"Little Bully" Stoudemire: Yao Ming's nemesis, the most unreasonable "blocking monster"

In the 2004 Western Conference Finals, the Spurs easily killed the Suns 4-1.

But perhaps, it was the most embarrassing round of Duncan's career.

With 37.0 points and a 55.2 percent shooting percentage, someone was making waves in the Spurs' box.

Tim Duncan, the undisputed first major in history before. Second in all-time defensive win contribution (DWS) and third-highest defensive efficiency in history.

He is the second defensive nucleus in NBA history after Bill Russell.

In the eighteen playoffs of his career, whether it is Malone, the second-highest scorer in history, the Sharks at the top, the German king Nowitzki and other super interiors, or LeBron, Kobe Bryant, Durant and other historical top attackers, have not cut such data in front of him.

The only one who can do this is the "little bully" Stoudemire who has Nash by his side.

Amar Stoudemire, which we commonly call "Little Si" or "Little Bully", after all, there was still a Stoudemire in the league at that time, "Little Flying Squirrel" Damon.

But what most fans impressed him most was that

He was the ninth show with Yao Ming, and directly stole Yao Ming's best rookie.

He is also the first high school student in history to be the best rookie.

In the 02-03 season, the attention of the whole league was on Yao Ming, the "Great Wall of China" from the East. He played O'Neal's "monster duel," he cut 30 points and 16 rebounds on Bradley, who was also a bamboo pole, and had Charles Barkley kiss the ass.

All made this newcomer from China one of the most watched stars of the year.

Coupled with the no. 5 show that year, Jay Williams, Dunllivig, Gooden, and Skitishvili either performed mediocreally or completely watered.

The best rookie seems to be in the bag.

But the best rookie of the year was Stoudemire, who belonged to the Suns.

At the end of the season, Yao Ming had 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

S. Jr. 13.5 points 8.8 board 1.1 cap. The data for the two men is almost the same.

But that year the Suns made the playoffs. And it was the houston rocket that snatched the last ticket directly.

In the second half of that season, Rockets head coach TomJanovic contracted bladder cancer and had to rest. Coupled with Yao Ming's encounter with the rookie wall, the team won 7 and lost 9 in the sprint stage.

He was overtaken by the Suns led by Namaburi at the time and missed the playoffs.

So Xiao Si won the best rookie of the year with the team's record.

Including the author, they all felt sorry for Yao Ming at that time. He also acquiesced to Xiao Si as Yao Ming's "lifelong enemy".

However, what I did not expect was that the fate of the two would be very different after that.

In the 03-04 season, Yao Ming improved to 17.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, and was already the center with the most points in the West besides O'Neal.

But Sing Jr. is even more terrifying, with 20.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, which is already an average of 20+ scorers per game.

But that year, the Suns only had a record of 29-53 due to civil strife, while the Rockets wenzhongsheng hit seventh in the West and Yao Ming made the playoffs for the first time.

At that time, people were still thinking:

Xiao Si data is better, but Yao Ming is a more competent insider. You can see by looking at the results of the team.

However, in the summer of 2004, the comparison between the two was completely out of balance due to the arrival of one person.

Steve Nash.

Nash, who had just been blown up by the Kings in the playoffs, did not get a contract extension from Mavericks owner Cuban. So the 31-year-old chose to sign with the Suns for 5 years and 65 million US dollars, returning to the place where his NBA dream began.

At that time, the NBA and even the Suns themselves probably did not think how much this operation would have affected the entire league.

One of the greatest offensive masters of the 21st century, the Suns directly improved from 29 wins from the previous season to 62 wins and 20 losses in the 04-05 season.

Their seven-second offensive style of play swept the league, accelerating the pace after the NBA and even stepping on the throttle hard.

And the one who benefits the most is Xiao Si.

Before Nash arrived, he could only be regarded as a light interior line with a strong body and a relatively comprehensive technology.

Beastly dunks and empty cuts, can run and attack with small men, and have a reliable mid-range and throw.

