Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 86 I Don't Know How to Lose (Two in One)

There is a trade deadline every NBA season. As the name suggests, it is the last deadline for teams to make trades during the season.

So no matter how much some teams exceed the salary cap or how much luxury tax they pay at the beginning of the season, the key still lies in this day.

Those who do not want to pay taxes will try their best to reduce the team salary to below the salary cap or the rich line on this day.

This year's Wizards are one of them.

The Wizards' trident finally got all healthy this year, but due to their condition and morale, their record has been poor. The previous big win over the Cavaliers was one of the few bright spots of their season.

But the team leader Arenas seemed to think that such a bright spot was not enough, and went straight to the explosion point.

He became the first generation of "gun king" in NBA history, pulling out a gun on his teammate Crittenton during a conflict in the team's locker room.

Although he did not pull out the gun and fire the bullet as the writer Chekhov said, this action shattered his career and image.

Before this, Wade had a very classic "throat-cutting" celebration move, which was very domineering, but was later strictly banned by the NBA.

As the highest platform for world basketball and the focus of attention of basketball fans around the world, the NBA will never allow any violent acts that cross the line to occur.

Arenas was severely punished with a season-long suspension and will cooperate with government investigations. The possibility of Arenas going to jail cannot be ruled out.

This incident made the Wizards management, who were already planning to rebuild due to the team's poor performance, completely determined. The Wizards Supermarket officially opened, and it was a clearance sale.

The Dallas Mavericks only traded Josh Howard, who was no longer as strong as he used to be due to injuries and played only 31 games this season, scoring 40 points and 12.5 rebounds with a 3.6% shooting percentage, plus a bunch of scraps, to the Wizards for Caron Butler, one of the trident, as well as Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.

The Cavaliers also took advantage of this opportunity and traded for the Wizards' second-in-command Jamison for only Ilgauskas and a first-round pick.

Although this was not the biggest news of this year's trade deadline, the biggest news was that the Rockets sent Tracy McGrady, one of the top four shooting guards in the past, to the Knicks, but when Hansen came to the locker room, he could still see the excitement on the players' faces.

贾米森虽然已经33岁，但他这赛季在奇才队场均仍能贡献20.5分8.8板，投篮命中率和三分命中率分别为45%和34.5%。

It can be said that the only power forwards who can suppress him are those current All-Stars.

Even in terms of space inside, there are only a handful of people who can surpass him.

Of course, no one in the locker room really expressed that emotion at this time because Ilgauskas hadn't left yet.

If we were to choose the most influential player in the history of the Cavaliers, that person would be James.

But if you were to choose the most popular player in team history, that person would be Ilgauskas.

Ilgauska was a first-round pick by the Cavaliers in 1997 and has played for the Cavaliers ever since.

In the past 12 seasons he played for the team (the 1999-2000 season was ruled out due to injury), he was selected to the All-Star team twice and was the team leader before James came to the team.

He is humble, conscientious, hardworking, and maintains team unity. Even when O'Neal arrived this season, he gave up his starting position without saying a word.

You can see in him the qualities of almost all professional players, and he is respected by everyone on the Cavaliers.

James was the first to stand up and walk towards Ilgauskas, giving him a deep hug, saying many reluctant words, with slightly red eyes.

This scene moved the other people in the locker room.

You know, if you really count it, Ilgauskas is the one who has always been with James since he entered the league.

Except for one person, of course.

Han Sen felt that after seeing this, he took back his previous evaluation of James. He felt that James should be more suitable to be a politician than a businessman.

Because politicians, in addition to brains, also need acting skills.

If James really doesn't want Ilgauskas to leave, would the Cavaliers management dare to disobey his words?

You should know that last season the Cavaliers originally planned to lower the price on Varejao's contract renewal, but James directly chose to play as a substitute to put pressure on the management, forcing the management and Varejao to sign the 6-year, 4820 million contract.

So in the final analysis, the reason why James did not stop the deal was because the former "Sweetheart" has become the current "Mrs. Bull" and is old.

Not to mention it would give him an experienced, All-Star-caliber starting power forward.

Just like James could apologize to him after being beaten for the championship that year, interests come first after all.

After James, other Cavaliers players also said goodbye to Ilgauskas one after another.

This of course includes Han Sen.

Hansen is still grateful to "Big Z". If it weren't for the other party's persuasion, he would have been hidden at the end of the bench by the Cavaliers.

Even if he is hidden, he can still force the Cavaliers to trade him by publicly discrediting James, but that method has too many uncertainties.

In comparison, his process of building his position step by step in the Cavaliers is obviously more beautiful.

Of course he didn't come as exaggerated as James, because he knew Ilgauska would come back.

After bidding farewell to Ilgauskas, the players finally vented their emotions on the training ground.

The quality of the training match was unprecedentedly high, and James was flying around, extremely excited.

