On Feb. 23, the Bobcats hosted the Sacramento Kings.

There is no shortage of megalomaniacs in this world, and before the game, Kings player Ron Artest said in an interview: "I'm the best defensive player in the league, and I'm going to guard Hayes, like I did last season." Don't underestimate the Kings. ”

When interviewed by reporters, Hayes smiled: "Ron is a player I really like, he is really good defensively, he didn't make the All-Defensive Team last season, I think it's because of the team's record and the tactical system. He's one of the most likely players in the league to limit me, he's strong and he's not slow. All in all he is very strong and I am looking forward to playing against him. ”

Gerald Wallace was in the locker room and asked curiously, "Chuck, you even overwhelmed James, what are you polite to Artest?" ”

"I want to be humble and make him look more idiot when I blow him up. You've all passed me the ball, and I'm going to blow him up with half court today! Hayes exclaimed. The Kings are now ranked 11th in the West and have basically missed the playoffs, and Hayes thinks it will be a piece of cake to deal with the Kings and blow up Atay. In his opinion, Artest's remarks were self-digging, Artest didn't know Hayes's thoughts, he thought that Hayes was really afraid of his toughness, and he began to be complacent before the game was played, fantasizing about what it would be like to limit Hayes's score to 10 points. His biggest hobby is to block the opponent's leading scorer. Before the game, he proposed to Kings head coach Reggie Sieus to guard Hayes. Sieus had already planned to do so, and if Hayes broke through, he would be ready to use two of his interior teammates to help defend at any time.

Because the Hawks have not offered to trade Mike Bibby, the veteran is currently on the roster, and the Kings lineup is as follows:

Centre-forwards: Brad Miller, Spencer Haures, Watkins.

Power forwards: Mickey Moore, Sharif Abdo Rahim, Kenny Thomas, Justin Williams.

Small forwards: Artest, Salmons.

Defenders: Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin, Quincy Dolby, Francisco Garcia, Mashafa Shackle.

"Today we have to change our tactics and change positions." D'Antoni rallied his players and said, "Karl (Landry) starts power forward, Gerrard (Wallace) small forward, Chuck you play shooting guard." Pay attention to the counterattack, when the ground is attacking, Gerald and Karl cover Chuck, and the Eagles attack. ”

Landry usually plays hard, and his performance in the rookie game is even more eye-catching, D'Antoni is ready to give Landry more playing time, as long as Landry plays with confidence, it will be a powerful weapon on the offensive end.

"Give me all the balls, don't talk about Martin, even if it's a one-on-one with Artest, I'll blow him up." Hayes laughed.

The Kings' starting point guard is Kevin Martin, and D'Antoni wants to focus on that, and both Hayes and Wallace have a physical advantage over Martin.

Martin is averaging 23.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three-point range. Actually, don't be fooled by Martin's luxurious stats, there's never going to be a coach who drafts Martin as an All-Star because he doesn't defend at all. His thin physique puts him at a disadvantage against most of the league's No. 2 players. His only role is to grab points, and when the king has a lot of shooting rights and has a good hand, he can score more than 30 points and win a victory, and if he doesn't feel good, he is a blacksmith who throws a lot of money.

The Kings' lineup does not seem to be weak, and the team's top management feels a little strange that they have not been able to make the playoffs in the past two years, but in fact, the main problem is the first scorer.

"Chuck Hayes, I'm not going to let you score easily today." On the pitch, Artest stood next to Hayes and said defiantly.

"Understood." Hayes sighed, he didn't take Artest's pre-game words to heart at all, it was too simple to break Artest's defense. Being too confident isn't necessarily a good thing, Hayes admits that Atay's individual defense is very good, but the Kings are full of holes in defense, so what's the use of his own strong defense?

At the end of the season, Artest has the option to jump out of his contract and enter free agency. If it weren't for Artest's last name, and Hayes really wanted to pull him to the Bobcats, Artest might have become a ticking time bomb in the locker room.

Bobcats starters: Calderon, Hayes, Wallace, Landry, Biedrins.

Kings starters: Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin, Artest, Mickey Moore, Brad Miller.

Biedlings' jump ball win rate ranks among the top three in the league this season, and it is very easy to win against Miller, who can't jump. Calderón received the ball, steadied his rhythm, and slowly organized the attack.

Hayes even pressed Duncan, not to mention the King's Artest, Calderon was in a relaxed mood now. All he had to do was dribble the ball across half the court and pass it to Hayes and the task was done.

Artest has been close to Hayes, and when defending James, he uses this trick, not to say that he is going inside, and he doesn't let him go in at the three-point line. Hayes ran sideways and Wallace covered on the perimeter to block Artest, and Calderon's pass arrived.

Hayes took a step to get on the basketball, easily shook off Artest, and it was Martin who defended him after the switch. At this time, there was a strange phenomenon, the person who made up the defense should be the player who was close to the breakthrough, but Martin deliberately slowed down, he didn't want to be hit by Hayes, so he simply gave up his position to let Hayes break through and hand over the defensive task to the interior player. Hayes, on the other hand, rushed towards Martin with the ball, smacked Martin with his back, and then got up and jumped into the ball. 2 to 0.

As long as Martin defends in front of Hayes, he has to be knocked out of the shadows. Wallace watched from the sidelines and smiled secretly. His task today is also very simple, block Artest, and let Hayes, the strongest offensive point, touch the opponent's defensive holes.

