Chapter 96: Timberwolf
I have to say that the Timberwolves are a very weak team.
They used high-pick picks to select all sorts of parallel goods, holding All-Star Brandon? Roy in exchange for Randy? Foye, I've done a lot of stupid things.
The most famous is the "Secret Protocol" incident. In 1999, Timberwolves general manager Mike ? In violation of the league's rules, Haier secretly signed an agreement with Joe Smith's broker, in which the two parties agreed that the Timberwolves would pay $90 million over 10 years for Joe Smith if he performed well. In 2000, when the incident occurred, NBA commissioner David ? Stern imposed a severe penalty on the Timberwolves, fined him $3.5 million, barred Joe Smith from signing with the Timberwolves, and stripped the Timberwolves of their draft picks for the next four years.
It's kind of funny, if it's to bring in superstars, Joe Smith, the 1995 champion, wasn't a star at all, and he averaged 9 per game in the 1999-2000 season for the Timberwolves. 9 points 6. 2 rebounds.
In years, the Timberwolves have only had one brilliant occasion. In 2004, Garnett won the regular season MVP and led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals. But the Timberwolves rely on Kassel, Sprewell and Garnett, the bench is not good, and the starting center Olavo Kandi is also a parallel import, and he can't get O'Neal at all, so he can only end up hating.
The Timberwolves "Three-Headed Monster" have only worked together for two short seasons, one season is beautiful, and the other season is depraved and confused.
The Timberwolves boss called the three-headed monster combination a "failed trial." It's not so much a trial as a gamble, a gamble that is just trying to be happy for a while, without any consideration of the consequences. In the summer of 2003, the Timberwolves, who had always been considered a "model of frugality", suddenly became generous, bringing in two big players in succession, Kassel and Sprewell. They were good helpers, but Kassel was 34 years old and Sprewell was 33 years old at the time. And the three, including Garnett, are the type that relies on jump shots to eat, and is more than slippery and not strong enough. Compared with the "OK combination" or "GDP combination", which is an internal and external equilibrium, and can be used to make a strong attack on the inside line or a foul on the outside line at a critical time, the "three-headed monster" has much less destructive power to the joint defense system.
Last year, Garnett left for the Eastern Celtics for a championship, and the Timberwolves officially began a rebuild. Now the core of the team is the short interior Al? Jefferson, who is also known as the "New Wolf King".
As one of the teams with the worst record in the Western Conference last season, the Timberwolves are still the favourites in the lottery this season. Although the addition of two new signings and the development of young players have improved the overall strength of the team to a certain extent, the dream of returning to the playoffs still seems out of reach for them.
The team's roster looks good on paper, but their poor defense makes it hard to expect too much.
Al? Jefferson and No. 5 rookie Kevin? Lefou's interior combination is the biggest highlight of this team, one has rich offensive skills, the other has a high basketball IQ, and both are good at shooting, such a combination seems to be both wise and brave. But unfortunately, these two people represent the characteristics of the vast majority of Timberwolves players, and they are seriously biased on both offensive and defensive ends. Jefferson is slightly better, physically strong, but shorter enough to block hats. Lefu has no height, the traversing speed is slow, and he basically has no ability to assist.
If the Timberwolves want to defend against pick-and-rolls, they can only count on veteran Jason. Collins pulled out of the cannon fodder, Collins is an interesting player, the official height is 213CM, and the actual height is a little shorter than the 208CM Lefou. And the Timberwolves' outside scoring demons don't have qualified defensive players, rookie Corey? Brewer was actually taken by coach Randy? Whitman saw it as a lifesaver for the outside defense, which cannot but be said to be a kind of sadness.
Against such a team full of weaknesses, the Warriors will certainly not be polite.
Nelson Sr. put Italian Belinelli in the starting line-up and Azubuuk on the bench. Once the game started, even in Margeti's absence, the Warriors had the upper hand completely.
Zhou Xuan completely broke out, in the positional attack, Turiav pulled to the perimeter to cover, Biedrins was responsible for grabbing the frontcourt rebound, and Zhou Xuan played the block and dismantle the attack. Kevin? Love has an amazing shooting touch, but on the defensive end he is a colander, and a fast guard can get past him in one step.
Zhou Xuan didn't shoot much in the first few games, and his hand was not good, but this time he shot continuously as soon as he came up.
This was instructed by old Nelson. Timberwolves starting point guard Sebastian? Telfer is only 183CM tall and weighs 77 kg, thinner than Zhou Xuan, Turiaf immediately went inside after blocking him, Lefu did not dare to completely change the defense, and Telfer couldn't catch up, such a simple tactic created a very good opportunity for Zhou Xuan to shoot.
As soon as Brewer on the side made up for the defense, Zhou Xuan immediately passed to Jackson, who hit two consecutive open three-point shots. Timberwolves forward Mike? Miller is a well-known pitcher, but his speed is getting slower, and he can only go to the baseline to prevent Belinelli from shooting, and the help defense side can't help much.
In the first quarter, the Warriors led the Timberwolves 38-25 by just relying on blocking tactics. Zhou Xuan scored 10 points and 5 assists, and the score was expected to hit a new personal high, Telfair shot 0 of 4, grabbed only one rebound, and sent an assist to Lefou, the performance was terrible, and he was replaced after only seven minutes.
