This year's All-Star Weekend was held in Cleveland, and Zhang has accepted the league's invitation to serve as a judge for this year's slam dunk contest, and it is said that countless fans are ready to see him hold up the 0-point sign.

Only five players participated in the "Slam Dunk Contest" this year: Michael Finley of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant of the Clippers, Ray Allen of the Bucks, Chris Kyle of the Timberwolves, and Bob Sula of the host Cavaliers.

To be honest, Finley chose to participate, and Zhang Mao wanted to stop it from the bottom of his heart, because he knew that his little brother had no talent in dunking, and he only made three or two moves back and forth - two-handed violent dunks, one-handed chopping dunks, and stiff tomahawks......

He always wanted to tell Finley that dunking is never about jumping high and having a lot of strength, and then being able to dunk his hands to the point of being unconscious is awesome!

First of all, Finley's body is not flexible, he is very stiff when he does movements, there is basically no softness at all, every time he dunks is like a tense body to show his muscles, the key is that he does not have the ball sense of ball separation, and the difficult movements are definitely not fun......

The question is, with so many defects, what kind of blue do you still deduct, what kind of competition do you participate in, confirm that this is not to bring humiliation on yourself?

In short, Finley's dunk can only be said to be height and strength, which is quite suitable for use in the game, but he basically does not have the graceful, stretched, elegant, and even difficult movements.

Well, after blackening his own people, and then looking at the remaining contestants, Zhang Fu said that he could only describe it as "miserable".

Ray Allen's athleticism is okay, but his dunks in the game are not as good as Finley's, and it is estimated that even the height and strength are a little worse, and whether he can dunk a "big windmill" or "crotch change hands" that meets the completion standard is a problem.

Chris Kyle is a guy who basically can't play, he is the person who Zhang Qi said "just find two guys who jump high and they are better than Finley", maybe a little better than Finley, but that's all, he is also a guy with only height and strength.

Bob Sula doesn't want to mention that he is at least a notch worse than last year's Brent Barry, and he can only go on a trip as a host.

In the end, Zhang Yu counted and found that Kobe Bryant was still a little bit like, which was too miserable, because Kobe's flaws were also obvious, this kid was elegant enough, but he lacked height and strength.

The league's attitude towards the "slam dunk contest" is even more tangled, and Zhang Fu's performance last year was equivalent to indirectly killing the slam dunk contest, because he did all the actions that people could think of, even those they didn't expect.

Everyone knows that there will never be any new and difficult moves in the future, and even as long as one or two of his moves can be imitated, it will be enough to win the dunk king.

Some people even suggested that the NBA simply cancel the slam dunk contest and make Zhang Fu's swan song.

Not to mention, the league was already planning to do this, and the idea that the league management, the media, and the fans thought that the slam dunk contest had become a chicken rib, and now the best slam dunk contest is a swan song and left to the world to have an infinitely beautiful reverie, which sounds really good.

In fact, since the early nineties, the meaning of dunk has changed, which is mainly due to the deepening of people's understanding of basketball, which gradually weakens the value of dunk.

This is not a fool's errand, even Jordan, who pushed the public's love for dunks to the extreme in 1985, was inevitably labeled as "only dunk", which can be seen from his long-standing nickname "Flyer", people think he just flies very high.

It can be said that this sentiment was with Jordan until he won the championship.

But the strange thing is that Zhang Qi has never been labeled with this kind of label, I don't know if it's because he rarely slams dunks after winning the championship, maybe it's because he's too handsome.

Anyway, Zhang didn't make the cut, but as a judge, he was able to draw tens of millions of fans to the TV — and that's what the league wants.

This year, before Zhang Fu was announced as a judge, the sponsorship fee and advertising price of the slam dunk contest fell all the way, which was 900 percentage points less than last year. And after the list of participants was released, the situation was even worse, plummeting by nearly 2,000 percentage points.

Let's put it this way, this year's league has earned 20 times less than last year in the sponsorship and advertising of the "Slam Dunk Contest".

The alliance also recognizes a truth more clearly, without Zhang Mao, there will be no ratings, there will be no business sponsorship, and there will be no advertising......

