Stars.

At the same time, this season, Howard's data is also the reason why he lost the All-Star selection.

Because his data seems to explode, but he is more like a role player in the game and basically has no influence on the team's offense.

Crazy defensive blocks, offensive crazy grab a second offense.

So when an Eastern Conference head coach privately accepted this question from reporters, he replied: "Selecting the All-Star is not the best defensive player. I suggest that this year's best defensive player vote can be voted by our coach. Then we will definitely be able to vote. I voted for Howard, anyway, a good player, Howard is a good defensive player!"

What this said, do you say Howard is happy or sad?

The coach's words seem to sound exaggerated, but it seems ironic if you think about it.

In this highly competitive era, Roy has not yet been selected to the All-Stars. Howard, who can't attack, wants to make the All-Stars?

But do you blame Howard for this?

Howard has always aligned himself with his idol Garnett and his imitation O'Neal. He hopes to be an offensive killer, not a defensive killer.

But in the end, whether it's the Spurs, the US team or the Magic, everyone seems to put him in the defensive position by default.

Even if he came to the Magic, he has a very high status, the team's offensive core even if it is Turkoglu, the big Van Gundy did not let him play like O'Neal and Yao Ming.

This is very depressing.

He feels that this is not his problem, but it seems that everyone's choice is inclined to this is his problem.

Therefore, after the game, the entire United States praised him for his defense, and even Chen Xiao praised him for his defense. The expression on Howard's face was very complicated, as uncomfortable as if he had eaten something strange.

Is discomfort useful?

Of course it is useless unless Arenas can see it, but does Arenas see it?

Of course you can't see it.

On February 18, the Bobcats played a back-to-back home game against the Magic. The Magic lost again 92 to 100 away. In this game, Howard scored 7 of 8 and 10 of 14 free throws. He scored 24 points and scored 16 rebounds. And 6 blocks.

This game was played as if it was a remake of the previous one.

Howard's statistics are still the best in the Magic, but still like a large role player.

After the Bobcats double-killed the Magic at home and away, they won the remaining 6 games in February ~ www.NovelMTL.com ~ lost to the Clippers on February 9 and defeated the Clippers on February 28. In the meantime, The Bobcats have won a wave of 9 consecutive victories.

At the same time, the Bobcats' record also came to 45 wins and 15 losses.

Well, in this wave of winning streaks, the Bobcats are not close to the Raptors' record, but the gap between the Heat and the Bucks is close.

Because in the middle of the Bobcats' winning streak, the Raptors are also winning streaks, during which they defeated the Heat and Bucks separately...

This embarrassed Boss Joe.

Chen Xiao could feel the twitching embarrassment on Qiao's face when he was watching the Eastern Rankings.

On the other hand, the look on the faces of the other Bobcats players at this time is also very complicated to laugh but dare not laugh.

"Boss Joe asked us to chase the Raptors, but we suddenly discovered that the Raptors are better than the Heat. This is too... embarrassing."

Yeah, it's embarrassing, and at the same time, it's cruel.