There are many ways to earn respect in the NBA, but the effort is the most practical and the easiest to achieve. In the first round of the 2021-22 playoffs, the New Orleans Pelicans fully interpreted this. After 6 games of competition, in the end, it was still impossible to stage the "Black Nine Miracle", but they won the respect of everyone.
Throughout this series, each game can be called ups and downs, the Pelicans have positioned themselves very clearly, but they do not admit it at all, and the way head coach Willie Green boosts the morale of the players makes the audience see some blood boiling, not to mention the young boys who are close at hand. In addition to the significant improvement in Ingram's performance, there are two other young players to mention.
Herbert Jones, 23, averaged 10.7 points and 1.8 steals per game, and his three-point shooting percentage increased from 33.7% in the regular season to 41.7%, and after showing excellent 3D attributes, he broke through multiple times in the last game, letting everyone see more possibilities for him. Of course, his cap level does not need too much flowery language decoration, dare not say that it is a historical level, but the reaction and jump height when making up defenses can make people can't help but exclaim every time.
The 24-year-old Alvarado, who averaged 8 points and 1.2 steals per game, was jokingly called the "old six" by fans because of the style of the ball, but in addition to those, his entanglement with Paul made people see the shadow of Tyren Lu's defense of Iverson, and after the team fell into passivity, his vitality was definitely a shot in the arm. Of course, we can't ignore that Alvarado's skills are not bad, the ability to seize opportunities is strong, and it is also a prerequisite for which of his "skills" are triggered, although it is impossible to become a big star, but there is certainly the potential to become Caruso, DelaVertova and others, I believe that in the near future, he can also get a good contract.
In fact, to put it bluntly, the aura around these "little people" is actually "input" and "concentration". Willie Green put in a sense of authenticity, and at the moment when the team is eliminated, he can't help but stay in tears, and the same is true of Alvarado, who shed tears at the press conference, and they bring us the warm side of competitive sports.
They won not only the respect of the fans, but also the respect of their opponents, and after the game, Paul, who shot all 14 in game six, made it clear in an interview: "It is actually the Pelicans' excellent performance that inspired me like this. "It needs to be clear, although Paul's style of play makes many fans feel disgusted, but it is all the "skill" on the basketball court, perhaps some friends think that it is just "dirty", but their generation of players, or earlier NBA games, is never lacking in such elements, but the things on the court, just on the court.
Although Paul had a lot of open battles with Alvarado on the field, he did not hesitate to praise him after the game for his hard work and playing with great vitality. Although Willie Green was a rival, the two had a good relationship in private, and the series "broke" contact for the game, but after the series, the two still hugged each other tightly, and Paul said: "If it wasn't for Willie, I wouldn't be in Phoenix, he was one of the first people to know that I was thinking about the Suns before the deal was completed." When you say bad things about Willy to me, you are exposing to me that you have your own problems. ”
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