Zhang Wei knew this truth last year, do you remember that he deliberately showed off a few moves in the rookie game last year? The result of this is that the ratings of the "Slam Dunk Contest" on the day have increased dramatically, and no merchant feels that the huge advertising cost is not worth it!

It's the same this year, if Zhang Wei doesn't become a judge and uses it as a selling point to attract ratings, there will be no merchants willing to pay for sponsorship at all, and the advertising fee will plummet countless times compared with last year.

This is the reality, no matter how awesome the alliance is, it still depends on the sponsorship and advertising of those big companies to develop.

Zhang Zhu not only knows this truth, but he also knows his importance, so he will come to help the president despite his own hard work. In this way, the president will definitely remember his kindness in the snow, so "Best of the Week", "Home Whistle" or something is naturally embarrassed to embarrass him again, isn't it?

"Do you think I'm being praised by the league just because I'm good at playing? Whether you can help the league make money is the most important thing! ”

Zhang Wei has always known why Richmond is ignored, this is not entirely a problem of his low-key, the real reason is that he can't make money for the league, and then he is so low-key, so it's strange that the league will praise you.

This year, he chose another way to participate in the "Slam Dunk Contest", but he really wanted to participate in the "Three-Point Contest".

This season, after a summer of hard work, he is now confident to compete for the "three-point king", and the average three-point shooting rate of 43% per game is his reliance.

Speaking of three-pointers, Zhang has made 130 three-pointers in his first 45 games, and this year he will be hoping to challenge Dennis Scott's regular-season three-point shooting record set last season.

Of course, Scott's record of hitting 267 three-pointers in a single season last year is very low, the NBA's three-point line was shortened by half a meter in the first two years, and even Joe Gang made a lot of three-pointers, and there were many players who hit more than 200 three-pointers in a single season in those two years.

However, so far this season, only four players in the entire league plus Zhang Qi have shot 100+ three-pointers.

This year, unlike the bleak stars of the "Slam Dunk Contest", the players participating in the "Three-Point Contest" are bright stars, with six contestants: Zhang Zhu, Reggie Miller, Murch Blaylock, Glenn Rice, Mitch Richmond, and Allen Iverson.

"I think the biggest threat to me is Glenn Rice, and we all know his three-point shooting percentage."

In an interview, the media asked him who was the opponent he was most worried about.

He didn't hesitate and immediately said Glenn Rice's name.

This guy has made 108 three-pointers so far, which is not as good as him, but this guy has a staggering 48.3% three-point shooting rate.

You read that right, this is not the three-point line that was half a meter shorter last year, this year's three-point line is a real 7.25 meters, but this Glenn Rice still shot close to 50% of the three-point shooting rate, and Zhang Yu felt like he was hanging.

Let's put it this way, among the top 10 people who have made the most three-pointers this season, Zhang Mao and Miller both have shooting percentages of about 43%, ranking second and third. Fourth-place was Richmond's 42 percent three-point shooting. Beyond that, only Wolfham Leonard shot more than 40 percent from three-point range, while the rest shot less than 40 percent from three-point range.

In this comparison, you can know how terrifying Glenn Rice's 48% three-point shooting rate is, and it really exists like a bug.

Zhang Wei didn't know that in the eyes of others, he was also like a BUG.

Don't forget, his breakthrough is almost unstoppable, one step closer, one hit away, not far away, but also beware of his 43% three-point shooting, basically can't be prevented, and the bag will let him get double-digit assists, isn't this kind of talent should be called a BUG, right?

Jordan was almost inexplicable at his peak, but at least the young Jordan's three-point shot was not very reliable, and now the three-point shot is reliable, and he has lost the speed of his peak.

Zhang Zhu, a monster, is really no weakness, with a 43% three-point shooting rate, everyone doesn't know how to defend him, and he will definitely be shot to death if he lets him shoot, which may be unsolvable.

The Rookie Challenge is still last year's rule, not a later first-year vs. second-year, nor is it a league-designated two-team manager (star name) to pick players, and now it's a rookie in the West vs. a rookie in the East.

