There is a perplexing question: Is Edwards – nicknamed "Huazi" by Chinese fans – a supergiant?
If he is not a supergiant, why did he attract the most fans in this playoffs and scored 44 points in Game 4 against the Nuggets today?
If it's a supergiant, why did the Timberwolves give up two home games at home after two consecutive big wins on the road, and were forced to go to Denver's Little Plateau to fight the Battle of Kings Mountain?
First of all, it must be noted that "superstar" is not a basketball term, even in the entertainment industry, including singing and movies, nor is it a term, it is purely a literary descriptive term, because there is no fixed quantitative standard to define it.
But the reason why people often argue about whether a certain star is a supergiant or not is that some stars have no one to refute when we say that he is a supergiant; More often than not, some say yes, others say no, or some say it already is, and some say it isn't.
Hanako is in the last state.
I think that even if Huazi is not a supergiant now, sooner or later it will be. This is for two reasons:
First, on the basis of his natural physical condition, he already has all the technical conditions to become a supergiant, which allows him to rely on these conditions at any time to make achievements;
Second, he is still young, only turning 23 on August 5 this year, and has enough time to accept all kinds of setbacks, and a player becomes a supergiant, and setbacks are an indispensable part of the road to growth.
After all, he's just a fourth-year player, and another loss to the Nuggets is only the 19th playoff game of his career. In comparison, Jokic, who is standing in front of him, has not played many playoff games, and has already played 76 games. Tatum, an excellent Mesozoic player who is more than three years older than him, has experienced various playoff setbacks and has played 102 games.
Is losing to the Nuggets twice in a row at home a setback? Not at all. It's a setback like Tatum who is always questioned about how he gets out of the playoffs, let alone the Finals he's played. Edwards only made it to the second round for the first time.
The fact that this must-win game did not come to rest, and it had nothing to do with Edwards, who showed a high individual level throughout, scoring 44 points in the game, a personal playoff high, and ranking second in the regular season in the past two years.
Amazingly, he made five of his first six three-pointers, proving that he has matured his skills in long-range shooting and has thoroughly built confidence.
While there are no quantitative criteria for a supergiant, I've said once that if Edwards improves his three-point shooting percentage, he has all the personal attributes to be a supergiant. His four-year career average three-point shooting percentage was 35 percent, and his 52 games before this year's All-Star break reached 38.6 percent, which has proven his steady improvement in three-point shooting, but after the All-Star weekend until the end of the season, 27 games were limited to just 30 percent, the most typical of which was 0-of-8 against the Nuggets, and he didn't score a single 3-pointer in 19 consecutive games.
But in eight playoff games, Edwards has made 26 three-pointers and shot a whopping 44 percent, and today's performance shows that his three-point shooting has reached a new level.
As for killing the opponent under the basket and dunking violently, that is his talented ability.
How to become a recognized supergiant, rather than having their own opinions, depends on whether he can get a championship ring back, otherwise two scenarios will arise:
First, question your ability to lead the team personally and win the championship back; Second, question your team and let you leave.
Now that the semifinals against the Nuggets have only been played more than halfway, a new test is in front of him, that is, to go to Denver to play away from Tianwang Mountain, can he win it?
The big wins over the Nuggets in his first two away games proved that Edwards has such personal ability and mental quality, scoring 70 points in two games, but this is just the beginning. Even if it is a supergiant, it is difficult to reach the Western Conference finals so smoothly, and even hit the championship, there must be all kinds of bright and dark setbacks waiting for you on the way. The more difficult the conditions, the more it can be won, the more it shows the preciousness of victory - the vicissitudes of the sea show the true character of the hero.
So can Tianwang Mountain be taken down by the Timberwolves? It's completely improvised.
The good news for the Nuggets is that they have completely shaken off the psychological shadow of their first two home losses, with Gordon and Murray becoming more and more resilient, rather than counting on Jokic to win the game alone. Another advantage for the Nuggets is that after 2-2, they no longer passively play against the wind, but return to their home court, where the wind is in their favor.
And if the Timberwolves lose Tianwang Mountain, or even the entire series is overturned, they will regret why they lost the game so unresisted in the third game, which is completely different from the defensive intensity of the second game.
In the fourth game, the Nuggets won strongly, almost the whole game was downwind, which also showed Jokic's masterful control ability and faced a variety of different defensive responses, while Gordon made all 11 shots in the first 11 and couldn't match anyone in the Timberwolves, except for Edwards.
Therefore, Tianwangshan will be the real playoffs between these two teams, different from the first two games, which will catch you off guard, and also different from the last two games.
If Tianwang Mountain can be taken, Huazi's popularity will further skyrocket.