Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 175 "You haven't touched the Western Conference Finals floor yet?"

Before the playoffs started, "Squidward" Stan made predictions for the first round of the playoffs as he did in previous years.

He still predicted two upsets this year, but both were in the Eastern Conference. He predicted that the 76ers would overturn the Bulls, and the Hawks would eliminate the Celtics.

As for the Western Conference, the Grizzlies and the Mavericks are the most suspenseful. He predicts that the Grizzlies will win in the end and also predicts that the two sides will have a seventh game.

As a result, his predictions this year were not up to par. The Celtics eliminated the Hawks and the Grizzlies won more easily than he predicted.

But his status as a god remains because he successfully predicted the fourth black eight miracle in history!
In his predictive analysis, Stan believes that Rose's injury risk is too great and it is easy for him to relapse in the playoffs.

As a result, when the outcome of Game 1 was already decided in the final quarter, Rose, who continued to stay on the court, was actually ruled out for the season.

Thibodeau's system is built around Rose. Once Rose is injured, it will be like the 01ers in 76 when Iverson was injured, and they will become two completely different teams.

Then, fans began to leave messages on his social media, asking him to predict the outcome of the Western Conference semifinals between the Grizzlies and the Lakers in advance.

Stan was also unambiguous, he decisively predicted that the Grizzlies would eliminate the Lakers!
As soon as the result came out, his social media exploded instantly.

After all, the Lakers are the biggest favorite to win the championship this season, with a higher voice than the Heat's Big Three.

You, Stan, actually predicted that the Lakers would lose in the Western Conference semifinals? How audacious!

The Lakers have the largest fan base in the league.

However, there are also many fans who support Stan, and these people mentioned the Heat intentionally or unintentionally.

Because the Bulls were eliminated in the first round, the Heat theoretically have no rivals in the Eastern Conference, so even though the first round has just ended, James fans are already thinking about their opponents in the finals.

At this time, if you ask them whether they would rather play the Lakers or the Grizzlies, their answer will of course be: they don't want to play against anyone.

The Lakers' strength is there. Whether on paper or in actual combat power, they are the strongest team in the league.

As for the Grizzlies, you may not believe it, but the Heat's Big Three have never beaten the Grizzlies.

"You know, our playing styles conflict with each other."

However, one thing that is foreseeable is that the remaining two teams in the Western Conference, whether it is the Spurs or the Thunder, are more likely to win against the Grizzlies than against the Lakers.

What, they lost last season?
Last season, the Spurs had both Duncan and Ginobili injured, while the Thunder were still immature. This season, the Thunder's maturity is obviously different from last season.

So for the Heat, the most perfect scenario is that the Grizzlies eliminate the Lakers, then the Spurs/Thunder eliminate the Grizzlies, and finally the Heat play the Spurs or Thunder in the finals to win the championship.

Of course, at this time, James fans are still too insignificant in front of Kobe fans, and Stan was eventually criticized for this prediction.

In particular, the league announced the winners of the second and most important award of the season, the regular season MVP.

Kobe received 123 of 121 first-place votes, nearly unanimously, and won his second MVP trophy with an extremely high vote rate of 40%.

Despite the efforts of ESPN and other media, James only received about 16% of the votes in the end.

It’s not that the media friends don’t give face, but the Lakers’ record is much better and they are better than James in terms of statistics.

Whether it is comparing the record or the number of wins, both ends are blocked.

You can't really vote for James just because he has two or three more assists, right?
You can do that to Anthony, he doesn't have many fans and his image off the court is not good, but this is Kobe!

What was somewhat unexpected was that Han Sen actually received 5.8% of the votes in the selection.

This may not seem like much, but it actually ranks fourth among all players with votes, behind only Kobe, James and Durant.

Although the Grizzlies are ranked fourth in the Western Conference, their record is the same as the Heat, tied for fifth in the league.

Reporters generally don't choose Rose because he hasn't played many games this year, and Parker's stats are average, so it's very reasonable for the fifth-best core player in the league to rank fourth.

Of course, this is also related to Kalil's hard work at TNT.

The news reports came one after another, and they were all full of witty remarks. It was hard for media friends not to remember Han Sen.

However, the core figure of this year's MVP topic is still Kobe. Kobe also announced that he will not go to the New York headquarters to receive the award, but will hold the award ceremony at the Staples Center during the first game of the second round.

This choice is not surprising. After all, awarding the prize at home not only allows one to give acceptance speeches in front of the fans, but also helps boost team morale.