Originally, the league planned to ban second-year players from participating this year, and instead all first-year rookies participated.

But it's still that problem, if it weren't for Zhang Fu and the more famous stars in the second year to participate, the advertising and sponsorship would definitely not have been able to pull in.

This year, only Iverson is a well-known first-year player, and the other first-year rookies will have to save up for a long time.

But even if it's Iverson, it depends on who you compare with, if it's compared with Zhang Mao, the influence of the two still can't be compared.

If the alliance can only use Iverson's influence to attract sponsorship, then it will not even reach half the price of Zhang Zhu.

Therefore, there is usually no suspense in this kind of thing, and when it comes to money, the rules are casual.

The current "Rookie Challenge" is very reasonable in terms of rules, although it is not as topical as the star player invited by the league to serve as the team's nominal manager, but it not only satisfies a certain fairness, but also has good highlights, at least it is much more reasonable than the later first year and second year.

Kidd still wants to play, but he's already in the third grade, so he's not a rookie.

This year, only two players on the Lakers team have been selected for the Rookie Challenge, Zhang and Finley.

Big Ben is too ugly to be selected for the rookie team in any era, unless he can contribute enough rebounds and blocks, but Big Ben's average playing time of 15 minutes per game makes him unable to play good statistics, and he currently only averages 3 points and 4 rebounds per game, so he can only play snake at home.

Rookie roster in the West –

Centres: Bryant Leeves, Rasheed Wallace.

Forwards: Kevin Garnett, Antonio McDyce, Joe Smith.

Forwards: Zhang Mao, Sharif Abdul Rahim.

Defenders: Michael Finley, Kobe Bryant (substitution).

Defender: Stephen Marbury.

Eastern Conference Rookie Team Roster –

Center: Marcus Camby.

Forward: Anthony Walker.

Forward: Eric Williams.

Defenders: Jerry Stackhouse, Corey Kidders, Ray Allen.

Defenders: Allen Iverson, Damon Stoudemire, Bob Sulla.

It can be clearly seen from the lineups on both sides that the interior advantage of the Western team is terrifying, and the outside line is not lagging behind. In addition to the good outside line, the east line is doomed to be wiped out, and they can't even find a serious No. 4 position who is qualified to participate in the game, and Anthony Walker is just a two-way forward who tends to the outside.

It's worth mentioning that due to Rasheed Wallace's recent injury and inability to play in this year's rookie game, his position league has approved Kobe Bryant to come off the bench.

This little guy who participated in the "Slam Dunk Contest" averaged 24 minutes of playing time per game for the Clippers this season, contributing 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists to the team.

Zhang Zhu doesn't despise Kobe Bryant so much now, don't look at Iverson's performance is stronger than Kobe Bryant's nine streets, but the difference between the two is three years old, can 18 and 21 years old be the same concept?

Therefore, Kobe Bryant's potential is not low, but how high it is, it mainly depends on whether there is significant improvement next season, and with Zhang Fu's eyesight, in fact, he can't see what Kobe's potential is, although he will never admit it.

"Rookie Challenge", "Slam Dunk Contest", "Three-Point Contest", "All-Star Game".

Zhang Mao is theoretically going to compete in four competitions, which is not an easy task, so let's take a look at the schedule in February.

The Lakers' first three games in February were against the Bullets, then the Clippers, and finally the Bulls, with the Clippers and Bulls playing back-to-back games and then All-Star Weekend......

This schedule is terrible, after No. 5 Zhang Ji finished playing the Bulls at home, No. 7 is the Rookie Challenge, he can only rest for one day, but most of the time has to be used to rush, because Cleveland is in the East!

1997 Cleveland All-Star Weekend Arrangements -

February 7 – (Daytime) Charity Activities, (Afternoon) Rookie Interviews, (Evening) Rookie Challenge.

February 8 - (afternoon) Open training and interviews before the All-Star Game, (evening) Celebrity Game, (evening) Three-Point Contest, (Night) Slam Dunk Contest.

Feb. 9 – (Afternoon) Development League All-Star, (Evening) Pregame Concert, (Evening) All-Star Game.

