Chapter 316: Dignity and struggle

After receiving the p trophy, which symbolized the best player of the regular season of a season, Kevin Garnett shyly bowed his head and pursed his lips, and then raised it to the cheers and applause of more than 20,000 spectators at the North Shore Garden Arena. With the trophy, there was a big smile.
The regular season p trophy is named after the first president of the NBA, Maurice Podolov. It is the highest personal honor of an NBA player in the regular season. Any player who has received a p evaluation is a very remarkable superstar. They not only With outstanding personal ability, he has also made great contributions to the team and the city. He is an out-and-out winner on the basketball court.
In the 2003-2004 season, no one deserves this honor more than Kevin Garnett. His unselfish style of play, all-round statistics, strong mental appeal, and the Celtics' dazzling record will all make this honor. A power forward who has just arrived in Boston has received all-round praise. The only dissatisfaction with him may be that he is not from the Celtics draft-the four P players before the Celtics were drafted by the Celtics and retired from the Celtics. .
However, in this era, not many people care about this issue. He has come and won, which is enough.
The brief ceremony soon ended, and Garnett's face quickly returned to the solemn, ferocious and even bloodthirsty look of the past. Leon couldn't be more familiar with this look. When a wolf is about to fight an opponent, he will always slash his teeth to intimidate the opponent. Garnett is a guy who is good at bluffing. Fortunately, behind the bluff, he does have the ability to change the game.
Tonight is the old rival New Jersey Nets. The outside world is unanimously optimistic about the Celtics. After all, without Garnett last year, the Celtics were able to cut the Nets to the Finals. Now the Celtics There has been a qualitative improvement in human strength, and many people think that beating the Nets will be no problem.
But Leon doesn’t think so. The Knicks really didn’t take it seriously. The Nets are different. This year, the Nets are only fourth in the Eastern Conference and have not won 50 wins. The core player Kidd is also suffering from injuries. Leon But still feel that this team should not be underestimated.
First of all, the Nets' lineup depth is actually not as good as in 2003. They have left several powerful players, but the main framework is still there. The third year of cooperation has become more mature and tacit. It is a very effective team. .
Secondly, the Nets continue to focus on perimeter defense and quick counterattacks in their play style, but they are trapped by Kidd and Martin's injuries in the regular season, as well as the play style itself, with a mediocre record. When it comes to the playoffs, this defensive team will be a tough one, no matter what the regular season record is.
Third, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson are more mature. Martin has ushered in the fourth year of his career, which is also a contract year. He has the best data of his career, rebounds, blocks and steals. Created a new high; Jefferson also grew rapidly. With Kidd trapped in injury, Jefferson played 82 games, took the burden of offense, and averaged 18.5 points per game. The strongest city lord in history
Fourth, players such as Kittles, Jason Collins, etc. are as stable as ever. Perhaps the Nets' bench is not as good as before, but in the playoffs, a stable and solid starting lineup can still allow them to maintain a strong competitiveness. . From the first round of the game against the Heat, it can be seen that although the Heat with Wade and Odom have shown amazing talent, the Nets can still rely on defense and experience to send them home in the playoffs.
Leon knew that since he made the swept vow, he must fulfill it to the end.
"You must speak credit when you come out to play. If you say a good sweep, you must sweep." Leon said to his players before the game. He didn't want the players to have the slightest chance to play a game. A truly powerful team will not play with its opponents, but must kill the opponent with all its strength. This is the greatest respect for the game and the opponent.
At 7 and a half in the evening, the game officially began. The Nets dressed in blue and gray jerseys stood on the floor of the North Shore Garden Arena for the third consecutive year in the playoffs. This team suddenly rose three years ago and brought a touch to the East. The brilliant team is now gradually in decline. Three years is a cyclical cycle of the NBA. This is true for the coach, the players, and the team. Three years will be a hurdle. No matter who passes this hurdle, it will be a new world. If you can't pass it, you will often have to start all over again.
