Nine Hundred and Eighty-Four. Awards Announced!
Sun Ce didn't expect that he only played for 33 minutes, the same as Nash.
Before the fourth game, Sun Ce was still ready to use the star experience card, or use the fully charged physical potion.
It is not certain that the consumption tactics in the fourth game will definitely work, because the opponent is really too strong, and the Mavericks should not be ranked like this.
Because it is unknown how long the lockout will last, Nowitzki, who just won the championship and played in the European Championships, has been resting since returning to Dallas. He dared not waste his energy to train casually, let alone maintain NBA-level training. He almost started training after the lockout ended; Yao Ming was treating his old injuries in the summer, that is, ankle and toe injuries. The treatment effect was good. It was not surgery, but conservative treatment to prolong his career, but he also needed to rest after returning, and he did not dare to upgrade to NBA-level training casually. Who knows when the lockout will end.
If the lockout was shorter, and ended in September or October, giving the two players enough time to train and regain their form, and the schedule was a little looser, even if they couldn't compete with the Spurs for the third place in the West, they would at least be the fifth in the West and play against the Thunder in the second round.
Sun Ce was not sure of winning, and so many people expected the Mavericks to win the eighth place and were very confident because the Mavericks were really strong.
However, in the fourth game, the team performed very well! He played only 12 minutes in the first half and 21 minutes in the second half. Although Coach Hollins did not arrange the details of the offense, he had a good grasp of the situation, made targeted substitutions, and predicted the opponent's tactical adjustments in the second and third quarters...
Even the physical potion was useless. Sun scored 19+14+7+4+1, and Nash scored 14 points and 9 assists. Both played for only 33 minutes, of which about 15 minutes were played together, connecting the team. In the first three and a half quarters of this offense-oriented game, they established a 10-point lead, and finally ended the game with defense.
However, Sun Ce still felt it was too difficult! Too torturous!
In these four games, he suffered too much mental pressure.
However, after this game, the home advantage was regained, which also meant that it was dawn!
...
The home advantage that the Mavericks had grabbed was taken back by the Grizzlies!
And it seems that the Grizzlies have already gained the upper hand in the entire series!
This seems incredible to many fans. The Mavericks won the game where Sun Ce scored 57 points, and also won the first game back at home, leading 2-1, but in the fourth game, the Grizzlies suddenly took the advantage.
ESPN expert Equico Madden came up with a hindsight: "The Grizzlies strictly implemented their consumption plan from the beginning. Although they were behind 1-2 at the beginning, as the battle line lengthened, the Grizzlies' advantage would become greater. I saw this from the beginning, and the Mavericks did not seem to be alert in this regard. The first three games were played until the last moment. The Grizzlies are now in an excellent position."
Most fans saw this explanation and thought it was reliable. A small number of professional fans understood it themselves and complained crazily under Equico Madden's Twitter. This guy didn't say this when the Grizzlies lost the first game at the beginning.
Anyway, the fans found a reason for the Grizzlies to turn the tide and regain the initiative, which is enough.
Mavericks head coach Carlisle was so angry when he saw the comments from ESPN.
What do you mean he wasn't alert?
The Grizzlies were plotting! People who understand basketball could tell what the Grizzlies wanted to do from the beginning, otherwise he would have to rack his brains to change his style of play and rhythm?
He just didn't expect Sun Ce to score 50+ in the first two games. The Mavericks had a chance to win the second game!
But,
Just like the Mavericks' black eight voices soared after the Grizzlies lost the first game, the winning side has the right to speak, and Carlisle can only hide in the corner and draw circles...
When the Grizzlies and Mavericks tied 2-2, the Bulls tied the Hawks 3-1.
On May 9, Sun Ce took the two girls back to Memphis on the team charter plane.
Because the Grizzlies tied the score to 2-2, the NBA officially announced that their series schedule has been updated to the 6th game. The 5th game will be played on the 10th, which is tomorrow, and the 6th game will be played in Dallas on the 12th. After the 6th game, we will know whether there will be a 7th game.
Now Sun Ce's attention was drawn to one thing - the day of MVP voting has arrived!
After suppressing the anticipation, excitement, and some anxiety, Sun Ce came to the gym in the afternoon after having lunch at home to prepare for the game tomorrow night with his teammates.
MVP is important, but passing the first round is more important!
…
On the morning of May 10, Sun Ce woke up early. There was a game today. After arriving at the gym in the morning, Sun Ce still suppressed his excitement and waited for the team meeting in the lounge. He didn't have the heart to practice the extra training in the morning. He couldn't concentrate. After practicing a few shots, Sun Ce directly gave up the extra shooting training this morning.
At the team's pre-match meeting, Sun Ce temporarily pulled his attention away and continued to discuss with his teammates and coaching staff how to play the game in the evening.
The fourth game was already very successful, exposing the shortcomings of the opponent's two stars who were old and lacked physical strength.
Nowitzki played 33 minutes and 26 points per game in the first four games; Yao Ming played 25 minutes and 22.5 points per game in the first four games. He was the second and third highest scorer in the Grizzlies and Mavericks series. The two players are from the same team. If one of them has physical problems, the overall offense of the Mavericks will be greatly affected.