Not only him, Hansen found that O'Neill also seemed very excited.

"Is Jamison really that strong?" After the training match, Hansen couldn't help but look at O'Neal.

This was the first time he saw O'Neal like this in Cleveland.

It stands to reason that after so many years in the league, there shouldn't be many things that can touch O'Neal's heartstrings.

"You have no idea how good this guy is," O'Neal said as he sat down on the sidelines.

The "Great Shark" class started, and not only Han Sen, but also several people around gathered together.

Most of them have the same impression of Jamison as Hansen, a former All-Star player, a 33-year-old who can still score 20+ points.

"My deepest memory of this guy was on Christmas Eve in 2000, when he was still with the Warriors, and Phil told us to keep an eye on a third-year player because he had scored 51 points in Seattle three days before."

O'Neal is indeed suitable to be a commentator. This opening speech alone is enough to be fascinating.

On December 2000, 12, Jamison scored 4 points, but the away team lost to the SuperSonics led by Gary Payton.

Three days later, the Warriors returned to their home court to face the Lakers led by OK at the time. Jamison scored another 51 points and led the team to a 125-122 victory over the Lakers.

"He can back up in the low post, shoot long two-pointers, break through with the ball in the high post, pass the ball after attracting double teams, and even score on second rebounds. His three-pointer is also very threatening. He can do everything. We tried everything that night and couldn't stop him."

What O'Neal said was so immersive that Hansen couldn't help but search for the data of that night on his mobile phone.

29中21，51分13板5助攻2抢断1盖帽4失误。

Hiss ~ so scary!
That was the year 2000, before the hand-check was abolished, and the Lakers' defense was one of the best in the league at the time.

O'Neal is not exaggerating.

And he also found it interesting that Kobe also scored 51 points in that game, but he made 35 of 18 shots and had as many as 8 turnovers.

No wonder O'Neal was so impressed. It is rare in NBA history that players from both teams scored 50+ in the same game.

他又去翻了翻贾米森对阵超音速的数据，36中23，51分14板2助攻3抢断2盖帽1失误。

This Jamison is really quite strong!

It was at this time that O'Neal revealed the real reason why he was so excited about today's training session:
"If we get him, I don't know how we can lose."

O'Neal was so excited about the chat that he probably forgot how the Lakers F4 lost that year.

But his confidence is understandable.

This is not the era before Han Sen traveled through time when teaming up was the trend. There are no two top superstars in the same team.

Even in the previous Celtics, Pierce and Ray Allen were just the leaders of a weak team, and the only real superstar was Garnett.

Even if you include the Celtics, they are the only team in the league.

Other teams, at most, are like the Lakers, with a superstar leading a former underdog team leader.

But now the Cavaliers have James as a superstar, and there are three other players with the ability to be second in command: Mo Williams, O'Neal, and Jamison.

This does not include Han Sen, whose strength is improving rapidly.

And in terms of rotation, West, Parker Sr., Moon, and Varejao were all starting players last season.

This is roughly equivalent to using two starting lineups to play against you. On paper, it is really hard to tell how we can lose.

Of course, basketball games are never about paper, otherwise the Heat's top three would not have won only two championships in the end.

O'Neal and James took so long to get along with each other, how long will it take Jamison?

You know, after the All-Star Game, there are only two months left until the end of the season.

Moreover, when there are more star players, it will be a great test for the head coach to deploy them.

Especially this team also has James, he has such a strong desire for ball possession.

Without a guaranteed shot, like Hansen did before, it's hard to maintain the form. Rivers did well in Boston, but Brown...

Fortunately, judging from the situation in the training matches, the situation is still optimistic.

After all, Jamison can be understood as an all-round enhanced Cunningham, a perfect match for James.

The next day, Malone led Jamison to the Cavaliers' locker room, where he would inherit Ilgauskas's wardrobe in the corner.

The first time Hansen saw Jamison, he was attracted by the obvious scar on his right cheek.

Although the Cavaliers and Wizards have played against each other before, these details were not noticed on the court.

This gives people a very fierce feeling, but in fact, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was "exposed".

Jamison's smile is warm and innocent, which creates a strong contrast with his large body.

Everyone who greeted him was greeted with a smile, giving people a very humble and polite feeling.

But after saying hello, he sat there quietly, preparing his training equipment.

This made Han Sen a little worried.

It's not that he has a stereotype. After playing in the United States for so long, the black people he met, including Rondo and Cunningham, were all talkative. This kind of person is really rare.

Just like what was said in the movie "Green Book" he saw in his previous life, he has a black skin and a white heart, not black enough and not white enough, and it is difficult for him to integrate into either circle.

Driven by curiosity, Hansen picked up his phone again and searched for information about Jamison, this time not about his games but his career.

It was only then that he understood.

It turns out that Jamison is from North Carolina.

