Chapter 23 A Better December
It has entered December. Kevin Garnett, amid the applause, held up the Player of the Month trophy.
But to be honest, this month is the best, Garnett is not very happy to take it.
Because just the day before yesterday, they lost to the Bobcats.
Before this loss, everything went well for the Celtics, losing only one Pacers.
Logically speaking, the Celtics only lost two games in the month-long schedule, and their record was already very good. Garnett shouldn't be depressed.
But the problem is that the Celtics lost too badly in this game, and from beginning to end, they failed to play their competitiveness.
Considering that the Celtics lost to the Bobcats in this game without any fighting back, Garnett felt that the future was dark.
What if you agree to form the Big Three, you can be invincible? What if you agree to be the champion?
The best month in your hand proves that Garnett has no problem. So, what is the problem?
Under the spotlight, Garnett turned his head and looked to his side. On one side, Pierce, who would inevitably be silent as long as he faced the Bobcat, and on the other side, Ray Allen, who had difficulty equating with the giants after joining the Celtics...
三巨头?QTMD三巨头!
Holding the trophy like this and smiling for a few minutes, Garnett left the pre-match press conference, and then he found Danny Angie.
...
No one knew what Garnett said when he found Anji. Perhaps, it was the same as what Li Ke found Boss Qiao said. Or perhaps, he just found Anji to chat and talk.
In short, turn the camera back to the Bobcats, the transaction is still under negotiation, and the change is already ahead.
In the first match in December, the Bobcats faced the team that HardTele once fought, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Compared with the previous season, the Timberwolves in the new season still have some new vibes. The Timberwolves was undoubtedly the right choice for Kevin Love's draft.
As for this game, this season's No. 4 rookie partner Al Jefferson formed a double tower and even slightly suppressed the inside combination of the old Sharks Galad Mir Radmanovich.
That's right, Radmanovic starts again, but this time, the reason for his start is no longer related to his opponent.
The opponent is the double tower. No matter how outrageous Sam Vincent is, he will not choose an opponent with the double tower. Radmanovic, who is very troublesome in the top four position, starts.
Obviously, for the sake of transactions, the Bobcat has already inspected the goods first.
Although the inside line is suppressed, the outside line is not on the same order of magnitude.
Lao Ai's form is rising. In this game, he made 9 of 19 shots, scored 24 points and had another 7 assists.
Old Ai has played so well, so the Bobcats' offense naturally returns to its peak.
Li Ke beat McMiller, and Hua Lao Er also asked Ryan Gomez to spread his hands in various ways.
In this way, the Bobcats won three consecutive victories after losing to the Raptors.
One day later, the Bobcats continued to play at home, and their opponent was the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Radmanovic continued to start, but was beaten by Xiao Du, who played the guest No. 4 position.
Even so, the Bobcats won.
Because of the outside, Li Ke also beat Saboseforosa.
And, in this game, Lao Ai continued to look up in form, facing Earl Watson, easily scored 27 points and 5 assists.
Of course, more importantly, the old Sharks inside educated Brooke Lopez, the No. 5 rookie this season...
After the game, Li Ke and Xiao Du had a close exchange—
"Hey, Kevin, a great game..."
"Excellent match? Are you laughing at us?"
"No, I'm serious, Kevin."
"Serious?"
"That's right, at least, in my opinion, you have improved compared to last season..."
“FK!”
At the end of the conversation, he still laughed at me. Xiao Du said a swear word from the United States, but did not leave, but told Li Ke:
"We'll stay in Charlotte for one night, don't you say it?"
"Do you mean to treat you to a meal? Of course it's OK, but you have to wait until you finish everything here."
Li Ke pointed to the sideline reporter who was already waiting, and then made a phone call gesture: "That's it, WeChat contact."
That’s right, it’s WeChat contact. After more than half a month of promotion by Li Ke, WeChat has become the most commonly used contact information among NBA athletes.
Most players have already added friends to each other, just like Li Ke, who has more than a thousand contacts in his WeChat address book.
There are NBA players, coaches, executives, athletes, coaches, executives from the NFL and MBL next door, executives from major advertising endorsements, journalists, experts, commentators and commentators related to the sports circle...