Is Hayes playing shooting guard today? Kings head coach Reggie Sius's heart skipped a half-beat, and at the beginning of the Bobcat game, he attacked the King's death hole, Artest's pace was not very fast, and the pick-and-roll was his weakness. Martin is even less likely to defend against Hayes' offense. It's a counterpoint between the strongest and weakest in the league. Except for Artest, no one in the king has the power to resist Hayes.

When defending, Wallace defended Martin and Hayes against Artest.

"You coward, why don't you dare to fight me?" Artest asked.

"What about you? Do you dare to compete with me? Hayes said lightly, looking at Artest with a dead fish eye.

The biggest problem with Artest's surname is irritability. Hayes's expression was clearly not to take him seriously. Artest also scored 20.4 points this season. Don't dare to attack? Artest immediately held the ball and played a heads-up with Hayes, and the three-point line dribbled to the inside.

Compared to the tough defense, Artest's offense is much worse. He has very few scoring means, in addition to mid-range shots and three-pointers, the best thing is to rely on the ugly dribble to force the penalty area, there is no feint and change with the ball, it is to rely on the high-intensity advantage of physical confrontation to suppress the opponent to get the opportunity to make a layup or dunk, the skill surname and the timing of the shot are very poor, so the most impression in the attack of Atai is also a blacksmith.

He can squeeze others, but he can't squeeze Hayes, who is about the same size as himself. Atai took a few steps and forced a shot.

How can this rotten action possibly score? Hayes didn't jump, and ran straight to the King's half. The shot popped up, Landry grabbed the rebound, threw the ball to the frontcourt with both hands, and handed it to Hayes accurately. Due to the tactical needs of the Bobcats, the players will practice half-court long passes in every training session, and after half a year, everyone has a good ability to pass long balls.

With only Mike Bibby behind him, Hayes took three slow steps to score an easy basketball, 4-0. After the trade, the Bobcats' roster was reduced to 14 players. Excluding the injured Bagnani, there are exactly 13 players, which is also the number of people who can sign up for the playoffs. Now the lynx can not be left behind. Having gained experience with dunking injuries last season, Hayes now plays as much as possible on the floor to reduce the likelihood of injury.

Compared to the Bobcats' clear tactics, the Kings' offense was very loose. Veteran Miller pulled up high to attack and let Martin and Artest break through. The Bobcats' defense has a vague shadow of last season's Rockets. Landry and Biedrins also have super athleticism and timely defense. Martin's breakaway shot was wide and he almost got a block from Landry. Biedrins grabbed another rebound in the backcourt.

The Bobcats launched a quick counter-attack, Calderon handed to Wallace, and Wallace passed Hayes. Hayes slotted into the box from the left and Artest took a position just outside the reasonable collision zone. Hayes slowed down and collided with Artest, leaning over to take the ball and take a step back.

Your strength still can't compare to mine! Artest thought to herself. But he immediately noticed that Hayes was not knocked off balance, but used his strength to step back and widen the distance between the two, and when he realized this and chased after the block, Hayes had already jumped back lightly and threw the ball high with one hand. The basketball is played front to the basket and goes into the basket. 6 to 0.

Hayes wasn't particularly excited after the goal, his throws were getting more and more accurate, and with no one blocked, it was just normal. He just thought it was strange, Artest didn't seem to be a big deal except that he was more powerful and more ferocious when defending. In fact, it's not that Artest is weak, it's that Hayes is too strong now. He is very well-rounded, although his foot movement is not as good as that of Big Dream, his strength is not as good as Barkley's, his rebounding is not as good as Rodman's, and his dribbling and passing are not as good as Johnson's. But the weakened abilities of these four people appear in the same person, and he is an invincible monster.

Martin made a three-point jumper from the outside. 6 to 3.

"Carl, transposition." Hayes shouted.

Landry immediately pulled up the high post, Hayes asked for the ball at a 45-degree angle from the left three-point line, and Artest was still the defender.

Now Artest's psychology has changed, he is arrogant, but not a fool, and after a few rounds, he realizes that it is impossible to control Hayes under 10 points. Hayes dribbled the ball with his back, and under the close pressure of Artest, he used his thick body to protect the ball into the middle, and his back stopped sharply to the right while holding the ball with both hands, Artest hesitated slightly, Hayes turned to the left, and squeezed into the basket between Artest and Miller, who was on defense. Hit a low-handed pick-and-roll basket. 8 to 3.

"It's too easy." Hayes looked at Artest and smiled.

itstooeasy！ This has become Hayes' mantra on the court, and Artest has long noticed that the Bobcats have a lot of fans playing signs with this saying on them, and now he hears them on the court.

Artest was even more angry, and he relied on Miller's pick-and-roll break in the frontcourt, passed Hayes, and went straight to the basket for a layup. 8 to 5.

Must be prevented, this time must be prevented, Artest defense pressed tighter, Hayes ran sideways without the ball, borrowed Wallace's cover to shake off Artest, Calderon passed, Martin stepped forward for a gambling steal, but it was unsuccessful. Hayes received the ball and made a jumper, but Moore couldn't make up for it, and the ball hit again. 10 to 5.

With a variety of offensive means and excellent touch, if no one is around, Hayes's offense is no longer solved.

(To be continued)