one-handed ball

Chapter 233 Before the Game
Who are the superstars in history who reached the finals with core players after entering the league for one or two seasons?Before, people think of Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Tim Duncan, Elvin Johnson.But at this moment, Zheng Ke's name may be added to people's mouths.

He is a legendary existence, and the duo formed by him and Billups has become the strongest partner in the West.When Billups was interviewed, he expressed his own feelings: Fortunately, he didn't go to the Nuggets at the beginning, otherwise let alone the finals, maybe he wouldn't even make it to the Western Conference Finals.

Zheng Ke was embarrassed after hearing Billups' interview.He still remembers that Billups and Anthony in history also reached the Western Conference Finals and played six games against the Lakers.

In the process of the Timberwolves advancing to the Finals, the Lakers are the most regrettable team.The Lakers who reached the finals last year have actually improved in terms of overall strength, and Kobe's state is also the best in recent years. It is a pity that they encountered a team like the Timberwolves who restrained the Lakers.Afflalo's difficulty and Zheng Ke's unstoppable made the Lakers' one-year hard work come to naught, which is regrettable.

The league produced micro-films for the Timberwolves and Magic to advance to the finals, hoping to enhance the appeal of the 09 finals.

After the end of the series with the Rockets, Zheng Ke's ability value has grown again. In the dungeon with super high experience value in the playoffs, his growth rate is like a big bird, soaring.This time he has grown in three shooting attributes, close-range, mid-range and long-range shots are all as high as 95, his offensive score is 95 points, defensive score is 89 points, rebounding score is 80 points, and his total score is 92 points.

Among the Timberwolves' team, the young players have also made great progress.Billups still hasn't changed much, still has an ability value of 86, and occasionally rises and falls.Love is the third Timberwolves player with an ability value of 80. He has been greatly trained in the playoffs. His ability value has soared to 83, and his rebound score has reached 99, which can be called a monster.Then Afflalo, who is one of the starting five tigers, has also made great progress. Although his ability to hold the ball has not been trained, Afflalo's defensive ability is getting stronger and stronger. Now he has also become an excellent starter with an ability value of 76. players.Anderson's ability value is slightly weaker, with only a score of 69, mainly because his offense and defense are too unbalanced.

Among the bench lineups, Lowry has made the most progress. He already has an ability value of 75, which is more than enough even if he is the starting point guard of some NBA teams.And many other players have improved a little or a little bit, and the overall strength of the Timberwolves cannot be compared with the original.

Even the head coach Whitman, his growth is obvious to all.Although the on-the-spot command cannot be compared with top head coaches such as Popovich and Pat Riley, it is not far behind the general NBA head coach.He is a godfather figure. Under his training, the Timberwolves are united as one, unbelievably united, far more united than the Lakers and Rockets.

This is the advantage of a single-core team. In this era of double giants and three giants, it may be difficult for a single-core team to play a sky, but it will always be the most united team.

The finals are about to be staged, and various commentators, celebrities, and experts have begun to predict the outcome of the finals. Among the 13 experts invited by ESPN, 7 of them are optimistic that the Timberwolves will solve the battle within 6 games, 3 experts are optimistic that the Timberwolves will beat the Magic in 7 games, 2 experts believe that the Magic will beat the Timberwolves in 7 games, and 1 expert believes that The Magic will resolve the fight within 6 games.

"For us, even if the Lakers and the Rockets have won, will we still be afraid of magic?" Whitman convened the players at the Target Center for a mobilization meeting before the finals.

"Although Dwight Howard has scored 40+10 before, his offensive ability is average, Chris." Whitman suddenly called Anderson's name, then turned to look at him, and asked, "What did you do yesterday? Have you seen Dwight's offensive distribution points and video footage?"

"Well, see." Birdman is now obediently like a child. He has always been full of respect for Coach Whitman who reused him. He has always completed the tasks assigned by Whitman meticulously.

