Chapter 156: Rookie Moreau
NBA pundits are unanimous that the Warriors have booked a playoff spot if O'Neal does have a second spring, and after a season, the Warriors seem to have completed a rebuild.
The bench group with full scoring ability, O'Neal who rejuvenated his second spring, and Li Zhi, who showed competitiveness in the second season, all of which made the Warriors gain a lot of fans, and many fans who don't pay attention to the Warriors, because Li Zhi and O'Neal once again set their sights on the Warriors.
But the Lakers did not admit this, Jackson said in the post-game press conference: "The weakness of the Warriors is obvious, and it will be difficult for the Warriors to win against a team with a star power forward and an outside star."
Because of O'Neal's relationship, Kobe Bryant was naturally interviewed, and when asked how he thought of O'Neal's state this year, Kobe Bryant said very objectively, but no one knew what he thought in his heart.
As if to corroborate Jackson's claims, the Warriors will face the Spurs with star power forwards and outside stars in the next game.
Against Duncan, the Warriors' interior advantage is completely gone, even if O'Neal is at his peak, Duncan still has a way to limit him, plus Vicky, who has a deep study of "shark slashing tactics", the Warriors naturally lost the game.
Li Zhi did not perform well, perhaps due to the psychological effect, Li Zhi deliberately reduced his passing in the face of Ginobili in this game, fearing that he would make a mistake and hurt the team.
After the game, Li Zhi suddenly realized that he didn't need to do this at all, he was afraid that Ginobili would target him, but Ginobili didn't realize this at all, or that the Spurs' tactics caused Ginobili not to defend Li Zhi.
Defending Li Zhi is Bruce Bowen, known as "Uncle Bao", Bowen's targeted defense of Li Zhi's breakthrough, coupled with many small movements, Li Zhi is annoyed and continues to feel bad.
After two downturns, some media have begun to dig into Li Zhi's shortcomings.
Expert Marco Mitino is not optimistic about Li Zhi, he said: "Li Zhi is versatile, but once he faces a top defender, the feeling will become extremely bad and the mistakes will become more." Kobe Bryant and Bowen are the best testers, and it is clear that Li Zhi did not pass the test of these top defenders. ”
Zacroway commented: "The Warriors' lineup is very complete, but after two battles, it has been beaten back to the prototype, and if the strong forward position is not filled, even if the Warriors enter the playoffs, it will be difficult to break through the first round." And Li Zhi exposed his shortcomings in the two battles, making too many mistakes, whether it was facing Kobe or Bowen, Li Zhi was not fully prepared, and Li Zhi's ceiling determined where the Warriors could go. ”
Yahoo Sports even said: "George Lee was overrated by everyone, he was put at the height of Anthony and LeBron, and everyone called him a super rookie, but this battle made him fall off the altar, Li Zhi could only face some ordinary players to show his strong scoring ability, and in the face of the league's top defenders, his aura disappeared completely." You know, whether or not you can score against a top defender is the standard for judging a superstar, and George Lee is obviously not enough to take on the responsibility of the leader of the Warriors, and he is not enough to be a top small forward with Anthony and James. ”
Everyone is digging into the weaknesses of the warriors, and it seems that Li Zhibian is worthless, but Li Zhi doesn't care about this, because he knows his reasons.
The Lakers and Spurs are both teams aiming to compete for the championship, and it is not a big deal for the Warriors to lose to these teams, although they have O'Neal, but the Warriors are not strong enough to beat those top teams.
Because the Warriors have no third person who can stand up in addition to Lee Chi and O'Neal, the Lakers have Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Bynum, the Spurs have Tony Parker, Ginobili and Duncan, and the Warriors only have Lee Chi and O'Neal.
And O'Neal's problem is also obvious, the free throws are bad, he was caught and cut at the critical moment, and Nelson is helpless, because if O'Neal is replaced at the critical moment, the Warriors' other interior Jordan Jr. and Milicic will not do as well as O'Neal.
After losing two games in a row, Li Zhi went to the qualifying match to find a stimulus, he must quickly improve his ability, he must have more skills, so as to ensure that he meets top defenders without being restricted, in short, Li Zhi's current skills are actually too few.
In the qualifying match, in order to avoid encountering the pitfalls of Kobe Bryant and James as much as possible, Li Zhi, Zhuang Lin and An Xi formed a three-row team, which can better score points, and the three of them are ordinary hosts and will not be targeted for forbidden skills.
In the real world, Li Zhi and Avril Lavigne's lives are also very nourishing, and they have nothing to copy so many songs in exchange for the worship of beauties, Li Zhi feels that life is like this, what more can a husband ask for.
After that, the Warriors defeated the Pistons and Clippers to make it two wins in a row.
In the game against the Pistons, Li Zhi broke out and felt hot all over the court, shooting 16 of 20, 3 of 4 three-pointers, 2 of 3 free throws, cutting 39 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and 2 steals.
The feel is coming, and the block can't be stopped, even if the Pistons are aimed at Li Zhi's defense, Li Zhi can still throw the ball in.
The little prince Prince Prince said after the game: "Who said that Li Zhi is not a top small forward, this guy is obviously not good."
Maybe it was to cover up the embarrassment of being blown up by Li Zhi, or maybe it was Prince's true thoughts, Prince's words still cooled down Li Zhi's discussion in the previous paragraph.
In this regard, fans joked that the little prince is Li Zhi's royal defensive master, because since Li Zhi entered the league, every time he encounters the Pistons, a wave will erupt.
Of course, there is a reason for the loss, and the problem with the Nuggets is their perimeter defense.
After losing to the Warriors in their last game, the Denver Nuggets officially announced: Allen Iverson was exchanged for point guard Chauncy Billups, power forward Antonio McDyce and center Cheke Sambu.
Pistons President Joe Dumas said after the trade was completed: "We are thrilled to welcome Iverson to the Detroit family, Allen has proven to be the best player in the league, we would love to include him on the guard lineup, and we thank Billups, McDyce and Sambu for everything they have done for the team and best wishes to them."
But being beaten against the Warriors doesn't look so rosy about Joe Dumas' trade.
In the battle against the Clippers, Anthony Morrow, who had never been given a chance by the Warriors, broke out.
Anthony Morrow scored 37 points on 15-of-20 shooting, surpassing this year's rookie Mayo's previous record of 33 points in a rookie game, while also setting the NBA's record for scoring by a non-draft player in his rookie season so far.
"Frankenstein" Nelson Sr. replaced Lowry as the starter with Moreau before the game, and in addition to center O'Neal, there are three guards on the court, Moreau, Jackson, Crawford and a small forward on the court.
All of this has ushered in praise for Nelson, and the Warriors have also gone through the run-in period after so many games.