Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 256: Halfway through the season; no one dares to touch its edge!All-star vote king!

After this game, the Knicks ushered in a sweet schedule, and their opponents were all weak teams ranked outside the top eight in the division.

Facing the underdogs, the Knicks naturally made no mistakes and directly used a wave of winning streak to establish their first position in the league.

As teams such as the Magic, Bobcats, Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Trail Blazers fell at the feet of the Knicks, the Knicks had their longest 10-game winning streak of the season and their momentum was unstoppable.

On January 1, the Knicks played back-to-back games against the Mavericks. Anthony played 27 minutes and scored 34 points, 28 rebounds and 11 assists, scoring his first triple-double of the season.

The Mavericks' strength has dropped a lot compared to last season. They started the season with 20 wins and 22 losses, ranking only tenth in the Western Conference.

After letting go of veterans Kidd and Jason Terry, although the management successively signed outstanding players such as Mayo and Chris Kaman, the decline in efficiency of "German tank" Nowitzki still forced the Mavericks to withdraw. In order to compete for the championship, whether it can reach the playoffs is a question.

诺天王这赛季场均得分跌破20，出战31.4分钟，只能得到17.3分6.8篮板2.5助攻和0.7次抢断，创下了近12年来的得分新低。

Shawn Marion's movement speed has become slower after surgery. It is quite difficult to defend Anthony alone at the third position. He was beaten from the front tonight.

In this game, Deron Williams also performed well. He made 16 of 10 shots, 3 of 1 three-pointers, and 5 of 5 free throws. He scored 26 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2 steals. He only took advantage of the thin Darren. - Collison It's like drinking water, it's not easy.

The "little bully" Stoudemire scored 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. There was a lot of chaos in the penalty area. Kaman tried to stop him but was unable to stop him. He could only watch the little bully wreaking havoc on the basket.

New York's Big Three have performed extremely well this season, and after a long period of running-in, they are now getting better.

The media began to praise the Knicks one after another and were generally optimistic about the Knicks' winning prospects. Even the Heat, who were in the spotlight, were suppressed.

Throughout January, the Knicks only lost two games in total, with the strongest record in the league, and no one dared to touch its edge.

Anthony leads the scoring list with his super performance. In addition, Anthony is also far ahead in the MVP rankings, and his top position is unshakable.

Entering February, Lu Yong began to regularly arrange for veteran players to rest. Even Anthony appropriately reduced his shots to avoid injuries caused by overwork.

Anthony's current scoring average is 4 points ahead of second-placed Durant. As long as he is not injured, the scoring champion is within easy reach.

In the final analysis, the most important thing for the Knicks if they want to win the championship is that the players stay healthy. Once a main player is injured, no one can guarantee what will happen in the playoffs.

When the battle for the scoring title becomes no longer suspense, MVP and championship naturally become the goals that Anthony pursues. He knows in his heart that this is the closest he is to realizing his dream, and he does not allow accidents to happen.

Not only did Anthony reduce his shots and playing time, but veterans such as Deron, Stoudemire and Turkoglu also began to play. According to Lu Yong's arrangement, they increased their outside shooting and reduced the frequency of going inside.

In this way, players can play with less energy and the statistics are not bad. Even if the shooting percentage may decline, it is better than risking injury and going head-to-head with the opponent.

There are many young players sitting on the Knicks bench. Later in the season, they will gradually become the main rotation and replace the veterans to play for longer periods of time.The Knicks' record is crushing the Eastern Conference. Even if they lose two games, it won't be a big problem. Only when rookie players get more performance opportunities in the regular season can they fully show themselves in the playoffs and reduce mistakes and tension.

Draymond Green has grown a lot recently. In January, he averaged 24.6 minutes per game, 6.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks. His statistics are comprehensive, his style of play is fierce, and he is looking more and more like he was in his prime. .

If it weren't for the Knicks' mid-season trade for Turkoglu, Green's tactical role would only be greater.

