Chapter 780 Crazy Arenas and Best of the Month!

The physically and mentally exhausted Seattle SuperSonics' unexpected victory over the Detroit Pistons gave Nelson a very, very pleasant surprise.

It also makes a lot of coconut flour media and coconut flour feel incredible.

An expected defeat was once again turned into a victory by yes.

However, the Seattle SuperSonics' failure finally came.

On March 28, the Seattle SuperSonics challenged the second opponent of this Eastern Conference road trip in a back-to-back away game, the Washington Wizards, the team currently ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference.

The Washington Wizards have been one of the two strongest teams in the past two seasons. They have also been the only team in the Eastern Conference that can threaten the Big Three Boston Celtics in the regular season.

Although in the competition with the Boston Celtics, the Wizards have always been on a very weak side. In the two Eastern Conference Finals encounters, the Wizards were almost beaten or even swept by the Boston Celtics.

Of course, that was in the playoffs. In the regular season, the Wizards' situation is completely different from that in the playoffs.

Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler, except for Arenas, this slightly beggar version of the Big Three combination is indeed not that impressive in front of the real Celtic Big Three, except for Ali. Nurse, Jamison and Butler were almost always beaten by Garnett and Pierce. These two people were not trustworthy at all in the playoffs. At least in the playoffs of the previous two seasons, these two people did not seem to be so. of trustworthy.

But in the regular season, these two are really good guys.

They can almost average 20+ points per game in the regular season every season. Coupled with Arenas' craziness and terror, the Wizards are a very powerful team in the regular season.

In the past two seasons, the Wizards have always been the team with the best record in the East against the strong teams in the West. Facing the powerful teams in the West, the Wizards' record is even better than the Boston Celtics.

It can be said that the Wizards led by Arenas have been the face and representative of the Eastern Conference in the regular season in the past two years.

The only face the Eastern Conference has in the regular season is not earned by the Celtics as the Big Three, but by the Wizards and Arenas as the second-largest team in the Eastern Conference.

The regular season games are not so targeted. Regular season All-Stars such as Butler and Jamison can perform very well. Coupled with Arenas' strong strength, any team facing the Wizards in the regular season will have no problem. It's not that easy to win.

Although the Wizards are not as popular in the Eastern Conference this season, and are somewhat different from being the leading team in the Eastern Conference in the past two seasons, this does not mean that the Wizards have fallen and their strength has plummeted.

Originally, after the playoffs last season, many people did feel that the Wizards were going to plummet, or even be disbanded.

Arenas' contract expired.

Jamison's contract also expired.

Two of the contracts of the Big Three have expired, and it seems that after being humiliated by the Celtics in the playoffs twice in a row, these star players of the Wizards seem to be unprepared to continue to waste time in Washington.

And this summer, it is true that both Arenas and Jamison have received very good invitations. Arenas has even been sought after by the entire league. Even several leading players of the Grizzlies have stated that as long as Arenas If they are willing to join, they are willing to give up the position of team boss to Arenas.

Originally, the whole world thought Arenas was going to the Grizzlies to start his own era.

No one expected that Arenas would eventually renew his contract!

After Arenas renewed his contract, Jamison, who had always stated that he was leaving, suddenly seemed to be influenced by Arenas for some reason and actually renewed his contract. This is quite miraculous.

This season in the East, the Wizards' presence is not that strong, but this team's presence is not as strong as it was in the past two seasons, not because the team's strength has declined.

In fact, the presence of the three Eastern Conference teams, the Celtics, Cavaliers and Heat, is too strong.

This season's Eastern Conference is completely different from the weak Eastern Conference in past seasons. Now, three of the top five teams in the league are in the Eastern Conference.

In this case, unless the Wizards' record can be very outstanding, or Arenas's statistics can be quite outstanding, otherwise, it will be difficult for the Wizards to overwhelm the other three teams in the Eastern Conference in terms of presence.

The Wizards are stronger this season than last season, and the Wizards are still on the rise.

Although Jamison is thirty-two years old and has already begun to decline.

But Arenas and Butler are still at their peak, and even Arenas is still going up.

Young core players such as Sun Yue, Brandon Haywood, and Andre Blatche are also improving. In addition, the performance of JJ Hickson, the rookie selected this season, is also quite surprising. Not only It makes up for the game time lost by Jamison due to his decline. Moreover, this young man with excellent athletic ability, rebounding and defense is also very good. He is quite energetic and can just make up for the Wizards' deficiencies in defense at the power forward position. Jamison and Bulla Qidu is not a purely defensive player.

