Chapter 231: Wiggins vs Middleton
At the start of the game, Gobert jumped the ball and won the qualification for his team's first attack.
The Suns' first offense was handed over to Li Mojie, and in the face of Thaddeus Young's defense, Li Mojie tried his hand first on the three-point line dry pull-out jumper, missed it, and the rebound was picked up by Marcus and then passed to Li Mojie, and Li Mojie hit a three-point shot again. 3:0
Left Thaddeus Young's helpless expression, he was also a poor man, he was selected by the 76ers with the 12th pick in 07, and then 07-08, 08-09, 10-11, 11-12 entered the playoffs in four seasons, but who would have thought that after that, the 76ers were like Wang Xiaoer's family for the New Year, year after year, the team's record is getting worse and worse, not to mention a breakthrough in the playoffs, it is difficult to even enter the playoffs, and finally in the middle of last season Liberty Ballers reporter Jake Fischer broke the news: According to a person close to Young's side, "Thad (Young) is ready to leave the 76ers, and he doesn't fully support the team in accepting the swing." "Young is a little nervous, and he wants them to reach an agreement soon," the source said at a time when the 76ers' talks with the Rockets against Asik haven't broken down yet. He hates waiting. It feels good to play for a team that has a chance to compete for a championship, because the 76ers are definitely not going to make the playoffs this season. At the time, the 76ers had a 7-19 record and were in 14th place in the East.
Then he was traded to the Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves traded out all their star LeFou, who have been obviously not competitive in recent seasons, and their purpose is obviously to mess up......
The Timberwolves attacked, Rubio controlled the ball, and Huaxia fans always scolded the Blue Association for making mistakes and delaying Chinese players to play in the NBA, but how can the transfer of players be so simple? Do you think that European players don't have to fight when they go to play in the NBA? Ricky Rubio was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 5th pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft, but he didn't officially join the Timberwolves until the 2011-12 season due to contract issues with his parent team. Rubio, who turns 18 in three months, is the youngest player ever to play in the Spanish Basketball League (ACB). He was listed as the 2009 NBA No. 1 pick and some have even used "Magic" Johnson as his template.
Gordon looked at Rubio and did not choose to be close, but took a step back and followed the pre-game coach's instructions to prevent his breakthrough and pass, after all, the information that Lu did not have a basket outside has been known to everyone for three seasons.
Rubio is directing his teammates to run, while also observing Gordon, in his opinion, this Gordon's athletic strength is not lost to him, so it is not suitable for strong play, but the ball is passed back and forth without space, because the Suns change the defense too quickly, and the Timberwolves have fewer pitchers, the starting five Rubio, Thaddeus Young, Brewer and Pekovic on the inside are all without baskets, Wiggins is also a mystery whether he has a basket, after all, this buddy has 6 points, 8 points, and 8 points in the previous games......
But in the end, the ball was in the hands of Wiggins, and in this game, the Timberwolves put him in the position of point guard in order to take care of Wiggins, but it is reasonable that Middleton, who is 23 years old in his third season, has the strongest outside single defense ability in the Suns, and the best thing at the swingman position is to misplace heads-up, and Middleton is the sparring partner of Li Mojie in the Suns, so Wiggins swayed left and right, and Middleton was not moved at all.
The time is almost up, Wiggins can only force his hand, I have to say that the Canadian's running and jumping ability is really amazing, which scared Middleton, according to physical test data, Wiggins's vertical bounce height reached 1.12 meters that year, which exceeded Jordan and Maddie at his peak, but this forced shot hit rate is really not high.
Li Mojie picked up the rebound, and then it was the familiar Suns who quickly counterattacked, only needed to put in two or three people but the success rate remained high, this ball Gordon received Li Mojie's pass and scored. 5:0, pressing defense, waves, and quick rotations, this is what Hornacek has learned from the Heat in recent years.
