The new regular season has officially begun.
The opening game of the new season at the Staples Center will naturally be reserved for the wealthy Lakers. As for the Clippers in the same city, the first game of this season will be flown to Portland to face the Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers are a strong team. They have been in the playoffs in recent years and their results have been steadily improving. In the fiercely competitive Western Conference, being able to stay in the playoffs is enough to prove the team's strength.
In comparison, the Clippers were not a strong team to begin with, and they also traded away last season's core player Ronny, and signed some former stars who retired and came back, instantly becoming "old and weak". "Disabled Home", so both professional commentators and ordinary fans are optimistic that the Trail Blazers will win this game.
In the pre-match predictions, the nine sports commentators interviewed by the media all gave the answer for the Trail Blazers to win, and the odds of the betting company also confirmed this.
The fans at the Blazers' home court seemed very excited. Although the game had not started yet, they had already begun to think about how to welcome the first victory of the new season.
In the Trail Blazers locker room, the players seemed very relaxed. They all felt that this was a game that could be won easily. The players at the end of the team's bench are even more gearing up, because they feel that this game will soon enter garbage time, and then they can get seven or eight minutes of playing time. For those players who have not yet entered the rotation, having the opportunity to play and perform in front of the coach is something worth celebrating.
The Trail Blazers coaching staff also seemed very relaxed. After all, the opponent was the Clippers, a "home for the old, weak, sick and disabled." The coaching staff does not believe that a group of old and weak soldiers who have retired can still exert their remaining energy after returning to the game. What's more, the Trail Blazers' double backcourt is also one of the top backcourt combinations in the league. They can definitely beat the Clippers easily.
On the other side, in the Clippers' locker room, the atmosphere was much more serious. Hall, Ramon and Gray all returned to the game after retirement. This is their first official game after their comeback, so they will naturally pay special attention to it. Especially Gray. This former genius didn’t have much game experience. He had only played more than a hundred NBA games before. Now that he is back again and serves as the starting center of the Clippers, he even feels nervous in his heart. mood.
Dai Li was sitting alone on a chair, holding a tactical board in his hand. He seemed to be concentrating with his eyes closed, but he was actually using the prophecy box.
"The sky is bright and the earth is bright, the gods from all walks of life are about to appear and give me a lottery!" Dai Li muttered silently in his heart, and a lottery was also drawn from the prophecy lottery box in the system.
"It's signed! Although it's not signed, it's pretty good. Look what's written on the signature."
Dai Li immediately checked and found that the sign read "Give the ball to Wood."
"What does this mean?" Li Dai thought for a while, and finally stood up, walked to the middle of the players, and said, "Let me tell you the tactical layout of this game."
The players immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Dai Li.
Dai Li coughed dryly, cleared his throat, and then said: "In this game, our tactics are very simple, give the ball to Wood."
Everyone continued to look at Dai Li eagerly, waiting for him to continue speaking, but Dai Li became quiet and had no intention of continuing to speak.
Wood couldn't help it anymore. He took the lead and asked: "Coach, what next?"
"What then?" Dai Li asked subconsciously.
Wood looked at Dai Li with an inexplicable look on his face: "I mean pass the ball to me, what should I do next? Is it a pick-and-roll, or a breakthrough, to create opportunities for the outside, or should I attack the basket directly?"
"Well, you can figure it out yourself." Dai Li said casually.
"Is it up to you?" Wood blinked. He has played basketball for so many years and has never seen the head coach arrange tactics like this.
"Is there a problem?" Dai Li asked back, and then said: "Wood, you are the point guard and you are the leader on the court. How the team should organize the offense is what you should do, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's just..." Wood seemed hesitant.
"Are you worried that you won't be able to shoulder this important task?" Dai Li asked with a smile.
Wood did not answer, but his acquiescence was equivalent to agreeing with what Li Dai said.
"Do you think you have not returned to your original state?" Li Dai then asked. He did not wait for Wood to answer, but said: "Wood, there are many excellent players in our team. They were once superstars, but everyone None of them have returned to their peak state, including you."
"I know you need more time to get back your touch and the feeling of the game, but now that the regular season has begun, we don't have that much time. So I need someone to step forward first, who can To lead the team forward, I think that person is you!"
"You have already started recovery training in May, which is earlier than others, and you are in the best recovery condition. This is why I chose you. I think you can take on this responsibility. You Don’t have any worries, as long as it’s the right choice for you, just go for it boldly.”
Dai Li said, looking at Wood with a trusting look.
Wood suddenly felt extremely moved. He did not expect that Dai Li would trust him so much. The role of the authoritative scepter also made Wood feel that Dai Li's words were as correct as an imperial edict.
"Coach, I will definitely work hard." Wood said with a serious face.
Seeing the players walking onto the field, Dai Li tightened his face, hiding his embarrassed expression, and thought to himself: "Finally, I got rid of this sign!"
