Chapter 401: Post-Season Headaches
In fact, Chen Jiyuan would not let Thibodeau choose Tyrick Evans, definitely not to oppose Tykedeau, but simply to oppose the choice of Tyrick Evans.
Indeed, Tyrick Evans looks awesome, with great physique, great defensive talent, and a very good height and reach. In the first season after coming to the NBA, that is, in his rookie season, Terrick Evans did show the strength in line with his talent, averaging 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, and an average of 20+5+5 per game. Tyrick Evans is the fifth person to do this in his rookie season, the first four are all famous players in the league, and it can even be said that the first four are basically Hall of Fame players, namely Osk Robertson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and the last person on this list is Chen Jiyuan. Because Chen Jiyuan not only played 20+5+5 in his rookie season, but averaged 20+10+5 per game at a higher level.
Although Tyrick Evans' rookie season schedule was excellent, it went from bad to worse after that, a little, no, not a little, but a completely high and low rhythm. The phrase "a year is not as good as a year" is a fitting description of Terrick Evans' situation.
Therefore, for the long-term plan in the future, Chen Jiyuan will resolutely not agree to choose Terrick Evans.
These need to wait for the end of the season to be considered, and now Chen Jiyuan needs to consider the issue of record or the game.
After losing to the Rockets, the whole team practiced harder. Then, this effect was still obvious, and the next day, against the Hawks, the Knicks won a big victory, with a score of 112:99, proving that the Knicks' strength is still very strong.
This game was mainly due to Tony Allen limiting the Hawks Joe Johnson very well, the Hawks were originally formed in time with a group of swing guards, and center Zaza Pachulia was not a very strong center. Chen Jiyuan is still very sure of Zaza Pachulia in singles.
Sessions followed Mike Bibby all over the court, and now Mike Bibby is no longer the All-Star level player who averaged 21.1 points and 5.4 assists per game during the Kings era. After all, it's an old person, and it's not okay to drop if you don't accept old age.
Johnson was shot 5-of-17 from the field by Tony Allen throughout the game, shooting a frighteningly low percentage and scoring just 11 points. In fact, Joe Johnson is not suitable to be the leader of the team, although Joe Johnson does have a good killer nature, but not all killers are the boss of the team. Joe Johnson can be the second or third leader of a team, but being the ace boss is a bit hard. After all, Joe Johnson has never been a prolific scorer, but Joe Johnson's playmaking and rebounding abilities are not outstanding. Although he has good defensive ability, his lack of quick lateral movement makes him struggle to defend fast shooting guards. So, in fact, the Hawks' new contract offer to Joe Johnson was a bit excessive. A 6-year contract with a maximum salary of 119 million can only be said to be that the eagles dare to give it, and Johnson dares to accept it.
But it's also normal, no matter what, whoever puts a hundred million dollars in front of you, you will refuse? How is that possible. In the final analysis, it is the Eagles' vision that has gone wrong, and the price they pay for this is that N years of wandering in the playoffs, not moving forward, not retreating. It's just half-dead.
The Eagles never had a rectangle at the helm. That's why the Hawks make the playoffs every year, but none of them make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Even the Eagles have made it past the first round a handful of times.
Josh Smith was more of a leader than Joe Johnson, with Josh Smith scoring 26 points and 12 rebounds on 12-of-22 shooting. The number looks good, but in fact, Josh Smith's strength is quite good, and Chen Jiyuan originally planned to find Josh Smith to strengthen the team. But then he gave up, firstly, because Josh Smith is a typical wave shooter, and the choice of shooting is completely according to his own heart, but now that the Knicks have Thibodeau, then it is impossible to pursue Josh Smith, and Chen Jiyuan believes that Thibodeau will be able to train Josh Smith very well. With Thibodeau's character, Josh Smith would never be allowed to mess around on the court. And Josh Smith's defensive prowess is clearly what Thibodeau loves. If Josh Smith can be brought in as the team's small forward, then the forward line will be greatly improved in terms of both offense and defense. But, alas, the Knicks missed the perfect opportunity to pursue Josh Smith. Originally, last year, the Knicks had already offered a 5-year, $60 million contract to restricted player Josh Smith, but they didn't expect the Hawks to choose to follow up, this contract was already a big contract, but Chen Jiyuan didn't expect the Hawks to choose to follow up anyway, I don't know what gave them the courage to choose to follow up.
But, anyway, the Knicks lost the best opportunity to pursue Josh Smith, but if they really wanted Josh Smith to come to the Knicks, it was not impossible, but the price to pay at that time was a bit big.