This is also big news in the playoffs.

During the Lakers' open training session, reporters also interviewed Paul with this question.

Paul has a special status. He is not only Kobe's teammate, but also James' good friend.

Of course, this kind of question is not difficult for the smart Paul.

"There is no doubt that Kobe is the MVP. His performance this season is incredible. He makes the game simple. As for LeBron, we all know that he is the best player. I think he should get more votes."

"Do you mean someone got too many votes?" The reporter heard the hidden meaning in Paul's words. After all, the vote pool is limited. If some people get less, naturally some people will get more.

"That's not what I meant, but if your statistics aren't good enough and you only get votes based on the quality of your team, that's not really fair."

Paul is almost as famous as Hansen!
After all, Han Sen is only a player who averages 23 points per game, which is a far cry from the other three.

The Grizzlies arrived in Los Angeles the day before the game.

They heard the news after they got off the plane.

"Why does this guy always have such a foul mouth!" Guy looked very angry.

Han Sen’s words in the first round of G2 let them know the purpose of Han Sen’s sacrifice, and it was proven to be an effective sacrifice.

It is no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for Hansen's sacrifice, they would not have won G2. Just as Stan predicted, they are still fighting a life-and-death battle with the Mavericks and heading for a decisive seventh game.

As a result, Paul attacked Hansen because of this, and no one asked him whether Hansen had too many votes!
And Hansen's 51 points in the first round against the Mavericks speaks for itself.

How come James and Durant have such good regular season stats, but they can't perform well in the playoffs? Is it because they don't want to?

"I can be the scoring leader every season if I want to."

Gay almost brought up the big boast that James made in Cleveland.

"Han, you should take more shots and slap them in the face in the playoffs." Guy became angrier the more he thought about it.

In fact, they all knew that Hansen was the one who could get better results if he wanted to.

"What did you say just now?" Han Sen turned to Guy and asked.

"I said we should create more scoring opportunities for you." Guy thought Hansen didn't hear clearly.

"No, the previous one."

"Why does CP3's mouth always stink?" Guy rubbed his head, not quite understanding what Hansen wanted to say.

"You're right." Han Sen nodded.

Although Paul has many similarities with James, he is not a person who likes to brag.

"He wants me to fight alone." Han Sen said with a smile.

Why did he understand it immediately? Not only because Paul was not the kind of person who liked to brag, but also because he often used this trick.

Especially when it comes to Durant, it works every time.

"They are afraid of us." Seeing that Guy still didn't understand, Hansen added.

Paul doesn't have a black fan system like him, so he won't do this just for the black fan points.

Guy slapped his head and reacted.

Paul used this tactic, even if he was not afraid, he was wary of them.

The next night, the Staples Center was packed. When Hansen came out of the player tunnel, the camera was on him first, and then there were rounds of boos from the crowd.

Hansen, who claimed that Kobe was not the "best in the league" when he was a rookie and later attacked Blake Griffin, has made Los Angeles fans feel uncomfortable. He deserves the boos.

Han Sen also enjoys the black fan value contributed by Los Angeles fans.

He is still booed when he plays at the TD Garden, but he no longer has many black fans.

In a fashion capital like Los Angeles, the people who come to watch the game every night are different.

The players began their pre-game warm-ups, and over at the commentary booth, TNT's Big Three also began to warm up.

The live broadcast rights for the NBA regular season and playoffs are sold separately. The playoff contract signed by TNT and the NBA is from the second round to the finals.

This is also the reason why many fans cannot see the Big Three commentary during the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.

The best topic to warm up the audience is naturally "Who do you think will win tonight?"

"Believe me, man, the Grizzlies will definitely win the game tonight. They eliminated the defending champions 4-1. They are seriously underestimated!" This time Barkley didn't let O'Neal steal his words.

And this is also in line with his consistent personality on TNT. The reason why Barkley became so popular is because of the reverse traffic.

He will do the opposite of who the outside world is optimistic about. If he guesses right, he will make a big splash. If he guesses wrong, he can still gain traffic by punishing them.

This is the same as Han Sen, it’s a win both ways.

"Although the Grizzlies did a great job in the first round, I still want to say that the Lakers will be the winner tonight." O'Neal forced a smile and said "happily".

In the workplace, Barkley is still the leader of TNT, so O'Neal, the newcomer, has to continue to play his previous role.

"Shaq, didn't you say the Grizzlies were the champions before?" Of course he had to put on a full show, Barkley immediately asked with a smile.