Zhang Wei said that what he hates the most is the "public welfare activities", especially in such a schedule, he is actually asked to plant trees and build houses and paint, why didn't David Stern do it himself?

Not to mention, this public welfare activity is indeed led by David Stern himself, regardless of whether the president will hold a brick for the reporter to take a picture and put it back in place, anyway, they can't think about it.

On Sunday, the Lakers beat the Washington Bullets at home, snapping an 18-game winning streak.

Zhang Yu only played three quarters today and obediently left the game, he had to start accumulating physical strength, he couldn't continue to waste physical energy, and even the daily exercise with the young ladies every day was in moderation, and he would never work overtime.

But what makes people speechless is that Zhang Ji actually brushed a quasi-triple-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in 26 minutes of playing time, which is really good!

On Tuesday, the Lakers are going to play the Clippers on the road, which is actually half a home court.

However, this game is definitely not easy to play, so Zhang Yu did not hesitate, he chose to focus on the overall situation, he can no longer accumulate physical strength today, and if he wants to be lazy, he will also go to the All-Star to be lazy, and his winning streak and record cannot be affected by the All-Star Weekend.

The Clippers have really played differently since Van Exel's joined, and the Clippers have won six in a row before the start of this game, just surpassing the Rockets to move up to third place in the West, with a record of 33 wins and 13 losses.

This record is not a joke, the Lakers have a record of 42-4 in the West, and the Jazz in second place also have 37-9, and the Clippers have to face too many strong opponents in the West, but they still have 33 wins, and they have also beaten the Heat in the second place in the East and the Knicks in the third.

However, what made O'Neal immediately unhappy was that the Clippers' home court actually had thousands of guys wearing Zhang Qi's jerseys, and these people were not Lakers fans who mixed in, many of them were Clippers fans, but their favorite star was the Lakers' Zhang Qi.

O'Neill has been thinking that Zhang Yi is a transparent person recently, and he is not allowed to think, look, or pay attention...... Use a method of covering his ears and stealing the bell to avoid being angry to death, only in this way can he be happy.

However, this approach is becoming less and less feasible now, and in addition to seeing Zhang Fu's handsome face in any newspaper and magazine, interested fans can count how many former Lakers players there are on the current Clippers team?

It is said that a Lakers fan who had just been released from prison went home and turned on the TV, and was stunned to refuel the Clippers for a long time, and then learned that the team led by the yellow-skinned monkey was the Lakers, no wonder the color of the clothes would be so kind.

Of course, this is definitely made up by Lakers fans to mock the Clippers, but the Clippers did take in half of the Lakers players who started as well.

These Lakers abandoners will always inadvertently mention Zhang Qi in front of O'Neal, who makes everyone so close, it is said that the new arena Clippers also want to rent, maybe the two arenas will use the same one in the future.

The Clippers' goal today is to destroy the Lakers' 18-game winning streak and must not allow them to get their 19th straight win. Otherwise, the Lakers will no longer share the third winning streak with the Bulls and Knicks, and they will have the first and third places on the longest winning streak in history, just like the TI7 Chinese team.

Michael Finley's attention was on Kobe, and he heard a recent voice that Kobe actually deserved to be a rookie in the West more than he did, and that he should really be selected off the bench, and that Kobe didn't win him because of his lack of attention with the Clippers.

Zhang Wei felt that this was a fart, Finley's data was much better than that Kobe, but he wondered that Kobe's data could be selected as a substitute for Wallace?

But to his surprise, a Los Angeles magazine conducted a poll with the title "Who is the favorite Clippers player among Lakers fans"?

As a result, it was not O'Neal who voted the most, nor other Lakers veterans, and many Lakers fans actually said that they liked to watch that Kobe Bryant play the most.

If you want to ask the reason, of course that little guy plays well!

Zhang Yu can't accept this reason a little, but how to say it, his style of play is mainly strong and soft, but he must put "fierce" at the forefront, because he usually starts in five gears, when the other party is rushed crookedly, he is still at ease here, and will not "plop" from the air, he will calmly adjust his body in the air, making people feel that there is always room for it.