Josh Smith averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in the 2007-08 season, which may be why the Hawks would rather follow the Knicks' five-year, $6,000 contract than keep Josh Smith.
This season, however, the incompatibility between Josh Smith and Joe Johnson has gradually revealed itself in addition to a little hint. Josh Smith has taken fewer shots this season, but his offensive efficiency has increased. That's an improvement. As long as Josh Smith doesn't shoot blindly, then Josh Smith must be a very good striker, but apparently Josh Smith doesn't think so. Josh Smith feels that Joe Johnson has robbed him of the right to shoot, which is really not Joe Johnson's problem, but Josh Smith's problem, but now this kind of thing doesn't need the Knicks to worry about.
The next chance to get Josh Smith will have to wait until the 2012-13 season, when Josh Smith will be free again. But before that, the Knicks have a chance to trade Josh Smith to the Knicks, but it's just a matter of chips.
The Hawks, as a team with a huge number of swing guards, have made people speechless, and I don't know if the general manager of the Hawks is Pat Riley's brain-dead rice, otherwise it is really difficult to explain the trades and drafts that the Hawks have made in recent years. The Eagles have been stacking 2m to 2.06m strikers in recent years, and it looks like they are going to form a team of five swing guards. It's really confusing.
After winning against the Hawks, the Knicks won over the Pacers led by Danny Granger. The current Pacers are not the only team in the East that can compete with the Heat's Big Three, first of all, the team has not yet selected the team's hidden leader, Paul George. Secondly, the current inner twin pillars have not yet arrived, Roy Hibbert has not yet grown up, and David West is still assisting Queen Bee Paul.
In addition, the team's chief commander George Hill is no longer there, it can be said that the Pacers of later generations and the current Pacers are completely two teams, and the only thing that has in common is that the leaders are appointed by the same person, the current leader Danny Granger is the person designated by Larry Bird himself, and the later Paul George is also designated by Larry Bird himself. In a sense, Danny Granger's NBA career is a success, a defeat. That's a good way to describe it.
In the game against the Pacers, Stephen Jackson's defense was quite good, and Danny Granger scored 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting under Stephen Jackson's defense. However, the Knicks almost lost this game because of the current Knicks' guard - TJ Ford. TJ Ford scored 36 points on 14-of-23 shooting. There were also 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Because TJ Ford broke Sessions, the game fell into a stalemate for a while, and later, on the Knicks' side, Chen Jiyuan suddenly made a force in the final quarter, and he succeeded in consecutive singles and scored 10 points in a row. Successfully helped the team get rid of the danger of losing and won the game safely.
In this game, Chen Jiyuan got 34 points and 10 rebounds. There are also 4 caps of the number jù.
If you want to say that the Knicks played the second best person in this game, it is really Stucky, who now gives outsiders the feeling that he is sitting firmly in the second place of the Knicks. Because Rodney Starkey is growing up so fast in the new season. Rodney Starkey, who averaged 10.2 points per game last season, is averaging 21.1 points per game so far this season. Although he only averaged 2.8 assists per game, this is because Starkey is more of an offensive finisher for the Knicks, and Starkey's average of 4.0 rebounds per game is definitely at the upper middle level in his position. Starkey's rebounding ability is decisive because Thibodeau is forced out, mainly because Thibodeau has high requirements for the enthusiasm of the players, and he can't leave all the rebounding matters to Chen Jiyuan alone. In the previous season, Chen Jiyuan just came to the Knicks in the season, Chen Jiyuan won the championship of rebounding king, but the Knicks' average rebounds per game turned out to be the bottom few in the league, which is simply a joke, the reason for this situation is that the Knicks' outside players have weak rebounding ability, and the outside players at that time are often the situation of Sessions and Stakiga Crawford. Crawford is a small forward, but his body is too thin to grab rebounds at all.
After Thibodeau arrived at the Knicks, of course, he would not allow this situation to continue to happen, otherwise, he would not even be able to protect the rebounds, and what kind of defense would he talk about. That's.
As a result, under Thibodeau's coercion and lure, Starkey and Sessions both increased their rebounding ability, while poor Crawford was abandoned. The main reason is Crawford's defense, and the secondary reason is that Crawford's rebounding has not improved at all, which is a big problem. So there's a reason why Crawford isn't taken seriously by Thibodeau.
