Chapter 623 The gap at a glance
The 2010-11 season went to the playoffs as usual.
This season, the 76ers won 53 wins and ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, thus winning the theoretically ideal first-round opponent of the playoffs - the Orlando Magic.
Although he can meet the Magic in the first round with the fourth record in the Eastern Conference, if he advances smoothly, the road ahead will be difficult.
As expected, the Bulls, the number one in the East, will easily advance to the semi-finals. Then, the 76ers, who fought with the Magic, will have to play against the Bulls, the top player in the league in the semi-finals. At this pace, even if the 76ers beat the Bulls in a surprise, in the division finals, they will face the Miami Heat, the highest limit in the league to play in the super team.
Simply put, as long as you make a living in the East and want to break out of the district's lake area, these are two teams that must be won.
If you can't beat the Bulls or the Heat, don't think about any championship.
This is the competitive pressure brought by a division with two top teams.
At the end of the season, the most thrilling thing for the 76ers happened when Portland played away.
This matter has something to do with Cousins.
That's right, it's Cousins again, it's always Cousins.
Two hours before the game started, Cousins and Hayward entered the locker room to change clothes. Before they arrived at the locker room, Wei Xia was interviewed by the media here.
After the interview, Wei Xia left first, and the photographer somehow stayed in the locker room of 76 people.
Cousins and Hayward came in to change their clothes. Guan Gang was fine at the beginning, but suddenly, Cousins found that the other person's camera was aiming at his butt.
"Closing your damn thing! Get out of our locker room with a sneak shot!"
The photographer defended: "It has been kept in lock."
"I don't care about you so much! I don't like being faced with a camera when I change my clothes, get out of here!"
Cousins had a bearish temper and no one could cure it. The photographer had to leave. After packing up his things, he muttered in his mouth: "It is because of this unnecessary conflict that will cause you to fall to the third place."
Unfortunately, the locker room was very quiet at that time, so no matter how quiet he said, as long as he could make a sound, the people inside would definitely hear it.
Cousins heard it clearly.
"What the hell are you saying?!"
An angry bear is ready to pounce on the photographer.
If Gordon Hayward hadn't stood up fearlessly to stop the angry Cousins, things would have gone out of control. NBA players beat photographers in the locker room... I wonder if this kind of explosive news would refresh the ratings of major TV stations.
Hayward is the unsung hero in this story.
His achievements cannot be described in words. Anyway, afterwards, Weisha and Doug Collins heard their speed, especially when Cousins was about to rush up to hit the photographer.
"No?" Collins also interrupted the story, "You won't really beat the reporter for such a thing, do you?"
Not only did Cousins not have the wrong look on his face, but he also seemed to have no strikers because Hayward stopped him. "So, the reason why that idiot can breathe like a normal person is entirely because Ah Shit meddled with nosy business! What if I beat him up?"
Ever since Cousins quarreled with Hayward in the last time he called him "A Shit", the nickname has become Cousins' exclusive nickname for Hayward.
Even if Hayward is indifferent, people who are so indifferent have been vying with Cousins for many days.
It was not until Hayward was convinced that Cousins would not change his words no matter what happened, so he forced himself to accept this nickname.
At this moment, Cousins was not grateful for his efforts to stop him from making a big mistake, and Hayward said nothing. He knew that Weisha and Collins must have seen how important he played in it.
"DeMarcus, you should thank Gordon," Collins said earnestly, "He saved you from being suspended and saved you a lot of fines... Believe me, if you hit the photographer that day, the suspension and fines are just the lightest punishment you will face."
Cousins looked at Wei Xia with some dissatisfaction, wanting to hear what he said.
"Don't look at me," Wei Xia smiled faintly, "If I were you, I would kneel down and kiss Ah Shen's shoes."
Cousins said fiercely: "I won't kiss anyone's shoes!"
Half a minute later, Cousins walked to Hayward slowly and said, "Thank you, ah shit."
Cousins took the initiative to thank that matter, which made Hayward very excited.
But...but...but fuck! When he saw him say "Ashi" with a serious attitude, a serious tone, and an extremely sincere expression, a urge to beat Cousins up in his heart.