In short, WeChat has become popular, and to a certain extent, it has completely penetrated into the sports circle in the United States.
"Wait a little longer, this thing can be sold."
Li Ke is not prepared to hold it for a long time because he knows that he cannot hold it for a long time, so it is better to make a profit and run away.
On the side of the court, Li Ke accepted a post-match interview with Yangwu.
Then he used WeChat to tell Xiao Du: See you in the parking lot, and he also called Jeff Green.
...
In the parking lot, Li Ke met Xiao Du, Jeff Green, and the uninvited Brooke Lopez.
Li Ke didn't mind adding another young man to their small group, especially Daluo has a good personality and will not be too tired when getting along.
However, when Li Ke saw Daluo, he thought of the Thunder's strategy this season.
Yes, this season, the Thunder are not ready to play the role. They have established a core lineup composed of several young people early. Xiao Du, Jeff Green and Daluo are the core of this core lineup.
The season has been held for a month, and the record of 7 wins and 12 losses is quite good.
This record also proves that Xiao Du's ability to lead the team is not much different from Li Ke.
The Gemini of the 07th generation is really in the match.
"So, this season, your determination is not to show off?"
“没错,我们要力争赢下每一场比赛……”
Li Ke questioned, and Xiao Du shouted to express his determination.
But to be honest, Li Ke’s doubts make sense. Not to mention that the Thunder’s current record is not good, even if they catch up to a 50% winning rate, it would be difficult for the Thunder to compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
When the current situation continues to the middle of the season, Sam Presti will definitely use the same trick again and make it bad on the spot.
However, at this time, Li Ke could understand Thunder's determination not to show off.
First of all, young people also need to win to build confidence.
Second, next year's draft will be a full-blown New Year. Emmm, this little year is not what Li Ke said, but what professional experts have been emphasizing.
Almost all draft experts believe that in the 2009 draft, Blake Griffin will dominate, at most James Harden can stand up and compete.
The rest, Hasim Tabitt is a big brother who sells potential. Russell Westbrook is already a junior. Stephen Curry is not only a junior, but also a Davidson College he plays for, and a minor league college. He has too much competitiveness.
Ricky Rubio comes from Europe, Brandon Jennings did not play the NCAA, and also went to Europe. The remaining ones such as Tyrek Evans, DeMar DeRozan... are not even worth mentioning at this time.
Therefore, the Thunder are not going to play badly, because next year's draft is not worthy of their play badly.
"We will never make a bad move again, but the deal is still possible."
"trade?"
As I ate and chatted, I talked about some sensitive topics.
Xiao Du mentioned the deal, but Jeff Green looked dark.
"Yes, the deal Kevin mentioned has something to do with me."
Jeff Green was very straightforward: "Sam Presti talked to me, and my position overlaps with Kevin. Although I can let me play the No. 4 now, this is not a long-term solution after all."
"Sam is very optimistic about Spain's power forward Sergiibaka, so even if there is no transaction, the Thunder in the future will not have room for me to survive."
Li Ke frowned. Sam Presti's analysis was targeted. Jeff Green had fully proved himself that perhaps leaving was not a bad thing.
"Have you talked to David about this?"
David Falke is also Jeff Green's agent. If you really want to trade, Jeff Green will definitely want to communicate with David Falke.
Jeff Green nodded: "David told me that dealings are a good thing, and he will help me operate."
"That's fine, Jeff, you have outstanding strength and shouldn't be left with the Thunder as Kevin's substitute."
To be honest, Li Ke was a little moved when he heard that Jeff Green was going to be traded.
But considering that the Bobcats already have a second child in the same position, there is no need to have another Jeff Green.
So, he pressed the idea of trying to get in.
"Jeff Green will be sent away. Thunder uses him as the main trading platform, and maybe he can really make a big deal. Thunder second and third young masters, I'm afraid it's gone, and the possibility of old people bringing new things is getting bigger and bigger..."
...
After seeing off the Thunder, the Bobcats' regular season continued.
On December 5, they went to Milwaukee and won another victory.
The only thing that can be mentioned in the victory of this game is that Li Ke feels that his playing style is a bit similar to Michael Reed now-
The styles are both projected, both have one-handed and have breakthroughs, but none of them are good.
