After crossing the old rival Guangdong to reach the finals, Guo Allen stands in front of another old opponent - Guangsha, and he will be replaced by another top local defender Sun Minghui. But no matter who the opponent is, Guo Allen will go all out to fight for the championship and the MVP of the finals.
For Guo Allen, Guangsha's opponent is not unfamiliar. Four seasons ago, in the finals of the 2017-18 season, Liaoning was the first CBA championship in team history to sweep the opponent 4-0 on aggregate, which was also the first time in Guo Allen's career that guo really broke out in the finals (averaging 19 points per game). Earlier in the 2016-17 season and the 2014-15 season, Liaoning and Guangsha also met in the playoffs, and each time, it was Guo Allen and his Liaoning who were promoted.
After four seasons of meeting again in the finals with Guangsha, Guo Allen still has enough capital. This season's playoffs have been going on until now, and Guo Allen, who averaged 24.2 points per game, ranked second among local players on the scoring list, behind Sun Minghui (averaging 27 points per game), and ranked fourth among all players. At the same time, Guo Allen can also average 8.5 assists per game, ranking third among local players in the playoffs and fifth in all players. It is worth mentioning that scoring is the second highest in Guo Allen's playoff career (the highest is the 2018-19 season), and rebounds (averaging 5.8 per game) and assists are new highs.
But compared to the 2018-19 playoffs forced to pick up the burden, averaging a playoff career-high 25.1 points per game (Han Dejun missed the playoffs due to injury in the final stage of the regular season, Hudson's playoff status was sluggish), this season's Guo Allen is obviously more comfortable. This season, Liaoning has been equipped with enough firepower points, Zhang Zhenlin, Ferge, Zhao Jiwei, Fu Hao... They can all share the pressure for Liaoning on the offensive end, but Guo Allen still did the offensive and organizational shoulder to shoulder, which is also the best interpretation of his ability to improve. The first round of the playoffs against Shanxi with 40 points and 10 assists to become the CBA's local first man is the best example. Crossing the mountain of Guangdong in the semifinals is even more of an experience for Guo Allen.
Compared with the semi-finals of Guangsha and Shanghai, the semi-finals of Liaoning and Guangdong are obviously more intense. Even if Guangdong lacks major generals, the defending champion still creates great trouble for Liaoning. Under the frequent bag in Guangdong, Guo Allen's feel fluctuated, but at the critical moment, he still carried Liaoning again and again. Liaoning, which won easily in the first game of the series, was entangled in Guangdong in the second game, and once fell behind in the last quarter, and the difficult battle was Guo Allen's repeated shots to stabilize the hearts of Liaoning' army. In the third overtime battle, Guo Allen's breakthrough layup in the last 14 seconds of overtime was almost a final decision. Facing Guangdong's three major power defenders Zhao Rui, Hu Mingxuan and Xu Jie, Guo Allen successfully broke through.
Once again on the stage of the finals, this will also be the best opportunity for Guo Allen to compete for the FMVP. From entering the CBA in 2010-11 to the present, this is Guo Allen's 10th playoff and his 6th personal Finals. Before the playoffs, Guo Allen really had a chance to impact the Finals MVP only last season.
Prior to last season, Guo Allen rarely played Liaoning's top scorer in the playoffs. At the beginning of Guo Allen's career, Liaoning had scorers like Josh Aknon. Then, Hudson joined Liaoning, and Guo Allen was most of the time a little brother behind Lao Ha. Only in the 2018-19 season, Hudson was deeply trapped in Xinjiang, and Guo Allen became Liaoning's top scorer in the playoffs for the first time, but that season, Liaoning was out of the semifinals early and could not defend his title, and Guo Allen was unable to compete for the MVP in the finals. In the 2019-20 season, Mayo joined and carried the banner of Liaoning's attack, and in the playoffs and finals, Mayo was Liaoning's top scorer.
Last season, Guo Allen once again became the Liaoning playoff scoring champion with an average of 20.3 points per game, the difference is that Guo Allen was no longer pushed into this position, but was clearly more qualified for this role. In the Finals, he raised his average to 25.7 points and 7 assists per game, second only to Wims (26.3 points per game) in the Finals, ranking the highest in assists by the two teams. Unfortunately, Liaoning did not win the championship, and Guo Allen also lost a great opportunity to compete for the MVP in the finals.
Today, Guo Allen is stronger in the playoffs than last season. Under the elongated format of the series, Liaoning's two-round sweep is even more remarkable. As the pioneer and leader of Liaoning, Guo Allen also ushered in the best opportunity to compete for the MVP of the finals.
All along, for one reason or another, Guo Allen has not been able to get enough recognition in the regular season MVP selection. This season, when injuries struck, Guo Allen was even more out of the regular season MVP competition because he did not meet the requirements for the number of appearances. But he has always been the MVP in the hearts of countless fans, last season's finals, Guo Allen said after being shouted "MVP" again and again by Liaoning fans on the sidelines: "I am very grateful to the fans, I don't care about anything with their support." ”
Now, whether Guo Allen cares or not, the best opportunity for the MVP in the finals is in front of him, and Guangsha has accidentally suffered an injury blow, which makes the balance of this series seem to have tilted to Liaoning. And the regrets left by the regular season MVP due to various selection conditions, Guo Allen is also expected to make up for it through the finals MVP.