Not surprising then.

That place can make guys like Jordan understand the importance of teamwork. Although it is not absolute, it produces a lot of players with this kind of character.

What he didn't expect was that this guy had been a classmate of Carter in North Carolina for three years, and was also the boss of the team?

Averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds per game in his junior season?
Is this the data that a North Carolina player should have? !

And why have I never heard of it before?
What’s even more interesting is that he and Carter were drafted in the same year, one as the fourth pick and the other as the fifth pick, and they swapped teams after being selected in the draft.

What an interesting story, but it lacks media to help promote it.

After putting down his phone, Hansen made a final evaluation of Jamison: data is more important than strength, and strength is more important than fame.

Jamison's joining boosted the Cavaliers' morale, but it had little impact on Hansen.

His top priority now is to upgrade [Giant Killer] to its bottleneck within the remaining two months.

This is not an easy task, and it also means that he has to return to his previous training volume.

After the team training ended that day, Hansen stayed behind with Malone's help to practice his jump shots.

The training method is that Malone holds a board to simulate a defender to interfere with him.

After practicing for a while, he found that Jamison had sat on the sidelines watching at some point.

After Han Sen finished practicing, he found that he was still there.

He walked over, picked up a towel to wipe his sweat, and sat aside.

"What do you want from me?"

"Vince told me about you."

Hearing Jamison's words, Hansen picked up the water bottle and drank tactically.

His interactions with Carter were concentrated on the court, which were not good memories for Carter.

Is Jamison looking for trouble for his college buddy?
However, Jamison's next words made Hansen cough.

"He said you are a young man with great potential."

No, isn’t this the difference between people?
He criticized Pierce, and Pierce became the leader of his haters.

Then he criticized Carter, and Carter said he had great potential?
Carter must be a masochist!

But he's not here to cause trouble, so that's good news.

Although he has now established his status in the Cavaliers, his relationship with James has not changed much.

It is always better to have one more friend than one more enemy, and this person is the starter of the team.

Especially since he replaced Cunningham, many weak-side tactics require cooperation between two players.

"Thank him for me. He is my idol and I grew up watching him play." Han Sen adjusted his mood and said seriously.

When Carter became the league's signature player, he was only 11 or 12 years old, so his age was right.

The age is right, and it's more real than the idol Bird.

As for what he said before about Bird being an idol, no one stipulates that there can only be one idol, right?

If necessary, you can still have more!

Sure enough, Han Sen's words brought the two closer together.

"I saw you were practicing jumping shots just now?" Jamison also started the conversation.

"Uh-huh?"

Han Sen nodded first, but immediately turned to look at Jamison.

He remembered that Jamison seemed to be a master of lob shots?

In the previous game against the Wizards, Jamison scored 31 points and contributed two wonderful jump shots.

"I know a little bit, how about I practice with you?"

Han Sen nodded excitedly when he heard this.

The reason why the talent of lob shooting is called "Giant Killer" is because it is a move used by small guys against big guys.

It is not actually very effective to let Ma Long do that as we did just now, after all, Ma Long's movement speed is not fast and that height is not easy to simulate.

If you really want to get twice the result with half the effort during training, it’s best to find a big guy to train with.

But forget about O'Neal, the big man of the Cavaliers. No matter how good your relationship is with him, he will never train with you. Ilgauskas has just been traded. Cunningham is unconditional, but he is too short.

It's impossible to go find Vallejo, right?

So Jamison's proposal was exactly what he wanted.

Jamison's best shot is the turnaround shot, and the lateral drift shot after a back-to-the-basket singles.

This was contrary to the shooting skills that Hansen had learned from Wade.

Because the most basic point of throwing is to keep your body balanced.

Jamison explained that he did this to deal with the inside defense.

This makes sense. A low-post back-to-the-basket shot is indeed easy to encounter inside help defense and be blocked.

However, this move can be regarded as Jamison's unique skill, and not everyone can learn it.

According to Jamison, this originated from an experience he had as a child.

When his father saw that he liked basketball, he hung a basketball hoop for him in the yard. The standard hoop was 3.05 meters, but he ended up hanging it at 3.5 meters.

This forced him to practice high throws in various postures from a very young age.

That's why he has the ability to hit the shot steadily while drifting.

So this is a "devious way" in a sense.

However, Han Sen felt that it was worth a try because this move was designed to catch the opponent off guard.

In addition to his lob shooting skills, Jamison, as a lob shooting master, naturally has his own unique experience in defending lob shots.

Coupled with his 2-meter wingspan, the defensive pressure Hansen suffered when facing him was far beyond what Malone could have experienced before.

This forced him to pay attention to every detail and adjust to the rhythm that best suits him according to his own physical condition.

By the time their training was over, Han Sen had gained a lot. He now had only one feeling: he had not criticized Carter enough before!

(End of this chapter)