Chapter 205 [That kid is so handsome!] 】
In terms of technique, Hayes really hasn't improved much from the start of the season. But his scoring stats are starting to skyrocket, and it's his heart that improves. Now he also has a big heart and dares to score when his teammates can't open it. In the fourth quarter, he scored 11 points against Gooden and Brown's bag defense and led the Bobcats to an 8-0 win over the Cavaliers.
At 104-91, Hayes continued his undefeated record against James. Hayes had 42 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, and James was slightly inferior with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Hayes used seven throws in this game, only hitting three, and the shooting percentage was less than one and a half, and Hayes was not happy with it. This is the easiest way for him to break the bag and attack at the moment, and if he can improve his shooting percentage, there is still room for his strength to rise. At present, it cannot be used as a conventional weapon.
The number of strong hits increased, and Hayes's confidence grew. The brave wins in a narrow road, and many of his goals are obtained by looking for gaps in the process of being surrounded by others and throwing low-handed shots. After a long period of throwing training, he also feels better than before.
If you don't have height and no bounce, if you want to break the bag, you have to solve the battle by dialing thousands of pounds in four or two.
After this game, people's evaluation of Hayes and James reversed. James only has a physical advantage, but Hayes' fundamentals are more solid. In a one-on-one battle, James was stunned by Hayes. The top five balls of the day were all created by the Cavaliers and Bobcats. Hayes used his foot movements to score the ball on the inside, and a few beautiful goals were made into a small highlight, which was selected as the top five of the day. The news host introduced it as "the successor of the big dream".
With a win over the Cavaliers, the Bobcats ran back-to-back against the Pistons. And they ushered in a devilish schedule, and none of the next six opponents were weak. Orlando Magic, New Orleans Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks.
Even the Grizzlies, who were supposed to be weak, are in 5th place in the West. Pau Gasol, Al Horford, Milicic and Varick are very competitive on the inside. Rudy Gay's stats soared in the new season, and Navarro and Mike Miller also played well. The Grizzlies' only flaw is on the guard line, and their starting point guard is Kyle Lowry, who is only a year old.
Hayes is familiar with Lowry, because the player was traded to the Rockets in his previous life, known as "Little Steel Cannon", played a season and a half as a backup for Brooks, and averaged 9.1 points and 4.5 assists per game in the 2009-2010 season. He averaged nine points per game with the Grizzlies this season, but only 3.5 assists. The Grizzlies weren't happy with Lowry's performance.
Hayes played with confidence against the Cavaliers. Back at home, he led the Bobcats to a 110-92 ravage of the Detroit Pistons, who were weak on the inside. Played 37 minutes, scored 32 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.
After a four-day break, the Bobcats beat the Magic 101-87 at home, with Carter sidelined due to injury. Hayes overwhelmed Dwight Howard with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.
Hayes has won six consecutive 30+10 games and the Bobcats have won three in a row. Hayes was named Player of the Week. This is the third time this season that he has won the Weekly Awards.
In the new All-NBA selection, Hayes also beat Garnett to be selected. The other four are Deron Williams (Jazz), Kobe Bryant (Lakers), Josh Smith and Yao Ming (Hawks).
The Hawks are on good momentum this week, sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 31-7 record.
The Bobcats, who fell to attack the position, found a way to win again. As long as Hayes is here! Experts say he's a combination of Olajuwon, Barkley, Rodman, Johnson. With him, the Bobcats are a team that no one can underestimate.
So what if Hayes wasn't there?
As the saying goes, it's a blessing not a curse, and it's a disaster that can't be avoided. Hayes' floor-style play is not prone to injury, but he was injured against the Hornets on Jan. 19.
Hayes wanted to make veteran Bobby Jackson hit someone with the ball in the third quarter. As a result, Jackson crashed into Hayes' knee. Hayes limped off the field and took an X-ray, which showed that he was surnamed Yin, and then Hayes underwent an MRI to confirm that the injury was not serious, but a recurrence of the old knee sprain injury from the Rockets, and he will be out for 2-3 weeks.
The Bobcats now have a 29-9 record, and even the Cavaliers, Magic, and Pistons have risen to second place in the East, and they are only two games away from the Hawks. But what will Hayes do when he comes back with 10 games out? Bobcat fans are worried. Now the only people in the team can rely on are Wallace and Felton. Azubuuk's scoring is inconsistent, Moon and Barnes can defend but are not very good at offense, and Landry and Gortat hit the rookie wall and are almost dead...... Fans were frantically cursing Bobby Jackson and demanding that one Hayes come back.
"You'll have to withstand the time I'm away. At least half of the wins are guaranteed! Hayes said as he prepared to leave the team to recuperate.
"Chuck, you can go in peace. We'll guarantee a win rate. Raymond Felton knew that Hayes was not at ease and reassured. (Is this really consolation?) Felton's words were decidedly unconvincing, and he sprained his ankle in practice before he could play the Grizzlies. Although it was not serious, I had to miss three or four games, so I went with peace of mind.
The number of bobcat patients has increased to five. Hayes' injury has left D'Antoni with gray hair, and with Felton's injury, the Bobcats are left with only Raymond Sessions as the point guard available. The top brass immediately thought of getting back the veteran Breven Knight who had been cut, and it turned out that Knight had signed with the Timberwolves with a base salary, and finally they found Jacqui Vaughn in the free market and gave him a 10-day contract to save the game.
At a time when it was thought that the Bobcats were going to be hated at home, the Lynx's least noticed character exploded. Raymond Sessions broke the Grizzlies guard line against the Grizzlies, chipped in 22 points and 16 assists. The Bobcats defended their home court with a 102-98 victory over the Grizzlies.
Everyone had only one thought after the game, where did this kid come from?
