Since Schroder Harrell's "best sixth man" double-fist combination was defeated by the Lakers last season, the NBA seems to have paid as much attention to bench players as it did in previous years.
The two played the role of "bench bandits" in the 2019-20 season for the Clippers and Thunder, respectively. Harrell averaged 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and Lu Wei played the "superstar on the bench" with the Clippers, and Schroeder's 18.7 points, along with Paul and Alexander, dragged the aspiring Thunder to fifth place in the West, ranking in the top two of the 19-20 season's Best Sixth Man selection.
But when they combined their swords in the Lakers, they did not release their original power around Zhan Mei. Especially in the playoffs, Harrell was directly abandoned by Vogel because of defensive flaws, Schroeder was hung up by paul sr. in all directions, and finally did not even earn the ideal contract extension.
The best sixth man, the earliest from the eight-time winning period of the Celtics.
At that time, "Cardinal" Auerbach used Heinthorne to play as the starting striker, but the talent with excellent scoring ability was not good because of smoking and poor fitness. So The Bishop appointed another white striker, Ramsey, as a substitute and shared playing time.
In order to avoid the media scorning Ramsey, the bishop stressed, "Ramsey is not a substitute, he is the sixth man of the team!" That's why the word became so popular.
"What matters is not who starts, but who ends the game!"
So after the NBA, the teams have paid more attention to the rotation of substitutes.
Some are to leave the players with outstanding ability on the bench, and when the main players are tired, they will launch a second wave of impact as the core of the second team. At the same time, they often replace a "fake starter" in the last moments of the game to end the game, and their role in the team is no less than that of the core main force.
McHale in the early 80s, Spurs' Ginobili, Harden in the Thunder, and Iguodala in the Warriors have all played such roles.
Some are the big brothers with more outstanding abilities in the same position, and the coaches can only find ways to stagger the playing time and make the best use of them. Wait until it matures, or the main state declines and still takes over.
Lakers James Worthy played for Wilkes in the '80s, Kobe Bryant in the '90s, Nash on the bench for Eddie Jones, Jason Kidd, and Sabonis Jr. on the Pacers in previous years.
Of course, the most are the top killers on the bench. Their scoring ability is not inferior to the team's main force, but due to the shortcomings of their own defense or the tactical considerations of the coach, they often hold up the situation as the core of the connection section, giving the team's main players sufficient rest time off the field.
Jamal Crawford, Lovell and, earlier, Ben Gordon, are such fierce characters.
So in the new season of the NBA, what are the bandits who have come out of the bench?
After the start of the game, the Heat is sprinting at full strength, riding the dust. They are currently in first place in the East with 6 wins and 1 loss. In addition to the excellent performance of Lowry and P.J. Tucker introduced in the offseason, the most important thing is Hiro's state of return.
In the 2019-20 season, he was still a rookie and became a surprise for the Heat. Averaging 38.9 percent from three-point range with 13.1 points per game has become an important firepower on the team's outside line.
Especially in the playoffs in the bubble, he is even more heroic. In the Eastern Conference Finals, he averaged 19.2 points per game, and 37 points in a single game set a record for NBA rookie divisional finals. Although the finals lost to the Lakers, Hiro's rapid growth was the biggest gain of the Heat that year.
The Heat were once expected to win Harden in the offseason, but when they learned that the Rockets' offer included Hiro, Riley eventually called off the deal.
However, last season, Hiro's form declined significantly, although the playing time increased to efficiency, but it declined significantly. Even if they were once transferred to the starting lineup, the performance was not satisfactory, and the Heat were eventually swept out by the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
This season, due to the addition of strong reinforcements such as Lowry and Tucker, Hiro is still on the bench. But his offseason efforts still showed a clear effect.
"This season, I added 4 kilograms of muscle and I'm really ready."
As he said, whenever he comes off the bench, he can quickly contribute to the team with a fiery feel.
In the first game, he beat the Bucks 137-95, and he was the team's leading scorer with 27 points.
Playing the Pacers, contributing 30 points and 10 rebounds,
Defeating the Hornets, he played with 26 points, 6 boards and 5 assists,
Yesterday beat the Lone Ranger, the Heat four double-doubled, but the first point score is still 25 points Hiro.
If you were a heat opponent, wouldn't it be a little desperate to find Hiro standing up from the bench when you were exhausted from the battle against Butler, Lowry, Adebayor, Tucker, and Duncan Robinson?
Harrell seems to have been born for the bench. He took the Best Sixth Man twice in his three years with the Clippers, and at one point became one of the NBA's most violent and efficient interior finishing machines.
After the Lakers wasted a year, he is now back in the Wizards.
With just two starts in eight games in the new season, he was able to cut 18 points and nine rebounds, making him the team's second-leading scorer and first-rebounder.
In the Wizards, there is no need to face endless championship pressure and trading rumors, just play their own characteristics and get highlight data.
