Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 171 The 2011~2012 regular season ends

The game between the Grizzlies and the Lakers has ended, but the topic of this game has not ended.

Although Kobe said after the game that "the Grizzlies gave us a good wake-up call" and praised Hansen's performance at critical moments, the tension between the two teams and Hansen's public ridicule of Paul after the game, led by the large number of Lakers fans, quickly escalated the feud between the two teams.

Whatever Paul said before the game, it doesn’t matter.

Of course, there is another very important point. The Grizzlies' performance made them feel a sense of crisis.

Although the outcome of a regular season game cannot really decide anything, everyone knows that this is only Randolph's first game after his comeback, and he is playing as a substitute.

Once Randolph recovers slowly, the Grizzlies might really be able to defeat the Lakers.

Moreover, in the latest episode of TNT, when O'Neal shaved his head and the camera was pointed at his shiny forehead, coupled with Kenny Smith's expressionless face next to him, the show effect was explosive.

"I like the Lakers, but they let me down, and now I just want to say: Memphis champions."

What's even more surprising is that O'Neal tore off the No. 34 Lakers jersey he was originally wearing and put on the No. 3q Grizzlies jersey.

That's why people say O'Neal is a natural prankster. After retiring, he added another piece to his rainbow uniform.

However, his actions only added fuel to the fire, and the feud between the Grizzlies and the Lakers became increasingly serious.

After the game with the Lakers, Joerger put Randolph back in the starting lineup.

However, after Randolph returned to the starting lineup, his performance was not as good as expected.

Theoretically, if Randolph can score 20 points as a substitute, then if he starts, wouldn't he be able to return to the state of last season's inside destruction in a matter of minutes?
This is not the case. After returning to the starting lineup, Randolph's condition has been up and down.

This involves the injury Randolph suffered, a torn ligament.

This injury is actually not unfamiliar to fans, because quite a few players have seen their strength decline drastically due to it, or even faded out of the NBA.

There are two ways to treat this injury. One is to suture the torn ligament surgically, and the other is to rest and take medication to allow it to recover naturally.

Randolph only had a mild tear, so he chose conservative treatment.

But for two months, he was only able to play in the game, and the feeling of his game on the court was completely different from last season.

Just like Duncan's plantar fasciitis, it took him a long summer of suspension to recover.

So it will be difficult for Randolph to return to his form last season this season.

Or to put it more concretely, Randolph is currently at around 70% of his current state.
In the game against the Lakers, it was his and Hansen's pick-and-roll that caught the Lakers off guard.

Of course, even a Randolph like this is stronger than Speights and Faried.

And just like what he showed against the Lakers, he can play better through pick-and-roll with Hansen, which is actually enough.

In fact, despite Randolph's ups and downs, the Grizzlies were indeed in good shape by the end of the season.

The evolution of Hansen, the improvement in the strength of Gasol Jr. and Conley, as well as Gay's condition and the reinforcement of the inside line are all improvements that are visible to the naked eye.

Randolph's comeback is like the last piece of the puzzle. The Grizzlies began to show their claws and fangs, flexing their muscles in the NBA jungle.

In the last month of the season, they achieved a record of 10 wins and 2 losses, and ended the season with a beautiful 6-game winning streak.

On April 4, the shortened 26-2011 season ended more than half a month later than in previous years.

In the Eastern Conference, the Bulls won 50 games and lost 16, surpassing the Heat's Big Three for the second consecutive season to top the list.

The Heat came in second with 46 wins.

The Pacers are third with 42 wins.

The Celtics are fourth with 39 wins.

The Hawks ranked fifth with 40 wins.
The Magic are ranked sixth with 37 wins.

The Knicks and 76ers ranked seventh and eighth.

Although the Heat are not even at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, media outlets led by ESPN have already begun promoting James' MVP award during the season.

How difficult it is for James to lead the team when Wade is out due to injury;

The Heat's role players are not performing well, how does James carry on?
How comprehensive and efficient James' data is and so on.

Are these useful?
In the "history" that Hansen knows, it was thanks to these that James finally won the MVP even though the Heat had the Big Three but the record was only ranked fourth in the league.

But right now, it's basically useless.