"Maybe I can learn Reed's style of playing."
Although the Bucks have a poor record, it is more because of injuries and no injuries. Reed still has the ability to lead the team.
After defeating the Bucks, the Bobcats won five consecutive victories.
But on December 6, they went to Cleveland to play back to back away, and then played against the Cavaliers.
In this game, Lao Shark rested, and the situation seemed to be different from the opening match.
But when the actual start of the fight, Li Ke still used his solid defense to tell Lebang: Sheldon Li will soon have a new nickname, namely, Emperor Killer!
Lebang was locked again. Without Lebang's knights, half of the loss of combat power was less.
In this way, without the old shark, the Bobcat defeated the Knight again.
Although in this game, Lao Ai's condition has continued again...
On the 8th, the Bobcats returned to their home court, defeated the Heat, and completed their revenge.
On the 10th, the Bobcats lost again away from the Hornets, and the double-killing season was a foregone conclusion.
After the game, Brother Pao pulled Tucker and Li Ke again, and communicated enthusiastically, even wanted to take the two of them to have a late-night snack.
If the bobcat hadn't left overnight, Li Ke might have agreed.
Seeing Brother Pao, who was becoming more and more popular in front of him, Li Ke felt a little moved.
James Posey's signing was very successful, so the Hornets formed the starting five tigers of Qian Tyson, David Si, James Posey, Peja and Pao Ge, as well as the core lineup of the sixth man Lasur Butler, and the competitiveness is very strong.
"It's a pity that the floor of the Western Finals is preventing Brother Cannon from going to success."
After losing to the Hornets, the Bobcats' winning streak ended.
The winning streak ends, and then there is a losing streak.
Because after the Hornets, they lost a back-to-back game of Mavericks and were also double-killed in the season.
Back to back, the old shark took another rest, no one could withstand the impact of the veteran German driver, and it was reasonable to lose.
But for the Bobcats and for a strong team that intends to compete for the championship, a losing streak in the season is unacceptable.
For a time, the argument that Bobcats are no longer the hottest champion is rampant.
...
On the 13th, the Bobcats fought against the Pistons who were pitted by the Rockets and cried. A big victory ended the losing streak.
It is worth mentioning that McGrady did not play in this game. It is said that McGrady is going to withdraw from this season and have surgery.
“T-Mac has gone away…”
Li Ke, who won this game, was left with this emotion.
On the 15th, the Bobcats defeated the Hawks and won two consecutive victories.
On the 16th, they fought back to back with the Bulls, fought hard in four quarters, and relied on Li Ke's continuous bottom line dunk at the last moment, and took away a victory with difficulty.
Then, the Bobcats rested for three days and on the 19th, they played away against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Here, Li Ke met his "loved person" Kyle Lowry.
After four consecutive victories, Li Ke thought of the deal that was under negotiation.
"In the past half month, the team's record has improved, and Lao Ai's condition has also come back a lot..."
In December, after the Grizzlies, the Bobcats achieved a record of 9 wins and 2 losses, with good results.
Lao Ai's shooting percentage has also returned to more than 40%, and his average score per game hovering around 22 points.
I can't go back to last season, but Lao Ai is in this state now, enough.
“Is the transaction still necessary?”
Li Ke felt that it was necessary.
The improvement in December's record was due to many reasons. Lao Ai's recovery in form was on the one hand, but on the other hand, it was also related to the lack of strength of his opponent.
Let’s look at Lowry on the opposite side. It’s really a waste to come out as a substitute for Mike Conley.
Instead of letting Lowry waste his youth in the Grizzlies, it is better to let him join the Bobcat to realize his value. If the Grizzlies refuse, then I will reply: Is Lowry's youth not youth?
(Dog head...)
...
Before Christmas, the Bobcats returned to home court and defeated the Warriors and Wizards one after another.
With a record of 11 wins and 2 losses in December, plus a total record of 21 wins and 8 losses in October and November, another key battle was ushered in - the Christmas Battle.
The opponent in the Christmas game is the Rockets, and the Bobcats will also play at home rarely.
Speaking of which, this game will be the most important game hosted by Time Warner Center except for the playoffs and finals.
For a moment, Charlotte City became lively.
Chapter completed!