One Thousand Six Hundred and Twelve. This Is Not a Negotiation, This Is an Order!
At 7:40 pm on March 23, 2014, the Timberwolves' away game against the Grizzlies was about to start.
Looking at Sun Ce on the opposite side, Love was very unwilling. He was almost able to partner with Sun Ce, but the Timberwolves management didn't know what to think. Seeing the Grizzlies' offer, they wanted to ask for a high price. They didn't want Gasol and Paul George, but wanted Paul George and at least three top ten draft picks. This asking price was not high in people's eyes. He was worth at least two No. 1 picks.
However, the Grizzlies had Sun Ce, so their record couldn't be that bad. Moreover, the Grizzlies wanted to trade Gasol. Other teams simply couldn't use too many high draft picks to trade Gasol, because they knew that if a team like the Grizzlies asked for a high draft pick, it would definitely be for the next trade, and it was unlikely to help the Grizzlies, who had already won two consecutive championships, complete a three-way trade.
When Gasol was sent to other teams, the Grizzlies had no chips to match Love's salary, and the Grizzlies had already determined to use the outside three-man team as the core.
From the experience of Kobe and Yao Ming, Kobe and Garnett, who had a chance to partner once but failed to do so, Love knew very well that if the opportunity was missed, it was really missed. At least at this stage of their careers, they really missed it.
On the other side, Sun Ce, who had just greeted Love and returned to his home for the final preparations before the game, said to Whiteside: "Hassan, look at the opposite side, Love, Pekovic, you will definitely come off the bench later. When attacking, you don't care about anything else, just grab offensive rebounds, and beat them!"
"..." Whiteside listened to Sun Ce's words and didn't know how to answer.
He really couldn't say how much confidence he had in himself. He entered the NBA in 2010, played only one game in the first year, played 18 games in the second year, and played in the Development League for the rest of the first two years.
Last season and this season, he played in the low-level league NBL in China.
Just after returning to the NBA, the superstar who was favored by his "talent" and asked the team to keep him let him go to fight with Love, who averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds per game this season, and Pekovic, who averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds per game, the top two inside towers in the league! Whiteside felt like he was dreaming...
But after finally signing the contract, Third Brother... Whiteside heard Klay Thompson, Paul George, Larry Sanders and other young players call Sun Ce like this, so he followed suit. Since Third Brother ordered this, Whiteside just followed his orders.
When receiving guidance from Dave Joerger yesterday, Whiteside also understood the team's needs for the inside line - mainly defensive rebounding and fighting for offensive rebounds.
After ordering Whiteside to fight with Love and Pekovic, Sun Ce was full of expectations.
Looking at Love on the opposite side, Love has suffered a lot of injuries in the past two years. He missed nearly 50 games last season, and was injured again after the All-Star Weekend. After missing 10 games and returning, the Timberwolves have completely left the Western Conference playoffs.
The Timberwolves went from 29 wins and 27 losses to 32 wins and 34 losses when he returned. In the 10 games he was not there, the Timberwolves had 3 wins and 7 losses, and now they have 34 wins and 35 losses. In the 3 games that Love returned, the Timberwolves had a record of 2 wins and 1 loss. Sun Ce clearly felt the difference between Love and the past few years.
After returning this season after being reimbursed for most of the season last season, his playing style has obviously changed. He is more willing to cooperate with his teammates and is no longer obsessed with data. The Timberwolves' record has also reached the best year since Love entered the NBA.
Sun Ce feels that Love has begun to develop in a direction that is beneficial to winning, otherwise he would definitely compete with Jordan and Drummond for the rebounding champion. His state can completely compete with the two, but he did not, but gave space to Pekovic and began to develop outside.
Sun Ce never thought that in the original time and space, Love changed his playing style to a shooter's style in just two or three months after joining the Cavaliers.
This season, Love has already averaged 2.5 three-pointers per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 37.5%.
Love's average three-point shooting per game ranks eighth in the league after Curry, Sun, Klay Thompson, Lillard, Harden, Kobe, and Korver!