…
Wood stood on the court and looked around at the spectator stands.
The regular season is already a bit unfamiliar to him. Due to continuous injuries, he has only played less than thirty games in recent seasons. He has even forgotten the feeling of the regular season.
The player standing opposite him was staring at him eagerly. This Trail Blazers player's name is Damid. He is the core of the Trail Blazers and one of the two guns in the Trail Blazers' backcourt. He won the Rookie of the Year award in his rookie season, was selected to the All-Star team three times, and was selected to the All-NBA First Team once.
In fact, in terms of age, Wood is only two years older than Damid, but Wood entered the NBA earlier. When Wood won the regular season MVP, Damid was just a rookie entering the NBA. But now, the rookie has become the top defender in the league, and Wood, the youngest regular season MVP in history, has become a disabled veteran whose glory has faded.
Wood and Damid are the same height, 6 feet 3 inches, and weigh about the same, 192 pounds and 193 pounds. In terms of achievements, Wood and Damid are similar. Both are three-time All-Stars, both have been selected to the All-NBA First Team, and both have even won the All-Star Skills Competition. The only difference between the two is a regular season MVP.
Wood knows that the opponent he is facing is very difficult. His average data per game is similar to that of his peak. He doesn't know if he can cope with the challenge of this rising star.
Damid, who was on the opposite side, looked at Wood with a provocative look.
In the culture of the NBA, there is never a shortage of provocations, especially for juniors. It is normal to provoke seniors. Some seniors even want their juniors to challenge them, so that they can bully the rookies and push their juniors to the ground and rub them.
But today Damid obviously wanted to push the senior Wood to the ground and rub him hard.
As an All-Star guard, Damid never feels that he is inferior to others, but when people discuss backcourt players in the NBA, they do not regard him as the top player. Especially when compared with the defenders of several strong teams in the Western Conference, Damid is at the bottom of the pile.
Among the strong teams in the Western Conference, the Rockets guard won the regular season MVP, the Thunder guard won the regular season MVP, and the Warriors guard was elected regular season MVP twice. In comparison, although Damid has top The guard's statistics and the record of his Blazers are also very good, but he has never won the regular season MVP. It seems to be telling Damid: "In the West, you are just a younger brother!"
With resentment against the MVP, Damid faced Wood, and the Wood in front of him was the youngest regular season MVP in NBA history. For this reason alone, Damid also wanted to defeat Wood.
Damid wants to prove to the world that he is much better than those regular season MVPs!
…
This is the first game of the new season. Neither side seems to be in the game state. This can be seen from the defensive attitude and tactical movement.
It is normal for the Clippers to be slow to enter the game. After all, the team is full of comeback players who have not participated in official games for a year or two. They need time to recover and adapt.
For the Trail Blazers, it's simply because the new season has just begun and the players are still in a state of "holiday syndrome."
The defensive intensity of the game did not count as fighting, and the two sides played back and forth. However, at the end of the first quarter, the Clippers fell behind by 10 points.
Trail Blazers Damid made 3 of 5 three-pointers, plus two free throws, he scored 11 points alone.
Damid is a player with strong scoring ability. His shooting is very accurate, especially the three-pointers. His touch is extremely soft and his shooting rate can reach more than 37%. His offense also relies heavily on three-pointers. Half of the shots are from beyond the three-point line. For a player like him, it is not an exaggeration to score more than ten points in a game.
For the Clippers, although Wood can also shoot three-pointers, his three-point shooting ability is much worse than that of Damid. His best offensive method is to break through to the basket with the ball and score with throws against defensive players. , and this method of scoring is also called the "knee killer". In history, no player who used this method to score had good knees.
It is also because of this offensive method that Wood has knees that are "50 or 60 years old".
Now, with the help of Dai Li, Wood's knees have returned to normal. He has explosive power and speed, and he has begun to attack again using the method of breaking through and throwing to score.
It's still beautiful continuous changes of direction, sudden starts and stops, strong explosive power, and then quick breakthroughs and elegant throws and layups. Wood's signature attack can make the opponent's defense become 70. Baluo, if there is no one to flank or help defend, it will be difficult to stop Wood's offense with one defense and one defense.
It's just that the hit rate on the final throw was a bit disastrous, 1 of 7, which made Wood very embarrassed. You must know that his shooting percentage for this type of breakthrough throw was close to 50%, and it did not include foul throws. If you count his average of 7 free throws per game, his true shooting percentage when using this method of offense. It's close to 70%.
…
"Our shooting percentage is a bit bad." Assistant coach Cassel said with a worried look.
"I know." Dai Li nodded: "Wood still needs time to get his touch back. But I believe the touch will come back soon."
As he spoke, Dai Li turned his head and looked at Cassel, who looked a little anxious, and then said: "Wood was the former regular season MVP. As long as he is given enough opportunities, he can quickly return to his previous state. And I I have always believed in a view that actual combat is the best teacher for athletes!"