Randy? Foye played very aggressively after coming on the court, relying on his personal ability to shoot inside and outside, but the shooting percentage was not high.
In the second quarter, the Warriors sent Watson, Moreau, and Azubuike to steal points from the outside, and all three of them were convulsions. Inside Anthony? Randolph partnered with Turyaf, who had previously rested for five minutes.
Nelson Sr. arranged this arrangement and targeted the Timberwolves' bench. The Timberwolves' two interior linemen, Ryan? Gomez is dominated by shooting, and the other person Clegg? WITH A HEIGHT OF 201CM AND A WEIGHT OF 120 KILOGRAMS, SMITH IS A SWINGMAN WITH A PECULIAR FIGURE WHO IS GOOD AT PLAYING LOW POSTS.
Randolph is fast and can defend himself in the box. Turyaf came on to defend Smith in the low post and not let the opponent easily squeeze under the basket.
The Timberwolves still didn't take advantage of it, and the score stretched to 21 points after six minutes. Moreau played hard after coming on the court, scoring twice on the basketball and hitting a three-pointer. Old Nelson refrigerated Harrington and gave newcomers a chance to perform, and the only one who failed to play in the new season was DeMarcus? Nelson and Richard? Hendrix too.
To chase the score, the Timberwolves sent Jefferson and Miller. Substitutes McCantz, Smith and Foye continued to stay on the court. After Zhou Xuan came out, the Timberwolves didn't dare to let Telfair and Lefu play again, and the defensive end was too leaky.
The Warriors' defensive strategy still allows Jackson to defend at the top of the arc, switch defenses and dismantle, and Zhou Xuan follows defensive pitcher McCantz to almost completely block the opponent.
McCantz was a stat averaging 14 per game last season. 9 points 2. 7 rebounds 2. 2 assists on 45-point shooting. 3% and 40 three-point shooting. 7%, as one of the "North Carolina Four Less" that year, McCantz had a variety of offensive means when he was in college, and he was omnipotent in breaking through jumpers. However, after entering the NBA, due to the limitation of height, his firepower was greatly reduced, and he gradually became a pure pitcher, with more and more three-pointers on the outside, and his template positioning had to be lowered from the poor Iverson to the poor Ray Allen.
Zhou Xuanfang broke through easily, and there was not much difference in height. McCantz was depressed and missed several strong shots, and if the league were to pick the player who had regressed the fastest, McCantz would surely get a lot of votes. In the last seven games, he shot only 39% from the field, and his three-point shooting rate has dropped to 33%, averaging only 8 points per game.
Coach Whitman also knew that McCantz was not good, but there was no one to replace, Brewer could only defend, and the offense was not as good as McCantz, and he didn't see Brewer defend anyone in the first quarter, just ran back and forth.
The only bright spot for the Timberwolves in the first half was Jefferson's back-to-back singles success in the low post.
Although the "New Wolf King" is short, he has a fairly solid low footwork, and can use his strong body to resist Biedrins and score the ball with a half-hook hand. Pull to the perimeter frame to receive the ball, he can also use the small forward-like probe step, and then pull away to shoot, which is really difficult to defend. Many people said that he brushed data on 21+11 last year. In fact, he is really capable, but the strength of one person can't help the team win. In terms of offensive strategy, he is far inferior to Duncan, Garnett, and Pau Gasol, the league's top interior players, who can only send 1 in 35 minutes. 4 assists.
In the second half, Zhou Xuan continued to rely on the blocking and dismantling offense to impact the Timberwolves defense, in order to chase points, Whitman replaced Lefu with Smith, who was tragic in height, and did not achieve any good results, Zhou Xuan made a one-step stop-and-go jump shot at the three-point line, 60 degrees on both sides, and shot 4 of 5.
Lefu is still facing the embarrassment of the first quarter, it is not possible to change the defense, it is not okay not to change the defense, Turiaf rushed to the basket, if he doesn't care, the butcher catches the ball is the result of a violent dunk. In the first half, Turyaf already had two dunks, one of which was enough to hit five goals.
The Timberwolves also tried to compress the defense, which could limit the empty cut after the Warriors interior players blocked and dismantled, but the Warriors had multiple shooters on the outside, taking turns to play the game, and the scoring was more fierce.
The Warriors were on full offensive fire, scoring more than 100 points in the third quarter and leading 101-76.
Nelson Sr. began to worry about the health of the other starters after Magetti's injury, and in the fourth quarter, he replaced all the main players, leaving Turiav and Brandon? Wright is partnered on the inside, and Belinelli, Nelson, and Watson on the outside.
The Timberwolves fell behind by a large score, symbolically resisted, and also replaced all the main players, allowing the young bench players to work out. Anyway, they are all rotten, and there are not many viewers under the economic crisis, so it doesn't matter how much you lose or how little you lose.
In contrast, the Warriors' substitutions have a deeper purpose. Garbage time doesn't need Morrow, it's not that the old Nelson prefers Belinelli, it's just that the two have similar styles, both are good at shooting three-pointers, and they are thin and have poor defense, compared to Morrow, who entered the NBA without drafting, which is cheaper. The uniform team hopes that Belinelli will brush up the data, and if all goes well, this trade with the Knicks, he is likely to be a "head" to make the salary equal.