basketball court controller

Chapter 20 Unsolvable Iverson

Zhang Chen's performance against the Magic team made the major media talk about the topic of the strongest rookie again.

It was originally a shortened season, and unless something unexpected happened, the performance of the rookies would not have big ups and downs, and the performance of the top five players on the rookie list was obviously much better than other rookies.

An article on USA Today stated that the strongest rookie will be selected from five, and these five are Zhang Chen, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Mike Bibby, and Jason Williams.

The New York Times even directly stated that there are only three remaining contenders for the strongest rookie, namely Zhang Chen, Vince Carter, and Paul Pierce, the three swingmen of the forward and defensive lines.

Even the Los Angeles Times has little confidence in the Clippers' No. [-] pick Michael Olowokandi competing for Rookie of the Year.

Only the Houston Chronicle still said that Michael Dixon and Cutino Mobley had a chance.

What makes Zhang Chen a little depressed is that although the Heat have such a good record and his statistics are also very good, most of the media are more supportive of Vince Carter and Paul Pierce.

The media is also bullying students. Aren’t those two people familiar with the media? Well, those two guys have been in major newspapers since they were in high school, and if Zhang Chen hadn’t been amazing in the NCAA finals, he probably played in the NCAA for several years. They will not appear in the reporting corners of the major mainstream media.

For the major media, Zhang Chen is still a mysterious man. After entering the NBA, his strength suddenly skyrocketed. Some experts analyzed that it was because his team was strong and he was playing with the wind. That's it, the rookie wall came, and then everyone disappeared.

"Actually, the media's analysis was pretty good. If it wasn't for the perfect experience in the last match, I think you'd already be on your knees." Xiao Ye thought Zhang Chen's wound wasn't big enough, so she quickly tore it up.

"Don't be so realistic, okay? You should unite with me. Do you have any good suggestions?"

"Yes, buy some gold to draw a lottery."

"Buy gold, don't you still have a commission, can you just give you the whole gold brick when you come out?"

Although there are many entertainment places in Miami, Zhang Chen doesn’t like them very much. To be honest, there are still differences in the aesthetics of the East and the West, and Dayan Ma can’t understand them, so his biggest entertainment every day is surfing the Internet, or talking with Xiao Ye. Just a few words, if you just call Zhang Xiaomeng or something, you will stay at home outside of the game.

However, with the dream of living in a big house with a high salary, the monotony of life now is completely acceptable.

What's more, in a team with many old guys, it is really difficult to integrate into other things besides playing.

On March 3, the Heat ushered in the New York Knicks at home for the second time this season.

Zhang Chen was still thinking about the effect of the perfect experience card, and wanted to be more comprehensive, but he couldn't feel it at all. He only scored 10 points and 5 rebounds, and rarely made 3 turnovers.

Fortunately, the Heat narrowly won by one point 85:84, otherwise Zhang Chen would have become a sinner for the loss.

It's just that even after winning the game, the media still focused on him. The most surprising rookie was suspected of encountering a rookie wall, Pat Riley roared from the sidelines, the Heat were fighting among themselves, Zhang Chen and Tim Hardaway competed for the ball.

Such reports are speculative, but fortunately Zhang Chen's real age is already an uncle, so he doesn't take these things lightly, otherwise he might really be annoyed and appear on the rookie wall.

But even if he sees it lightly, it doesn't mean he doesn't care.

On the 5th, the Heat ushered in the Denver Nuggets at home again. The Denver Nuggets team actually has some players who can play. Adams can get 20+10 data, "Fan Crazy" Nick Van Exel is also in his prime, and there is also the young Chauncey Billups.

It's a pity that their record is very poor, the team basically has no tactical system, and the defense on the outside is useless.

If Zhang Chen vented his frustration on this team, with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, he would prove to everyone that there is no such thing as a damn rookie wall.

A day later, the Heat flew away to challenge the Philadelphia 76ers.

Looking at the starting configuration of the 76ers, everyone knows whose team this is, and why Allen Iverson, who has many talented fans, keeps scoring high scores.

Eric Snow, the defensive No. 1 position, George Lynch, the dedicated defensive No. 3 position, inside Matt Geiger, the defensive "bad man", Theo Ratliff, a shot-blocker.

This set of starters can actually be regarded as balanced inside and outside, but except for Iverson, they all focus on defense, and the AI ​​​​can only attack and attack. Of course, with Iverson's skill, he is also used to doing this.

In this game, Zhang Chen became a substitute again, because compared with the 76ers' starting lineup, Larry Hughes, the No. 8 pick in the bench lineup this year, needs him to limit more.