But to be honest, Zhang Zhu's "picturesque" when he played was more based on his face, he lacked the real elegance and chic when Kobe broke through, and the style of the two was like the contrast between Yang Guo with a broken arm and Yang Guo before a broken arm.

If it is said that James's style of play is 90% fierce, the style of play is too stiff and lacks agility and elegance, then Zhang Mao's style of play is 70% fierce + 30% soft, and there is hardly much stiffness.

In fact, this is similar to Jordan, although they will not look stiff, but compared with Kobe's more ornamental style, then Jordan and Zhang Yu are really not as good as Kobe Bryant.

There is no need to deny this, Kobe's style of play will not be favored by everyone, this is an aesthetic issue, but if there is a vote, then no matter around the world, in five years, Kobe's style of play will definitely be more ornamental than Jordan and Zhang Mao.

However, whether he is efficient or not these two people and whether he can win the championship is another matter, but it is certain that he has a strong ability to attract fans, otherwise the league would not invite Kobe Bryant to participate in the "Slam Dunk Contest", let alone choose him as a substitute in the strong West.

Today is another disaster day for Kobe!

It's true that this kid is good-looking in play, but it's inevitable that he is not as good as Zhang Qi in actual combat. On the other hand, Kobe's level was only sublimated in the summer of 2000, and he has since entered the ranks of superstars. Now he is still a rookie who only has a chance to reach 80 when he is in good shape.

O'Neal is at his peak, and with the likes of Van Exel and Eddie Jones supporting him today, the Lakers' split tactics are no longer very effective.

After Van Exel joined the Clippers, this team has been much more difficult to defend than the later Rockets, the peak O'Neal is much more flexible than Da Yao in footsteps, and the ability to hold the ball and protect the ball is also the same, so Van Exel's breakthrough can liberate O'Neal to a certain extent, although he is not good at standing and passing, but the breakthrough is not bad.

The Lakers have a tough defense Kidd to defend Fan Maniac, but the interior still can't ignore this guy's breakthrough, which allows O'Neal to get a lot of space near the restricted area, and the sudden combination of the two makes the Lakers feel tricky, and the other Clippers players are also activated.

The current Clippers team no longer has too obvious weaknesses, and they used the method of "encircling Zhan to save Ke" to crack the Lakers' split defense against O'Neal to a certain extent, and it can be regarded as maximizing the use of Van Exel's personal ability, and this robbery deal has been done with full marks.

The Lakers trailed the Clippers by as many as 11 points in the first half, and they could no longer use the old way to limit O'Neal, and let the big fat man take the opportunity to score 20 points in the first half, leaving him alone to overturn Mutombo and Mason.

Van Exel also scored 15 points, plus Lloy Ott's 10 points and Jones' 8 points, the reason the Clippers didn't have a 20-point lead over the Lakers at halftime was because Kobe Bryant, who came off the bench, shot 0 of 5, and the Iron God's might has begun to be revealed.

Of course, this is just a joke, the Lakers are not behind more, in fact, because Zhang Mao also scored 18 points.

The Lakers can't limit O'Neal today, but the Clippers have never limited Zhang Mao.

Today, if the Lakers hadn't put too much energy into O'Neal, which led to the full flowering of the Clippers players and indirectly affected their own performance, they would not have fallen behind by so many points.

The Lakers may no longer be able to beat the Clippers the old way, but they don't scare anyone when it comes to hard power.

Big deal, you get one point, I get two points.

The real strong teams do this, and there are very few parties in the strong dialogue that will show too much flaw for you to target, otherwise it will not be called a strong dialogue.

In the third quarter, the Lakers launched a counterattack from the first minute, but in addition to strengthening the offense, they still maintained a strong enough defense, which everyone knows is the key to deciding the outcome of the game!

If someone asks, is it offensive or defensive to win a championship?

Teams that win championships, like the Bulls last season, will say "defense wins the championship, of course."

But this is just to sound rhyming, a full round refers to an "offense and defense", so "offense" and "defense" are indispensable.