It is worth mentioning that as the Knicks have been making rapid progress, the reputation of Turkoglu's deal has become better and better. Fans generally believe that the Knicks have made a lot of money and the Magic management's act of providing help in times of need is so touching. Finally, Did a good thing.

Throughout January, Turkoglu started 6 games, came on the bench in 4 games, and rested 3 games. He averaged 11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal per game, shooting 50.8% from the field and 41.7% from the three-point range. His efficiency was good.

The Turk's evaluation has been rising, and many experts have seen that his decline in Magic status is not due to injuries, but a substantial decline in his tactical status.

When he joined the Knicks and became himself again, Turkoglu could still make a huge contribution to the team and was the core organizer of the team's forward line most of the time.

In early February, the Knicks defeated the Nets, 76ers and Rockets respectively. It was not until they lost to the Grizzlies on the road that they ushered in the annual All-Star Weekend with a record of 40 wins and 8 losses.

After the All-Star voting ended, the Knicks had a total of three players selected, namely Anthony, Stoudemire and Deron Williams.

Among them, Anthony received a total of 190 million votes and became the vote leader, nearly 40 votes ahead of James, who was in second place. "Little Bully" Stoudemire ranked first in the Eastern Conference's frontcourt with 120 million votes, and Deron Williams ranked first in the Eastern Conference's backcourt with 100 million votes, only slightly less than "Flash" Wade in the Eastern Conference's backcourt. The three joined forces to enter the starting lineup.

The other two starting stars in the Eastern Conference are Wade and James.

Seven substitutes: Irving, Paul George, Bosh, Luol Deng, Garnett, Brook Lopez, Joakim Noah.

Most of the Eastern Conference All-Stars were selected in the frontcourt, with slightly fewer backcourt players. The overall lineup is not very strong, but the starting five are very interesting. They are taken over by the Knicks and Heat, and the stars of other teams can only Relegated to the bench.

Lu Yong became the head coach of the Eastern Team. Last year, he failed to win the top spot in the division when coaching the 76ers. This year, he once again stood on the All-Star stage.

On the Western side, the starting five: Paul, Kobe, Durant, Griffin, and Howard.

Although the Lakers have a poor record and Howard's personal data has also dropped significantly, in this era of declining centers, Warcraft is still one of the best centers in the league.

No one is surprised that he was selected as the All-Star starter. It's just a pity that Tim Duncan's statistics are not much different from Howard's, but he only received a total of 50 votes this year. His popularity has dropped sharply. The only one to blame is him. Low profile.

However, after being severely beaten by the Knicks, Howard didn't have much interest in the All-Star Game. He was not happy at all to become the All-Star starter. All he could think about was where he would go when his contract expired in the summer. What should he do in the future?

Seven substitutes in the Western Conference: Parker, Westbrook, Harden, Randolph, David Lee, Duncan, Aldridge.

Harden was traded to the Rockets in the summer and finally proved himself. He averaged 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals per game. He was selected to the All-Star for the first time in his career and was the host of this year's Houston Star Weekend.

Westbrook was also selected to the All-Star for the first time. The SuperSonics record is second in the Western Conference. He averaged 23 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals per game. All statistics have reached career highs, and his development speed is slightly slower than in his previous life.

The coach of the Western Team is the second-ranked SuperSonics coach Brooks. Because Popovich just served as the All-Star coach last year, Brooks will take over this year.

Considering that Brooks is the coach led by Lu Yong, this year's All-Stars were also dubbed the battle of master and apprentice by fans, attracting a large number of fans to watch.

In addition, the Knicks have many people participating in other events during the All-Star Weekend. Bazemore and Novak will participate in the three-point contest together.Green, Bazemore, and Jimmy Butler were also invited to participate in the Rookie Challenge. Green and Bazemore represented the first-year team, while Butler represented the second-year team.

The most interesting thing is that JR Smith was once again invited to participate in the dunk contest. His opponents were the Pacers' Gerald Green, the Raptors' rookie Terrence Ross, the Celtics' James White, and the Clippers. Bledsoe, and defending champion Jeremy Evans from the Jazz.