Starkey has now become the second star of the Knicks, Starkey is also passionate about playing and has outstanding scoring ability, while Sessions is the opposite, Sessions has always been calm, and Sessions is not strong in scoring, but he is very stable and very comprehensive. So far this season, Sessions has averaged 13.2 points, 8.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. Those who don't know think this is Kidd's number jù. And now Sessions' nickname is Kidd Jr. is also very concerned, regardless of the fact that it is not as popular as Sessions, Because Sessions averaged 21.1 points per game in the second season, and during the period when Chen Jiyuan was no longer around, Starkey averaged 26.5 points per game, it can be said that the Starkey in this world is much stronger than the Starkey in the previous life, and this is thanks to the competitive environment of the Knicks, because Starkey does not enjoy any privileges here, Thibodeau treats players very strictly, if you don't work hard enough, then you just sit on the bench, there is no other choice. Thibodeau isn't the kind of guy who would be particularly skeptical in the world of accidents. Thibodeau's desire to win, and the soft power that Thibodeau brought to the Knicks are immeasurable, and the impact of Thibodeau cannot be easily reflected.
If the same player grows in a different environment, there will be two growth results. Of course, there are some rookies who influence the rest of the team, but more rookies are influenced by the players around them. If this rookie comes to a bad team, then the rookie will not be strong in his desire to win, and he will gradually not be so strict with himself. Not only will the strength not improve, but it may even stagnate, and it is possible to regress and so on.
And if a player has just entered the league and lives in a strong team, then, for the sake of playing time, they will inevitably work harder, and then their strength will naturally improve.
That's the difference between different teams when a rookie arrives in the NBA. That is, the so-called growth environment affects the players, of course, there are many players who are not affected by the surrounding environment, even in the bad team can still maintain their own progress heart, this kind of players have basically become superstars. Unless it's an injury that's severe enough to affect your career. Otherwise these people rarely don't become superstars.
Originally, after the end of this season, Chen Jiyuan was going to trade Starkey, but the current situation made Chen Jiyuan's mind shake again. After all, history is not immutable, so does Starkey still think that the year is not as good as the year? Do you want to keep Starkey with the Knicks? However, Chen Jiyuan's heart is still inclined to trade and go to Starkey. After all, Starki was not in Chen Jiyuan's dynasty building plan in the first place.
However, now that Starkey is worth a lot of trade, where to trade is also a question, and what kind of player to get in exchange for is even more of a question. A scorer who averages more than 20 points per game has to exchange for something valuable.
As for what to change at that time, it depends on who is on the shelf in the market. It's a bit disrespectful to say that, but it's an indisputable fact.
The Knicks have two more people who have averaged more than 20 points per game, and the offense can be said to be full of vitality. However, correspondingly, there will be gains and losses, and Lefu is the biggest victim caused by Starkey and Chen Jiyuan's right to sell. Originally, Lefu had offensive ability, and Lefu in his previous life averaged 11.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game even in his rookie season. However, the current Lefu score is not as good as in the previous life. However, the number of rebounds has increased. The reason for this increase is very simple, that is, the average playing time of Lefu this season is 35.8 minutes per game, while the average playing time of Lefu in his rookie season in his previous life is only 25.3 minutes, and the increase in rebounds is also very normal. But it also proves how hard Lefou, who has scored less on the offensive end, is struggling. Completely became a blue-collar player.
Lefu is now averaging 8.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, although this number is not very good, but many experts and coaches still find the biggest improvement in Lefou, that is, defense.
Lefou's defense is definitely not at an elite level. This is mainly due to Lefou's slow movement speed, which affects Lefou's deterrence on the defensive end. In the previous life, too, there was no extra block per game for Lefou. The current average number of blocks per game is not even as good as in the previous life, but the efficiency on the defensive end is definitely not comparable to the Lefu in the previous life.
Although the current Lefu defense is still determined, these shortcomings are hidden by Thibodeau in the overall defense of the Knicks, and the strength of Lefu is magnified by Thibodeau's individual defense.
Thibodeau specifically brought in Rick Mahon to teach Love how not to jump to interfere with the opponent's shot. And it turns out that Lefu is indeed a good boy who works hard, and under Ma Hong's tutelage, Lefou's progress is still obvious.
Compared with the current Lefu and the Lefu in the previous life, it can't be said that it is better, but it is obvious that the current one is more suitable for the Knicks.
After winning against the Pacers, the Knicks will have a big challenge.
On February 2, 2009, the Knicks will face the Lakers at home, for this game, Chen Jiyuan attaches great importance to this game, after all, Chen Jiyuan knows that the Lakers are the champion of this season, even if the Celtics can enter the finals without Garnett being injured, then the Lakers also have the capital to compete with the Celtics. So Chen Jiyuan really wants to fight with the Lakers and test what the Knicks can do.