Junior Basketball says

Chapter 365 West Second
The MVP of the All-Star Game can be said to be Xu Hao's second important honor. Although it seems meaningless, it is still an MVP.Of course, what he wants most is the regular season MVP and the finals MVP.In fact, Xu Hao has also been ranked in the top five of the official MVP rankings for a long time this season, and it is not that he has no chance to win this important honor.

However, for Xu Hao, the most important thing now is to lead the team to the playoffs and make progress on the original basis. In his opinion, the shining O'Brien Cup is undoubtedly more important than the MVP trophy Some.

After the All-Star Weekend, 30 teams have returned to the intense schedule.But the first thing they have to face is the trade deadline. Before that, the general manager of every team is planning to improve the team's strength.

The Timberwolves' tactical system is basically safe, but that doesn't mean Kahn doesn't plan to make a deal.Wesley Johnson, who replaced Brewer as the starting small forward, has been disappointing for most of the season. He averaged only 8.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Although he averaged 1.8 steals per game, 32.5% The three-point shooting rate is really appalling.If it weren't for Ellington's lack of height, McHale would have taken Wesley's starting position away.

Originally, the management also hoped that Wesley could learn something from Xu Hao. Didn't they see that Rubio's three-point shooting percentage has increased to an elite 39.8%?It can be seen that Xu Hao still has something.However, Wesley didn't know whether it was his lack of talent or some other reason. His three-point shooting percentage was always failing, which directly made McHale lose confidence.

Fortunately, Kahn's working ability is good, and a deal was finally reached before the trade deadline. He used Wesley to catch a future first-round pick from the Bulls in exchange for their backup forward, the 2003 second-round pick Korver.In fact, Korver is still very useful, but it's a pity that the team's head coach is Thibodeau who focuses on defense. He basically doesn't like such a defensive wing. Now that he has the opportunity to get a defensive wing like Wesley, it is natural It was a direct laugh.

Kahn discussed this deal with McHale. After all, Korver and Wesley are two completely different players. Contributing pitcher.In the end, McHale gritted his teeth and agreed. Now the team's perimeter defense can basically be supported by Xu Hao and Rubio. Xu Hao can also swing up to defend the small forward. It seems that it is not a problem to change a pitcher to start.

For this deal, Xu Hao has nothing to do. In comparison, he still prefers Korver, after all, he has offensive blood flowing in his body.In the previous games, Wesley caught and shot the ball not once or twice, and McHale would even put him on the bench at critical moments. Changing Korver means adding a threat point.

Although everyone is a little sad about Wesley's departure, they also warmly welcome Korver's arrival.Korver also breathed a sigh of relief after being traded to the Timberwolves. Thibodeau obviously didn't want to see him before. Even if his three-point shooting percentage exceeded the four cities, it was not as important as a player who can only defend. Now changing the environment may be a good thing.

As a highly efficient pitcher, Korver quickly integrated into the Timberwolves' tactical system.McHale has already figured it out, in case it is necessary to rely on defense to win the game, the big deal is to use Ellington to play three guards.

The joining of Korver has further improved the firepower of the Timberwolves. Their offensive efficiency has slowly but firmly risen to the fourth position in the league. The Thunder overtook and firmly ranked second in the Western Conference. This made the entire Thunder team very angry, but there was nothing they could do.

Although the Thunder is also trying to catch up, what surprised everyone is that the Timberwolves, who were supposed to be too young and unstable, showed great stability and never lost more than three consecutive games. .Of course, Thunder himself couldn't win consecutive battles, so he could only become a chaser very aggrieved, trying to pull the Timberwolves off the horse.

However, until the end of the regular season, the Thunder were firmly suppressed by the Timberwolves, and could only accept the fact that they were ranked third in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves, with a well-organized lineup, had a record of 59 wins and 23 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference this season. The best dark horse.As for the fourth to No.8 in the West, they are the Lakers, Grizzlies, Clippers, Nuggets and Mavericks.

In the previous two seasons, although the Timberwolves made the playoffs, they did not get home court advantage. This year, they will have home court advantage at least in the first two rounds if they can defeat two opponents in a row.If the Spurs, the number one team in the Western Conference, are defeated by other teams, the Timberwolves will still have home court advantage even in the Western Conference finals.

Being able to start at home will undoubtedly give the Timberwolves more time to prepare.Although the local fans in Minnesota rejoiced that the team was second in the Western Conference, the Timberwolves team quickly got into preparations for the playoffs after having a dinner together.It would be really funny if they had the second best record in the Western Conference but were eliminated in the first round.

The Nuggets, ranked seventh in the Western Conference, are their opponents in the first round of the Timberwolves. In fact, they don't have any real stars in their formation, but their record is enough to prove the strength of this grassroots team.To put it bluntly, the Nuggets' strategy is to pass and run quickly, focusing on shooting and grabbing offensive rebounds, but this happens to be what the Timberwolves are good at.More importantly, the Nuggets' defense this season is terrible, and the average points allowed per game ranks second to last in the league. They can only win by relying on offense.

What the Timberwolves like most is such an opponent who can play against each other. They are not afraid of playing against any team in the league at all, and they firmly believe that they can win in such a game. The Nuggets should not be their opponent.

Despite this, all the Timberwolves players are still preparing seriously under the leadership of McHale. They have only one goal, which is to complete a 4-0 sweep and deal with their opponents in the second round in the best condition.In Xu Hao's view, the Timberwolves' victory over the Nuggets is a sure thing. It depends on whether the team can send their opponents home as planned.In case of entanglement with the Nuggets to the sixth or even seventh game, it may not be so easy to deal with the Thunder in the second round.

(End of this chapter)