All-round Athlete

Chapter 918 New Aid for the Lakers

With the decline of big centers, the current NBA has gradually become the world of forward players. In comparison, guards are also full of talents, but in terms of overall quality, they are really not as good as strikers.

Especially for those excellent small forwards, their speed is not worse than that of the guards, their shooting ability is the same as that of the guards, but their bodies are stronger, and their lethality on both offense and defense is also greater than that of the guards. Especially with the emergence of an all-around forward like James, one person can play from position 1 to position 5, which directly impacts the position of the point guard. There is such a small forward in the team who can't shoot the point guard position. On the contrary, they are not as good as those 3D players on the flanks.

The future trend of the NBA is even more so. As a guard, he either has super scoring methods like Curry, Westbrook, and Harden; or he is a 3D player like Beverly who has a good defense and can shoot three-pointers. Point guards who rely purely on organization are becoming less and less popular, such as Irving, Thomas Jr., Lillard, Lowry, etc., although they all have good assist ability, they are more and more inclined to score.

The Cavaliers in the future will rely more and more on James, who averages several more assists per game than Irving; the Spurs will rely more and more on Leonard, and Parker, the former organizer of the Spurs, has begun to become irrelevant; For the Warriors, the key to victory is not Curry or Thompson, but Draymond Green.

In comparison, also at the small forward position, the Lakers' Wesley Johnson is really too weak. Lakers general manager Kupchak also knows this well. If you want to go further in the playoffs, reinforcement is a must. Kupchak also wants to strengthen, but unfortunately it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Before the start of the season, the Lakers had little room to operate. The salaries of Kobe, Gasol and Nash took up a lot of room for the Lakers this season. The Lakers' salary has exceeded the salary cap, and the Lakers have no first-round picks There is no middle class exception, no biennial exception, the only thing the Lakers can do is to sign players with a minimum salary. And after Kobe was injured, the Lakers were already planning to play badly. What else does a bad team need to do?

"Reinforcing the striker is easy to say, but what can I use to reinforce it? The trade deadline has passed, and now I can only find someone in the free market. But at this time, there are no decent players in the free market, and You can only sign with a basic salary. Wait a minute, a veteran with a basic salary! Maybe you can try that guy! I don’t know how his knee injury is recovering.” Kupchak suddenly remembered a familiar name.

...

Just as Kupchak was having a headache for the Lakers lineup reinforcement, the Lakers were also challenging the Timberwolves away, and the Lakers once again fell into a bitter battle.

Gasol was bumped by Love in the second quarter and was checked out. When Gasol left the field, the inside combination of Kaman and Jordan Hill felt like being blown away by the Timberwolves.

For the Timberwolves, the two starting insiders are Love and Pekovic. Love’s strength needs no introduction. Pekovic is also a big center with a heavy tonnage and a strong body. He is very aggressive on both offense and defense. , Standing low to the basket, almost no center can shake his position.

Having said that, Pekovic is really a bit like Kaman when he was young, and his characteristics are very similar. If Kaman had been five years younger, he might have fought to the death with Pekovic, but now Kaman has passed his peak youth, while Pekovic is at his peak, the contest between the two , Kaman is really powerless.

And between Jordan Hill and Love, there are really several levels of difference.

Although some people say that Love is a data brush, it is undeniable that Love is a rare scorer in the league. Love's scoring average can be said to be the highest among inside players. And Jordan Hill looks tough on the outside and has outstanding athletic ability, but his strength and basic defensive skills are very average, that is, he is not strong enough on the defensive end. For Love, he likes to play this kind of opponent who looks tough but is actually weak. As a result, Love's data once skyrocketed, and he almost reached a triple-double after three quarters.

For the Lakers, Bazemore's defense made Kevin Martin a little tight, and his shooting percentage was not high. As for Rubio, he was simply blown away by Zhang Guan.

Spain's "golden boy" Rubio has been in the NBA for three years, but his shooting ability still hasn't improved a bit. In the recent period, Rubio has no desire to attack, and he has no confidence in attacking. He can even break through five opponents, and then pass the ball to his teammates, not daring to attack by himself.

The Timberwolves are raging inside the twin towers, while the Lakers are showing off their outside players. The two sides are evenly matched. In the end, the game was dragged into overtime, and in overtime, Pekovic's physical decline made the Timberwolves a little weak, and the Lakers also won the game quite thrillingly.

In the post-match inspection, Gasol is fine, and a slight treatment plus rest is enough, and it will not affect the next game.

However, the insider was hanged, which made Zhang Guanxin's rating of the Lakers' insider players lower by another level.

"Now the Lakers have a lot of insiders. Gasol, Kaman, Jordan Hill, Ryan Kelly, Thackeray, Gasol is completely trustworthy; Kaman has become a bit bullying recently, When you encounter a team with no insides and score double-doubles, and when you meet an opponent with a strong inside, you will be deflated immediately!"