The Nets are standing on this hurdle, just as Jason Kidd is standing on the parquet floor with his painful knee. In any case, Kidd hopes to win a championship with the Nets, in 2002. The unexpected finals always made people feel that they were not ready at all; by 2003 they were ready, but they were avenged by a Celtics who seemed unprepared.
Today, no one is optimistic about them anymore. He has suffered from knee injuries during the regular season, and can no longer make a breakthrough without slowing down, and can no longer easily dunk, but he is still willing to persist. In the summer, Vitch invited him to join the Spurs. At that time, the Boston Celtics had just acquired Kevin Garnett. Vitch told him that you would never have another chance in the East.
But Kidd still refused. He was unwilling to leave the Nets for the championship. This is not a bad team, but a team that has reached the finals and is close to the championship. It is a ball with a complete lineup and tactics. The team, he is the core here, he is the basketball hero of New Jersey, he is only 31 years old, he wants to bring an O'Brien Cup here.
Now, Kidd, who is standing in the North Shore Garden Arena, feels a dull pain in his knees. He has done enough treatment before the game. There is a thick knee pad on his left knee, but there is no way. It is difficult to return to the past. Like that.
In the faceoff, Jason Collins touched the ball and Kidd skillfully took the ball and began to organize the offense.
Before the start of the series, the entire Nets team also conducted sufficient research and preparation. Head coach Frank believes that how to score in the offense will be the key. That's right, Frank's requirement is to allow the Nets to score in a positional offense, because based on video and regular season game experience, the Nets have almost no way to organize an effective offense in a positional battle. Jin Gui
The Nets lack strong singles, and they are almost helpless in the face of the Celtics' new-style defense. Whenever the Celtics make a strong defensive end, the Nets will be completely misfired. They are even inferior to the Nuggets and Knicks on this diǎn, at least they can continue to fire the team with a sharp knife. The Nets rely on the overall play style, must make a breakthrough in positional warfare.
In the first offense in the opening game, Kidd and Martin made a pass. Kidd quickly and concealedly passed the ball to Martin with a 45-degree waist. Then he pretended to be inward, and then he stepped out of the three-point line. Martin was passing back to Kidd, and Kidd took the ball directly from the three-point line.
Kidd's three-pointers have always been ineffective, but his shots have always been very high and difficult to interfere. When he caught the ball and jumped out, Arenas was a little too late to pounce.
The ball bounced on the basket twice, and finally fell into the basket, hitting a three-pointer, Kidd scored the first point of the game and made a good start for the Nets.
In the away game, a good start is extremely important. This three-pointer undoubtedly gave the Nets a bottom. They were a little nervous and soon began to relax.
In defense, Frank decided to take the initiative and used the full-court press at the beginning. Kid Kittles doubled Arenas and almost caused a pass error. In the end, Pierce missed a mid-range jumper and the Nets got a backboard rebound. ~EbookFREE.me~ Kenyon-Martin rushed for halftime. Kidd made a beautiful long pass to Martin. Martin scored a dunk, 5:0, and the Nets opened a 5:0.
At this time, Fox-Leon is still sitting firmly on the bench, it seems that this situation will not worry him at all.
Then Arenas missed a three-pointer from outside the three-point line, and the Nets once again had the opportunity to counterattack. This time Kidd did not initiate a fast break, but after half the dribble, seized the opportunity to use a quick The pick-and-roll, went directly to the inside basket and succeeded, 7:0, Kidd scored 5 points, giving the Celtics a smash.
"Don't relax! It's just the beginning!" Kidd yelled to his teammates after the goal. He knew that just an opening advantage was not enough. The Celtics didn't seem to wake up yet.
He told himself in his heart that no matter how strong the Celtics were, he would never give up the idea of ​​winning.
At this moment, Leon got up from the stool, made a gesture to the players on the court, and then sat back.
After serious consideration, Leon decided to tear the Nets in the simplest way. (To be continued.)