Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 332 Green is a smart man
The Warriors are going through a honeymoon period.

After defeating the Lakers in the opening game, they lost 4 of the next 2 games and had only 6 wins and 4 losses in the first games, which also made the outside world have serious doubts about this team that was called "Universe Warriors" by fans before the start of the season.

However, it was later proved that it was just the inherent pain and adjustment period of James' team.

After all, James is not a player like Durant who can "serve as a tactical supplement". He needs the team to develop tactics around him, which tests the new team's ability to adapt and adjust.

Facts have proved that the Warriors are worthy of being a 73-win team. They have perfectly integrated into James' tactical system and created a brand new Warriors team.

They have not lost a game in December and have won 12 games in a row.

The Splash Brothers seamlessly fit into this tactical system, and the James-Cuba pick-and-roll became the Warriors' killer weapon.

James averaged 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game this season, averaging a double-double for the first time in his career.

Although Curry's average score of 27.3 points per game has declined compared to last season, his scoring efficiency is almost the same as last season. Considering that the team has added a new ball-holding core, this performance is already good enough.

Thompson is having the best performance of his career, averaging 44 points per game with a 23.5% three-point shooting percentage, setting a new career high.

In "history", when James was playing his hometown basketball with the Cavaliers, James fans were eager for Thompson and once wanted to trade him for Irving, but unfortunately the Warriors didn't care at all.

Now, since you can't come to my city, I will go to your city, perfectly solving James's long-cherished wish.

In the eyes of James fans, Thompson is now the best shooter in history (Curry is the best point guard in history).

Of course, if a team with a mature system suddenly adds a ball-handling core, someone will always be hurt.

Green was the one who was hurt.

After losing the ball, he is more like a 3D inside player, responsible for sweeping the defensive end and creating space on the offensive end.

His averages of 10.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game are the lowest since he became the team's starter. His average assists per game also plummeted from 7.4 last season to 3.8, almost the same as his third year as a rookie.

However, Green has not complained about the change in the team's positioning.

reason?

According to reports from the Bay Area media, Green, under the leadership of James, is creating an unprecedented business empire in the Bay Area.

It’s hard to say whether Curry is James’ brother, but James really treats Green as his younger brother.

So this game will not be easy for the Cavaliers.

But this is a game they must try their best to win.

During the pre-match warm-up, the camera frequently switched back and forth between the players on both sides.

Among them is Warriors rookie Zhou Qi.

In addition to being a Christmas battle, this game is also another Big East derby.

Fans at the scene and on TV are also looking forward to it.

The Cavaliers-Warriors battle 2.0 is star-studded, and I wonder how many fans' youth it will write about.

During the opening ceremony, James enjoyed the best away treatment, which was even higher than that at the Staples Center.

This is Cleveland's "love" for James.

From James' frown, it can be seen that all the events of last season's finals have automatically emerged in his mind.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Warriors: Curry, Thompson, James, Green, Pachulia

Cavaliers: Irving, Hansen, Tucker, TT, Jokic
In order to reduce the pressure of luxury tax, the Warriors traded away veteran Bodogan, who had been frequently plagued by injuries in the past few seasons, and signed Georgia center Pachulia from the Bucks to serve as the starting center.

However, neither Bogotá nor Pachulia will get many opportunities as the Warriors use a large number of small lineups.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Jokic passed the ball back to the Cavaliers' half, and the curtain of the Christmas game officially opened.

The Cavaliers started the game with Irving holding the ball and attacking Curry.

Malone used the same lineup he used against the Celtics when playing against the Warriors' regular lineup.

Curry really can't defend Irving.

Curry's defense is definitely better than Thomas', but that's like comparing someone who scores 58 points to someone who scores 68 points. It doesn't make much sense.

In fact, Curry was able to avoid being singled out by opponents on the defensive end only after he gained a lot of muscle and his confrontation ability was significantly improved.

However, after Irving broke through, he soon encountered James' help defense.

James has not been idle this summer. He has lost weight and his current weight is similar to that in the later period of the Cavaliers, when he was a teammate of Hansen.

The purpose of doing so was to make himself better adapt to the Warriors' fast system. After all, if you want to do a good job in fast breaks, you must run fast.