The Clippers are no worse than the Lakers in terms of offense, but the gap between the two teams still exists, that is, "defense", which is why they lost to the Jazz twice this year, losing to the Bulls and Lakers.

The Lakers have a better defense, which makes it more difficult for the Clippers to score than the Lakers, and as long as the Lakers players don't have problems with form and tactics, or the Clippers don't play well, then unless they're lucky, it's hard for them to win the game.

Jerry West brought in players who were strong defensively in the summer, and even did not hesitate to trade Van Exel, who had a better attack, for a better defense of Kidd, in order to cope with today's situation under the premise that the offensive firepower is enough.

Basketball games have always been like this, once you encounter an advantage that cannot be achieved by offense, defense is really too important, which is the same as learning martial arts to learn to be beaten first.

Lord Baylor may not be unaware of this truth, but they don't have the right to choose, and this year's Clippers must first solve the problem of whether there is one, just like the Lakers last year.

The Clippers were also trying to defend in the second half, and even O'Neal frequently went to the outside of the box to defend, you must know that most of the time he was stuck in it and couldn't come out, and today he was willing to work so hard that he really wanted to win.

But the problem is that from the biggest O'Neal to the smallest Van Exel, this Clippers team has no players who are really known for their defense other than Lloy Ott at the No. 4 position.

Eddie Jones can only say that the defense is okay, Van Exel is not too lagging behind in defense, but O'Neill and Rodgers are really problematic in defense, even if there is no attitude problem, age and physical problems also restrict them.

O'Neill wasn't lazy at all today, and even Zhang Yi could testify.

However, his figure can't have a good footwork, and he hasn't worked the defensive end before, so his defense at the level of consciousness such as positioning, retreat, filling, and rotation is too bad, and it can be said that there are no details at all. In the technical links such as topping people, sliding steps, controlling the center of gravity, and small movements, it is even worse, and it is a disaster.

It can't be helped, O'Neal rarely works on these areas, which makes the Lakers players not too afraid of O'Neal's defense and blocking, because they have a good chance of making fouls.

O'Neal himself knows that the defense is not big enough to be powerful, he most of the time he just relies on his teeth and claws to scare people, and he is worried that there will be too many fouls when he really goes to block.

But if you ask the Clippers' perimeter players, do they get worried when they see Mutombo next to them? The answer is 100% yes!

"African Mountain" is now averaging 4 blocks per game, but he is averaging less than 3 fouls per game.

The Clippers didn't even notice themselves, and the Lakers didn't know when they had slowly narrowed the score to 6 points, and then it was star show time-

In the last 3 minutes and 19 seconds of the third quarter, the koala baby suddenly burst out and hurt people in these three minutes, and one person scored 10 points to help the Lakers overtake the score before the end of the third quarter.

The big shark also wanted to go wild, but after his physical strength declined, it was difficult for him to ensure the same high efficiency, and the more anxious he was, the more he couldn't shoot.

The Clippers also lost the excellent touch of the first half under the pressure of the Lakers, and no one stepped up at critical moments.

This is another benefit of "defending", which can wear down the opponent's form and feel, limit the opponent to play a good performance throughout the game, and at the same time give yourself enough confidence to complete the comeback.

It's very simple, when the opponent can keep scoring on the offensive end, but he can't prevent anything, and the offense is also very laborious, a long time will inevitably produce an anxious mentality, which will lead to worse and worse state, the opponent's offense will get better and better, and a wave will not be far away.

It's that rhythm now, the Clippers started the third quarter well, but when they couldn't defend against the Lakers, and the Lakers were able to complete a wonderful defense, the victory had been transferred to the Lakers unconsciously.

In the fourth quarter, O'Neal played another half quarter after a break, but soon fell into an unsustainable situation again, which was not only a physical problem, but also mentality and running-in.

With a final score of 110-102, the Lakers defeated the Clippers on the road, extending their winning streak to 19 games, surpassing the Bulls and Knicks in one fell swoop, and setting the third-highest winning streak in history.

Zhang played 45 minutes today and scored 46 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, setting the stage for him to run for this week's Player of the Week.

The question now is, how to play tomorrow's back-to-back?