Because the Lakers ranked first in the league with 55 wins and 11 losses, Kobe played at the highest efficiency of his career, and it was almost certain that he would win the second MVP trophy of his career.

The Spurs are right behind them in second place in the Western Conference with 50 wins.

The Thunder ranked third with 47 wins.

The Grizzlies are fourth with 46 wins.

韩森在自己职业生涯的第三个赛季里场均23.2分4.5板5.8助攻2抢断0.8盖帽，投篮命中率48.5%，三分命中率40.6%。③
In fact, judging from the Grizzlies' performance at the beginning and end of the season, if Randolph had not been injured, it would not be a problem for them to rank third or even second.

But injuries are part of the season, just as the Lakers would have had a better record if Okafor hadn't been plagued by injuries.

And in this year's Western Conference, no matter which team it is, it will take a bloody battle to make it out.

The Mavericks are fifth with 43 wins.

The Clippers are sixth with 39 wins.

The Nuggets and Jazz ranked seventh and eighth respectively.

The Rockets finished ninth by one win and missed the playoffs.

"If Zach hadn't been injured, our situation wouldn't be so bad." After the final ranking came out, Guy couldn't help but complain to Hansen in the Grizzlies' locker room.

The Grizzlies won consecutive games at the end of the season. In addition to being in good form, they also wanted to rush to third place. After all, there is a big difference between playing against the Mavericks and the Clippers in the first round.

And in their current position, even if they can get past the Mavericks, they will have to face the Lakers in the second round.

Unfortunately, the Thunder played very well at the end of the season, but they still fell short in the end.

"This is not a bad thing." But Han Sen was quite open-minded about it.

The Lakers have to play this season no matter what. Playing against the Mavericks before playing against the Lakers can help them get into shape.

Although the Mavericks are in the lower half, their strength is no worse than any team in the upper half.

Even the Mavericks fell to the bottom half because Nowitzki was not in his best form due to an injury at the beginning of the season.

As for if we can’t beat the Mavericks…then what’s the point of talking about the championship?

And it is also Hansen's wish to play against the Mavericks again in the playoffs.

After all, when he first learned from West that the Mavericks were going to "try it again," he wanted to play against this Mavericks team again.

Guy was helpless. It seemed that there was nothing in the world that could make Hansen worry.

"Rather than that, let's focus on how to celebrate." Han Sen said as he stood up and called his teammates over.

"Celebrate?" Guy looked confused. Celebrate that they were about to play against the Mavericks?

……

Joerger went to the training hall with his assistant coach as usual. His cheerful face suddenly showed a sad expression.

This final ranking is not only worrying for the Grizzlies players, but also for him as the head coach.

The Mavericks in the first round, the Lakers in the second round, and finally playing against the Thunder or the Spurs. This difficulty is rare in history.

If we have to say that the team is more difficult than them, it is only their opponent, the Mavericks.

Just as he felt at the beginning, he was extremely unlucky as a head coach.

When he arrived at the training hall, he found that none of his teammates were there.

This made him turn to look at Tois in confusion.

"I've already called them," Toyes explained.

Just when they were all confused, Han Sen suddenly ran to the training hall in a hurry.

"Coach, something bad has happened!"

Seeing Han Sen's panic, Qiao Ge immediately had a premonition that something was wrong. He had never seen Han Sen like this before.

Master and second brother were captured by monsters?

"Rudy and Zack are fighting in the locker room!" Hansen said anxiously.

When Joerger heard this, his face changed drastically and he ran towards the locker room without saying a word.

It's not uncommon for Gay and Randolph to have a disagreement on the Grizzlies, but before that they had just had some bickering.

Especially after Han Sen came, they rarely had open conflicts.

As a result, a fight broke out now, and it was Han Sen who came to notify everyone. You can imagine how serious the situation is.

Sure enough, before he ran to the locker room, he heard a noisy noise coming from inside.

"Coach, slow down!" Hansen shouted as he chased after Jorgel.

The door of the locker room was not closed, so Joerger rushed in directly.

Then, he suffered.

There was no fight at all. Instead, after he rushed in, champagne was sprayed from all directions.

The team members all laughed and gave him a champagne bath, including Randolph and Guy who were fighting as Hansen said.

It was not until this moment that he realized he had been deceived.

