Although the undercurrent of Los Angeles is surging, Min Congda is turning his big head with a low IQ, calculating this and that, and taking pleasure in it, but in the eyes of the fans, everything is thriving, and the death of Buss has not stopped the NBA drama.

After the All-Star break, the competition between the league's best teams has become increasingly fierce, especially the Western Conference teams.

The East has now formed a pattern of the Heat and the Cavaliers, and there is no third team that can challenge.

And the west is still a pattern of strong and powerful, and 50 wins are not enough to see in the west.

The four strongest teams in the West, the Clippers, Thunder, Spurs, and Lakers, are two new and two old.

The Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Warriors, who are in the second group, are close behind, and their records are very tight.

In the NBA team power rankings released by the ESPN in March, the West teams occupy seven spots and the East teams only have three spots.

The pattern of being strong in the west and weak in the east has not changed after more than ten years.

However, the team at the top of the power rankings is the Miami Heat.

The Heat, the Galactic Battleship, began to enter the sprint stage at the end of the season after struggling at the beginning of the season and adjusting in the middle of the season.

Steve Nash and Dwight Howard were affected by injuries respectively, but after the All-Star break, both superstars returned.

The Heat went on a staggering 19-game winning streak in February and March, pushing the team's record to the top spot in the league.

The Heat, the number one on the list of combat power, is indeed well deserved.

Spörskora has shown his ability to coach on the field, which of course has been inseparable from the support of Pat Riley behind the scenes.

In second place on the power list is the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Thunder's performance this season has been very consistent, Kevin Durant and Westbrook have played extremely explosive individual performances, and in terms of data, they can be called the twin star ceiling.

With Eric Gordon plagued by injuries, the two repeatedly teamed up to score 70 or 80 points, and the two scored against one team.

In third place on the power list is the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been quite successful in revamping the Cavaliers since the arrival of Steve Kerr.

Even LeBron James has embarked on a path that is not quite the same as it used to be.

He is in the No. 4 position, and he feels like a fish in water.

In addition to working harder defensively, he gave up part of the ball in offense and provided more support, which made James play more easily and freely.

The Cavaliers have also given up the more bulky style of play in the past, becoming lighter, faster, and more comfortable with victory.

However, the Cavaliers have been plagued by injuries since February, and veterans such as Jamison, Battier, and Miller have further aged.

James knows in his heart that the window of time for him to win the championship with the Cavaliers is not very long, just this season and next.

Following the Cavaliers, fourth place is the Los Angeles Clippers.

Compared to the kind of Xuan He who defended the championship at the beginning of the season, after Kerr left and Mike Malone took over, the Clippers looked much more stable.

With games won and lost, plenty of roster experimentation, and plenty of practice time for young players, the Clippers are on a very different track from other teams.

The Clippers are not competing with other teams, but are really competing with themselves, against time, and against their team's biggest mole.

Fortunately, this kind of tactical play with an inconspicuous record makes the Clippers look much more low-key, and those media reporters who only look at the regular season record and game data think that the Clippers' strength has declined.

In fact, when the Clippers' defensive system is built, their playoff strength will be more consistent.

Min Congda hasn't watched the game seriously for a while, and he just brushes the news every day, and spends the rest of his time fishing and paying attention to the construction of the Huawei center.

He doesn't have any requirements for the construction period, only to ensure the quality, and for the best quality, it's okay to delay.

As for exceeding the budget, the more the better.

At the same time, in order to overthrow the Bass regime next door, Min Congda regrouped the members of the two small working groups that were originally set up to implement the "Trojan Plan", and re-established an information-sharing center within the Clippers, named the "Telescope Project", which was independent of the media department and controlled by Min Congda himself.

On the surface, Min Congda's purpose in setting up this department is to "better deal with public opinion and public relations issues, team transactions, drafts, and internal information confidentiality issues in the new era of the Internet, and better carry out team building." ”

In fact, Min Congda is to use this "information sharing center" to obtain more NBA intelligence information, especially the internal information of the Lakers, and prepare for the Lakers to change days in the future.