It can be said that the Wizards this season are stronger than last season.

However, the other three teams in the Eastern Conference are simply too strong.

It's not as good as the other top three in the Eastern Conference, and its presence isn't as strong, but there's still no problem being a sit-down player in Washington DC.

This season, the Wizards are at home, and it is not that easy for the teams that come here, whether they are the top three in the East or the top four in the West, to get out of here.

In this game against the Wizards, Nelson and the Sonics made a lot of preparations for encountering difficulties.

Yesterday's game against the Pistons was originally a very difficult game. It was not until the last moment that Yes's explosive victory was evaluated.

This game with the Wizards is back-to-back again, and the Wizards are much stronger than the Pistons.

This game is really, really difficult to win.

Even if Nelson and the Sonics are fully prepared for this game, they are also fully aware of the difficulties of this game.

But when the game started, Nelson and the Seattle SuperSonics were shocked by the powerful Wizards.

After the back-to-back away games against the Wizards began, in just the first quarter of the game, the Wizards led by Arenas gave the Seattle SuperSonics a huge blow.

The Sonics did not rest in this game. Although Milicic and Millsap have not fully recovered, or even not recovered at all. After all, they are on a continuous away trip. It is really impossible to talk about such a thing, but there is no way. , this game with the Wizards is the last game of the Eastern Conference road trip, so it’s time to bite the bullet.

But even so, at the end of the first quarter, with Arenas' 16-point performance in a single quarter, the Wizards led the SuperSonics by 10 points at home.

Arenas was in very good shape in this game, and so were the other Wizards players.

Even Sun Yue, a player with a shooting percentage of only over 30% this season, hit two three-pointers in the first quarter of this game.

As for the SuperSonics, except for Yes, whose condition is still stable, the offensive status of other SuperSonics players is indeed very, very weak.

According to Nelson's estimation, it will take at least a week for these players on the team to recover from such a physically and mentally exhausted state.

The Wizards were in very good shape in this game. Even the Suns and Rockets last season felt like they were retreating when they met them.

In this game where the Wizards were in good shape, Yeos played three quarters and 32 minutes, scoring 45 points in 32 minutes.

Ye Si did not provide assists in this game, and it was not because he was intimidated by Harden, Rondo and others' ability to provide assists to their teammates.

But, I really can’t get assists!

It's just that his scoring is a drop in the bucket when facing Arenas and the Wizards, who are aggressive and have excellent touch.

The end of the third quarter of this game became garbage time.

The entire fourth quarter is garbage time.

Throughout the fourth quarter, Yease sat on the bench and watched Harden, Sessions, Ingles, Ibaka and Nick Collison being abused by the Wizards' bench players on the court.

Of course, Ye's main focus is James Harden.

James Harden is a key figure in his assist plan.

Yeas also paid close attention to Harden in the past. After all, besides Durant, he was the only player on the team who he knew had five-star potential.

It's just that he didn't pay that much attention before.

Now……

He can see that James Harden's five-star rating is completely different from Durant's five-star rating.

Durant's ability to catch and shoot is very, very strong, and his ability to assist his teammates is also very strong.

And James Harden…

He also has the ability to catch and shoot, but after catching the ball, he habitually dribbles the ball and observes the defensive situation of the defensive players.

Durant's offensive method makes people feel a little unreasonable. I just throw it. If you have the ability, just block me.

But James Harden's offensive method gives people a very reasonable feeling, or an unusually cautious feeling.

Is it a good thing to be so cautious and reasonable?

Of course it is a good thing. Observe the defense and adjust the offensive method. This is what many coaches say when teaching their players.

What's more, James Harden's attribute of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is used in this way. Without careful observation, how can he seek advantages and avoid disadvantages? How to cause the opponent's defensive foul or offensive foul?

Therefore, although the situation on the court at this time is that the Wizards' rotation is torturing the SuperSonics' second-tier rotation, on the court, James Harden does not suffer.

Other Sonics players can't score, they can't coordinate tactics, and their touch is poor. It can be said that the team's offense has completely stagnated, but in this case, James Harden can still score continuously. Causing fouls on defensive players on the offensive end.

Ye Si was quite surprised by this.

This season he is mainly teaching James Harden's defense, using his attributes of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages on the defensive end.

On the offensive end, James Harden is actually in a relatively primitive state close to the NCAA period.

