One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Three. Too Easy a Start

"It's not that they have become weaker, it's that they were not that strong to begin with. If you look at it yourself, they didn't defeat many strong teams in the regular season last season. After their performance was amplified in the playoffs, all their flaws were exposed. , our tactics are very targeted at them..."

Stockton analyzed to Sun Ce why the Eagles look so "weak" this season.

When Sun Ce heard this, he thought about it and realized that it seemed like this. In the second round of last year's playoffs, the Hawks were beaten by Evans and Gasol.

And there is another point. Although Carroll's contract is a bit toxic, it is just a contract premium, which does not mean that Carroll has a low role. As a top 3D player, for the Hawks, his role is probably equal to that of Klay of the Grizzlies. -Thompson.

But the fundamental reason is that the Eagles' tactics have been figured out. This is a team that needs to rely on role players to score three-pointers in order to further open up the situation.

This is essentially different from the Grizzlies and Warriors. The main reason is that the Eagles' stars are not that strong. They have three quasi-All-Star or fringe All-Star players, but none of them are superstar-level players. They are missing a card. After Rolle strangled Korver and Bazemore, the Hawks' scoring efficiency dropped.

Nowadays, Rao encourages offense and is extremely strict in penalizing internal and external shooting cylinders. The Eagles only scored 95 points in the game.

For the Grizzlies, Sun Ce played 27 minutes and scored 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Paul George played 29 minutes and scored 16 points and 14 assists. Aldridge played 25 minutes and scored 30 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. Randolph played 22 minutes and scored 11 points, Klay Thompson played 25 minutes and scored 10 points... The Grizzlies team scored 131 points and won 131-95. Beat the Eagles by 36 points and get off to a good start!

…

Originally, the opening game between the Grizzlies and the Hawks was highly praised. After all, they were both regular season division champions last season. Even if the Hawks did not perform well in the playoffs, many media predicted that the Hawks would have a chance to continue to impact the Eastern Conference. First.

But the process of the game was shocking. It wasn’t that the Grizzlies insisted on massacring the Hawks. No Grizzlies player even played more than 30 minutes. Even Bargnani played 17 minutes and had a flying time. buckle.

Of course, the Grizzlies' defense did a good job, strangling Korver, increasing the success rate of offense and reducing the number of counterattacks by Teague. It's that simple, and winning is also very simple.

If compared with the preseason, the strength shown by the Eagles is not as good as that of the Hornets. The Hornets can barely compete for a while by relying on offense.

At this time, two theories emerged, one is that the Grizzlies are too strong, and the other is that the Eagles are not as strong as imagined.

Support for both statements is high.

In addition to this, there is another even more popular thing. Rose defeated the Lakers with a three-pointer at the buzzer and won the opening game.

This is the third time in Rose's career that he has defeated the Lakers in the opening game. The last two times have been good. They were after Rose practiced shooting. But the first victory was in the 10-11 season. At that time, Rose's shooting was purely based on luck. Killed the Lakers.

This is a very metaphysical topic. It was originally a very hot topic in the opening game, so it naturally attracted a lot of attention.

The Grizzlies are a three-game starter. The day after they beat the Hawks, they had a day off. On this day, there was a popular opener between the Warriors and the Thunder. Sun Ce was very interested in this game. Today's team There was no training scheduled. After Sun Ce's personal training in the afternoon, he stayed in front of the TV in the evening and watched the live broadcast.

It was a fierce fight, and the Warriors narrowly defeated the Thunder 133-128 in overtime!

Westbrook of the Thunder scored 19 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists (3 times 15 data), Durant had 41 points, Ibaka had 26 points and 16 rebounds...

Over there with the Warriors,

Curry made 12 of 16 three-pointers in a single game, totaling 14 of 24 and 6 of 6 free throws, scoring 46 points; Harden scored 22 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists; Draymond Green scored 9 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals...

Sun Ce looked at these soaring statistics with mixed emotions. The alliance has been encouraging offense for several years and has been slowly promoting it. Now it is finally starting to show results.

Sun Ce knew that this was bound to happen, because role players are getting better and better, their ability to grasp open positions has improved, and the league has been encouraging offense. Over time, it has naturally entered the small ball era, which is the offensive era. .

Last season actually entered the offensive era, but the Grizzlies have been winning. They have the final say in what era, and in the playoffs, David Stern will not ruin his job like the school belle. Fans They like to watch the excitement in the regular season, and they like to watch confrontations in the playoffs and watch the stars prove themselves in high confrontations... Sun Ce knows very well that players like them need to play well in the regular season that encourages offense, and they also need to play well in the regular season that encourages confrontation. Play better in the playoffs!