"Very good. Your task is to withstand Dwight Howard's offense on the inside. You know, the Magic's ultimate scoring weapon depends on outside shooters. Our advantage lies in the iron slag defensive ability on the outside. I believe you You can definitely handle Jameer Nelson, Courtney Lee, and Hedo Turkoglu." After speaking, his eyes swept across the faces of Billups, Afflalo, and Zheng Ke.

Afflalo scratched his head naively, he was a little embarrassed by what Whitman said.

Whitman continued to exhort: "There are a few players on the Magic bench that we need to pay attention to. The first one is the Rockets' abandoned player Ralph Alston. I have watched the videos of his recent games. He played quite well. Many games against the Cavaliers pushed Nelson to the bench. The second is to pay attention to Michael Pietrus, this Frenchman has good physical fitness and good defense. He is an important rotation lineup for them.”

Whitman took a break, and then asked Zheng Ke: "Do you have anything to add?"

Zheng Ke looked at the Magic lineup, and everyone looked at him quietly.He slid his finger across these names, and then stayed on a person's name: "I think we should pay attention to this player."

Everyone took a look: "Marcin Gortat?"

Whitman frowned, wondering: "This player?"

Zheng Ke explained: "He has the ability to start. It's a pity that Dwight is used as a substitute. He doesn't have many opportunities to play. His rebounding efficiency is very high."

"That's right!" Whitman nodded after hearing this, and then took out a red pen and circled Gortat's name in a red circle, especially marking Gortat's average of 12 rebounds in 4.5 minutes per game And 0.8 blocked shots.

Whitman went on to ask Billups, "Does Chauncey have anything to say?"

The finals of the 08-09 season will start in Orlando.

The Orlando Magic, which has a leading record in the regular season, has the home field advantage, and the fans began to arrange the venue for the finals early.In the city of Orlando, the two most popular words now are "finals" and "championship".

When the Timberwolves bus entered the urban area, it received the most "warm" welcome from the Magic fans. The Orlando fans expressed great hostility to this extremely dangerous team. People hoped that through some methods, the Timberwolves players could feel Orlando. Determination.

This is the finals, and it would be a lie to say that nothing has changed in the hearts of the players.There are only so many people with rough nerves in this world. Even a seasoned player like Zheng Ke still has some nervousness in his heart.The good news is that this Magic team is also entering the finals for the first time, and most of the players on the team can be called "rookies in the finals".

"Huhu~" Zheng Ke stretched out his right hand to support the locker room cabinet, swung his left leg, lowered his head and closed his eyes, adjusting the frequency of his breathing.

The quality of professional players is far stronger than people imagined. The only worry in Zheng Ke’s heart is the rookie player Love who played in the finals for the first time. He has the shortest time in the NBA among the Timberwolves and has the least experience. I don't know if the status can be adjusted.

Two days ago, Love was talking and laughing, but he couldn't tell he was nervous. Today, when he was about to enter the field, his face became stiff. During the warm-up training before the game, he lost his aim and hit the iron "bang bang".

Zheng Ke frowned deeply when he saw it. With the basketball in his left forearm, he walked to Le Fu's side and patted Le Fu on the shoulder lightly.

"Are you all right, Kevin?"

"No, it's okay." Le Fu smiled dryly, his facial muscles were out of control.

Zheng Ke was speechless, and he had no way to solve this problem.As a professional player, adjusting the state is a very basic ability. How to maintain one's state under heavy pressure is a compulsory course for everyone. Even though Zheng Ke has great abilities, there is no good way to deal with it.

He turned to find Billups, the old demon, and gave him a look.

Billups nodded, stretched out his hand to hook Le Fu's neck, and pulled him away, while whispering something in Le Fu's ear, while Le Fu nodded in coordination, and began to respond with a few sentences from time to time.

The Magic players on the other side of the field were not much better than the Timberwolves players. The faces of several young players were a little pale. The O'Brien Cup embroidered on their chests was as heavy as a thousand pounds, and it was firmly pressed against the players' chests. It's breathless.Only Howard, a living treasure, walked up and down the field, constantly enlivening the tense atmosphere, which made the faces of the Magic players look much better.

With half of the lights turned off, the pre-match ceremony for the finals began!

(End of this chapter)