In the original time and space, the Cavaliers used two No. 1 picks to trade for Love because of Love's three-point containment ability, rather than Love developing three-pointers after joining the Cavaliers.
And this is an adjustment based on a good inside player like Pekovic.
This means that Love has really changed his mentality from data first!
It's a pity that Love was injured at the most critical moment of the playoffs after the All-Star Weekend, and the Timberwolves fell directly from the ranks of playoff contenders.
Now Sun Ce is a little curious. James has bought a house in the school district. The Grizzlies failed to get Love through the space trade of Gasol. At least they have no chance to get Love before 2016. Where will Love go next?
This superstar who has averaged 26 points, 13 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game and has begun to work hard to help the team win games may still affect the league situation.
…
At 7:58 p.m., Sun Ce put on his equipment and appeared in the starting lineup with Klay Thompson, Paul George, Amir Johnson and Larry Sanders.
The Timberwolves sent Rubio, Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, Love and Pekovic.
"A- Rubio, 9.5 points, 8.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 steals...
A- Martin, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist...
B+ Brewer, 12+2+2... This guy scored 40+ once and 30+ twice in the past 3 games after Love's comeback...
S-level Love, A-level Pekovic..."
After playing, Sun Ce quickly looked at the ability evaluation of the opposing players. Compared with the past, the Timberwolves' lineup has not changed much, and they are all talented!
It's just that this season, the strongest player of the Timberwolves, Love, turned his personal data into a boost to winning.
Love really wanted to win, and Sun Ce clearly felt this, so the Love in the original time and space went to the Cavaliers and gave up a lot of things, directly falling from 26+13+4.4 to 16+9. This sacrifice is not small at all compared to Garnett's drop from 20+10+5 to 18+8+3, and Love was only 26 years old at that time! It's not the age of Garnett, who is already in his 30s.
On this basis, the opponent's talent has always been explosive, and has developed some strength.
But Sun Ce still feels that the Timberwolves' talent has achieved such a record, and they still haven't fully developed their potential. In other words, Sun Ce feels that their lineup is not very good. They can have a record of 34 wins and 35 losses, all thanks to their good talent and Love, the strongest player, who wants to win from the inside out and starts to strive for victory.
Only Kevin Martin has a good shot in the outside three-man team, and the best shooter in the team is Love, the power forward.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the game started!
As the referee blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air, Larry Sanders easily won the jump ball over Pekovic's head.
The average performance of the two teams on the defensive end this season is not far apart. The Grizzlies lost 103.9 points per game, and the Timberwolves lost 104.4 points per game. The big brother doesn't say the second brother. After Larry Sanders won the jump ball, Sun Ce and Amir Johnson went down the wings!
Paul George received the ball and passed it to Sun Ce, who rushed into the opponent's three-point line to receive the ball. Pekovic, Brewer and Rubio double-teamed him!
Sun Ce stopped suddenly and raised the ball. After the opponent double-teamed and Amir Johnson rushed into the free throw line, he immediately passed it to the right side of the basket. Amir Johnson rushed into the inside and dunked to score two points.
The opponent's defense was very biased! Obviously, it was aimed at him, the top scorer who scored more than 30% of the team's points.
Sun Ce looked at the data rankings every day. According to the latest statistics, his average of 34.1 points per game was still ahead of Durant's average of 33.5 points per game, so he calmly chose to organize the offense.
The fact that they were able to win so many games in unfavorable situations in the past few games has a lot to do with his style of not rushing to score points and passing the ball when necessary.
When the Timberwolves attacked, Love came up and hit a three-pointer with a gap!
He tried very hard to show his changes, especially when facing a team with superstars, Love worked extra hard. He knew this season that he, like Garnett, could not lead the team to achieve too good results when there were no real All-Star players on the outside. Even if he had not been injured for 10 games, he would have rushed to the seventh or eighth place in the Western Conference at best, and then be eliminated in the first round, and had nothing to do with the championship.
When the Grizzlies attacked, although the opponent scored a three-pointer, Sun Ce was not in a hurry. After receiving the ball in the frontcourt, he analyzed the opponent's defense.
