Chương 204: Eastern Conference Finals, 24 vs 23
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After all, unlike James, who was the number one pick in 2003 and the sky's favorite, Ellis was only a second-round pick in 2005. The identities of the two sides are worlds apart. This also led to the Pistons losing the game, but the direction was not disappointed and even strengthened the idea of rebuilding the team around Monta Ellis.
In the West, the Lakers defeated the Jazz 4:2, while the Spurs had to fight the Hornets for 7 games before winning. It was quite surprising, although the Spurs had a mediocre performance during the regular season, after all, they are the defending champions. They have rich playoff experience and a strong GDP. The three key players did not suffer any major injuries during the regular season. The team's main lineup is exactly the same as last year's winning lineup.
Such a Spurs team fell into a tough battle against the new Hornets, and even lost the battle on Mount Tianwang, with the Hornets winning the first game.
Thanks to their rich experience in the GDP competition, they calmly won two consecutive games to complete the comeback; otherwise, they would have really sunk into the gutter.
As a result, the official list of matchups for the Eastern and Western Conference Finals was announced.
The Eastern Conference Finals is a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Finals, with the Chicago Bulls facing the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the West, there is a showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs.
Judging by the strength shown this season, there is a high probability that the Bulls and Lakers will meet in the finals.
From the perspective of excitement, most neutral fans also expect the final to be the showdown between Wang Chong and Kobe on the 24th.
The two have fiercely competed for the scoring title in the last two seasons. Although Wang Chong won twice in a row and reclaimed the scoring title this season, which can be considered a victory over Kobe three times,
But that does not mean Kobe's scoring ability is not strong enough, especially after the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, when the league started announcing the final season awards.
The MVP of the regular season was announced with much suspense, and the result was as expected by Wang Chong. Kobe Bryant won the 2007-08 regular season MVP with 31% of the votes.
Wang Chong came second in the MVP voting with a vote share of 30%, just slightly less than Kobe.
Of course, the Bulls fans and Wang Chong could not accept this result, whether it was the team's record, individual performance, or contribution to the victory. Wang Chong has an undeniable victory over Kobe.
The reasons given by the media for awarding Kobe the first vote were, in their opinion, very ridiculous.
The reason they gave was that although the Bulls still had a very dominant performance in the regular season, their record of 64 wins was far inferior to last season's astonishing 69 wins. Clearly, they had an MVP-level helper on their side. And Wang Chong's team performance decreased, rather than improved.
On the other hand, with the Lakers, Kobe only had his All-Star teammate Pau Gasol, who was much weaker than Garnett. The team's record shot up, improving by more than ten games compared to the previous season.
In addition, Kobe is no longer obsessed with personal statistics this season and is willing to let go of the scoring title competition and focus on how to win the game. This mature performance has also been praised by many journalists.
For these reasons, they voted for Kobe.
Of course, this explanation is not convincing and is simply nonsense.
Everyone knows that when a team's record surpasses 60 wins, every step forward requires the right timing, location, and people.
The Bulls were luckier last season. Their main starting lineup did not suffer injuries. All members were healthy and played the entire season. At the same time, there were no strong opponents in the East, and the competition was low. They achieved 69 wins in the regular season.
Looking back at this season, although the Bulls have formed the Big Three, Garnett and Billups are already veterans in their thirties and have suffered more or less minor injuries during the long regular season. The team lost many games due to the absence of key players.
It is unfair to insist on using last season's team record to measure this season's performance.
Some football fans know very well that this is definitely the result of manipulation behind the league. They expect Kobe to win the regular season MVP or even the championship so that the league forms a separation between the heroes, creating a scenario where the rivalry between the heroes becomes more interesting and appealing to the fans.
The best proof is that the vote difference between Wang Chong and Kobe Bryant is only 1%. This shows that many media still recognize Wang Chong's performance this season and feel that there is a high probability that he is qualified for re-election. The league interfered and allowed Kobe to be re-elected. Wang Chong lost his chance to win the MVP award.
