Chapter 68: The Playoffs Are Approaching
The NBA's All-Star Game is not just scheduled in the middle of the season, and often after the All-Star Game, there are only about 30 games left in the season, and it is time to make an impact on the playoffs, or to prepare for the playoffs.
The Wizards are currently fourth in the East, six games behind the Pistons at the top of the East, and the gap is not irreparable. But the Pistons, as the first in the East, want to win more than six more games than it in the last 30 games, and this plan is also a question mark.
Fortunately, the Wizards also have good news, and the much-anticipated "Uncle Mountain" Grant Hill and "Penny" Anthony Hardaway are finally coming back.
Hu Qingniu's small forward and point guard problems, which have been a headache, can finally be alleviated.
In the training hall, the two joined hands to report on Hu Qingniu. Listening to Barkley's big mouth, the real head of the team is this young coach. Originally, Hill and Penny thought it was a legend from the outside world, but when the team's general manager Unseld asked them to report to Hu Qingniu's office first, they learned that the team's main decision-maker was really this magical doctor.
But the two of them have more respect in their hearts, for no other reason, they have been suffering from injuries for a long time, and they know how serious their injuries are. After the injury, they went to almost all the well-known experts in the field of sports medicine, but there was no good way to deal with their injuries, and the most common conclusion was to take care of the injury and use time to recover.
Athletes are a profession that eats the rice of youth, for athletes, how much golden time can there be in their careers? Grant Hill and Anthony Hardaway, two players who have spent too much of their peak careers, really thank Hu Qingniu from the bottom of their hearts. If it weren't for his miraculous medical skills, it would be difficult for both of them to experience the feeling of peak again.
Compared to the peak when they were the center of the league, people have only evaluated them as outdated stars in recent years, veterans with newcomers. Everyone is not willing to be ordinary, and now that they have a chance to return to the top and a strong team, this year's Wizards may be the best chance of their careers to win the championship.
Who wouldn't want to appreciate the beauty of the O'Brien Cup?
Hu Qingniu sat in his own small office, looking at the two of them with a cramped face, and sighed in his heart, his life has also changed greatly, and he has begun to become more capable and of course more responsible.
After a while, Hu Qingniu broke the calm and said with a smile, "How do you feel about your recovery, can you play?" ”
"Head, we just finished a medical check-up and everything is fine. We'll be able to play next game, probably before last week when my legs were feeling fine, and I could only watch the ball go and panic during this time. Penny said excitedly.
"Head? I'm not the head, that's what the old bastard Barkley said. For example, the head of the team will always be Coach Doug and I'm just the assistant coach. I can't do my job without him and I don't want discord within the team, you know. Hu Qingniu hurriedly explained.
Although Doug can not do much after Hu Qingniu takes on the main responsibility of coaching. But the team's owner, Abel Bolin, did not want to pay the salaries of the two head coaches, and Hu Qingniu was happy with the current situation. Doug is also Jordan's old coach, and he respects him very much, so the current situation of the team is that although Hu Qingniu is an assistant coach, his power and daily affairs are actually the head coach's business.
Doug is only responsible for maintaining the stability of the team, leading Hu Qingniu in terms of experience, and Hu Qingniu is not clear about some process matters. For example, Hu Qingniu, who did not officially serve in the NBA team, was not clear about these processes.
Taking advantage of the training day, Hu Qingniu arranged for Hill and Penny to start a 5v5 match, and without malicious physical confrontation, the two newly recovered injuries performed well.
The Wizards, who have incorporated new energy, faced the Celtics in fifth place in the East in the first game, and the two teams are only one game apart in terms of record, and they are both brothers of the Middle East team.
But in fact, the Wizards currently hold an 18-game winning streak in the league, and the momentum is unparalleled for a while. However, the Celtics are just a young army that is just getting better.
To use one word to describe the Celtics after the retirement of "Big Bird" Bird in '92, it can only be darkness. As the most profound team in the league, the Celtics' honor and merit spectrum are extremely bright. Since the '50s, the Celtics have been a league powerhouse every decade.
In the '50s and early '60s, under Bill Russell, they were an unbeatable 11-time champion.
From the mid-60s to the mid-70s, they were still able to win multiple titles under the leadership of Havlicek "The Thief".
At the end of the 70s, "Big Bird" Bird was born, and the Green Shirts, who thought they were going to fall into darkness, rose again and became one of the protagonists of the yellow-green hegemony in the 80s.
But since Bird's retirement in '92, the Celtics have been slow to find a new leader with green blood in their veins. The most regrettable one was the 97 draft, the godfather of the Celtics, "Cardinal" Auerbach, who put down his body and was completely rotten, but finally reluctantly drew the list and missed the established Tim Duncan. Otherwise, this first-round pick can save the Celtics for 20 years of glory.
It wasn't until the appearance of twin stars Anthony Walker and Paul Pierce that the North Shore Garden Arena, which was only opened in '95, seemed to finally have its own owner. Last season's twin stars unexpectedly linked strong teams such as the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals. One can't help but have more high hopes for this Celtic.
Everyone attaches great importance to the Celtics, but Hu Qingniu doesn't care, and Hu Qingniu is very confident that he can beat them for this kind of lame team.
Hu Qingniu found the loophole of the Celtics as soon as he flipped through the information of last year's playoffs, and the series is how to show everything you have without reservation, so Hu Qingniu didn't look at the regular season at all, and went straight to the playoffs.
You may not believe it, but most of the rebounds of the Celtics in the playoffs last season were grabbed by Pierce and Walker, two young forwards. One of the two averaged 8 boards per game, and the other averaged 9 boards per game.
As soon as Hu Qingniu slapped his thigh, the strategy came out, Rodman started to defend Walker, and Barkley still played small forward, but the task was to bully the pink newcomer Pierce. The twin Hardaway played in the starting backcourt, and Uncle Shan substituted for the small forward.
As for Jordan, Hu Qingniu gave him a holiday this time, just to train newcomers, Jordan needs to save his physical strength to prepare for the playoffs. Although Jordan's current body is not in any problem under Hu Qingniu's conditioning, it is always right to be conservative.