The opponent's defense under the basket was very strong! Especially when facing the Grizzlies, the current team with a double team in the inside without shooting ability, Pekovic's 133 kg was a pillar of support under the basket, and James couldn't even hit it when he rushed in.
But there was a way to deal with it. Sun Ce moved to the right side at a 45-degree angle, signaled Paul George to go to the left side of the top arc, and then waved to Larry Sanders for a pick-and-roll!
The one who expanded out was Love, which Sun Ce had expected. After Love was pulled out, Larry Sanders blocked Brewer. Sun Ce did not use the pick-and-roll to attack. Love on the other side could defend the mid-range shot, and Pekovic was very arrogant under the basket. Sun Ce passed the ball to Paul George on the left side of the top arc. At this time, Amir Johnson had already gone out to screen for Paul George according to the tactics planned before the game!
Pekovic had to pull out, Paul George had a mid-range shot!
After Sun Ce passed the ball, he immediately pulled to the baseline, taking Love and Brewer away. Paul George passed the ball after the pick-and-roll, and Larry Sanders who cut in received the ball and made a layup!
The Timberwolves averaged 106.6 points per game this season, ranking eighth in the league, which is very powerful, but the Grizzlies averaged 111.3 points per game, the strongest in the league!
At the beginning of the game, Sun Ce took the initiative to give up scoring and even gave up assists on the offensive end, saving energy while restraining the opponent's defense, giving Paul George a better opportunity to organize the offense.
On the defensive end, they tried their best to limit the opponent. Although Love scored a three-pointer at the beginning, their lineup was fast and they quickly blocked the opponent's outside shots.
However, Pekovic's singles at the basket and Love's low-post back-to-the-basket shots were really hard to defend. The inside line couldn't hold up anyone, and Brewer, who was currently in the explosive stage, continued to explode at the beginning of today!
In the past three games, the Timberwolves played the Lakers, Warriors, and Heat, and achieved a record of 2 wins and 1 loss. Among them, Brewer scored 44 points against Kobe, 35 points against Wade, and 31 points against Harden against the Lakers... Brewer abused all three generations of the strongest shooting guards!
The Timberwolves' defense is indeed bad, but that is a problem of ability. They are motivated and dare to change. After the Timberwolves were hit by a double pick-and-roll pass and cut by the Grizzlies at the beginning, they resolutely defended the basket and would rather be hit by the Grizzlies' mid-range and long-range shots.
The mid-range and long-range shooting rate is definitely not comparable to layups. When the Grizzlies couldn't make shots from the outside, Love and Pekovic knew that Brewer was in good shape recently, so they helped him to position. Brewer took the rebound and counterattacked directly. Sun Ce and Paul George couldn't defend!
The first quarter lasted 6 minutes and 51 seconds. During this period, the two teams kept fighting back and forth and scored 22 to 21! The Timberwolves, who were 1 point behind, called a timeout first!
Sun Ce's statistics in the first half of the first quarter were not very good, with 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. The rhythm was very fast. When the opponent fell into the positional battle, the two towers took turns to sit and play. They had no height advantage or weight advantage, and they were really unstoppable. The opponent's fast break was too brutal. Brewer's counterattack after grabbing the rebound made Sun Ce jealous!
Brewer, who has been in a hot state against strong teams recently and helped the Timberwolves defeat the Lakers and Heat, scored 8 points in half a quarter!
He also experienced Brewer's ability to grab rebounds and counterattacks at the peak of his career. It was really amazing. Sun Ce felt that if Westbrook could learn this ability, Westbrook would be invincible, but it was a pity that it was a talent.
Fortunately, he, Sun, had the opportunity to get this skill! He could get it as long as he won the first place in the number of triple-doubles this season.
...
Entering the official timeout, the Grizzlies began to make personnel adjustments. In Whiteside's expectant eyes, Coach Hollins called his name and played with Richard Jefferson!
Paul George was replaced by Beverley on the outside, and the Splash Brothers continued to play.
