Chapter 181 [A Fat Man Can Really Do Whatever He Wants]
When the MVP award was presented after the game, Guo Xu answered reporters' questions with a smile as always, and gave part of the credit to his teammates.
“We have a lot of scoring guys on our rookie team, so I just have to pass the ball well and let them finish the offense. Jason Richardson and Maurice Peterson and I had a good rapport in college. Also. With Kenyon Martin, it was my first time being a teammate with him, and it felt so great. His finishing ability after the pick-and-roll is very strong, I just need to give the ball to him, and it is easy to score."
In this game, Martin scored 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks, and performed six dunks. If his opponent had not committed three pulling fouls, he would have had more dunks.
Martin's ability to become the No. 1 pick naturally has his own merits. He is an inside man suitable for running and gunning and pick-and-roll tactics. If the Lakers have such a power forward to partner with Guo Xu this year, the Bulls' 72-10 record can be easily broken. Lose. In comparison, Lakers veteran Horace Grant is so slow that he just plays ball while walking.
It is true that Martin is not a superstar, but he is not the "cake king" that many people in Guo Xu's previous life thought of purely relying on Kidd to feed the ball.
The Nets' ability to reach the Finals in 2002 and 2003 was directly related to Martin's performance. He faced no disadvantages against the power forwards of the Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs. Especially in the 2003 Finals when Martin faced off against Duncan, the first four games were evenly matched. In the fifth and sixth games, Martin was unwell and was beaten by Duncan. The Nets also lost two games in a row and watched the Spurs win the championship.
If the Nets were lucky enough to win the championship in 2003, the FMVP would probably go to Martin. Martin's performance was obviously better than Kidd's when the two sides were 2-2. As for Martin's poor performance after leaving the Nets, it is because he had minimally invasive surgery on both knees and his physical fitness has seriously declined.
The reporter asked: "Many people feel that you are already capable of playing in the All-Star Game. Will you feel depressed if you were not selected this time?"
Guo Xu shook his head and said: "No, I will definitely be selected as an All-Star in the future. I'm still young."
The reporter asked: "Are you confident of winning the three-point contest tomorrow?"
Guo Xu smiled and said: "I dare not say this. I think the level of people who are good at shooting in the league should be about the same. On-the-spot performance is very important. Who can win mainly depends on luck."
Guo Xu really has no confidence in the three-point contest. When he practices three-pointers, he is used to pretending that someone is defending him, dribbling and making movements and then taking quick shots. Even in the time loop, he has never practiced the three-point contest where players can jump from the shelf by themselves. A spot-up shot with the ball in hand.
In his opinion, this kind of shooting rhythm has little to do with the game, and training is of little significance. You can't practice hard for a period of time just to pretend to be a B in front of the fans during the Star Weekend, right? That way he would rather rely on luck and save time to do something else.
There will be such examples in the future. Curry has won one of the four times he has participated in the Three-Point Contest. People who are good at dribbling and shooting will not perform as well in the three-point contest as people who are good at fixed-point shooting and catch-and-shoot.
It is easier for a player like Kapono to win the three-point championship, and Novak can do it, but he is so unknown that NBA officials do not invite him.
Sure enough, in the second day of the event, Guo Xu only scored 16 points and was eliminated in the preliminaries. Ray Allen scored 19 points in the finals and won the three-point title.
Opportunities are for those who are prepared. If Guo Xu has not deliberately practiced this, it will be difficult to defeat his opponent.
In the subsequent "finale" slam dunk contest, Jason Richardson shocked everyone with his skills, defeating Mason and Baron Davis to win the championship. His alley-oop turn dunks and hip-switching dunks are a little stiff. In terms of aesthetics, they are incomparable to Vince Carter, but they are more than enough to outshine others.
On Sunday, Guo Xu sat on the sidelines and watched the All-Star game, feeling a little regretful.
In his previous life, the 2001 All-Star Game was hailed as the most classic All-Star Game in history. The Eastern Conference was still 21 points behind in the final nine minutes of the game, and then completed an incredible comeback under the leadership of Iverson. The East defeated the West 111-110, and Iverson also won the MVP.
Guo Xu still remembers that game. In the first 39 minutes, the Western Conference All-Stars used their height advantage to completely control the game. However, Iverson suddenly broke out and scored 15 points. Marbury, who had been invisible before, hit two three-pointers in the last 53 seconds. points, rewriting the ending.
Now because of the butterfly effect caused by Guo Xu, the All-Star Game turned out to be purely one-sided. Iverson did not break out in the end. He scored 20 points and 7 assists. The Western Team beat 137 to 105 by 32 points.
The butterfly effect is that O'Neal's foot was not injured and he participated in the All-Star Game. He scored 32 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists in only 28 minutes, and won the MVP.
The weakest All-Star player in the Eastern Conference is the 76ers' shot-blocking leader Ratliff. He suffered a broken wrist in the game against the Rockets two days before the Star Weekend and was retired for the season.
Then the Raptors' blue-collar insider, Antonio Davis, who was selected to the All-Star for the first time in his career, was upgraded to the starter, and veteran Mutombo was added to the bench.
When the two sides jumped the ball, Davis, who was 206cm tall and weighed 100 kilograms, faced O'Neal with a black question mark face, "Excuse me?"
When predicting the outcome of both sides before the game, the media were unanimously optimistic that the Western Conference with O'Neal would win. Iverson once said unconvinced: "Having O'Neal is amazing? Can a fat man do whatever he wants?"
Sorry, there are fat people who can really do whatever they want.
This is the All-Star Game. It is impossible for the Eastern Conference to use the "shark-killing tactic" to send O'Fay to free throws. The starting center is Davis, and the power forward is Anthony Mason Jr., who is 201cm tall. They can't guard him at all.
Mourning was voted by the fans as the starter in the Eastern Conference without playing a game. Perhaps the real fans have already thought of the consequences of his absence.
There are two other monsters in the West, Garnett and Duncan. With their height and wingspan, the three of them can fight endlessly inside and outside. The performance of the Eastern Conference outside stars has a slight advantage, which can only prevent them from losing more than 50 points.
At the end of the Washington Star Weekend, the Lakers became the biggest winners, and the players won the MVP of two games.
In the official strength list, the Lakers continue to rank first. After the game, all media gave high praise to the Lakers players. Many experts believe that they still have a chance to hit the Bulls' regular season record. They only lost six games and went on a long winning streak. They could even tie the record by losing four more games.
Some news mentioned the "All-Star Curse", and I felt sorry for the Wizards. As a host, they failed too much. No one participated in the star game. In the rookie game, Hamilton was just a soy sauce.
This is an interesting phenomenon in the NBA. Usually the host team that holds the All-Star Game will be unlucky and perform abnormally in the regular season or playoffs.
The 1995 All-Star Game was held in Phoenix. The Suns, ranked second in the Western Conference during the regular season, were reversed by the Rockets after leading 3-1 in the playoffs, becoming the biggest upset of the year.
The Spurs with David Robinson were always a strong team in the Western Conference until they held the All-Star Game in 1996. They lost to the Jazz in the playoffs that year. Robinson missed most of the season due to injury the next season, resulting in the team winning only 20 games. field, becoming the fastest declining team in history.
The Wizards can't even make the playoffs, so only the Bulls are worse than them.
Guo Xu, O'Neal and others did not return to Los Angeles, but went directly to New Jersey to join others. Tomorrow the Lakers will play against the Nets away from home.