And Allen Iverson, who ranked first in the scoring list this season, and Tim Hardaway, who admires this junior very much, decided to face him in person.

It's just that Iverson didn't think about respecting the elderly. He broke through Hardaway from the very beginning.

Tim Hardaway has been out playing for so long, and when it's time to return, he was blown out and comfortable in this game.

Zhang Chen sat down and looked a little terrified. He assumed the role and found that he could not keep up with Iverson's footsteps. The opponent he didn't like to defend the most was the one with extremely fast footsteps. It was simply torture. People's nerves, that kind of feeling who knows who is against it.

But the Heat still won this game, even if Iverson scored 33 points, it was in vain.

Zhang Chen continued the good tradition of showing off as soon as he met this year's rookie. Larry Hughes, who was not very good at shooting, was defended by him and only scored 6 points. He scored 24 points and 8 rebounds to help the Heat. :89 to win the game.

On March 3, Reggie Miller took his shooter teammates to avenge the Heat at home.

At 72:85, the Heat's touch was only average, and they suffered their third defeat of the season.

The next day, they flew back to the home court against the Philadelphia 76 team that had just played against each other three days ago.

Allen Iverson was interviewed by reporters before the game. When asked about his high score and the team lost, Iverson was a little annoyed and said on the spot that he would get higher scores to help the team win. This game will pull the Miami Heat down to the No. [-] position in the Eastern Conference.

During this period of time, the Indiana Pacers led by Reggie Miller have been winning. If the Heat lose this game, they will indeed fall from the first place.

Although the Heat's winning percentage is so high, they are not the only ones with a high winning percentage. The Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers in the East have similar records to them.

The San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, and Portland Trail Blazers in the West also have high winning percentages.

It should be said that in this shrinking season, there is no need for many teams to hide. The gap between the rich and the poor among the teams is obvious, and there are nine teams with a winning rate of more than 60%.

In this case, if the top-ranked team loses two games, it may be about to drop to third place.

Therefore, in this case, it is necessary for the Heat to protect the home victory.

With the experience of the previous game, Pat Riley continued to choose to put Zhang Chen on the bench.

Since no one in the team can guard against Allen Iverson, it is better to let him score and try to strangle other scoring points. Even the scoring points on the bench cannot be let go. Zhang Chen defended in the last game Larry Hughes did it very successfully.

Tim Hardaway was in high spirits again, and he even planned to score points with Iverson.

But at the beginning of the game, Iverson's attack was more violent than the previous game. Hardaway's slow speed due to age and injuries was clearly presented in front of everyone.

Completely unstoppable, fast, good jumping, not tall but strong enough, especially the offensive rhythm is always half a beat faster than the defensive teammates, even if it is an inside defense, it is difficult to play a role.

Because it was too fast, he sent the basketball into the basket before the defensive action was finished.

When Zhang Chen went up, Larry Hughes said aggressively that he must take revenge today.

As a result, before Zhang Chen said anything, Larry Hughes was playing soy sauce, because Iverson was still on the court, and the high-speed suddenness seemed to not consume his energy, tearing the Heat's defense time and time again.

Pat Riley forcibly ended Tim Hardaway's rivalry with Iverson after being shaken again by Iverson with a movement similar to his youth and almost twisted his knee.

However, Rex Watson, who was replaced on the bench, came up to pester Iverson specifically, but it still didn't work.

Just like what he said before the game, Iverson tried his best to win the game, proving that he scored high points to help the team win.

Throughout the first half, Allen Iverson only rested for 2 minutes and scored a full 22 points, helping the Philadelphia 76ers lead the Heat by 10 points at halftime.

In addition to Iverson's attack, the Heat's lagging behind is the problem of ball possession. The 76ers have more steals masters than the Magic. There are three players with more than 2 steals per game. The team let Zhang Chen be The shortcomings of the second team have also been highlighted.

In the locker room, Pat Riley's complexion was not good. It's nothing to lose a game in the regular season. The key is that Allen Iverson said those words in front of the reporters before the game.

If a team, or the current No. [-] team in the Eastern Conference, is pulled down by a player who says it will be pulled down, and there is no way to do it, then not only the head coach of the team, but the entire team will lose face.

Although Iverson didn't target the Heat when he said these words, if he succeeds, it will definitely be a big blow to the Heat.

Therefore, the Heat's locker room was terribly quiet during the halftime break. Unlike the last time the team led the score, everyone was still in the mood to joke with Tim Hardaway.

Pat Riley's eyes scanned all the players twice, but he couldn't find anyone who could limit Iverson.

In the end, he could only focus on Zhang Chen, who had the closest conditions, "Zhang, do you have the confidence to limit Iverson in the second half?"

(End of this chapter)