But that also allowed him to regain his defensive assist and sweeping ability.

Irving saw James and became bloodthirsty. He used a quick change of direction to successfully pass the opponent.

However, just as he was dodging and evading Green who was helping defend him, James, who was being defended, seized the opportunity and blocked his shot out of the court.

After blocking the shot, James flexed his biceps to make a "strong" celebration gesture, causing a stir at the scene.

The Warriors' defensive efficiency this season has returned to the top of the league, and the defensive system built by Mark Jackson has been integrated into their blood.

Baseline ball for the Cavaliers.

Hansen used Jokic's cover to defuse the bomb.

After receiving the ball, he made a fake move and directly kicked Pachulia away, then dribbled the ball straight to the basket.

Green came over to assist in defense, and Hansen performed an aerial waltz towards Green, turning 360 degrees and making a layup.

After scoring the goal, Hansen pressed his right palm down to the ground in a "too small" celebration to Green.

The momentum at the Quick Loans Arena, which had just been suppressed, suddenly surged back up again.

It was obvious that Hansen's desire to play against this Warriors team was the strongest of all the games this season.

This is also reflected on the defensive end.

After retreating to the defensive end, the person he defended was James.

Attack your defensive core and defend your offensive core. Han Sen's opening choice was very domineering.

However, the Cavaliers are weaker than the Warriors, so the momentum at the opening of the game is very important, especially when playing at home.

Of course, another purpose of Hansen's choice is to put into practice what he said to Kobe last season: If James is not allowed to score on the offensive end, he will not defend well.

The Warriors' offense turned to Curry, who made a quick three-pointer after a pick-and-roll with Pachulia.

This tactic is exactly the same as the one the Celtics used against the Cavaliers in the opening game, both of which were to take advantage of Jokic's difficulty in blocking three-pointers.

The difference is that Pachulia does not have the pick-and-roll quality of Horford, and this ball was not able to stop Irving.

But Curry still took advantage of this moment of delay to complete the shot and hit a three-pointer.

Curry is aiming to win the MVP again.

Hansen went to the frontcourt and started holding the ball, and played the strongest pick-and-roll with Jokic.

Jokic read the Warriors' strategy of double-teaming Hansen and decisively jumped out. This also forced Thompson to switch defense on Jokic. Hansen directly used his speed to pass Pachulia and break into the Warriors' inside line.

Although both are big centers who don't get many opportunities, Pachulia is far inferior to his predecessor Bodogan in all aspects except for being dirty.

Green came to help defend again. This time he guarded against Hansen's layup and retreated to the basket in advance.

However, Hansen did not choose to jump shot. Instead, he moved forward and crushed Green to the basket, then jumped up and was about to dunk.

Seeing this, Green immediately stopped Hansen by fouling him.

He was a smart man and had already seen what Han Sen wanted to do.

Hansen went to the free throw line.

Before the free throw, he also reminisced about the past with Green.

"God doesn't need to change your number because you no longer wear No. 23."

This "old" is a bit distant, so distant that it dates back to when Hansen was still playing in the NCAA.

At that time, Green sprayed trash talk at Hansen, saying that God wears No. 23, not No. 17. Hansen's response was, "If God knew that you were also wearing No. 23, he would definitely change his jersey number."

Green subconsciously looked down at his No. 35 jersey, then smiled and acted as if nothing had happened.

He obviously had expected this, knowing that Han Sen would not fail to bring it up.

Hansen was a little surprised by Green's reaction, but he did not stop there.

After making the first free throw, he looked at Green and continued:
"If you're No. 23, you're still an All-Star, but if you're No. 35, you're just a role player."

As soon as these words came out, Green's smile disappeared instantly.

Hansen made the second free throw.

After the hit, he continued to speak to Green:
"I don't know if you can stay with the Warriors until your contract expires."

Green is a smart man, and there is no way he could not hear the hidden meaning of Hansen's words.

His contract with the Warriors was signed in 2015, expires in 2020, and has a player option in 2019.

Theoretically, Green still has a long time to play for the Warriors.