Draft night '07 wasn't fantastic for Sessions. He wasn't drafted by the Bucks until the 56th pick in the second round. With such a low draft pick, even if he was drafted, Sessions knew he didn't have many opportunities. But Sessions was lucky, he didn't play a game for the Bucks, he left Milwaukee and was traded to Charlotte Bobcats, a dynamic young team.
Due to the presence of two potential star players, Calderon and Felton, Sessions has been sent to the Development League to wait for call-up, and when Calderon was injured, Sessions was recalled. But he is a rookie after all, he has no experience and his mentality is not good enough. Bobcats' record is so good that he is worried that he will not play well and affect the team, which will increase a lot of psychological pressure. D'Antoni didn't believe in him either, letting Felton play 40 minutes per game, and in the limited time, Sessions could only contribute 2.4 points and 0.8 assists, and was a veritable fringe man.
As soon as Felton was injured, the Bobcats could only push Sessions to the starting point guard position. The opportunity came, and then, the magic came. Completely unleashed, Sessions was able to shoot and showed great passing ability, revitalizing the whole team.
Sessions had his first outburst, which was thought to be a flash in the pan. It's because the Grizzlies' guard line is too weak and gives Sessions a chance to perform.
On January 22, the Bobcats played at home against the Spurs. In this game, the Bobcats have no offensive point other than Gerard Wallace, and there is not much they can do against the Spurs, who have a good defense. The 74-93 loss to the Spurs was 19 points. It was also the first time this season that the Bobcats had scored less than 80 points. But Sessions had 20 points and six assists to become the Bobcats' top scorer on the court, and he frequently broke through the Spurs' defense on the offensive end with Wallace's pick-and-roll combination.
24. Beat the calf. The Bobcats lost 92-117. Sessions had another 28 points and 11 assists and was the best player for the Bobcats.
No one doubts the strength of the Spurs and Mavericks. So there is no longer any doubt about Sessions' outburst. Although the Bobcats lost back-to-back games, they had a super bench with an average of 23 points and 11 assists per game in three games.
Sessions is also beginning to gain D'Antoni's trust. A player who was barely drafted in the draft unexpectedly rose to the top.
When playing against the Bulls, D'Antoni said: "Raymond, whether you can win tonight or not depends on you and Gerrard's performance. When attacking, you have to break boldly, their interior line is not strong. ”
In the end, the Bobcats lost, but Sessions' performance of 14 points and 7 assists was not inferior to Hinrich, who was selected for the American Dream 7 team.
Against the 76ers, D'Antoni once again arranged for Sessions and Wallace to play blocking and pick-and-roll cooperation. This time, Sessions' 31 points and 10 assists became the brightest star of the game, helping the Bobcats to a 95-90 victory at home.
Charlotte media exclaimed, could it be that the Bobcats' strongest point guard has been in the development league all along?
Bobcats head coach Sd Anthony was also surprised by Sessions' outburst, because his performance in training was very average, and if it weren't for the loss of his main point guard, Sessions could only be used as a fringe man, not knowing when he would be discovered.
Only Hayes is not surprised. In his previous life, Sessions exploded in the last month of the regular season with the Bucks, not only scoring a double-20 feat, but also winning the NBA's official Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year in April. He also scored 44 points against the Pistons in his second season.
Sessions hasn't been able to play at his level with the Bobcats, and it's not a matter of strength. It's that his mentality is worse than that of Bagnani, and if he is not taken seriously, he does not seem to be able to exert his power. Bagnani has to scold to get tough, Sessions, on the contrary, needs encouragement from his coach and teammates.
After the game, Jordan went to Hayes' house, who was recovering from injury, and chatted for half an hour. Originally, the Bobcats only planned to give Sessions a base salary, and Hayes said a lot of good things for Sessions, and it took a lot of effort to talk about it, and the Bobcats management decided to give Sessions a long-term three-plus-one contract, with the fourth year being a contract option. Now it seems that keeping Sessions was the right move. Sessions is playing like an All-Star.
Jordan was excited like a child and said, "That kid is so handsome!" Chuck, it's all up to you for next season's Bobcat draft. We'll pick whoever you want, and while you're at home, study the players you're going to draft. I can't believe that I can find such a baby in the second round! ”
"Next season, we'll still find treasures." Hayes smiled: "I think the most important thing now is to solve the problem of the team doctor, don't you think we have too many injuries and are too unlucky? If you can poach the Pistons or the Suns' team doctor, thank goodness. ”
"Chuck, I was about to talk about this. Mike [D'Antoni] is also unhappy with too many injuries, he knows several members of the Suns' medical team very well, and the Suns doctor introduced us to a few doctors, saying that the level is quite good, and I was trying to suggest a change at the top. Jordan said.
"Let's change it, then. Jose (Calderón) poked his finger and rested for two months, and Andrea (Bagnani) was about to retire from the game! "Hayes finally heard the good news, if you want to win the championship, it is important not to be injured.
Last season, the Rockets couldn't change the team doctor, because Van Gundy didn't have enough weight, Jordan said to change, the boss would listen, and the Bobcats' team doctor would definitely be replaced soon.
As for next season's rookie, Hayes doesn't need to study it at all, he knows it in his heart, and it depends on what picks he can get. Right now, he's most focused on what's going on with the Warriors. The Warriors also suffered from injuries, with Jackson, Richardson, and Byron Davis injured one after another, plus weak interior strength, only a 7-31 record, and the Western Conference was at the bottom. This is the best chance for the Bobcats to get a good sign.
During the break, Hayes was not idle, and his knee did not hurt to the point where he could not walk. Every day, with the help of Gao Tongxuan, he practiced fixed-point throwing on the court at home. He's going to have to work on his shooting percentage even higher during the time he can't play.
(To be continued)