Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

"I didn't expect it was Team Rocket who lost."

"The Rockets were ranked first in the Western Conference, but they lost to the Lakers unexpectedly. Moreover, they were suppressed the entire time. Harden also lost to Zhuang Yu."

"I think the key reason why the Rockets lost is that Harden lost to Zhuang Yu. Zhuang Yu is indeed too strong and has explosive scoring ability. I thought Harden was already scary enough, but Zhuang Yu is scarier than Harden. Scoring is as easy as chopping melons and vegetables."

"Zhuang Yu was the scoring leader last season, and he seems to have become even stronger this season. This season, only Zhuang Yu and Harden averaged over 30 points per game. And Zhuang Yu is not like Harden who likes to cheat. His scores are much more valuable than Harden's."

"right......"

This is a battle of focus and is even seen as a battle for "MVP".

Many people originally thought that Harden, who had just been named "Western Conference Player of the Month", should be able to win, but unexpectedly he lost completely to Zhuang Yu.

A confrontation like Mars hitting the Earth further demonstrates Zhuang Yu's strength.

At the same time, many teams are paying attention to this game.

Especially Western Conference teams.

......

Oklahoma.

Several Thunder coaches gathered together and were talking about the game.

"It seems that we still underestimated the Lakers."

"Yes, if we only talk about offense, the Rockets may not lose to the Lakers, but the Lakers' defense is obviously stronger than the Rockets. No, not just a little bit, but a lot."

"We may not lose to the Rockets in offense, they have a scoring champion..."

The three teaching assistants spoke one after another.

Head coach Billy Donovan knocked on the table impatiently and said, "I want you to tell me, if we meet the Lakers or the Rockets in the playoffs, how should we play and whether we can win?"

The three assistant teachers looked at each other.

"I can definitely fight."

“There is a chance to win.”

"We not only have Russell, but also Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. We also have the Big Three, not inferior to the Rockets and the Lakers."

After hearing the three people's answers, Coach Donovan's face suddenly turned dark.

Aren't you guys just talking nonsense?

This season, the Thunder brought in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to form a Big Three with Russell Westbrook, and their goal is naturally to win the championship.

With the upgraded lineup, the Thunder did have a good record this season, but compared with the Lakers and the Rockets, the Thunder only ranked fifth in the Western Conference, which obviously did not meet people's expectations of them.

Of course, as the head coach of the team, he naturally has to take a long-term view. Coach Donovan cares not only about the regular season, but also the playoffs.

If they want to win the championship, they will have to face strong teams such as the Warriors, Lakers, and Rockets. They may not meet them all, but they will at least meet one of them.

There are no major changes to the Warriors' roster this season, and the main players are still the same, so Coach Donovan is more focused on the Lakers and Rockets.

Seeing the head coach's stern face, an assistant coach hurriedly said, "Coach Donovan, I think if we play well enough, we will have an advantage whether it is against the Lakers or the Rockets. The Rockets mainly rely on Harden and Paul. They lack a third giant. Eric Gordon is just the best sixth man. And the Rockets are not strong enough on the front line. We are good enough to crush them on the front line."

"As for the Lakers, the Lakers' lineup is relatively balanced, but the Lakers are also not strong enough on the front line. We have Westbrook, George, Anthony, and Robertson and Adams who can defend. In terms of the starting lineup, we are stronger than the Lakers, but the opponent's bench lineup has the best sixth man Jordan Clarkson, which may put us at a disadvantage."

Coach Donovan's expression eased a little, and he nodded and said, "Yes, we will not lose to any team with our starting lineup, even the Warriors. But our bench lineup is indeed a little worse, and this is a problem we need to solve."

An assistant teacher seemed to want to say something, but in the end said nothing.

In fact, it’s not just a problem with the substitute lineup, the starting lineup also has problems.

Another assistant coach has said before that if they perform well enough, they are not afraid of any team, but the prerequisite is that they perform well enough.

Although the current Thunder team has a gorgeous lineup, the player configuration is not reasonable.

Westbrook, George, and Anthony are all All-Star level players. Their personal abilities are self-evident, but the problem is that all three of them need the ball.

This is difficult to handle.

Before, among the Cavaliers' Big Three, only James and Irving needed the ball, so Love made a self-sacrifice and almost became a no-ball No. 4 shooter.

Among the Warriors' Big Three of Curry, Thompson and Durant, Curry is the only one who really needs the ball. Thompson has always played without the ball. Durant has also reduced his singles with the ball in the Warriors, and his off-ball ability is also excellent.

Therefore, the combination of the three will not cause any problems with ball possession.

Looking at the Big Three of the Lakers, Lopez doesn't need the ball, while Zhuang Yu is somewhat similar to Durant. He shares some of the ball rights and plays more without the ball to make the distribution of ball rights more reasonable.

On the Thunder side, all three players need the ball, and Westbrook still plays with the ball as the core, scoring, rebounding, and assisting, taking up too much ball possession. The final result is that the lineup of the Big Three is gorgeous, but there is no good chemistry.