Ye Si can see that James Harden is indeed not that strong on the offensive end, but even if he is not very capable, he can still cause a lot of fouls to his opponents.

In terms of this ability to draw fouls, ordinary quasi-All-Star outside players cannot match it, no, even ordinary All-Star players may not be able to match it!

"Seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages..."

This property...

The power of this attribute on the offensive end may be even greater!

If used correctly, James Harden will be the ultimate solution to the Seattle SuperSonics rotation!

only……

Even if James' offensive strength becomes stronger in the future, as long as this attribute exists, James Harden will still be overly cautious on the offensive end no matter how strong he is.

Maybe he'll never be the type of player Kevin Durant is.

In the game between the Seattle SuperSonics and the Washington Wizards, the Seattle SuperSonics lost in the end.

, a 26-point defeat in the away game.

In addition to Ye Si scoring 45 points in three quarters and Rondo grabbing 6 offensive rebounds in this game and grabbing 11 rebounds in the game, the biggest highlight of this game is James Harden.

James Harden made 4 of 14 shots in this game and scored 20 points on four field goals.

Although most of the 20 points in this game were scored in the fourth quarter.

But even if it is a brush, this 20 points is James Harden's first NBA 20 points in his career.

Even if the 20 points didn't mean anything, James Harden was still very happy after the game.

James Harden was very excited, and Ye Si also expressed congratulations to the excited James Harden.

but……

"James, in future games you can be more decisive on the offensive end, increase your receiving offense and reduce your dribbling."

More catching offense, less dribbling? !

James Harden's eyes lit up instantly.

Could it be? !

Does Yes want me to start?

As a player who considers himself to be a top-notch IQ player, he certainly knows the limitations of his style of play. With his style of play, every time he catches the ball, he wants to dribble for 20 seconds to create a foul or an absolute opportunity. If you start, you will be beaten to death by your teammates!

Rondo, how can he have the chance to dribble for a long time next to Yes?

Yes, he is so good at dribbling, he can't stick to the ball!

If he wants to be a starter, he can only improve his catching and shooting skills.

Just catch and shoot...

James Harden is really not that confident.

Although there is no problem with his catching and shooting ability, it is not strong. It can be seen from his shooting percentage in this game, 4 of 14. If he is not allowed to dribble for a long time, he will have that strange feeling of finding Absolute chance, his offensive success rate is extremely low.

This gives people a bit of a headache.

Although James Harden has a slight headache now, of course he is still more happy in his heart.

In any case, this means that yes values ​​him. At least, yes has the intention to put him in the starting lineup!

"James, starting from tomorrow, in addition to defense, I will also teach you offense."

"yes!"

James Harden was very excited, but the other Sonics players next to him were quite envious.

"Ever since James was elbowed by Artest, no, since James was elbowed by Charity World Peace, I always feel that his whole temperament has changed."

"Not only has his temperament changed, but his luck has also improved. I always get free throw opportunities on the court inexplicably."

"Three goals are worth 18 points, four goals are worth 20 points. It's obviously only a 28% shooting rate, but when you calculate the true shooting rate, it's actually a 30% true shooting rate."

"The shooting percentage is the same as Rajon's last season, but the true shooting percentage is actually twice as high as Rajon's! Isn't this so unreasonable?"

"..."

Rondo looked ugly.

Damn it, compare the second master with this charming prostitute!

Erye is a straightforward person, and the real hit rate is whatever the hit rate is. He never plays these fictitious games!

but……

Rondo subconsciously imitated James Harden who was on the court before and made a giant loop with his hands.

His arms are also very long, but why is it so awkward to do this giant loop?

Soon, the dark-faced Rondo's face turned even darker.

Because he knew why doing this action was so awkward.

Damn it, the defensive players are two meters away from him. No matter how high his arm is, he can't swing it under the defensive player's arm with a big loop!

Unless his wingspan is four meters.

If he really had a wingspan of four meters and a hairy loop, he could just stand under the basket and dunk!

Damn it, if the shooting rate is the same, just put two meters on the second master. Why not put two meters on the charming jade James Harden?

Just know how to treat the second master differently!

If he hadn't treated the second master differently, the second master would have taken off!

Rondo is very unhappy now.

But Arenas, who is coming over now, is quite happy.

"Yes, originally I wanted to score 100 points in this game!"

"..."

"I'm not kidding, your defense is too strong. I'm in such good shape in this game, but I'm still so far away from 100 points!"

"It seems that my hard power has not reached the level where I can score points. Kobe is still some distance away from 100 points, and I am also some distance away."

