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Chapter 344 Brother Basketball
"How to defend the Warriors and how to defend Qin Fei" have become two new topics that many coaches urgently need to solve.

Of course, splitting these two originally related issues does not mean that there is no overall consideration, but because Qin Fei's offense is indeed a self-contained system. For many teams, defending Qin Fei seems to be more important than defending the Warriors.

It is obviously unreasonable for individuals to be above the team.

But the good news is that relying on Qin Fei's offense, the Warriors have stepped into the league's top ten offensive firepower.

After the game against the Knicks, the Warriors ranked ninth in the league with an average of 100.5 offensive firepower per game. This also proves that the overall offensive firepower of the league is stronger than last season. Last season, teams with an average of 100 points per game ranked in the top three in the league.

The time has entered December.

The last month of the year in North America is also the month that is about to usher in important festivals.

Around Christmas, coupled with the sudden drop in temperature and the increase in severe weather, it seems that it is no longer suitable to go out.

Many people are waiting for the first snow of winter in front of the warm fireplace at home.

The Warriors flew to Charlotte.

The Charlotte Hornets, a newly promoted team in the East this season.

The Hornets, with Eddie Jones as the core, have shown impressive combat power on both ends of the offense and defense this season.

This is also the 28-year-old Eddie Jones' first season in the true sense. He was traded to the Hornets in the middle of last season, and the Lakers traded him for Glenn Rice.

Eddie Jones can be regarded as a trading option for the Lakers who were forced to make lineup adjustments after Kobe's rise.

Just like Qin Fei's rise to the Supersonics, the Supersonics replaced Jose Hawkins, it's all the same.

Coincidentally, Jose was also traded to the Hornets. He previously played the role of locker room leader in the Hornets. After the end of last season, Jose left the Hornets and reached a contract with the Chicago Bulls.

Jose himself is a native of Chicago. This time, signing with the Bulls is like returning to his roots. It may be the last contract of his career, because he is already a 33-year-old veteran.

Eddie Jones has a good personality, and he recommended Kobe to the Lakers before. Last season was a running-in period for the Hornets, and this season is the real start to shoulder heavy responsibilities.

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina. Geographically, it belongs to the south-central region.

This name is very strange, it can be the name of a plant, a city, a cartoon character, or even a character in a certain game.

Charlotte is okay, it's not very cold, so after landing in Charlotte, even if they fight back to back, it's not too hard.

That night, the Warriors challenged the Hornets back-to-back away games.

There is no doubt that the Hornets used Eddie Jones to defend Qin Fei.

Eddie Jones is recognized as the perimeter defensive gate in the league, and his stealing ability is second to none. Now he is second only to Qin Fei and Iverson in the NBA's steals per game ranking.

This is a real top defensive gate. Qin Fei's recent ferocious scoring momentum has finally been contained to a certain extent.

In the end, after the whole game, Qin Fei "only" scored 25 points and 6 rebounds.

The two teams fought fiercely until the last round of offense and defense. Eddie Jones' breakthrough layup was fatally blocked by Ben Wallace. On the other hand, Qin Fei's emergency stop mid-range jumper missed.

Fortunately, the Warriors maintained a 3-point lead before, and relying on this advantage, they finally settled the situation.

After that, the Hornets missed the offense and adopted foul tactics. They failed to score the last key goal and completely lost the game.

The next day, the Warriors flew to Atlanta to challenge the Hawks away.

The league announced the All-Star candidates for the 2000 All-Star Weekend.

The candidate list is generally selected by the league based on the performance of the players in the previous stage, and will be announced in late November or early December.

Even if it is just a shortlist, it is a controversial product that is enough to attract attention.

Every year when this list comes out, there will always be some unlisted gems, or surprises like "how did you get selected".

In the Warriors, a total of three players were selected for this shortlist, namely Qin Fei, Blaylock and Ben Wallace.

Starks, Grant and others who were on the list last season did not appear on the list. This has undoubtedly become a topic of controversy among Bay Area fans.

"Should be in, at least John Starks should be in."

Fans couldn't understand why Starks was not selected. Although Starks' statistics have declined slightly this season, he is also a top substitute with an average of 13.1 points and 4.5 assists per game.

Starks himself didn't have much expectations for this. He is already a 34-year-old veteran, so what if he is on the shortlist. In the entire Warriors team, Qin Fei is the only one who can be selected for next year's All-Star.