When the information center was established, Rob Riccelle, who was the head of the media department, thought that if a team set up an information center like this, would there be a suspicion of collecting information and violating privacy?

Min Congda replied: "Haven't Americans always done this? ”

At that time, Riccelle was still a little angry and wanted to argue with Min Congda, saying that they in the United States attach great importance to personal privacy.

But only three months later, when Project Prism was exposed, did Riccelle understand what Min Congda's words meant.

In addition to the media department headed by Riccelle, Min Congda also transferred some personnel from Sloan's security company, and then asked five scouts from the scouting team to join the center, and asked for a data analyst and a video analyst from the video center to form the intelligence department of the Clippers.

The reason why we need scouts, data analysts and video analysts is because Min Congda needs them to hide their eyes and ears and say that they are engaged in basketball intelligence.

At the same time, these scouts and analysts, while obtaining information on basketball, will definitely be able to obtain various things outside of basketball.

In addition, Min Congda also used his connections in the league office to invite Arnold Lanch, who previously worked at the NBA's New York headquarters, to the Clippers as the deputy director of the information center.

Lan Qi hooked up with Min Congda from the beginning and waited for this day.

So he left New York without hesitation, packed up a little and came to the Clippers to take up his job.

Previously, Ranch went from an ordinary clerk at the NBA headquarters to the deputy head of the department.

But in general, there is still less money and more things, and there is not much room for growth, and this life is like this.

Now on the Clippers, if nothing else, the salary has doubled, and living in Los Angeles is more comfortable than in New York.

Having worked at the headquarters for four or five years, Ranch already had enough connections and sources of intelligence.

Less than two weeks after the information center was set up, they got an important piece of information about the Lakers from the grapevine: Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant seemed to have some conflicts in practice, and the two were showing signs of feuding.

"Are you sure it's true? Kobe Bryant and Paul at odds? ”

Min Congda heard Lan Qi's report, and he couldn't believe it.

According to the information received, this is indeed the case, but it will not appear in the newspapers for the time being, and only a small number of people know about it. You know that if there is a conflict in the team, once it is reported, it means that the conflict is very deep, and it often means that the team is about to change. ”

What Lan Qi said is not wrong, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there will be contradictions.

Especially in a place like the NBA, between players and stars, it is a fantasy to say that there is no conflict.

It is normal for a group of celebrities with excess hormones, excess self-awareness, and a lot of fans and assets to not like each other.

Especially for a person like Kobe Bryant, he is very paranoid and competitive on the one hand, and on the other hand, his family background and upbringing make it difficult for him to get along with ordinary black players.

Unless someone can comprehensively suppress him in terms of ability and other aspects, with Kobe's personality, he must be the boss.

Coincidentally, Paul is almost the same as Kobe Bryant in terms of personality and growth, and he is born to be the boss.

Last season was in a honeymoon period between the two, and the Lakers had a very good record in the regular season, with a star-studded team and Phil Jackson on the lineup, everyone was holding their breath to prove themselves in the playoffs and win the championship.

The original season's shrunken season was indeed a good opportunity for the Lakers, but the Clippers sprung up, and the back waves of the Yangtze River pushed the front waves, shooting the Lakers to death on the beach.

Champions and victories are the best cover for all contradictions.

At the beginning, Kobe and O'Neal looked at each other so unpleasantly, but under the suppression of three consecutive championships and the finals, they were still able to cooperate smoothly.

But once the finals are lost, there is no room for relaxation between the two.

As a result, the sharks left the Heat, the league pattern changed, and the Heat won the championship the following year.

After Paul and Kobe Bryant went through their honeymoon and failure last season, once the team's performance this season is not smooth, or there is little hope of winning the championship, contradictions will naturally appear.

The problem with Kobe Bryant is that his form is declining, and he is no longer the league's leading scorer in the past.