Coach Hollins called Whiteside, who was trembling with excitement, over and repeatedly reminded him: position on the defensive end and rush on the offensive end.
This is an order, not a discussion, let alone persuasion. The meaning is very direct. If you don’t position well on the defensive end, don’t play.
After the timeout, Sun Ce and his teammates went on the court together, ready to defend. In the first half, they relied on Paul George, who scored 5 points and 3 assists. Paul George went to rest, and he had to start working hard on this point.
Looking at the opposite lineup of Barea, Kevin Martin, Brewer, Love, and Gorgui Dieng, this talent is really unparalleled. There are also extremely talented players such as Shabas Mohammed, Alek Sheved, and Chase Budinger on the opposite side who didn’t play, and last summer, they gave Derrick Williams, the top five rookie in 2011, to the Kings for free.
The worst thing about the Timberwolves is that they cannot completely transform their talent into strength, and no team is willing to trade their selected talents with stars, because they know that they will definitely not be able to keep all of them, and they can just pick up the leaks when the time comes.
But the key is that most of these talents waste their talents when they sit on the bench.
The game continues, and the Timberwolves attack.
Coach Hollins' defensive prediction this time was very accurate. As expected, the opponent did not replace Sheved but replaced Barea, so Beverly, a fast point guard, was sent instead of Livingston to defend Barea, so that Sun Ce did not have to guard Barea.
The Timberwolves came back from the timeout and chose to give Kevin Martin a singles. Kevin Martin missed the long two-pointer of Klay Thompson. Whiteside struggled to block Love, and Sun Ce grabbed the defensive rebound before Gion.
Brewer, who was at his peak, did a good job in defense. When Sun Ce grabbed the rebound and turned around to speed up, he was stuck beside Sun Ce. Sun Ce failed to counterattack and handed the ball to Beverley. Beverley was also closely followed by Barea. Love and Diang quickly retreated.
After Pekovic went down, the Timberwolves' speed increased sharply. Diang was a treasure in the 2013 lottery show. He had good defensive awareness and strong athletic ability. His disadvantage was that he was thin. His weight was about the same as Sun Ce, and he was even thinner than Sun Ce.
In the frontcourt, Beverley passed the ball back to Sun Ce, and he opened up the space with Klay Thompson and Richard Jefferson.
Sun Ce received the ball and broke through... The opponent's rookie center had a very high defensive efficiency under the basket. Although he didn't play much, averaging only 13 minutes per game, he defended very well, allowing the opponent to score only 100 points per 100 rounds. It was not easy to play. Westbrook, Rose, James and others had been blocked by this guy.
Brewer is a defensive player who can restrain Sun Ce. Sun Ce has always played so-so against Brewer. He gave up the idea of breaking through and being double-teamed by the two.
Pick-and-roll... The opponent's double towers can defend pick-and-roll well, and it will definitely become a forced shot in the end.
Sun Ce looked at Whiteside who was lazily outside the three-second zone... Since it was a forced shot, he should be more direct!
In 1 second, Sun Ce made a decision. While the opponent was still predicting how he would play, Sun Ce directly faced Brewer's defense and took a three-pointer...
Brewer reacted quickly, jumped up with all his strength, and stretched out his arms to interfere. Sun Ce's shot was inaccurate and hit the right side of the basket with a clang.
At the moment when the ball flew to the highest point, Whiteside's lazy look changed instantly. He judged that this ball would never go in, and he changed from a silly and stupid temperament to a brutal offensive rebounding monster! He turned around and blocked Gion and pushed Gion away. The opponent's arm span was good. Whiteside did not take the risk of grabbing the ball, but shot the ball towards Sun Ce who was moving to the left side of the top arc.
Sun Ce excitedly grabbed the ball, and Brewer rushed over a beat late. Sun Ce made a fake shot, and the opponent immediately jumped up. Sun Ce took the ball back and dribbled out of the three-point line. When Barea came up to defend, he pulled up and ignored Barea's stubborn interference. He shot the three-pointer again... a wide-open three-pointer!