Blaylock may have some hope, but the hope is very slim.

So from this perspective, the Warriors are a very significant "single-core team."

Of course, Qin Fei would not admit it.

No matter what the occasion, he will talk about the "team".

Discussing whether it is "single-core" will always be outside commentators, columnists, and melon-eating fans.

It doesn't matter whether it is "single core", as long as it can win the game.

The only advantage of having this name is that when the outside world looks at the Warriors' losses, they always have a "tragic hero" color, which is undoubtedly in line with mainstream values.

Broad audiences want to see superheroes stand alone against all the heroes of the world.

This is why Qin Fei and Iverson are the most popular in the 96th class, because these two people, from a certain point of view, have great similarities and the same type of hero attributes.

The Warriors' road trip lasted more than a week, winning the first two back-to-back games and then losing games.

And there was a losing streak for the first time this season.

After the two-game losing streak, the atmosphere in the Warriors was very bad. Fortunately, they returned to the home court at this time.

In Oakland, the Warriors played at home against the Heat from afar.

The Heat are a strong team in the league. Although they lost embarrassingly last season, the Heat have maintained a very good state since this season.

The Heat, who came back after wiping away their tears, had a record of 15 wins and 5 losses before playing against the Warriors.

This record is the first in the East and the top two in the league, second only to the Lakers.

The Lakers have a higher record than the Heat only because they played more games and won more games.

With the Heat so strong, their arrival in Oakland sparked a boom in ticket sales.

These days, when strong teams come to play, the tickets will always sell better.

Just the day before the game against the Warriors, the Heat's Tim Hardaway suffered an injury and missed the game.

Hardaway is 33 years old this year. As a point guard, even if he has a relatively extended career, he is more or less beginning to go downhill at this moment.

Oakland is where his dream started. Hardaway wanted to play this game, but he couldn't play in the end.

Without Hardaway, the Heat are still the top team in the league. Alonzo Mourning + Jamal Mash is the new combination that the Heat trust.

Both Mourning and Mashburn were in their prime, and these two, plus Tim Hardaway, belonged to the "peak injury" trio.

Mourning is a typical figure whose debut is the peak. Last season, the league's top three MVPs and the league's best frame-protecting center. If it weren't for injuries, he should have been one of the top five centers in the 90s.

Big Ben VS Mourning is a real test for Big Ben.

In this round, Daben was still a little greener. Mourning scored 27 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots on Daben's head, completely blowing Daben up.

Of the 5 blocked shots, 2 of them were returned to Qin Fei.

Qin Fei was also disheartened and failed to score 30 points again.

As a result, after the game, the reporter in San Francisco ran to ask the Heat's head coach Pat Riley very cheaply.

"You have won this game. How did you limit Qin Fei to such a good performance that he only scored 25 points?"

"Only got 25 points?"

Pat Riley is speechless. Now that he has 25 points, does the media in San Francisco use "only" to describe it?When did it become so easy to score more than 25 points?

Pat Riley didn't even bother to talk to the reporter.

The Warriors have lost three games in a row, and encountered difficulties after the torrent at the beginning of the season.

To make matters worse, John Starks was also infested with injuries. On the day after the Heat game, Starks had a sore left knee and had to rest for about a week. At the same time, he had to see the results of the team doctor's examination. If the examination results were not optimistic, the truce would be extended.

This is called pending.

Without Starks, the bench will lack an important scoring point, and the requirements for the main players to score are even higher.

At this time, the Pistons, a pseudo-powerful team in the East, attacked the Warriors, and the outside world looked down on the Warriors, thinking that the Warriors' four-game losing streak could not be avoided.

Why is the Pistons a "pseudo-strong team" in this period, because the current state of the Pistons is very confusing.

Generally speaking, the winning percentage against weak teams is very high, but it cannot beat strong teams. The two scoring points of the team seem to have a gorgeous style of play and strong scoring ability, but they have never been able to truly link the whole team together.

This is Alvin Gentry's third season coaching the Pistons, and it's also the third season in which the Pistons have transformed from an iron-blooded style to a gorgeous style of play.

Since this season, Grant Hill has averaged more than 25 points per game, Stackhouse has averaged around 23 points per game, and the Pistons have averaged 103 points per game every night, which is even stronger than the Warriors.