Now, the physical strength of these two people has been obviously affected. However, even if they have obviously taken the initiative now, Sun Ce and others dare not be careless, which is also the key reason for Sun Ce to concentrate on preparing for the game from excitement.
The situation in the third game of the series cannot be guaranteed not to occur. A championship team will not only have two stars to rely on. Jason Terry, Conley and Chandler, who averaged 12 points and 4 assists in the first four games, and DeShawn Stevenson and others should not be underestimated.
Now for the Grizzlies, how to play better is not so important. How to eliminate the psychological impact of the public opinion that they have completely taken the initiative is more important.
Indeed, it was time for the Grizzlies to start taking the initiative, but they had to be more careful.
After the morning tactical meeting and targeted tactical training, at noon, Sun Ce did not go to the restaurant for lunch immediately after taking a shower, but returned to the lounge, turned on the TV, and waited to watch the live broadcast.
…
At 11:50 a.m. on May 10, 2012, the two major award announcement programs jointly organized by the American Cable TV and the NBA began. Today, the regular season MVP and best defensive player awards and the best rookie lineup were announced.
Sun Ce had been waiting for more than ten minutes, and watched the opening dialogue between the host of the American Cable TV and the next NBA president Adam Silva for another ten minutes.
Sun Ce found that the school beauty seemed to have grown fatter, and the host even teased whether the school beauty had gained weight after confirming the time to succeed the NBA president.
At 12 noon, Adam Silva opened the envelope on time and announced the rookie lineup.
Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Chandler Parsons, Kenneth Faried, and Nikola Vucevic were selected for the All-Rookie First Team.
Ricky Rubio, Marshon Brooks, Brandon Knight, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, and Tristan Thompson were selected for the All-Rookie Second Team.
Looking at the data of the ten players on the TV screen, Sun Ce found that all rookies who averaged more than 8 points per game were selected for the All-Rookie Team, even if some of them played less than 20 or 30 games, like Vucevic and Rubio, who only played more than 30 games.
The TV station also listed the performance data of all the All-Rookie Teams since 2000. At present, the performance of the rookies in this year's All-Rookie Team is only worse than this in the 01-02 season and the 06-07 season. Of course, this is limited to the rookie season, which is basically the worst in the past five years.
But from what the commentator invited by the TV station said, the 2011 rookies also have a promising aspect, that is, they have many functional players. According to people's judgment, the probability of producing stars is about the same as that of the 2001 class, but the overall quality is not particularly bad. There are currently several functional role players who seem to have the hope of becoming starters.
Anyway, after the regular season, Sun Ce saw that the media, experts, and famous scouts also evaluated the 11th rookies in this way.
The second award announced was the best defensive player - LeBron James!
At 12:05, Sun Ce was shocked when he heard Adam Silva's winner of this award at the beginning of the year!
James received 38 first-place votes and won the 2011-2012 season's best defensive player award with 29% of the total score!
Sun Ce remembered that Chandler should have won the best defensive player this season, but Chandler was not the second, third, or fourth.
Then the top ten best defensive player votes were listed, as well as the first-place votes and total scores.
Howard ranked second with 34 first-place votes and 27% of the total score.
Ibaka ranked third with 14 first-place votes and 17% of the total score.
Gasol ranked fourth with 7 first-place votes and 10% of the total score.
Chandler ranked fifth with 5 first-place votes and 7% of the total score.
Teacher Tony ranked sixth with 4 first-place votes.
Sun Ce also saw himself... 3 first-place votes, 2 second-place votes, 21 points in total, tied with Garnett for seventh...
Sun Ce was a little confused about Chandler's ranking of only fifth. Chandler's close-range assisting ability made Randolph angry, and he was the best defensive player in the original time and space, but he was only ranked fifth. But seeing Chandler's regular season averages of 8.2 points and 8.8 points per game, and 26 minutes per game, Sun Ce understood.
In this time and space, Chandler is not the team's first center, and he plays as a substitute most of the time. Although he is very important to the Mavericks, this performance does not win the best defensive player.
James' defensive efficiency is comparable to Howard's. The votes of the two players are almost the same. James narrowly beat Howard to win the best defensive player, while Howard unfortunately missed the opportunity to win the best defensive player for four consecutive years.
This made Sun Ce very worried. James won the best defensive player, but what about the MVP?
MVP must include defensive performance, otherwise how could Howard become the MVP favorite for three consecutive years since the 2008-09 season?
After listening to the analysis of the host, vice president, and guest commentator for another 4 minutes, talking about how good James' defensive performance this year was, at 12:10, Adam Silva opened the last envelope.
Adam Silva said in his shrill voice: "NBA 2011-2012 season, the regular season Most Valuable Player Award winner is..."
He deliberately dragged out the tail sound, as if he was deliberately imitating the president's style. After dragging it out for a few seconds, Adam Silva read out the name: "Lord - San Ce!"
When Sun Ce heard the name read out by Adam Silva, he was stunned for a moment, and then he reacted...
"San your sister! Sun pronounces Sun! Although Stern's tone is weird, at least he pronounced it correctly..."
Sun Ce couldn't help but swear, but swearing was swearing, and his current mood was not as he expected before. Even when Adam Silva read out the name, he was very calm.
After spouting the swear words, Sun Ce's thoughts were actually - Oh, I won another award...