After Nash's arrival, he became the most terrifying inner killer of his time.

His and Nash's blocking was the starting point in the Suns' positional attack. Skos's strong body was able to provide Nash with quality cover (Nowitzki was almost there at the same time).

Nash's precise projection and unpredictable pace made defenders hesitate to choose 0.1 seconds in the change of defense and pinch hit.

At this time, the beast-like little Si will cut into the inside line like lightning, and easily end the attack with a violent buckle or throw.

At that time, the Suns' offense was undisputed the number one in the league, and if Nash was the irrefutable team brain, then Xiaosi was the strongest fist.

The figure of 2 meters 09, the arm span of 2 meters 18, and the age of 21 years old are exactly the age when he runs across the line and charges forward.

So he averaged 26.0 points and 8.9 boards per game, all-Star, league second team.

His combination with Nash, in terms of offensive power, is no less than the legends of history such as magicians - Skyhook, Stockton Malone, and Payton Kemp.

Even in terms of visual impact alone, I would like to call it the strongest.

Although Yao Ming had 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds that year, and played well with the new Maddy, at least in that season, he and Xiaosi were no longer on the same level.

The most direct comparison is the 2005 playoffs.

The Mavericks eliminated the Rockets in the first round and won 40 points in Game 116-76 in Game Seven. The Western Conference semifinals hit the sun and lost 2-4.

In that series, Hinds had 28.8 points and 12.5 rebounds, and scored 117 points in the first three games, almost unloading the Dirk-Dampier combination.

Then the Western Conference Finals, facing Duncan. It also averaged 37.0 points per game and shot 55.2% of non-human stats.

The stone Buddha, who has always been stable, has never seen an inner line that can combine strength, speed, and skill so well, except for the big shark. The key is that he can still block and dismantle!

Although the Spurs won 4-1, Xiao Si proved himself and was already the most terrifying inside killer in the league.

At the end of the 04-05 season, the Suns immediately renewed a four-year, $57 million contract with him, but he underwent knee endoscopic surgery in the offseason. Only played 3 games in the entire 05-06 season.

However, in the 06-07 season, it was found that he did not seem to have been affected by a knee injury and still had the explosive power to destroy the world.

As a result, he had a career-high 9.6 rebounds and a 57.5 percent shooting percentage, and although the Suns cut back on playing time to protect him, they still contributed 20.4 points per game.

So still all-star, the league for a while.

They were no longer even afraid of the Spurs, when the gap between the two teams was a millimeter, and the regular season was drawn 2-2. The Western Conference semifinals are again, the first seven games are drawn between the two sides, and the Suns, who have home advantage, are about to return to Phoenix.

But with 18 seconds left in game four, when the Suns took a 100-97 lead and had the ball in hand, Spurs' "key man" Robert Horry directly lifted Nash to the scorestand, and a collective clash broke out between the two teams.

The referee sent Horry and Raja Bell, who came to help, and the post-match extra penalty was an additional suspension for suns S. and Boris Dior as they left the bench during the clash. (At the time, the NBA was under high-pressure measures to ban group racks), and the Spurs only had Horry add two more games.)

So in phoenix's fifth game, the Battle of King's Hill, the Suns folded the inside pillar Xiaosi and the first substitute, the fastest improving player in 2006, Boris Dior, while the Spurs only lost the 36-year-old team's third inside linehore.

The Suns, who could only play a six-man rotation in the fifth battle, fought until the last moment, but still lost 85-88. In the end, the sixth game was eliminated by the Spurs 4-2 in San Antonio.

Since then, The Spirit of Xiao Si and the Sun has been devastated. They're still one of the strong teams in the West, but Nash's age, his own knees. The Spurs, who could not turn over, and the Lakers who got Gasol and re-emerged later, have made them farther and farther away from the finals and championships.

They sent Marion away and invited O'Neal, but were still eliminated by the Spurs.

So in the 2009-10 season, after artest's successful victory in the king mountain and the revenge of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, XiaoSi, who had a full contract, chose to sign the Knicks, after all, a metropolis like New York is the dream place of many young people.