Then the Timberwolves attacked, Wiggins took the ball and met Middleton again, Chris Middleton is a lanky wing with outstanding arms, far and accurate; Frequent off-ball running, rarely breaking through or making fouls; Rebounding average, defensive confrontation suffers, if Wiggins has the physique of James' debut, then it is possible to open Middleton, but Wiggins draft report says so, Wiggins has almost no shortcomings. The physical, technical, vision and big-picture vision, and ball quotient are all much higher than the drafts of the same year, which is why Wiggins was selected as the top pick. In the disadvantage column, scouts reported that Wiggins was not mentally qualified, shot without confidence, and did not like to play physical confrontation with opponents, and he even dodged opponents' physical confrontations during games. And now, Wiggins is indeed afraid of physical confrontation, and it can be seen that the draft report of that year has shown that Wiggins is a champion who can only play healthy basketball.
Wiggins tried to get rid of Middleton's defense in a couple of moves, but at this point, Middleton wrapped Parker around like kraft candy, so Wiggins couldn't find a chance to break through the defense.
When he realized that he couldn't break through Middleton's defense, Wiggins began to notice that the rest of his teammates passed the ball to Brewer, and then Brewer hit Marcus with a shot, and "Laughing Mamba" was really lucky.
At this time, Wiggins' performance made O'Neal, who was also the champion, very dissatisfied: "Oh my God, why is he playing so softly? Is he really the champion? ”
Barkley, who was also very tough back then, didn't look down on Wiggins, and said bluntly: "Where is his performance in these games like Li Mojie, more like his Canadian fellow Bennett last year, his performance is not as good as Parker, the leader behind him, Parker scored only 8 points in the first game, and his scores reached double digits in the next few games!" ”
"But the Suns' forward line configuration is indeed the best in the league! Middleton, Gerard Green, Pierce, Lee Mojab. Kenny Smith said, changing the subject.
Timberwolves veteran coach Philip Saunders also shook his head on the sidelines, and on June 6, 2014, after interviewing multiple candidates, Timberwolves president and small owner Philip Saunders decided to take charge of the Minnesota team himself. It's just that he doesn't have too many bright spots, whether in operation or coaching.
The owner and manager of the Timberwolves actually want to win and enter the playoffs, which must be told to everyone, the Timberwolves do not want to mess up, which is different from the 76ers, Lefu wants to go this offseason, not that the Timberwolves are determined to rebuild, although Lefu led the team to a poor record, but at least he also saw the possibility of entering the playoffs (40-42 in the 13-14 season, if it is in the East, it is just eighth), and only Lefu can sell jerseys in the team......
This team is the only team that has not made the playoffs since '04. But the Timberwolves' lineup, facing the mighty West, the Timberwolves can't win even if they try their best.
And then constantly losing and losing, it is obvious that it will cause a great psychological burden on these young players who are full of momentum, and will make these rookie players feel frustrated, doubt themselves, and they can't win the ball despite their best efforts, triggering a chain reaction, slack training, and game attitude will slowly change, and finally talent can only be talent.
The Timberwolves have been like this for so many years, and the Timberwolves have only played Lefu alone since the lottery show started in 05.
And those rookies who were called once-in-a-decade geniuses before entering the Timberwolves ended up playing in the league for a few years before disappearing.
"Why isn't this year's champion Li Mojie!" How Sanders hopes that Wiggins can be like last season's Lee Mojab, with magical power, last season's Lee Mojie can bring the penultimate Suns to sixth in the West, this season Sanders only hopes to be eighth, but obviously he thinks too much!
Although most of the media and fans attribute the amazing changes of the Suns last season to the strong rise of Li Mojie, this is the right time and place and the same is indispensable, the offseason Suns traded the powerful Bledsoe, Middleton, Gerald Green, Marcus and others, but the core of the team happened to be vacant, so Li Mojie seamlessly docked, allowing the Suns to take off directly, but even if Li Mojie does not join, this Suns team can get a 48-34 record, of course, people in this world will definitely not think so. I want to talk about "The New Magician of Basketball" with more like-minded people, pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~