And Paul is in his prime, it stands to reason that he should be the future of the team, and the Lakers are in charge, but as long as Kobe Bryant is here, it is impossible for him to give up his position as the boss.

If Paul wants to rob Kobe's boss, he must prove with his performance in the game that he is a player who can beat Kobe Bryant.

It's a pity that Paul is strong, but Paul is not strong enough to beat Kobe Bryant.

In the 2008 MVP race, Paul also lost to Kobe.

At the beginning of the season, the Lakers had a pretty good momentum, and with Iguodala, the team was younger, and they had a suitable three masters on the outside.

But the Lakers have always had two problems that are difficult to solve, one is Kobe's aging age, and the other is that the Lakers have always lacked a strong pillar on the inside.

The Lakers' record fluctuated after the All-Star break, gradually slipping from the previous second place in the West to the third place in the West.

After losing to the young Grizzlies and Nuggets one after another, the Lakers have fallen to fourth in the West, and the gap between them and the Spurs, Thunder, and Clippers in front of them has gradually widened.

Judging from the Lakers' lineup and performance, it is really difficult for the Lakers to break out of the West and win the championship this season.

If Kobe Bryant is in his prime, the combination of him and Paul can indeed solve a lot of problems in the playoffs.

In the 09 and 10 seasons, the Lakers' lineup was not super luxurious, mainly because of its strong core competitiveness.

Now that the core competitiveness is declining, the role players on the periphery are still not as good as before, how can they compete with the monsters in the west?

Once the prospect of winning the title is uncertain and the team loses back-to-back games, it is not surprising that the two star players quarrel.

And the Lakers are still facing a dilemma: it has been a month since Jerry Buss died, and the infighting between Jeanie Buss and Jim Buss, the battle for control of the team, has gradually been put on the table.

There are some people up and down the Lakers who are nervous, and if they lose again in the playoffs, no one knows if they will experience another big split in the 2004 offseason.

This message is very important to Min Congda, because once the Lakers have a huge upheaval in the roster, whether Kobe Bryant leaves or Paul is leaving, it will be a major blow to the Lakers management.

At the same time, the fans will definitely be dissatisfied with the Bath siblings, and when the time comes, public opinion will be rampant, and if they lose ground in a public opinion incident, they will be greeted with the same fate as Sterling.

However, Min Congda can't say these words to anyone, and he still has to consider the news and related issues from the Clippers' playoff pattern.

"If the Lakers are in turmoil, then their playoff fighting power is definitely limited. At the moment they are fourth and we are third, but unfortunately, we can't meet them. ”

Min Congda just said casually that discord within a team is definitely a disadvantage in the playoffs.

If you have a little headwind, the morale of the team will not be good, and then it will collapse and disintegrate.

When Ranch heard Min Congda's words, he took them to heart, and after leaving Min Congda's office, he reported the situation to Riccelle: "Mr. Smart thinks that the Lakers are not strong enough, maybe we can meet them early in the playoffs, which will be beneficial to us." ”

Riccelle understood what it meant, and said to team manager Olsie: "We're too low in the rankings right now, if only we could go a little higher, we would have met the Lakers earlier in the playoffs." Playing the Lakers in the semifinals, both at the box office and in the final result, will be in our favor. ”

Olchea thought about it, and now the Lakers are fourth, and there is a possibility that they will fall to fifth.

If the Clippers want to meet the Lakers in the second round, they must rush to the first place in the West.

Now the Clippers are third in the West, behind the Spurs and Thunder, and this position is really not good.

So, Olsie quickly found Tyronn Lue and the coaching staff in training, saying: "Mr. Smart said that it is better to take first place in the West in the regular season this season, and he wants to meet the Lakers in the semifinals." Playing the Lakers is beneficial to us, so everyone should work hard in the rest of the game, don't take a break or release the water casually, and lift the record up! ”

If you spread these words, it will indeed kill people.

(End of chapter)