In fact, Coach Donovan is also aware of this problem, but he has no way to solve it - or it is not that he has no way, but that he has a way, but he cannot implement it.

He couldn't convince Westbrook to change his current style of play with the ball in his hands, nor could he get two All-Star players, Anthony and George, to sacrifice themselves to be supporting roles.

To put it bluntly, the lineup is not balanced enough.

This may not be a problem in the regular season. After all, with the Big Three there, it is not difficult to make the playoffs.

But what about the playoffs?

"All right."

Coach Donovan rubbed his temples, trying not to think about this question. He said to the three assistant coaches, "Let's study this. If we meet the Lakers or Rockets in the playoffs, how should we play? Also, with the current lineup, how can we improve the strength of our rotation lineup?"

Seeing that the head coach did not mention the issue of the incompatibility of the Big Three, the three assistant coaches tacitly kept silent and began to discuss the two questions raised by the coach.

......

On the other side, Warriors coach Kerr called together his assistant coaches to discuss this game.

But the atmosphere on the Warriors team is much more relaxed.

As the defending champions with a luxurious lineup, the Warriors have demonstrated their almost invincible strength last season.

So no matter what changes the Lakers and Rockets' lineups make this season or how much their strength increases, they are not afraid.

Of course, having confidence is having confidence.

We still need to take strong opponents like the Lakers and the Rockets seriously. Only by paying attention to and understanding their opponents can we defeat them.

The Warriors' goal this season is to defend their title, so they cannot take it lightly.

......

At the same time, some other teams are also discussing.

But compared with teams like the Thunder and the Warriors, all they got after studying the game between the Lakers and the Rockets was depression.

Because the opponent is too strong.

Both the Lakers and the Rockets are too strong. If they meet in the playoffs, it will be difficult for them to win.

For example, the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Jazz...

As for the Timberwolves, Spurs, Clippers, and Nuggets, there is nothing to worry about, because for them, it is not certain whether they can make the playoffs.

......

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

After defeating the Rockets, the Lakers rushed to the away game, followed by four consecutive away games, against the 4ers, Hornets, Knicks and Cavaliers respectively. The Lakers won three and lost one in the four games, beating the 76ers, Hornets, and Knicks, and finally lost to the Cavaliers.

In 4 games, Zhuang Yu scored 30+ in two games and 20+ in two games.

The average score in 4 games reached 32.5 points. Combined with the 45 points in the previous game against the Rockets, Zhuang Yu's average score has reached 32.4 points, ranking first in the league.

However, on the MVP list, Zhuang Yu still ranks second behind Harden.

"Damn it, it's OK that they only ranked second in November, after all, Harden's performance in November was so outstanding, and the Rockets' record even surpassed the Warriors, ranking first in the Western Conference. But it's December now, and Zhuang's performance this month is much better than Harden's, but he's still ranked second. Why?"

"Why? Isn't it simple? Because this MVP list is given by ESPN. I remember that ESPN has been targeting Zhuang since he was still in the NCAA, right?"

"Yes, it must be ESPN."

"I'm not surprised at all. Zhuang Yu broke off relations with ESPN a long time ago. He has not accepted an interview with ESPN since he entered the NBA, not even once..."

This made many Lakers fans and Chinese fans feel unhappy. Zhuang Yu's average points per game was first in the league and the Lakers' record was also very good.

Moreover, in the previous match between Lakers and Rockets, Zhuang Yu won the matchup between him and Harden. Doesn't this mean he can be ranked first on the MVP list?

Are you sure this isn't discrimination?

The angry fans wanted to do something to fight back against this injustice, and luckily they soon got their chance...

......

On December 12, the first round of the 22 NBA All-Star voting officially started.

The rules of this All-Star voting event have changed slightly from last year, and the gameplay of the All-Star Game has also changed.

First of all, this All-Star voting event will no longer be conducted in three rounds as before, but will be concentrated in two rounds.

In other words, after two rounds of voting, the All-Star voting campaign is over.

No third wheel!

The second is the All-Star group.

The All-Star roster remains 12 players from the Eastern Conference and 12 players from the Western Conference. The All-Star starters will still be voted for by fans, media and players, while the 14 substitutes will be voted for by the head coaches of the 30 teams, including three forwards from the Eastern Conference, two guards, and two players at any position.

If someone is unable to participate in the game due to injury, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will designate someone to replace the injured player.

However, after the starting and substitute lists are released, the captains of the Eastern and Western conferences (that is, the top vote-getters in the Eastern and Western conferences) will select the players. They will choose their teammates from the players selected for the All-Star lineup (regardless of the Eastern and Western conferences) to form a team.

In the end, the teams formed by the top vote-getters in the East and West will face off in the All-Star Game.

When the All-Star voting began, Lakers fans and Chinese fans finally found a way to protest. They wanted to use their own strength to prove that Zhuang Yu was the most qualified person to be the MVP.