Every year at the end of the regular season and before the start of the playoffs, the league will select the first batch of awards for the season.

Although this year is a shortened season and everything is very tight, this award still arrived as promised.

Joerger was named the league's Coach of the Season.

In theory, the NBA Coach of the Year award should be given to the coach of the best team of the season, but in reality, most of the time it is given to the team that performs beyond expectations.

Because it is often given to the teams with the biggest improvement in performance, it is also nicknamed the "Most Improved Coach Award" by fans.

When O'Neal served as a commentator this season, he commented on the Lakers this season: Even if my grandmother coached the team, they would be number one in the league.

So Brown, who is theoretically the most likely candidate, actually has the least chance.

On the contrary, although the Grizzlies' record improvement was not the biggest, their core player Randolph was injured at the beginning of the season and there were big problems with the lineup.

And another very important point is that Joerger is a young coach.

If you look through the best coaches over the years, you will be surprised to find a fact: the best coaches are used to improve the resumes of young coaches.

So the celebration Han Sen mentioned was referring to this.

Moreover, he personally took part in the event and did not even notify Tois in order to achieve the desired effect.

When Hansen and Tois arrived at the door, they saw the "suffering" Jorgel.

In fact, judging from the players' willingness to cooperate, Jorger is still deeply loved by his teammates.

"You can go to Hollywood to be an actor." Toyes couldn't help but sigh after the false alarm.

"Really?" It just so happened that Han Sen had plans to star in a movie in the summer to expand his influence outside the industry.

After the champagne bath was over, Han Sen walked in with a smile.

When Jorgel saw Hansen, he pointed at him and smiled. Hansen had deceived him badly, and his newly washed suit was wasted.

But after this commotion, the sad expression on his face disappeared.

By the way, it also reminded him of what Han Sen said after the end of last season.

He took the towel handed over by Battier and wiped his face, then said: "I know some people are worried about the upcoming playoffs."

When he said this, the team members who were originally playing around stopped smiling one after another.

It’s fun to have a little fun, but it won’t make the troubles in front of you go away.

Joger continued:
"But at this time, the people in Dallas should be the ones who are really worried. They are worried that they will repeat the mistakes of Miami in 2007 and be eliminated in the first round. The Lakers are also worried. If they lose to us in the semifinals, they will not be able to reach the conference finals even though they have formed a super lineup. The Spurs and Thunder are also worried because they were defeated by us last season."

After Joerger finished speaking, the looks of the Grizzlies players were obviously different.

All those worries and sadness disappeared, replaced by excited eyes eager to try.

Han Sen was a little surprised at this time, but he immediately understood and secretly gave Jorgel a thumbs up.

Joerger is not a master of chicken soup like Rivers, but how can a coach who is good at communication not know how to motivate the team's morale?

As soon as this master makes a move, you can tell whether it’s successful or not!

At this time, Joerger pointed to the motto in the locker room.

The players all looked up one after another. Every time they saw this sentence, it reminded them of their experience in the playoffs last season.

Then, Jorger said the words that he had thought of at the beginning:

“Like Han said last season: No one wants to face us this season!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the team members couldn't help but shout excitedly.

Joerger then held out his hand, and the players gathered their hands above Joerger's head, and finally shouted the Grizzlies' classic slogan together:
"Whoop that trick!"

The three armies are encouraged and head straight for Texas!
After shouting the slogan, the players trotted out of the locker room.

Joger looked at his players running away with a smile on his face.

But he soon realized one thing: his suit was still wet. What should he do?
-Dividing line-

①：2011~2012赛季（现实），兰多夫因伤只出战28场，其中8场首发，场均11.6分8板1.7助攻，季后赛出战7场，场均13.7分9.9板0.9助攻。

②: The NBA has three divisions in the East and West. The top team in each division will automatically be ranked in the upper half (top four), but the home and away games are still determined by the number of wins in the playoffs.

③：2011~2012赛季得分榜（小说）：科比（28.5）杜兰特（28）詹姆斯（27.1）乐福（26）威斯布鲁克（23.6）韩森（23.2）安东尼（22.6）诺维茨基（22.5）韦德（22.1）阿尔德里奇（21.7）

(End of this chapter)