After the regular season MVP results were announced, Wang Chong's fan group and Kobe's fans began a major online battle. The two sides had a heated discussion, but it was obvious that in China, Wang Chong's fans were much stronger than Kobe's fans.
At that time, Kobe Bryant did not yet have the so-called base of 6 billion fans. Maybe he had it, but the number was completely out of scale. Wang Chong's fans spread it all over the Internet and it was completely unable to compete.
Amid the heated debate over the regular season MVP selection results, the awards for other seasons were completely eclipsed and not many people mentioned them at all.
Garnett won the DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) award. This is the second consecutive year that the Bulls have had a teammate win the best defensive player award. Garnett deserves this award. He ranked first in votes, and Szczerbiak, with less than half of Garnett's votes, placed second.
There was no suspense about the Rookie of the Year award, which went to Kevin Durant, who averaged 19.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, easily winning the award. However, because he was selected by the Celtics and had Pierce on the team, he did not get the unlimited shooting rights he would have had with the SuperSonics, so he did not exceed 20 points in his rookie season. However, the young Reaper's scoring talent has undoubtedly been demonstrated by the local media in Boston. Durant's talent was recognized multiple times, and it was expected that he would become the second Wang Chong of the league.
The Sixth Man of the Year was Manu Ginóbili of the Spurs, the Most Improved Player was Hedo Turkoglu of the Magic, and the Coach of the Year went to Hornets head coach Byron Scott.
Originally, it was expected that the Bulls' new head coach, Tom Thibodeau, would rely on the excellent record of the Bulls to repeat the feat of winning Coach of the Year in his first season as Bulls coach in 2011.
But the judges clearly took into account the strong lineup of the Bulls and the strength of the superstars, and believed that the credit for the Bulls' record was not solely due to Thibodeau, but to Scott of the Hornets. The Hornets only had one young star in Chris Paul. In such circumstances, leading the team to the second-best record in the Western Conference was a commendable level of coaching.
Wang Chong was deeply impressed by Coach Byron Scott. To sum him up in three words, it was simply bad luck.
Scott's coaching ability was not very good, but he couldn't resist his good luck. When he started coaching an NBA team, he met Kidd and defected to the Nets.
Although Kidd's personal performance as a point guard was mediocre, the minimum requirement for leading a team is not low. Especially after the Nets formed their Big Three, they even made it to the finals, although they were swept by the Lakers 4-0 in the finals. But it still left an important mark on Scott's coaching career.
After that, Scott went to the Hornets and met Chris Paul, who was selected by the Hornets.
Chris Paul and Jason Kidd are point guards. Although their playing styles are completely different, both are extremely intelligent, top-tier point guards with excellent vision and passing skills, able to organize and support effectively.
The ceiling for such a point guard leading a team may not be high, but the floor is very high because they can control the situation and make the final decisions for the team in critical moments. When facing weaker teams, they can use their general vision of the situation to win, but it's hard to do much against stronger opponents.
Relying on the protection of two top point guards, Scott's coaching career went smoothly at first, with a very high record and much praise. However, this good reputation was destroyed when Scott coached the Cavaliers and Lakers in the 15-16 season. Scott led the Lakers to a record of 17 wins and 65 losses, finishing last in the Western Conference. After Kobe retired, Scott completely disappeared from the NBA.
In Wang Chong's opinion, there is a huge gap between the coaching levels of Byron Scott and Tom Thibodeau. Only if they are lucky enough to have a top-tier point guard leading their team can they achieve a good record.
——The discussion about the season awards is still intense, but the Eastern and Western Conference Finals are already in full swing.
On May 20, 2008,
At the United Center in Chicago, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals was about to begin.
Chicago Bulls vs Cleveland Cavaliers, this series is almost surpassed only by the Bulls and Lakers final on the 24th.
Wang Chong and James 24vs23, and the duel between Garnett and O'Neal, the two best inside players of the early 21st century. Although Garnett and O'Neal are in different positions, and the latter is old, his competitive status is completely incapable. Special comparison to Garnett, but that doesn't hinder the league's enthusiasm for the game.
On game day, the United Center was packed with fans who came to watch the game and the noise was deafening.