In addition to being angry, he rationally analyzed the weight difference, height difference and strength difference between himself and Cousins, and estimated the survival probability of his fight with Cousins in a realistic manner.
The result is... forget it.
In life, who doesn’t have many ridiculous nicknames? What’s wrong with Ashi? Even the most handsome men and the most beautiful women in the world will regularly discharge these dirt from their bodies, and no one is clearer than anyone else. From this perspective, Ashi takes it so well!
Hayward has hypnotized himself.
The regular season ended, and the 76ers returned to the playoffs after a year
In fact, this is a big and small accident.
Without the strong rise of the Chicago Bulls, the Philadelphia 76ers should have become the biggest dark horse of the season.
They were one of the worst teams in the East last season—at least that's how the record shows.
During the offseason, they sent away the best inside player in the team and the second in command, and exchanged for the signing rights of a rookie striker. Elton Brand's combat power was replaced by Cousins. In the short term, it would have a great harm to the team's immediate combat power.
Cousins' potential is worth looking forward to and waiting for, but he will definitely not be counted on before fulfilling his talent.
Losing two of the three best players in the team, more or less enriching the team's lineup depth, two talented new stars were introduced. With Wei Xia alone, the 76ers should not be able to make the playoffs.
Before the new season started, espn did not rank them in the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
Now, they are not just the top eight in the East, they are fourth in the East, with 53 wins, and are only behind the Celtics by 2 wins.
This season, Wei Xia once again attended 82 games, and the impact of the ACL tearing seems to have disappeared.
He defended the scoring champion with 31.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.2 blocks and 2.2 steals per game, with a shooting percentage of 49%, 42%, and 91% in three events.
He scored one of the most beautiful average numbers in his career and won the scoring champion for two consecutive years with his career-high shooting percentage.
If his shooting percentage is 1% higher, he can even join the 180 Club.
(It’s not that I’m not good at math, it seems that I only count integers and cannot be superimposed like 4941. I’m also an impression stream, so I didn’t check it. Please point me out any mistakes)
His performance is already amazing enough. Now, it is time to prove whether Wei Xia's performance in the playoffs will have a diving whereabouts.
Magic is a good touchstone.
They have first-class wings, dominant inside defense and full-talk guards (Alinas).
Facing such a team whose defense is far greater than that of offense, you may be fooled by them if you are not careful.
The problems of magic are well known.
For example, their unball movement is not enough, they don't have enough pick-and-roll and covers - yes, the ultimate of blue-collar center, Dwight Howard, the first center who lacks the core offensive skills in history, is not keen on pick-and-roll and covers at all.
Furthermore, they did not make any breakthroughs, and although Jason Williams and the Turkish agents who entered the palace looked like the answer, they were no longer in their prime.
The Magic has no one threatened the basket except Howard. The same thing is said, the book lineup looks full of talent, but no one except Howard himself is at the peak of his athletic career.
Also, they made three-pointers and missed three-pointers to make a record and played every day over Orlando.
The problem is not that there is a problem, but that their head coach Stan Van Gundy doesn't seem to want to solve the problem.
For example, even if the Magic does not change their strategy - continue to "Howard plays four people on the sidelines" - they can still deal with it. They can make some detailed adjustments, such as letting Clark appear and try to deal with Wei Xia, letting the Turks defend Hayward, and let Redick fight Lu Wei.
Subtle adjustments are not unavailable, but Van Gundy has always made very, very few adjustments.
Every time he called a timeout, he would still yell, let the players control the rebounds, work harder, seize the shooting opportunities...and then it would still be the same.
Like his younger brother, the man named Van Gundy has a tough temper. The man surnamed Van Gundy believes that the center is double-teamed and the shot is split out and the shooter is steadily shot into every open position = a steady score.
Four years have passed, Van Gundy still believes in this.
The last center who led the team to win the championship in this way was called Hakim Olajuwon, but a fan can tell the difference between Olajuwon and Howard.
The most direct comparison: What is the level of Olajuwon's offensive threat, and what is Howard's level?
Chapter completed!