Among them, Gerald Green, Rose, and Evans are all dunk king-level players. Together with JR Smith, who has smooth movements, this year's dunk contest will be very exciting. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a new generation of battle of the gods. .

Lu Yong actually does not want players to participate in this meaningless competition. In addition to consuming physical strength and wasting rest time, there is more or less risk of injury.However, when JR Smith came to him and begged him to play, Lu Yong still nodded and agreed. He knew that JR Smith had never been willing to miss out on the dunk champion. If he did not participate this year, it would be difficult to win the championship in the future.

Because Griffin temporarily withdrew after signing up for the competition this year, he was shortlisted as a dunker substitute invited by the league. This is an excellent opportunity for him to win the dunk king.

In Lu Yong's previous life, the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest finally succeeded Raptors rookie Terrence Ross. The guy was able to defeat defending champion Evans in the finals not by talent, but by creativity.

After all, the physical fitness of these dunkers this year is very explosive. Whoever has better creativity will have the chance to have the last laugh.

JR-Smith has Lu Yong behind him to advise him, so he doesn't have to worry about fancy dunks. This is why Lu Yong supports him in the competition.

If it doesn't work, just temporarily plagiarize the opponent's ideas, follow the opponent's path, leave the opponent with no way to go, and see if Terrence Ross can still laugh.

On February 2, the Knicks and their team flew to Houston to prepare for the All-Star Game.

The first night started with the Rookie Challenge. The second-year team won easily. Butler played 27 minutes and scored 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. He performed well.

格林、贝兹莫尔分别得到8分7篮板5助攻2抢断1盖帽、11分3篮板1助攻，比赛中都发挥出了自身特点。

The best performer was second-year star Irving. He made 18 of 10 shots, 9 of 5 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, scored 29 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, and won the rookie game MVP.

Irving's rookie game is a blow to the dimensionality reduction. After all, in addition to being invited to participate in the Rookie Challenge this year, he was also selected as an Eastern All-Star based on his strength. He averaged 22.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. His personal abilities are better than those of the first-year boys. Quite a few, and he is also the only newcomer in the Challenger League to be selected as an All-Star.On the second day, the All-Stars started with a skills challenge.

The league has changed the rules of the All-Star Skills Challenge this year. It no longer adopts the previous model of fighting independently. Instead, it introduces the concept of east-west confrontation, with the east and west teams forming a competition.

Because other events in the past challenge series, except for the slam dunk contest, did not receive much attention, the league hopes to change this situation, so it adopts a new competition method to enhance the viewing experience by increasing the confrontation.

The six participating players are Jeremy Lin, Tony Parker, and Lillard of the Western Team.and the Eastern Conference’s Jrue Holiday, Brandon Knight, and Jeff Teague.

Teague came on the scene first. He did a good job in passing the ball, but he used up four balls in the shooting spot. He missed the final layup and had to take the second shot to put the ball in, which took 49.4 seconds.Then came Knight, who did a good job passing the ball, saved a lot of time, and completed the game with a one-handed dunk, which took 32.2 seconds.

Holiday finally made his appearance in the Eastern Conference. The first two passes were completed at once. He used two balls at the shooting point and completed an easy layup in 29.3 seconds.In this way, Holiday is the best player in the Eastern Conference entering the finals, and the Eastern team's total score is 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Next, the Western team appeared. Jeremy Lin was the first to appear. He started with an easy layup. He was not dribbling very fast. He wasted a ball with a flat pass from his chest. It took the third ball from the shooting spot to make the shot. , finally put the ball in, 35.8 seconds.

Lillard came next. He used two balls at the shooting point and did a good job in passing. He completed the dunk in 28.8 seconds, which meant that Jeremy Lin had missed the finals.Parker made his final appearance in the Western Conference. He used two ground passes and had trouble shooting. He failed to make any five shots. He finally completed the game with a layup in 48.7 seconds. The Western team's total score was 1 minute and 53 seconds.