"The playoffs are different from the regular season. The Lakers have championship genes and they are experienced. They have 16 championships, and I contributed to three of them." While reciting the lines, O'Neal did not forget to show off to Barkley.

Then the usual bet appeared, and this time their bet was that the loser would participate in a program wearing only shorts on the lower body.

After O'Neal joined TNT, the days of their betting became more and more frequent and more and more abstract.

They had just finished their bet and the lights on the scene focused on the center of the court.

Kobe's MVP award ceremony was held on site.

When Stern announced the award and handed the MVP trophy to Kobe, deafening cheers broke out at the scene.

As the second best shooting guard in NBA history and also the league's signature player for a long time, Kobe has won five championships in his career but only one MVP, which is very regrettable.

In contrast, although James has not won any championship yet, he already has two MVP trophies.

As soon as Kobe picked up the microphone, he was interrupted by the cheers from the audience. You could fully feel the enthusiasm of the fans.

There was also a hint of anticipation in Han Sen's eyes at this time.

MVP is the highest honor for players, and no player would not want to get it.

Of course, he would rather win by relying on his own strength like Kobe rather than relying on the media.

That would be harder, but just like peaches can be sour or sweet, he hopes he picks the one as sweet as Kobe's.

When the cheers finally died down, Kobe gave his acceptance speech.

The first people he thanked were his family, then the management, and finally and probably the people he wanted to thank the most were his teammates.

"This is a team honor, not an individual honor. It is impossible to do it by one's own strength. CP3, Paul, Ron, sorry, I still like to call them that. Without them, we would not be the first in the league, and I would not have such a good season. I must thank them, my good brothers and partners, because we won the MVP together."

Kobe's words were very sophisticated. Although he was also born into high school, his good family background allowed him to receive higher education at an early age, and his speech was very sophisticated.

Moreover, he did help boost the morale of the Lakers.

Hansen also applauded Kobe's speech.

Respecting your opponents is the prerequisite for defeating them.

Shortly after the award ceremony, the scene entered the opening ceremony and the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Gay, Randolph, Gasol

Lakers: Paul, Kobe, Metta World Peace, Gasol, Jordan Hill

The Lakers completed a first-round sweep of the Jazz, but Okafor will miss the first game of the series due to a recurring knee injury.

After Gasol Jr. beat Gasol Sr. in a jump shot, the game officially began.

The Grizzlies did not attack Hansen at the beginning of the game, but instead attacked more in the low post, which achieved very good results.

Although Okafor is not in the best condition due to injury, after he is gone, Hill is at a disadvantage whether facing the Black Bear or the White Bear.

Hansen was also able to free up his offense and focus on defending Kobe.

The two teams played like this for five minutes and the score was tied at 10.

As Hansen said before, the final result of the first-round match against the Mavericks was that the Grizzlies played to their best form.

Paul was in good shape today. With Kobe being closely guarded by Hansen, he used the pick-and-roll with Hill to shoot several shots at Randolph.

However, this situation is completely acceptable to the Grizzlies, because they have the advantage on the bench, and they just need to not lose during the starting period.

Paul quickly realized this and switched defense to Hansen.

"Have you ever seen an MVP player not holding the ball?"

Paul is also one of the league's trash talk kings. As far as Hansen knows, Paul once said to Green, "Go and beg Durant to come back, then you can still win."

And Paul was clearly continuing what he said before the game, wanting to force Hansen to fight alone.

Hansen just smiled in response to Paul's trash talk.

Paul is a point guard after all. I don’t usually play against him on the court, so I don’t know him well enough.

Could this trick he had left over be useful to him?

Han Sen didn't pay much attention to what Paul said, but Paul thought he didn't say enough.

Then Han Sen felt like there was a fly next to his ear, buzzing non-stop.

Flies won't bite you, but they can be annoying.

"You can't win a championship because we'll always beat you."

Finally, with Paul's unremitting efforts, Han Sen paid attention to him.

"It seems like you haven't touched the floor of the Western Conference Finals yet?" Han Sen asked politely as Paul looked delighted.

Paul was stunned at first, and then his face turned red instantly.

By the way, this is his seventh season in the league. His peak in the previous six seasons was the 08-3 loss to the Spurs in the 4 Western Conference semifinals.

Paul was about to retort, but Han Sen patted his chest and said proudly:

"I'm different. Although I've only been playing for 2 years, I've touched it twice."

Although he did not play against the Cavaliers, he still traveled with the team.

(End of this chapter)