The Bulls starting lineup has remained unchanged for thousands of years, and it's still Billups, James Jones, Wang Chong, Garnett and Gasol.
The Cavaliers starting lineup consists of Daniel Gibson, Ray Allen, James, Wally Szczerbiak and O'Neal.
From a pure lineup comparison, there is already a big gap between the two teams, especially at the power forward position. The combination of Wang Chong + Garnett is much stronger than James + Szczerbiak.
Not to mention anything else, the pressure alone on the defensive side is quite big. After all, Szczerbiak is 2.01 meters tall and his more suitable position than power forward is actually small forward.
But there's no other way. To get O'Neal, the Cavaliers have traded away all the interior players. The remaining backup interior players are not as useful as Zerbiak.
Wang Chong is actually a bit confused about what the Cavaliers are thinking. Do they really think they can beat the Bulls by forming a Big Three lineup? Isn't this idea too naive?
Of course, this has something to do with the fact that they didn't have the same wide eyes as Wang Chong. After all, this is O'Neal. People who don't know how bad O'Neal's competitive status has been still will. O'Neal is expected to show some of his peak performance in the playoffs.
The result was that during the jump shot phase, the Cavaliers could only let O'Neal compete for the ball. How could the old, slow O'Neal beat Garnett with the jumper? The basketball was easily headed to the Bulls' side.
After Billups took possession of the ball for half court, he waited for his teammates to get into position and then passed the ball directly to Garnett.
Garnett hit Szczerbiak with his back, and his iconic jump shot faded steadily. Szczerbiak, who was only 6-foot-7, could not effectively jam Garnett.
This is the tactical move the Bulls had planned before the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavaliers' lineup has major gaps, especially the matchup between Garnett and Szczerbiak at the power forward position, which is not unlike a mismatch. Therefore, as long as the Cavaliers' matchup is as the Bulls envision it, the Bulls will pass unwaveringly. Give Garnett the ball to play and efficiency will be extremely high.
The Cavaliers obviously understand this, but they have no choice. The team's two starting forwards, James and Szczerbiak, must make a decision, let the latter defend Wang Chong or Garnett.
Although Garnett is also a top superstar at the MVP level, there is obviously still a big gap with Wang Chong in terms of scoring ability.
The Cavaliers' thinking is that they would rather let Garnett score than give Wang Chong the opportunity to score easily. James will guard Wang Chong throughout the game. Even if he cannot guard him, he will consume Wang Chong's physical energy. maximum extent and not let him score with impunity during the game.
This kind of contempt made Garnett feel very unhappy.
In the first quarter of the game, Garnett unceremoniously took a plethora of shots, including several mid-range jump shots and drove through the penalty area to attack the basket and score. The Cavaliers were overwhelmed.
On the other hand, the Cavaliers originally wanted to take advantage of O'Neal's dominance in the box and score on Gasol in isolation.
But O'Neal is in bad shape. Although he has an absolute advantage over Gasol in terms of tonnage, his offensive efficiency after entering the penalty box is not high. Moreover, before the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, Gasol also made up for it.He defended O'Neal when he plays, he often uses a forward defense, similar to the method used against Yao of the Rockets, which makes O'Neal expend a lot of energy every time he catches the ball.The Sharks' offensive efficiency is completely inferior to Garnett's.
After the first quarter, the Bulls held a 7-point lead with 24:17 left in a single quarter.
Garnett hit 5 of 8 shots and 2 of 2 free throws in a single quarter, scoring 12 points.
For the Cavaliers, O'Neal hit 3-of-8 shots and 1-of-3 free throws, scoring just 7 points.
But for the Cavaliers, the worst situation is yet to come.Although James guarded Wang Chong throughout the game, it was impossible to prevent Wang Chong from scoring. After the start of the second quarter, Wang Chong started to take over.The Bulls' defense frequently used mid- and long-range jump shots to score, and the Bulls' scoring steadily improved. Garnett, who was released from the offensive end, devoted his energy to the defensive end.To get O'Neal, the Cavaliers have traded away all the interior players.
End of this chapter
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