Zhang Guan looked at Jordan Hill again, and shook his head slightly.

"Jordan Hill was also the No. 8 pick back then, but he went to many teams and never met people's expectations. There is also a reason. This guy has good athletic ability, and he trains very hard. If the level does not improve, this is probably what people call lack of talent! This kind of guy, if he can be mixed in the NBA rotation, he is already very good."

"As for Ryan Kelly." Zhang Guan looked at "Gao Dabai" and couldn't help but sighed again.

As the 48th pick in the second round of this year and the only rookie for the Lakers in several years, Ryan Kelly's personal data is still very good. He averaged 22.3 minutes per game and scored 8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists. For a rookie, especially a rookie in a young draft year, he can almost squeeze into the best rookie team.

For a "Gao Dabai" like Ryan Kelly who can shoot but has little confrontation ability, the best template is undoubtedly Ryan Anderson, and he can be a Steve Novak. But Ryan-Kelly's shooting percentage is not very good. Judging by the new standards, his current shooting percentage is still in the past, but his rookie season was his best season, and then Wang Xiaoer's New Year's Eve, A year is not as good as a year.

As for Thackeray, he really needs talent but no talent, body but no body, skill but no skill, and the dirty work he does in the paint is unsatisfactory. As an NBA-level player, Thackeray probably only has passion.

"With such an inside combination, I just hope that Gasol will not get injured again!" Zhang Guan sighed silently in his heart.

...

On March 30, the Lakers played against the Phoenix Suns at home. This is a crucial game for both teams.

The Suns have just experienced a six-game winning streak. Their current record is 44 wins and 29 losses. In the West, the Grizzlies and Mavericks also have 29 losses.

The Warriors currently have 27 losses, ranking sixth in the Western Conference. The gap of two losses has made the Warriors stand out and their position in the playoffs is relatively stable. And this also makes the competition between the Suns, Mavericks and Grizzlies more intense. With everyone losing 29, if anyone loses a game, it means that they have lost the initiative and are likely to fall behind in the accumulated competition.

The Lakers can't lose a game now. Maintain a complete victory to end the regular season, the Lakers still have a glimmer of hope, and if they lose another game, they may really be out of luck.

Moreover, if the Lakers want to enter the playoffs now, they must pull down two of the Suns, Mavericks and Grizzlies. Therefore, facing the three teams of the Suns, Mavericks and Grizzlies, the Lakers will win. This is equivalent to shortening the advantage of consecutive games. Therefore, the Lakers are also pursuing the victory of this game.

The current core of the Suns is Dragic. The 2008 second-round pick has become a new inspirational figure in the league. He played the best season of his career, averaging 20.3 points, 5.9 assists and 3.2 times per game. Rebounds are almost at the All-Star level, and he will be elected as the Most Improved Player this season.

At the World Championships in Turkey four years ago, Zhang Guan once played against Dragic, who was the point guard of the Slovenian team at the time. But now, the two are playing against each other again, but Dragic is much more mature than before, and the step-back jumper is also more proficient.

Partnering with Dragic in the backcourt is Bledsoe.

"Blood Cloth" Bledsoe is a desperate Saburo on the court. This guy's defense is even better than Westbrook, and his desperate style also happens to complement Dragic, making the Suns His backcourt level is also outstanding in the entire league.

Zhang Guan has never been afraid of the kind of players who are willing to go all out. He is eager for his opponent to fight his body. Anyway, none of the defenders who dare to confront him head-on will end well. So Bledsoe had some tragedies in this game, where he made 1 of 9 shots, 0 of 4 three-pointers, plus four fouls and four turnovers.

In addition, the two inside players of the Suns, Miles Plumlee and Channing Frye, were also blown out by Kaman and Gasol.

Kaman scored a large double-double with 28 points and 17 rebounds in the game, and Gasol also scored 20 points.

Recently, Kaman's performance has been a little unstable, and he is obviously bullying. In the last game against the Timberwolves, he was bullied by Pekovic into a dog. In this scene, facing the inexperienced Plumlee, he instantly regained his confidence.

As for Gasol's performance, he is still relatively stable, and his experience is more than enough to deal with Channing Frye, a big pitcher.

The twin Morris brothers on the Suns bench caused some trouble for the Lakers. The twins play with a tacit understanding, and they are easy to confuse in defense, but the Morris brothers have similar styles of play, and the defensive strategies against them are also similar. Even if they are confused, it will not affect the overall situation.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the Suns 115 to 99 and won this crucial battle, and the Suns lost 30 games. They had already lost their lead in the competition for playoff tickets. Behind the Grizzlies and Mavericks.

...

Next, the Lakers will play a back-to-back game, the first game is against the Trail Blazers at home.