But just looking at the current record of the Pistons, there are only 10 wins and 12 losses, and they don't even rank in the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

This is a pseudo-strong team. It looks like it has stars, tactics, and reasonable configuration, but it can't beat others.

So the traditional culture of the Pistons is there, in an empty arena, it is not suitable for any gorgeousness, it should be a bloody fight with others, and inherit the long history and tradition of blue-collar workers.

The Pistons are healthy, Hill and Stackhouse are coming together, and Oakland's tickets are selling very well.

That night, when Qin Fei was still training, he heard someone calling his name from behind.

"Hey, Jerome!"

Qin Fei's eyes lit up, and he clapped hands and hugged the visitor.

Jerome Williams patted Qin Fei on the back, also looking very excited, "I haven't seen you for a long time."

"Actually, we meet every day, on the TV screen."

Qin Fei laughed, and Jerome looked a little stronger than when he was in college.

Jerome Williams is an alumnus of Qin Fei’s Georgetown University. The Pistons took a fancy to his tenacious fighting spirit and never-yielding fighting spirit. After two or three seasons of training, Jerome Williams has become an important rotation in the Pistons. In the Pistons last season, Jerome contributed 7.1 points, 7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.

The Pistons also admired Jerome very much. After the season ended, they gave Jerome a 2-year $530 million contract.

This season, Jerome went a step further. With little change in playing time, he averaged 8.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. He was selected as a substitute player for the Pistons All-Star candidate list.

"You guys hit the top ten balls every day, and I don't have the chance to be on TV." Jerome shook his head. He was still different from Qin Fei. Qin Fei didn't go on TV every day, but he would definitely be on TV every few days.

"I called you to come to the Warriors during the offseason, but if you don't come, I can take you on TV now."

Qin Fei couldn't get over this hurdle, and teased Jerome Xia Tian for not accepting Qin Fei's invitation.

Qin Fei had invited Jerome in the summer. As a college teammate, Jerome was very familiar with each other, and they had a revolutionary friendship to win the championship together. Jerome’s salary was not high, and his style was tough. When the Warriors were short of forwards in the summer, Qin Fei offered an olive branch to Jerome.

In the end, he still overestimated his charm. Jerome did not choose to come to the Warriors, but stayed in the Pistons.

"I have settled in Detroit. You know, Detroit is where I live now. There is no big difference. I would still like to stay in Detroit."

"Detroit's real estate and economy may collapse one day. It's not like in the San Francisco area. If you buy anything, it will be valuable in the future."

Qin Fei shook his head. From an economic point of view, he felt that Jerome should come to the Warriors.

But everyone has their own choices, everyone has their own path and life, and he will not force others too much. The Warriors should be a place that attracts others to come. If you want to go, it is also a matter of anytime and anywhere.

"Listen to what you said, it's as if you have won three consecutive victories now."

The Warriors lost three games in a row, and the Pistons had just won two games in a row. Qin Fei, who lost three games in a row, also said that the Pistons were not as good as the Warriors. No, to be precise, Detroit was not as good as San Francisco. This made Jerome feel funny.

"Isn't this normal? Winning or losing is temporary, and career planning is for a lifetime."

Qin Fei said with a smile.

Jerome was stunned. The term career planning was too high-end. What kind of career planning could he have as a basketball player? He used to think about how much money he could earn after his rookie contract. Now that he has signed a new contract, the simplest thing he thinks about is to play the ball well and strive for a bigger contract at his peak.

"The Pistons are going astray now. If I were the coach, I would definitely put you in the starting lineup. You are the player who can really drive your teammates."

Qin Fei smiled slightly, and clicked to stop, but it was too much to fool around.

Although Jerome is a very cost-effective player, there are too many players like Jerome in the Warriors now, including Artest, Big Ben, and O'Neal.
Driving teammates and being able to assist are two different things. Some people may not be able to assist or even pass the ball well, but as long as they stand on the field and bring their own drums.

Jerome shook his head. He is a team player. Now that he is in the team, the first rule is to listen to the coach's arrangement.

"I'll really think about it after my contract is over." Jerome said seriously.

"Alright, come on, brother!"

Qin Fei sighed, Jerome's gaze was still too shallow. These days, the best career plan is brother basketball. Sometimes, choice is more important than hard work...

(End of this chapter)