Chapter 123: Nuggets

On the 25th, the Suns will play away against the Nuggets.

Before the start of the season, the major media estimated that the strength of the Nuggets was far above the Suns, and it was estimated that they would rank fifth in the Western Conference.

But so far, the Suns are 4th, the Nuggets are 7 wins and 6 losses, and the Western Conference is 9th.

The strength of the Nuggets is actually very strong. The starting lineup includes Andre Miller at No. 1, Voshan Leonard at No. 2, Carmelo Anthony at No. 3, Nene Hilario at No. Cuscambe.

Of course, this starting lineup is very shabby in terms of salary, because there is no superstar, the highest is the starting point guard Andre Miller, this year's salary is 8 million US dollars.

He was the No. 8 pick in the first round of 1999. He seldom absent in his career. He has a very stable style of play, solid offensive skills, and strong assist ability. He was selected to the best rookie team in his rookie season. In an average of 36 minutes, he scored 13.6 points, 6.71 assists and 4 rebounds. His strength is very strong, and three-pointers are equal to none.

The starting shooting guard is not high in the draft. The No. 19 pick in the second round of 1994 averaged about 30 minutes per game and was able to score about 13 points. His strength is average and he is the weakest part of the starting lineup.

Small forward Melon, the chosen son of Syracuse University, just led the team to defeat the University of Kansas this year and won the NCAA championship.

With his current performance, he has secured the first scoring point for the Nuggets, and he has taken 17 shots so far.

Power forward Nene, the No. 7 pick in the first round of 2002, is a strong and fast guy.

He is good at running, has a good shooting ability, has a high shooting rate, has entered the top ten in the league, has a good ability to finish offense, passes the ball very well, and is always full of passion in the game.

His bounce is average, which makes his rebounding and blocking ability slightly worse. Last year, he averaged 6.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.

In his rookie season against the Timberwolves, facing Garnett, he scored 10 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and was selected to the best rookie team.

Of course, he has never played All-Star data, but this does not affect his evaluation, an excellent power forward.

Center Camby, the No. 2 pick in the 1996 draft, a top defensive center, and an excellent defender of the penalty area in the league.

He weighs 100kg, is 211cm tall, and has a wingspan of 229cm. In addition, he has good bounce and strong blocking ability.

The disadvantage is that the weight is not enough, the body is not strong enough, and it is easy to get injured. This also led to his weak ability to block strong positions and weak offensive rebounding ability in defense.

For a defensive insider, without offensive rebounds, there is no second offense, and if he cannot get stuck, it is equivalent to giving up the paint area to the opponent. These are very serious problems, which directly and seriously affect his defensive quality.

Although he won a DOPY in the future, led 4 blocked shots in his career, defended the first team twice in the league, and defended the second team twice, he still won the model of the data brush. The reason is that his defensive data is good. King's overall defensive quality is in the middle and lower reaches of the league, which is one of the reasons for the Nuggets' poor record.

Of course, this is something in the middle and late stages of his career, and Camby is still a tough guy in the early days.

But now it is in the middle of his career. In terms of rebounding, he does not get stuck, is keen on grabbing backboards, and is keen on blocking shots. His data has increased significantly, but it has already affected the Nuggets' defensive quality.

This game is a rare national live broadcast game for the Suns. ESPN conducted an analysis before the game, and based on the recent Suns' record, it gave a guess that the Suns' winning rate is 60% and the Nuggets' winning rate is 40%.

Almost all the media involved in speculation believe that the Suns must have scored more than 100 points in this game because of the overall defensive quality of the Nuggets.

At noon on the 24th, Li Ba boarded the plane with the team and flew to Denver.

On the plane, Li Ba'an was quietly reading a professional book on rice pest control.

"Damn, what kind of bug is this? Why do you like these things?" Marbury next to him glanced at it, feeling a little disgusted, and said disgustedly.

"Stephen, this is my major in college, and that's what I'm studying. This year is my internship year. I can't practice. I can't throw away my major. I have to pick it up again after I retire." Li Ba said happily.

"You want to be a farmer after you retire?" Marbury asked in confusion.

"Is there anything wrong? I can't learn these years in vain. I won't do things that lose money." Li Ba said.

"Of course...you can." Marbury shrugged.

"Hammer, I forgot to tell you, I have to congratulate you on one thing." Frank, who was sitting in front of him, stood up and turned his head.

"Frank, is the team going to give out bonuses?" Li Ba immediately looked happy.

"Of course not." Frank smiled wryly, and said, "It's your sales of jerseys in Phoenix. As of yesterday, you have already climbed to the first place."

"Oh, this is good news. But why didn't the team reward me? I moved, and I don't have enough money to spend." Li Ba complained.

"..."

Frank shrugged, didn't bother to pay attention to Li Ba, and sat down.

When he came to Denver, Li Ba first felt a strong altitude sickness.

"Pay attention to rest. Playing in Denver will be very tiring." Frank told the players before letting the players move in.

In the morning of the next day, Li Ba trained his physical fitness in the hotel gym and felt that his physical energy was exhausted.

Marbury, who was jogging next to him, said: "This is one of the reasons why the Pepsi Center has a high winning rate. Also, please pay attention, the fans here are very irritable, and they may have some bad words for you. Don't be influenced by them. "

"Hey, don't worry, I won't target the fans, I treat them as a bunch of ducks." Li Ba said with a smile.

Marbury was startled, he pressed the button to stop the treadmill, and laughed loudly: "This is a good idea."

At noon, Li Ba met with Bill Duffy who had rushed to Denver.

Duffy came here specially to watch this game, because in this game, the two protagonists are both his players.

At seven o'clock in the evening, the team came to the Pepsi Center Arena.

"Hey, Charles, Kenny, are you guys on TNT again? Why are you the only ones streaming our games?"

At the entrance of the branching corridor of the locker room of the home and away teams, Li Ba met Barkley and Smith and his party, including seven or eight people including the cameraman.

"Rookie, because only we, TNT, value your Suns." Barkley teased.

"So how about our ratings?" Li Ba asked curiously.

Barkley and Smith looked at each other and laughed, the former said with a smile: "Not bad, if you have a three-in-a-row shot every game, it will be even better."

"I think so too, but my opponent doesn't cooperate very well." Li Ba said regretfully.

"Haha!" Everyone laughed.

"Next year we should increase the number of live broadcasts across the United States?" Li Ba asked.

Without a nationwide live broadcast, the Suns would not be able to increase their influence, which directly affects his own influence, so he is very concerned about this.

Like the Cavaliers with James, the number of live broadcasts in the United States this season has risen sharply from a few games last season. This season, it is as high as 48%, and the number of live broadcasts is as high as 40 games, making the Cavaliers directly one of the most popular teams in the United States.

First of all, this influence will affect the All-Star voting. If others don't know you, of course they won't vote for you.

Then the issue of influence will also affect sponsorship and endorsement contracts.

The last is the main issue. If there is no influence and commercial value cannot be reflected, the best sneaker contract cannot be signed.