The team's goal is to enter the playoffs, and the emphasis on defense is not the same as that of the Lakers who aspire to win the championship, and what Harrell has to do is to maximize his strengths and avoid weaknesses.
Last week he played three straight games 25+10 to help the Wizards win three straight. After all, this year is Harrell's contract year, and I believe that even for the sake of personal money, his performance this season is definitely worth looking forward to.
The Lakers hesitated for a long time between Young Master Wei and Hield in their search for the "Third Big."
One is a super ball carrier with an annual salary of 40 million yuan, which highly coincides with LeBron's style of play.
One is an annual salary of 22 million, and the league's top three-point shot.
In the end, the Lakers chose Westbrook, and Hield had no choice but to stay with the Sacramento Kings. Now the Lakers started the season 5 wins and 3 losses in the Third Place in the West, at least the current days are still moist.
But Hield was miserable, and last season's rookie defender Harry Burton had already robbed him of a lot of playing time. Xiaomi Chell, the rookie selected this year, is also a double defender and has won the Summer League MVP as soon as he came up.
And Kings coach Luke Wharton also seems to have fed up with Hield's weakness on the defensive end and wave shots on the offensive end. Not only did he lose his start for the first time this season since arriving at the Kings, but his playing time, shots and scoring fell to their lowest points in four years.
Although now as a substitute, he can still contribute to the firepower of averaging 16.8 points per game. But after all, he can shoot 280 three-point cannons in a single season, and he can almost go to the Lakers to assist Zhan Mei's fierce role. Today's situation is truly lamentable.
How long will the marksman, who averages 4.0 three-pointers per game, have to survive with the Kings?
And the reason why the Lakers are so quick to accept Westbrook and no longer miss Hield is in large part because they now have a near-perfect three-point cannon - Cameron Anthony.
When Anthony decided to join the Lakers in the offseason, although it was a lot of applause, it was more because he and LeBron, the two 03 generation double pride, could really fight side by side, as to whether they could play well and whether they could win the championship, let it go first.
But when the Lakers suffered two consecutive defeats in the opening season and were criticized, it was melons who stepped forward to resolve the embarrassment of the Lakers.
Third game against the Grizzlies, 6-of-8 from three, 28 points,
Then win the Cavaliers 6-of-8 three-pointers, 24 points,
The Rockets scored 8 of 13 from three and scored a total of 38 points.
Today he's averaging 16.5 points per game and can throw 3.4 three-pointers per game with a 52.9 percent shooting percentage. The highest shooting percentage among shooters who have averaged more than 3 goals per game in the league.
What's more, the Lakers front is now full of wounded soldiers. Ariza and Tucker both hung up their free cards. Only two veterans, Anthony and LeBron, can be relied on.
Melon not only opened the "unlimited firepower" mode on the offensive end, but also showed a rare degree of concentration in defense. With an average of 0.9 blocks per game, he became the third blocker after Jordan Jr.
Today, head coach Vogel's most commonly used team is Zhan Mei Turtle + Melon + Bazemore, which is also the most balanced lineup for the Lakers today.
Anthony has been "selling melons" in the league for eighteen years, and it is rare that it is still so sweet!
Bronson (15.0, Dallas Maverick)
In yesterday's Texas Civil War, the Lone Ranger narrowly defeated the spurs 109-108. But in this game, the core of the team, Doncic ,only" got 23 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists, basically "matching" with Spurs guard Dezhangtai Murray (23 points, 9 boards and 8 assists).
The biggest reason why the Lone Ranger was able to win was jaylen Bronson, who had just been transferred to the starting lineup, who made 31 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals on 9-of-17 shooting and 12-of-15 free throw shooting.
Because of Doncic, the Lone Ranger has never needed a traditional guard. Even if the head coach is changed from Carlisle to Kidd this year, the team is still Doncic with two goalscorers (Finney Smith and Hardaway Jr.) + two interior covering walls (Boshin + Powell).
Another possession point for the team today is Bronson, whose main job is to take over when he goes off 077 and to share the pressure of possession with Doncic on some occasions.
This week's state is not as good as a year Bo Shen is also hanging up the exemption card due to injury, so Kidd simply put Bronson into the starting line-up, playing the 2.08m Powell center with four outside lineups.
Bronson was also a bit of a brawler, tearing the Spurs' defense to pieces and playing one of the best games of the season.
In fact, on November 2, his first start has shown good form, facing the Heat of the First Place in the East, although the team lost 110-125, he still won 25 points, 7 boards and 3 assists in the face of the defense of Lowry, Butler and others.
Although the Lone Rangers are currently tied for third place in the West with the Lakers with 5 wins and 3 losses, they still urgently need a second "thigh" besides Doncic, looking at the increasingly indisputable Porzingis, I don't know if head coach Kidd has the courage to directly correct Bronson, who is in such a brave state.
After all, this season is the last year of his rookie contract, and the 26-year-old Bronson is in desperate need of earning his first big contract with a consistently high-profile performance.