Lillard was still restricted by Zhang Guan, but Aldridge scored a large double-double with 31 points and 15 rebounds. It's just that the Blazers didn't win, because in the Lakers, Nick Young, the "nervous knife", showed his power again.

Nick Young looks like a young Kobe Bryant. This game scored a full 40 points, and the shooting percentage was as high as 60%. Such a Nick Young directly stunned the Blazers. Until the end of the game, Aldridge was gloomy. No. Double double, originally wanted to win a victory, but because of a nerve knife, all previous efforts were wasted.

Immediately afterwards, the Lakers went to an away game against the Sacramento Kings. In the last match between the two teams, Kings center Cousins ​​was injured and missed the game. The Lakers also won relatively easily. But this time Cousins ​​returned from injury. to great pressure.

Facing Cousins, Kaman turned into a soft-footed shrimp again, and Cousins ​​only played 25 minutes and got a 20+10 double-double.

It's just that the King's record is only 26 wins and 48 losses, ranking second to last in the Western Conference. In the last season of the regular season, such a team will definitely fail, so the Kings players don't have much fighting spirit. After finishing their stats, Rudy Gay and Rudy Gay both took a rest. The game entered garbage time, and the Lakers won another victory.

...

In the locker room, Marshan Brooks was packing his things. As soon as he returned to Los Angeles from Sacramento, he received a notice that disappointed him. He was cut by the team!

Bazemore looked at his companion with some pity. Both were originally Warriors players. They were traded to the Lakers together. Now Marshan Brooks is about to be laid off.

Bazemore couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. He, like Marshan Brooks, is a player with a minimum salary. Now that Marshan Brooks has been waived, if Bazemore wants to stay, he must Just work harder.

"If Ma Shang is cut off, there will definitely be new players coming to the team. I don't know who it will be?" Bazemore secretly thought.

Soon after, however, the answer was revealed.

"Everyone, let's welcome a new partner, to be precise, a new partner that everyone is familiar with, world peace!" Kupchak personally introduced the new aid of the Lakers to the players.

Kupchak is not shouting slogans, "World Peace" is the player's name, and this new aid is Metta World Peace.

Metta Shiping was bought out by the Knicks in February because of a relapse of his knee injury. Today, Ci Shiping has been out of work for almost two months, and the Lakers signed Ci Shiping with a one-year veteran's basic salary.

It is said that only one-fifth of the veteran's basic salary is guaranteed, and the rest of the amount needs to be won by Ci Shiping through personal efforts, such as getting more playing time, ensuring that injuries will not happen again, and so on.

Ci Shiping can also be regarded as an old player of the Lakers. When he was still called Artest, he helped the Lakers win the NBA championship, and also experienced the era of the Lakers' "new F4". Last season, the Lakers waived him in order to save salary space.

The advantage of Metta Shiping is that he can quickly familiarize himself with D'Antoni's tactical system, because he was still a player under D'Antoni last season. For the Lakers, they don't need Ci Shiping to score now. The Lakers have Zhang Guan, and there is no shortage of people who can score. As long as Ci Shiping needs to contribute to the defense, it is enough.

With Ci Shiping's current strength, as long as he is healthy, he can play in the NBA. Two years later, Ci Shiping can still get a basic salary for a veteran in the NBA. Now Ci Shiping can play a game for more than ten minutes.

"I remember Ci Shiping going to China to play the CBA next season. He went to Sichuan Province. It seems that he changed his name to 'Friends of the Panda' at that time. I didn't expect to be signed back to the Lakers now. If he can If you keep your form, maybe you will continue to stay with the Lakers next season instead of going to the CBA."

At this time, Zhang Guan thought of the domestic CBA league. The next moment, a flash of inspiration flashed in his head, and he suddenly thought of a person.

"Chuan Sheng, why did I forget him? He played there last year. If he can be signed to the Lakers now as a backup center, that guy must be more reliable than Thackeray!" Zhang Guan thought of this, Came to Kupchak.

"General manager, our right scout, do you have time now? I need a scout to inquire about someone." Zhang Guan said.

"Who?" Kupchak asked.

"This person once participated in the 2010 draft. He was selected 33rd in the second round. He was later cut, and then went to play in our country's NBL." Zhang Guan said.

"NBL? Isn't the league in your country called CBA for short?" Kupchak asked.

"NBL is equivalent to the development league of CBA, similar to the relationship between NBA and NBDL." Zhang Guan explained.

"So, this player can't even play in your country's CBA, but wants to go to the next level of the Development League?" Kupchak felt a little inconceivable.

Even the strongest foreign player in the CBA cannot play in the NBA, let alone a CBA Development League player. Kupchak didn't understand why Zhang Guan let scouts pay attention to such a bad player.

"What's his name?" Kupchak asked.

"Whiteside! The Chinese pronunciation of this word is Baibian!" Zhang Guan said the last two words in Chinese.

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