Holiday took the lead in the finals. He wasted one ball each in the first two passes and three balls at the shooting point. This made him waste a lot of time. Finally, he completed the game with a dunk. His time was 35.6 seconds.

Lillard also wasted a goal on his first chest-level pass after coming out, but he got the shooting spot with one goal, which saved him a lot of time. The final score was 29.8 seconds, beating Holiday to win the skills competition. champion.

In the three-point contest, Bazemore scored only 9 points and was eliminated in the preliminaries.He is usually used to shooting fixed-point jumpers, and his shooting percentage is not low. However, in the three-point contest, he takes the ball and shoots by himself. He needs to run back and forth at several points, which is not Bazemore's strong point, so he did not perform well tonight.

Novak lived up to expectations and successfully reached the finals with his superb shooting skills. In the finale, he scored 23 points, defeating the Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving and becoming the new three-point king.

Irving shot 39.1% from three-point range during the regular season. Although he is not a top shooter, he is quite strong.After having no choice but to enter the finals, Novak played more steadily. He made every shot with the flower ball at the last point and counterattacked Irving to win the three-point contest championship.

In addition to your own strength, luck is also crucial in the shooting contest.

Ray Allen is the best example. As the top pitcher in history, he has been defeated in the three-point contest many times. It can only be said that he is too unlucky and is not blessed with such luck.

Finally, the finale is the much-anticipated slam dunk contest.

Lu Yong helped JR Smith prepare a lot of moves. As long as JR can ensure that he dunks the ball in, he will definitely be the favorite to win the championship this year.

The first player to appear in the first round was swingman Gerald Green.

He was the winner of the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest. In his first dunk, after teammate Stephenson threw a rebound ball, he rushed forward and completed a two-handed back dunk with the wings spread 180 degrees.This action fully displayed his stretched posture in the air, and his movements were extremely stretched.

However, because the first fans to appear had not yet entered the state, only two of the judges gave full marks after discussion, and the other three all scored 9 points, with a total score of 47.

The second player to appear was James White. His appearance gimmick was very eye-catching. When he appeared, a bunch of beautiful stewardesses stood in two rows to support him, and he chose to take off from the free throw line and dunk.However, because he stepped on the line when dunking and took off one step from the free throw line, which lacked novelty and was not perfect, White only scored 45 points for this dunk.

Lu Yong suspected that even among the 45 points, some of them were chasing beauties. If it weren't for the beauties standing on both sides, the judges wouldn't even have given him 9 points.

The third player to appear was Raptors rookie Terrence Ross. His dunk action was quite explosive and he showed the judges that his waist is extremely stretchable.First, he slipped from the baseline to the basket, then made a 360-degree super turn in the air, and passed the ball from behind to his right hand, and then performed a one-arm dunk.

This buckle is indeed very enjoyable to watch, and the judges all gave it full marks.

Next, Bledsoe and Evans also performed dunk performances. Unfortunately, they only scored 48 points and no more perfect scores.

JR Smith played last. When he came on the stage, he invited Knicks star Ewing to assist. Ewing sat on a chair and held the ball high. JR Smith rushed to the basket and took the ball while taking off, and then flew to the basket. On the other side, directly push your hands behind your back.

This action was very elegant and powerful, and the presence of "Gorilla" Ewing gave him some face. The judges unanimously gave him full marks.

This puts JR-Smith in a very favorable ranking. As long as the second dunk is steady, he will definitely reach the finals.

White took the lead in the first dunk of the second round. His dunk was not easy. He dribbled the ball forward from the bottom line of the backcourt. After reaching the basket, he first started holding the ball with his right hand, and then switched to his left hand for a dunk.

However, White tried several times without success. In the end, he had no choice but to change the direction. However, he still failed to complete the action within the designated time after many attempts, and finally only scored 32 points.

After White's failed dunk, Gerald Green was even more nervous when he came on the court.

He stepped forward to cut off the net at the beginning, which was very gimmick, and his purpose seemed to be to imitate the double dunk action of the street basketball master "Goat". After dunking in with his right hand, he switched to his left hand and dunked again.