But he signed a five-year, $5 million contract with the Warriors. If he was just a role player, the Warriors could certainly look for a more cost-effective alternative.

"Brother, he is stirring up trouble."

Han Sen said this in front of James, just like he said it in front of Kobe last season. James quickly pulled Green aside to remind him.

"Of course I understand, brother."

Green signaled to James not to worry.

But his thoughtful expression made James feel uneasy.

James decided to make sure Hansen didn't have the energy to talk trash.

He held the ball... and called a pick-and-roll for Green.

He knew that Pachulia could not stop Hansen, and he used this pick-and-roll to let Hansen know what it meant when brothers work together to achieve great things.

Green's pick-and-roll was successful, and although Hansen tried to squeeze through using the puppy steps, Green still delayed Hansen with his movement.

James was so excited that he stepped on the accelerator and accelerated past TT.

But just as he started the layup, he caught a glimpse of Han Sen out of the corner of his eye.

Han Sen did not go to help Green, but chose to double-team and block him!
It turned out that this guy was coming for him tonight. He had already seen through him since he was on guard against him from the start.

Is this really because he...can't pass the ball?!
James looked back at the moon and threw the ball to Green who had already bounced out to the three-point line.

However, due to Han Sen's interference, the pass angle was not good and went straight to Green's feet.

Fortunately, Green reacted quickly and bent down in advance to catch the ball.

However, this also made him lose the best opportunity to shoot.

In the NBA, whether it's passing or shooting, the difference in opportunity is just a few tenths of a second.

By the time Green picked up the ball and was about to shoot, TT had already jumped out and interfered with his shot.

Green's three-pointer finally hit the rim and bounced out. James tried to grab the rebound, but he was knocked away by Jokic and the rebound was taken by Jokic.

Losing weight has many benefits, but it certainly has its downsides too.

What’s more, Jokic’s strength is enough to knock down a cartoon character wearing a crown with one punch.

The Cavaliers quickly pushed back defensively.

James was still in the backcourt at this time and spread his hands to the referee, indicating that Jokic had committed a foul when he was fighting for the rebound, but the referee ignored it.

He may not have realized one thing, that is, although the league is not the UA League yet, it is no longer the Nike League.

James did not return to defense, and the Cavaliers had a 3 vs. 2 frontcourt situation.

Green reacted quickly and retreated to his own free throw line as soon as possible.

But with one man less, he was unable to focus on one thing while another. Finally, Hansen received the pass from Irving and was able to perform a violent rim-break.

This time Green didn't even have a chance to foul.

The scene was drowned out by the cheers of the fans, and they had already felt the momentum that the Cavaliers had shown at the beginning of the game.

After landing, Han Sen looked at Green and spread his hands:

"What's your role? You have to play a role! LeBron doesn't want useless role players around him!"

Green was instantly overwhelmed, but fortunately Curry, who was standing next to him, was quick-witted and put himself into Green's arms and pushed him back.

"He's trying to piss you off, bro."

James returned to the backcourt at this time. Although he did not hear what Han Sen said, he knew that it was definitely not something good.

Green was a little speechless after being bullied by James. It's your turn to retreat, buddy!

But thinking of the money James made with him off the court, the words on his lips became:
"I'm fine, bro."

What kind of half-brother relationship!

However, after calming down, Green also knew that he could not remain passive.

He looked towards the Cavaliers' half, and after a while, he also found the Cavaliers' weakness.

In the Warriors' offense, James continued to play pick-and-roll with Green. This time he broke through first, successfully caused TT to foul and got two free throws.

When shooting free throws, Green said hello to James and instead of standing at the free throw line, he stood at the three-point line.

If a power forward doesn't grab rebounds and goes to the three-point line, nothing good will happen.

Han Sen saw this one and greeted Tucker.

Sure enough, Green walked directly to Irving and started to greet him:
"Kyrie, I think with your ability, you should become the boss of a team. Everything in Cleveland belongs to Han."

Compared to Hansen, Green's words were much more direct.

After he finished speaking, Green immediately turned around and moved away when he saw Han Sen coming.

"If you believe his lies, you are the dumbest idiot in the world," Han Sen said directly.

(End of this chapter)