Chapter 111: LeBron James

At the end of the game, the Clippers won the game with an absolute advantage of 21 points, and Gu Fei played an efficient performance again in this game, playing 32 minutes, hitting 12 of 16 shots, two three-point shots, two free throws, 6 of 7 free throws, and easily scored 32 points, as the other core of the Clippers in this game, Noah scored 18 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, of which the number of assists is also a new high in Noah's career.

The winning streak of winning the Timberwolves Clippers came to 5 games, but they didn't have time to celebrate and rejoice, because they were about to fly to Cleveland to challenge the Cavaliers led by James, which would be a big challenge for the Clippers.

LeBron James is a name that all basketball fans will be familiar with, whether you love him or hate him, but no one can deny that he is a basketball genius and that he has turned his talent into strength.

In the previous season James, the Cavaliers were only a 17-65 super-belly team, and they were a bad team that had to be bullied when they met, and the 03-04 season can be said to be a very important season for the Cavaliers, a turning point in their team history, because they welcomed James in this season.

In the summer of '03, the team renewed its coaching staff, with Paul Silas, Stephen Silas and Mark Osszski appointed as head coach and assistant coach respectively. On June 26, 2003, the Cavaliers selected basketball talent LeBron James from Akron in the NBA draft and signed with him. The arrival of "Little Emperor" James has brought the Cavaliers out of the silence of the past few years. On October 29, 2003, James scored 25 points, nine assists and grabbed six rebounds in his first regular season game in the NBA against the Sacramento Kings. No high school player has ever scored 25 points in his first NBA game before. The Cavaliers, who are in contention for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, missed the playoffs by one game behind the Celtics. However, the Cavaliers jumped from a 17-65 record in 2002-03 to a 35-47 record, an 18-game improvement that is the second-largest improvement in franchise history. James averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game to win the Rookie of the Year award, while Carlos Boozer averaged 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game and scored a double-double in 41 attempts, becoming the team's first double-double per game season since the 1994-95 season. (Boozer was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 34th overall pick in the second round in '02, his second season, and he only played two seasons with the Cavaliers.) )

In the following 2004-05 season, the Cavaliers acquired Eric Snow from the Philadelphia 76ers and Drew Gooden from the Orlando Magic in the offseason, while Carlos Boozer moved to the Jazz. During the season, the Cavaliers fired coach Paul Silas and put assistant coach Brandon Malone in his place. Silas went 69-77 (47.3 percent) during his time with the Cavaliers. Malone got off to a flying start on his second day in office, beating defending champion Detroit Pistons 91-76 at home. James had four triple-doubles that season, averaging 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.21 steals per game, and the Cavaliers had a 42-40 record that was the same as the New Jersey Nets, but unfortunately ceded the playoff finish due to the disadvantage of fighting each other.

In the 2005-06 season, the Cavaliers went from strength to strength with a new general manager, Danny Feery, new head coach Mike Brown, and free agents Larry Hughes, Don Yell Marshall, and Damon Jones. The 21-year-old James continued to improve, ranking third in the league with 31.4 points per game and becoming the youngest player to win the All-Star Game MVP in Houston, scoring 29 points to lead the East to a 122-120 win over the West. After the All-Star break, the Cavaliers continued to play strongly, finishing second in the division with a 50-32 record. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards 4-2 in the first round to win the playoff series for the first time since 1993. But in the second round, they lost 3-4 to the Detroit Pistons, the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.

Last season, although LeBron James didn't score as much as he did in 2005-06, the team remained a key contender throughout the season, finishing second in the division with a 50-32 record, three wins less than the first place. In the first round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers met the Washington Wizards again, and this time the Cavaliers easily swept their opponents in straight games. In the second round, the Cavaliers faced the New Jersey Nets, and LeBron James continued his strong playoff performance, with the Cavaliers eliminating the Nets 4-2 to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and the Detroit Pistons 4-2 to advance to the Finals. However, in the finals, they lost 0-4 to the three-time champion San Antonio Spurs and missed the championship.

Just this season, in 2007-08, the Cavaliers rebuilt their roster with a three-way deal with the Seattle SuperSonics and Chicago Bulls, acquiring Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczebiak and Delonte West, while Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown were sent to the Bulls, and Ira Newbell and Don Yell Marshall were sent to the SuperSonics. (The specific time of this transaction has not been found, just as if it has happened)

In the previous games, the Clippers relied more on Gu Fei's personal ability, Gu Fei's scores or assists to help the team win, but now they will face LeBron James, although the Clippers players all recognize Gu Fei and think he will become a supergiant, but after all, that is a matter of the future, LeBron is already a supergiant now, and the overall lineup of the Cavaliers is above the Clippers, how can the Clippers' players have confidence?

Perhaps LeBron James, who will be one of Gu Fei's biggest enemies in his future career, Gu Fei has certainly studied him carefully, although the two are not playing in the same position, but it is inevitable that they will be on top.

LeBron's main scoring methods are different from Gu Fei's, he mainly relies on cutting layups and dunks, which can often cause three-point shooting; At the same time, James' mid-range jumper has matured and has become his regular weapon; Perhaps the biggest flaw on offense is his three-point shooting, which as a scorer shot 31.9 percent from three-point range last season, which was clearly not enough; He also has excellent rebounding and assist ability, both of which have career averages around 7, and his steals and blocks are not bad, which shows that he is an all-round player, but he is not good at free throws, averaging 9 free throws per game but only making 6.7 shots, about 75% shooting.

James' defensive awareness is also quite good, in the game can often see him flying from behind the block, or a fast-break dunk after breaking the ball, and even after grabbing a defensive rebound, he can quickly break through and score points, the speed of the guard allows him to quickly switch between offense and defense, he also has a fairly good ball control ability and full-court vision, often plays the role of point guard, in this position he has a great body advantage, his offense can often attract the opponent's two or three players to wrap the defense, And he has a selfless sense of sharing the ball and good passing skills, which allows his teammates to get many opportunities to shoot in the gaps.

As for physical fitness, there are few people in the league who can compare with him, some people say that the Clippers' Margety is not inferior to James's physical fitness, but in fact, Margeti is still worse than James, but if it is just about upper body strength, Magetti may be able to overwhelm James, but if it is compared to the overall physical strength and how to use the strength in the basketball game, James is undoubtedly better than Margety.

Anyway, in Gu Fei's own opinion, the Clippers have absolutely no way to prevent James, maybe the only way is for him to fight against James by himself!