Looking at the excited Arenas in front of him, Yes was a little surprised. He could see from Arenas's face that the Wizards' leader was not joking when he said he wanted to score 100 points.

He means it.

Ye Si really didn't expect that the 100 points he got to complete the task could actually bring such motivation and excitement to Arenas.

but……

"Come on."

Ye Si finally nodded seriously to Arenas.

"I knew you would agree with me!"

Arenas was even more happy.

Seeing Arenas who is now full of fighting spirit, every Wizards player next to him looked at Ye Si with resentful eyes.

How they hope Arenas will give up his efforts.

How they hope there is someone in this world who can make Arenas say: "Auntie, I don't want to work hard anymore."

Damn it, it’s okay if Arenas works hard on his own, he still likes to force them to work hard together, this is very fucked up!

Judging from Arenas' intention to chase the footsteps of yes, he will not stop working hard until he catches up with yes.

In other words, they will have to work hard with Arenas all their lives?

They now want money and status, and they really don’t want to work hard anymore!

However, facing the crazy Arenas and his elegant and easy-going big babies, can they do it without working hard?

Every Wizards player looked at Ye Si with a resentful expression.

Being stared at by these Wizards players, Ye Si didn't know what to say.

He actually wants to see Arenas and the Wizards like this.

After Ye Si took a deep look at Sun Yue, he turned around and left with the SuperSonics players.

When Sun Yue entered the NBA, he was still a thin and elegant-looking player, but now, he has become somewhat closer to a muscular brother.

In the NBA, you can deceive people about anything, but the muscles on your body and stomach are always more convincing than a wasted chicken or a big belly.

After the Seattle SuperSonics lost to the Wizards in Washington, the losing Seattle SuperSonics are still ahead of the Phoenix Suns in fifth place in the Western Conference.

The Seattle SuperSonics' previous winning streak gave the Seattle SuperSonics a very large advantage in the rankings.

However, the loss against the Washington Wizards was not the Seattle SuperSonics' last loss.

On March 30, the Seattle SuperSonics returned to their home court to face the Suns, their direct rival for fifth place in the Western Conference.

In the end, the Seattle SuperSonics lost to the Suns at home.

This game is a home game for the Seattle SuperSonics, but in fact, there is not much difference between this home game and an away game.

In the NBA, the most important advantage for a home team is to recharge their batteries and face their opponents at home.

But the Seattle SuperSonics flew all the way back from Washington DC.

How far is Washington DC from Seattle?

One is the easternmost and the other is the westernmost, spanning four thousand kilometers across the United States.

On the contrary, the Suns, who are playing away from home, have been resting since the game against the Spurs. They even came to Seattle early to prepare for the game against the SuperSonics.

This game is not so much a home game for the Seattle SuperSonics as it is a home game for the Phoenix Suns.

After losing to the Suns at home, the Seattle SuperSonics now have a negative record. After losing two consecutive games, the Seattle SuperSonics are still ranked fifth in the Western Conference, because the Suns, who are sixth in the Western Conference, now have a negative record. Although the two teams lost the same number of games, the Suns played two fewer games and were one game shy of the Seattle SuperSonics' win count.

The Seattle SuperSonics and Suns have played two games this season, and the SuperSonics lost both games.

According to the division record and direct head-to-head record, as long as the Phoenix Suns win the next two games with less games, then the Suns will overtake the SuperSonics and become fifth in the Western Conference.

The Sonics are now ranked fifth in the Western Conference, but the initiative to be fifth in the Western Conference is not in the hands of the SuperSonics, but in the hands of the Suns.

After suffering two consecutive losses, the Seattle SuperSonics finally defeated the Warriors at home and away from home, ending their losing streak.

This game against the Warriors can be said to be a game in which the Seattle SuperSonics were mentally and physically exhausted to the extreme.

Four games were played in five days, and it was a long period of back-to-back home and away games from the East to the West after the Hell Christmas schedule. Such a schedule, according to many NBA coaches and players, is simply anti-human.

If the Seattle SuperSonics hadn't faced the Golden State Warriors led by Beasley, I'm afraid any Western Conference team could have defeated the SuperSonics in this game.

Even if the Warriors lose this game, it's just a loss.

Although the Warriors are ranked last in the Western Conference and last in the league, this team really doesn't want to win.

Like the Heat last season, this Warriors team really wants to win!

