Taunt Leonard, look down on Owen, the league's megalomaniacal supergiant! You gradually lose your champion appearance

Lao Liang commented

2024-05-23 22:31Posted in Shandong Sports Creators

From the playoffs to the division finals this season, there are only four teams left: the Celtics + Pacers and the Thunder + Mavericks. The core of all four teams is no more than 26 years old, and a new king is destined to be born. On the eastern side, the Pacers, as the biggest dark horse, have a difficult journey to qualify, eliminating the Bucks who lack the alphabet brother 4-2, and defeating the second Knicks in the East 4-3, but the gap between them and the Celtics on paper is still relatively large, and the Eastern Conference finals have actually lost suspense. On the Western side, the rapid rise of the Timberwolves is indispensable to the growth of Edwards, as well as the team's twin tower framework and stable offensive and defensive performance. From missing the play-in tournament last season to reaching the Western Conference finals this season, the Mavericks' consistent attendance and Doncic's performance under the team have all contributed to it, including mid-season trades to Gafford and Washington.

When James + Durant + Curry are getting old, in the last 6 seasons, it has been determined that 6 different teams will dominate, from the Raptors in 19 years, to the Lakers in 20 years, the Bucks in 21 years, the Warriors in 22 years, the Nuggets last season, and a hundred schools of thought are contending, no one has absolute dominance. And the new generation is also on the top in an all-round way, Jokic and Brother Alphabet of the Mesozoic have led the team to win the championship, Tatum is not very old, and his qualifications are very old, but the ceiling is insufficient. Doncic struggled with the team's lack of overall competitiveness in previous years until the arrival of Irving. And the most surprising thing this season is naturally Edwards, who is also considered by most American media to be the next generation of the league. But he has a big shortcoming. Taunting Leonard, looking down on Owen, and the megalomaniacal supergiant will gradually lose his championship appearance.

The West final matchup was confirmed, and Edwards said: I'll play against Irving, it's interesting, see how I deal with him. In the G1 battle of the Western Finals, Edwards was 6 of 16 in the game, only scoring 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, while Irving easily scored 30 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the whole game, chasing Edwards for military training! In Owen's words, this is motivation and the opponent should be respected! In fact, Edwards did this, but instead put the team in danger and inspired Irving's fighting spirit! Coincidentally, Edwards has often taunted some stars and teams during the regular season this season. For example, at the Clippers' home court, mocking Leonard for being old, this time also caused reporters to have the two face off in an interview at the All-Star Game. Including at the Lakers' home court, spewing trash talk at Lakers fans on the sidelines: You should be glad that I didn't blow you up. Including repeatedly slamming the referee and causing fines, he is indeed a bit arrogant.

In fact, this season, the Timberwolves, like the Grizzlies in the previous two years, rose very suddenly, and they were all based on defense. But the hubris of the team's young core. Morant, the core of the Grizzlies, originally said, "We have no opponents in the West, and the only opponents are the Celtics." As a result, after he said this, he was educated by the Suns, Kings, Lakers and other teams in turn, and in the playoffs, he was easily eliminated by the Lakers. Including the previous two years, Morant also mocked the Warriors many times, and the team also seemed to have suffered from the current world, with 13 people lying on the injury squad this season and falling rapidly! Youth is the biggest capital, and players who can gain a foothold in the NBA are of course not lacking in talent, as long as the run-in is in place, it is very fast to improve their performance. But in the process, it is not advisable for self-confidence to swell with the improvement of results.

Take a counterexample to understand: Brother Alphabet led the team to win the championship, Jokic led the team to win the championship, and when it came to the opponent, they were polite and full of praise. Including after Jokic played the Lakers and finally eliminated the opponent 4-1 this season, Jokic also said that the Lakers are the most difficult opponent to play, and James can still play a historic level of dominance at the age of 39 and so on. The Timberwolves are the second favorite to win the championship after the Celtics, originating from Edwards, but Edwards has gradually shown fatigue, playing a tie-break with the defending champion Nuggets, scoring only 16 points on 6-of-24 from the field, and scoring only 19 points on 6-of-16 from the field in the first game of the West showdown with the Mavericks. Countering this is excessive ball handling, often dumping Conley or Towns when time is running out, including slackness on the defensive end. Two things are certain, first of all, the Timberwolves' roster framework is far better than that of the Grizzlies.

Secondly, in addition to being more arrogant, Edwards' attention is on the court, and he will not cause trouble off the field. But compared with the Mavericks, the opponent of the Western Conference finals, the Timberwolves have three shortcomings that cannot be matched: the Eastern European combination is very explosive in scoring, and the Timberwolves are the only one who has a full game; The Timberwolves' twin-tower combination has become a shortcoming for the Mavericks, as the Eastern European duo has the ability and efficiency to mismatch and punish the center. The last point is the difference in playoff experience between the two teams, Towns led the team alone before, and he made 1 playoffs, Edwards came to the team, and the first two years were basically a round trip. They want to reach championship heights, and to be honest, this lineup alone is not enough, Towns is soft, Gobert is slow, easy to be punished by misplacement, and Conley is too old.

It's good to have self-confidence before you become famous, but you have to have a degree. It's better not to be too arrogant, it's more practical to do things with your head down than to look up and dream! Often in advance of the mouth cannon or look down on the opponent, there will always be some price. With the Grizzlies' experience, Edwards needs to understand that his youth is the biggest advantage, but this is definitely not the capital to mock Leonard, look down on Irving, or even confront the league. If you play like this, you will gradually lose the championship phase, of course, there is a high probability that Edwards will also be in the future, but it is very likely that you will pay the tuition first this season.

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