Here he was still under D'Antoni, but this time the master of attack began a frenzied experiment. He played center-forward for Jr. by Gallinari, Landry Fields, Wilson Chandler and "Fat Guard" Felton.

They won 13 and lost 13 in November-December 2010, including an eight-game winning streak.

Although He did not have an "ammunition transporter" like Nash, he had a more comfortable offensive space and more ball possession.

His three threats in the basket, mid-range shots, and interior steps are all vividly displayed.

In December, Stoudemire averaged 30 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game, shooting 54 percent from the field, the best of the second month of his career.

The Knicks were not satisfied, and brought in Camero Anthony, who had been rumored to them for more than a year. I hope that these two front-line monsters can help them get out of the haze completely.

But although these two are top scorers, they are not the kind of coaches who can connect and lead the team, and the team's organization still relies on the 36-year-old Billups. Not to mention that both men's defenses were unexpectedly bad.

One of the two of them' most tacit cooperation in the Knicks was probably to help the big beauty Swift complete the dunk.

In the 2011 playoffs, they were easily managed 0-4 by the Big Three's Green Army. In that series, Stoudemire scored 14.5 points on just 11.5 shots.

Worse, he was injured again. His knees were like yao ming's paws, always giving him a fatal blow when he wanted to go further.

When he returned from the 2011-12 season, the score dropped to the lowest 17.5 points since the rookie season.

Since the 2012-13 season, he has not even secured the Knicks' main position, 14.2 points, 11.9 points, year after year decline. Until February 2015, it was completely bought out by the Knicks and cleaned out.

Stoudemire, one of the most terrifying inner-line monsters of the first decade of this century. But now, whether it is ranking the stars of the new century or discussing the most suitable interior line for the small ball era, people seem to ignore this person who is extremely suitable for the NBA in terms of physical conditions and technical characteristics.

The reason is nothing more than:

(a) His defense was terrible.

He is gifted with divine powers, but he does not like to fight in the defensive end. Rebounds have never reached double digits in a single season, and the selection and awareness are not up to standard, which can be successful in the team of the Suns that is desperate to attack and ignore defense.

He and Nash are both symbols of that sun and a dead end for the team. A team with a defensive underside at the heart of the interior and exterior is certainly unlikely to be the final champion.

Take the spurs against the Spurs and duncan as an example, he can wreak havoc on duncan's head. But Duncan could also get more points in front of him more easily on the offensive end.

His poor defense, more prominent than his superior offense.

(ii) The amplification effect of the great point guard

It seems that every great point guard can make some inside line that is good in itself, but by no means top-notch, look so good.

Kidd to Ken Young Martin, Paul to Jordan Jr., Nash to Jr. and even Stockton to Carl Malone.

They created so many easy scoring opportunities for these big men to make them look as good as Jordan, the Sharks, and Duncan in some ways.

But the shortcomings in their own abilities will always be more seriously exposed when they leave these defenders.

Martin, Jordan Jr. left Kidd, Paul became pure blue-collar workers, and After Jr. left Nash, he never made a big move in the playoffs, and even couldn't catch the ball for many times.

What about Carl Malone? His only two seasons averaging under 20 points per game were in his rookie year, and after leaving Stockton in 2003.

(3) Injuries and illnesses

The internal line with the body as the main capital, once it encounters injuries, the performance will show a cliff-like slippery slope.

After a knee injury in 2006, the Sharks have been unable to dominate the basket ever since.

After Garnett injured his knee in 2009, he could not stabilize the Green Army's defense.

Griffin was still in the league in 19 years, but after the meniscus was injured, he could no longer pick stars in the sky.

The same was true of Sings, with a knee injury slowly draining his explosiveness and will, although his face-to-the-basket offense was still at the top of the big man's list.

But once he lost his once proud strength and explosive power, and no longer had Nash's firepower transmission, he was no longer the feared blocking machine.

In fact, he is not yet 40 years old this year.