As the leader of the Warriors, he has scored more than 40 points in each game against the SuperSonics this season. Including this game with the SuperSonics, the Warriors have played a total of 34 games this season. , Beasley scored 20+ in 34 consecutive games.

This season is Beasley's rookie season. In his rookie season, Beasley was asked by Jerry West to score at least 20 points in every game no matter what.

According to many media reports, the reason Jerry West asked Beasley to do this was not to teach Beasley to use unlimited fire power to increase data, but to cultivate Beasley's ability to fight in adversity.

According to public opinion across the country, although the Warriors are weak, the team is working hard to win from top to bottom.

This public opinion...

Quite strange.

Not only Yeas found it strange, but Nelson and SuperSonics general manager Presti also found it very strange.

"The Warriors are building momentum for their No. 1 pick next season."

According to SuperSonics general manager Jerry Presti, Jerry West is now campaigning for the legitimacy of the Warriors getting the No. 1 pick.

Jerry West asked Beasley to follow in the footsteps of Leafs. This is not to tell Beasley that winning and fighting spirit are more important than protecting the shooting percentage. At least it is not just to tell Beasley this, in addition to telling Beasley this. Besides, this is also giving David Stern face.

Jerry West is telling David Stern, David, don't look at us messing up, you know we are messing up, but we are not harming the interests of the NBA or the league.

You see, our team's Beasley scored 20+ points in thirty-four consecutive games in his rookie season, 20+ points in every game in his career, and averaged 29 points per game in his rookie season. How much traffic and attention can this bring to the league? ?

Although the Warriors are failing, the value Beasley and we have created for the league is no worse than those playoff teams!

You have also seen Beasley's strength, value, and his righteous and hard-working character. Can you bear to see such a player who can become the perfect leader of the NBA without a good assistant?

Presti does have big problems in trading, emotional intelligence, and getting along with people.

But in terms of IQ and vision, this Sonics general manager is indeed a bit amazing.

After Presti analyzed the current operations of the Warriors and Jerry West at the team meeting, Yees, SuperSonics head coach Old Nelson, president Rick Sander and others were really shocked. a feeling of.

Not only was Presti shocked, but Jerry West was also shocked!

The Warriors are messing up. Anyone with any intelligence can see this and cannot deceive them.

But Jerry West can actually do the humiliating job of messing up so well.

Players have not lost their pursuit of victory because of bad performances.

The league has not lost interest because of this team's poor performance.

Fans have not lost their expectations for this team because of its poor performance.

"This is indeed Jerry's style. He is different from those vulture-type management. He will consider the interests of all aspects very comprehensively. While he gets benefits, others will not suffer, so many people respect him. I am also willing to cooperate with him.”

The schedule is now more than halfway through, and the Warriors' current position at the bottom of the league is quite stable.

Although many other Eastern Conference teams are also failing, it is quite rare for the Warriors to fail to win almost a game.

Not to mention a comprehensive operation like Jerry West's.

It's still 2008, but there may be no suspense about the No. 1 pick in 2009.

"Even if David Stern is unwilling to give the No. 1 pick to a bad team, Jerry West and the Warriors' operations this season may make David Stern a typical example of a bad team in the league. It's okay to mess up, but it can't harm the interests of the league and the interests of the fans."

However, this statement is just easy to say.

Doesn't it hurt the interests of the league and fans?

Who could do it but a master like Jerry West?

There is only one Jerry West in the history of the league.

"The number one pick..."

Ye Si thought of the disciple who was leading the University of Washington to kill in the NCAA.

Could it be him?

Ye Si didn't know, but he knew that his disciple had received private invitations from Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks.

Now I am fully prepared to go to New York, the largest city in the world, to become the boss.

Defeating the Warriors on the last day of 2008, the Seattle SuperSonics could be considered a perfect ending to 2008.

After all the games in 2008, the entire NBA will have a one-day truce on New Year's Day, January 1, 2009.

The Seattle SuperSonics finally got a chance to breathe a little after going through this incredible schedule.

On the same day, the league also announced its Player of the Month.

With 99 points in one game and 104 points in one game in December, Yees undoubtedly won the NBA Player of the Month in the last month of 2008.

Throughout December, the Seattle SuperSonics' record was actually not that good, but Yeos's personal performance was really outstanding.

Just relying on three wins with the Cavaliers (88 points), the Lakers (99 points), and the Heat (104 points), even if the SuperSonics lose all other games in December, it is impossible to give the Best of the Month to anyone else.

At the same time, the league also announced the shocking results of the second round of NBA All-Star voting...