This is a test of a player's strength and physical health. For stars, especially the two or three strongest players on a team, the pressure becomes even greater, but it is also a time when role players rise to win. Opportunities for higher salaries as the regular season will rely more heavily on role players.

…

On October 19, the Grizzlies ushered in their second opponent in the regular season, the Indiana Pacers.

Through trade and draft, the Pacers now have a starting lineup of George Hill, CJ Miles, Hayward, Myles Turner, and Nene. As for the substitutes, they mainly include Mahinmi and Star. Key, Lavoie Allen, and Budinger rotated.

It's definitely out of the question to compete for the championship. It will be difficult to make the playoffs, but it's not impossible.

What Sun Ce coveted the most was Myles Turner. He originally wanted to trade three mid- to late first-round picks for a pick ranging from 6 to 10, but no team agreed.

As for the other players, Sun Ce thinks they are fine. Hayward's A+ level strength has reached its peak. Sun Ce's evaluation of Hayward is that he is almost at the level of peak Ellis with a weakened offense and a greatly enhanced defense. His strength may be Quite, but in terms of playing style, Hayward is more team-oriented and better at cooperating with his teammates. Ellis in his peak period regarded himself as Kobe.

In this game, the Grizzlies had another high-scoring game. 128 to 111, the Grizzlies easily defeated the Pacers and successfully won the first two consecutive victories.

Sun Ce scored a game-high 30 points tonight, plus 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 steals.

He was very happy to win, but Sun Ce always felt strange. The Eagles had already been figured out. After the Eagles relied on team play to win the Eastern Conference regular season championship last season, they were analyzed by the media like a cocoon. Each team Follow up and analyze...and then you'll be figured out.

The Pacers, on the other hand, feel a little afraid of their Grizzlies. Maybe the 91-7 win last season brought too much deterrence to the opponent.

This caused the Grizzlies to run into a little trouble... After the first two games, their original strategic goal of expecting their team to expose some problems and then find solutions to solve them was not achieved at all! What a smooth win!

Sometimes winning too easily is also a headache, because the early part of the season is when they should encounter trouble. If the trouble does not appear until the middle and late stages of the season, it will be too late. The opponent will find loopholes in their problems, and they It will be impossible to block and prevent!

In this situation, Sun Ce feels like he has played 9 preseason games in a row and is about to play against the Lakers!

…

"Glory Moment, Can Kobe Bryant Complete the Milestone Facing the Grizzlies?" 》

"Epic achievement, Kobe will surpass Malone"

"With another 13 points, Kobe will surpass Malone!" 》

"..."

The third opponent in the opening game, the Los Angeles Lakers, came to Memphis on the morning of October 20th. The Lakers had just started back-to-back games, playing the Bulls at home and the Pelicans away, and suffered two consecutive losses.

First, he was killed by Rose, and then Irving scored 10 consecutive points at a critical moment and scored 41 points in a single game to help the Pelicans reverse the victory.

The game between the Grizzlies and Lakers will start on October 22. The Lakers did not return to Los Angeles and flew directly from New Orleans to Memphis to rest and prepare for the game.

After the regular season last season, Kobe's total score increased to 36,880 points. In the first two games of this season, Kobe scored a total of 36 points, raising the total score to 36,916 points. Coincidentally, he was only 36,928 points away from Malone. With a difference of 12 points, that is, with another 13 points, Kobe will surpass Malone and become second in the scoring list!

It's a coincidence because both Malone and Kobe were selected with the 13th pick in the first round.

So, when Sun Ce got up this morning, he saw the hottest news last night, which was the news that Kobe was about to surpass Malone and become second in the all-time scoring list.

Seeing that the entire Internet was discussing Kobe's affairs, Sun Ce was so upset that he didn't know where to start.

A team that has lost two consecutive games and is ranked last in the league is actually the most popular team at the moment, and what is being discussed is not their last place. Is this team embarrassed?

Sun Ce did not dare to underestimate the Lakers. Although the opponent had a poor start, Sun Ce paid attention to both games. The Lakers actually played very well in regular time, but were killed by Rose and Irving at critical moments.

Regarding the scouting report of the Lakers, the Grizzlies already have a lot of information. The new head coach of the Lakers, Frank Vogel, a 42-year-old young coach, is very capable, otherwise he would not have been there back then. At the age of only 38, he was appointed as the head coach by Larry Bird. Everyone calls Stevens of the Celtics the young coach. Vogel was better than Stevens when he was the NBA head coach. Still young.

Vogel has very well inherited the style of play with James as the point guard, and brought the concept of modern team basketball to the Lakers. Judging from the regular time alone, he played well, but the problem lies at the critical moment. Defensively.

Sun Ce felt that this was a point they needed to pay attention to and try to take advantage of.