Unfortunately, Green tried many times but still failed to complete it within the designated time. He failed to get the ball with his left hand after the first dunk.It was not until the time was up and the judges had already scored that Green completed the legendary double dunk. Although he successfully reproduced the legend of dunking with his right hand and then dunking again with his left hand, he still only received 32 points due to failure.

Evans made his third appearance, which was equally difficult. He held two balls in his hands, quickly ran to the basket and jumped high. After turning around 360 degrees, he first dunked the ball into the basket with his left hand in the air, and then his right hand was still high. Lift it high and smash the ball again.

This is the dunk action that McGee used back then. It is average in creativity but very difficult. The judges gave it 50 points.

It's not surprising that Lu Yong was sitting off the court. He was the All-Star dunk king last year, so it's normal to get a perfect score.However, his first deduction only had 48 points. As long as JR Smith does not fall below 48, the advantage still lies with him.

After other players completed dunks one after another, J.R. Smith finally came out and took a deep breath.

I saw that JR invited a fan to come on during the second dunk, and asked the fan wearing a hat to stand under the basket. He himself held the ball and rushed forward from the left corner, passed directly over the fan, and then displayed it in the air. He gained his super strength in the air.

In the process of flying forward, JR Smith directly used a one-handed split dunk under the crotch to smash the ball into the basket.

All the fans stood up and cheered, and the judges were in tacit understanding and collectively gave full marks. JR's two dunks and full marks sealed the final in advance.

Several others competed. Terrence Ross defeated the defending champion Evans in overtime and joined JR Smith in the finals.

In the final, the first player to appear was JR Smith.

When he came on the court, he was wearing the No. 15 jersey of former Raptors superstar Carter. After a rebound ball that hit the edge, JR turned around and dunked with one hand, recreating Carter's classic dunk that year.

This is a suggestion given by Lu Yong. It is called "reshaping a classic", but in fact it depends on whether the judges will give Carter face. This trick has been tried and tested in the dunk contest, and there are rarely low scores.This is indeed the case. After discussion, the judges gave 48 points, and JR Smith’s ultimate move has not yet been released.

It was Rose's turn to perform. He was already a bit exhausted at this moment. He didn't expect to play overtime, so he didn't prepare enough before the game and could only perform on the spot in the final.

Compared with the preliminaries, Rose's dunk was obviously lacking in novelty. He just completed a tomahawk dunk after receiving a pass from the bottom of the basket. Although the jumping height was good, there were relatively few technical moves and he only scored 45 points.

JR Smith came on the scene. This time he didn’t hold anything back and just made big moves.

Lu Yong carefully "selected" an action for him, imitating the uncrowned dunk king Aaron Gordon.

Cooperating with the Knicks mascot, he sprinted and caught the ball from the mascot's hand, turned and dunked with one hand, and even touched the back of his head with his hand.

This is an action that has never been seen in the dunk contest. It is full of creativity. The judges collectively gave it full marks, and the fans at the scene also stood up and shouted excitedly.

Barkley said: "JR Smith's performance today was so explosive. The dunks of Evans, Rose and others were eclipsed by him. This dunk king must be him!"

Kenny Smith smiled and said: "JR's actions in the final were very creative. I don't know if it was Lu Shuai's suggestion to him. His head is always full of all kinds of ideas."

Rose had no action. He chose to take off from the free throw line for the last dunk. As a result, he rushed forward and stepped on the free throw line without stopping. He stepped on the free throw line and dunked the ball in. The judges only gave him 42 points.

Taking off from the free throw line is no longer a rare thing in the slam dunk contest. Unless you can take off from the free throw line like a windmill like LaVine, or take off from the free throw line and spin in the air, you will only get 45 points at most. Players rarely use it unless they have to. Use it as a trump card.

The result was no suspense. J.R. Smith successfully defeated his opponent and won the trophy. He successfully took revenge after many years and was crowned the dunk king!
The Knicks won the three-point king and dunk king at this year's All-Star Weekend, and their popularity has increased significantly!

(End of this chapter)