Chapter 305 [Acts of Righteousness, People Move to Work]
After defeating the Jazz, the Suns continued their road trip and challenged the Trail Blazers back to back.
The Trail Blazers were the team with the highest salary in the league before the start of training camp, reaching a terrifying 105.61 million, which exceeds 100 million not including luxury tax. What's even more frightening is that the team is full of junk contracts.
Scottie Pippen, who averaged 10.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, has an annual salary of US$19.73 million; Damon Stoudemire, who averaged 6.9 points and 3.5 assists per game, has an annual salary of US$12.38 million; 6.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists, all Sabonis, the slowest player in the league, is walking and playing at 6.85 million; blue-collar veteran Dale Davis, who has 7 points and 7 rebounds, is 8.06 million.
Even Rasheed Wallace, the Trail Blazers' first core player, was criticized by the media for being overpaid because he never averaged 20 points per game in a single season and only averaged 8.2 rebounds per game at his peak.
The nickname "Roaring God" sounds more ferocious and domineering than "Big Shark". But in fact, Rashid got this nickname by yelling at the referee for technical fouls. He is a power forward who relies on jump shots. He basically does not enter the penalty area and has no lethality. His career-high average of 4.3 free throws per game.
All teams like spatial insiders. They can clear the penalty area to help defenders create breakthrough space. Even if the shooting rate is lower than that of insiders who attack the basket, it doesn't matter. The tactical role is very crucial.
Insiders of this style often become excellent second-in-commands, but being the boss of the team is not so wonderful. They can't attract double teams. Each team will choose a forward with height and mobility to focus on single defense. As long as he can defend against three-pointers, half the success is achieved. Two-pointers cannot kill anyone.
With Rashid's ability to draw fouls, if he wants to score 30 points in a single game, he needs to score more than 10 goals with a shooting percentage of 50%. He has to take at least 25 shots. Can he be the boss with this kind of efficiency?
Not to mention Rasheed, even the more versatile Chris Webber did not lead the Kings to the Western Conference Finals before Mike Bibby joined. Currently, the most efficient among the space-based insiders is Garnett, because he can grab rebounds and assist a lot, but he is the worst, and the level of his teammates is too poor...
The Trail Blazers' success in reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2000 relied on lineup depth and team basketball, not Rasheed's ability to lead the team. That year, O'Neal Jr. was on the fringes of the team, so it's strange that they weren't strong.
The biggest headache for the Blazers management is that they don't have the right players to rebuild around, let alone trade Rasheed. Trading him will completely ruin the team, and they can't even guarantee home attendance.
Because of the butterfly effect, they failed to draft Zach Randolph with the 19th pick in the first round of 2001. Now Fatty Lan has gone to Memphis to become a "black bear" in advance.
The only good news for the Trail Blazers is that they reduced their annual salary before the start of the game.
After buying out "Rain Man" Sean Kemp, who scored 6.1 points and 3.8 rebounds last season, Kemp joined the Magic for free.
For several years, the label of "highly paid and incompetent" has been weighing on Kemp, leaving him breathless. Now, he can finally take it easy because he gave up $26.5 million in salary. According to the original contract, Kemp's income this season is 21.5 million U.S. dollars, and it reached 25 million U.S. dollars in the 2003-2004 season. Now, the Blazers only need to pay Kemp 20 million over the next 10 years.
If Kemp stays, the Blazers' total salary exceeds 100 million, and the team will pay a luxury tax of 45 million US dollars. In other words, his departure saved the Blazers more than 40 million US dollars in expenses. This is the best return for the "Rain Man" to Portland fans for their two years of support.
Everyone has some shining points, and Kemp is no exception. His righteous behavior surprised everyone.
This game was broadcast live on TNT radio. When the players came on the court, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith began to compare Damon Stoudamire and Guo Xu.
When Guo Xu first entered the NBA, many people said he looked like "Little Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire. Now when this surname is mentioned, the first thing everyone thinks of is the Suns' rookie big man, not "Little Flying Squirrel". Today, Damon can only stay at home and watch TV due to injury and will not appear.
During the Raptors period, he played flexibly and confidently, had a broad passing vision, and had a very good combination of breakout and shooting. He was a ruthless character who caused headaches to countless opponents. Now, everyone feels that he is overpaid and incompetent, just an ordinary role player, and is dragging down the team on the defensive end.
Barkley belittled Damon, saying that there was a huge gap between him and Guo Xu, but Smith was fair.
Smith said: "I think Damon is still capable. He just chose a team that is not suitable for him and got to where he is today. Jason is very smart. He first developed his touch in the Lakers and played with stars. I gained confidence and then chose the sun that best suited my style.”
Barkley smiled and asked: "You mean if Damon is in the Suns, he can also perform very well?"
"He will definitely not be as good as Jason, but he will not be as bad as he is now. If a player wants to become a star, he must join a team that suits his style of play. Damon had the opportunity to become an All-Star, but he gave up this opportunity ”
In front of the TV, Damon wanted to cry a little after listening to the two people's comments. He was young and frivolous back then, thinking that he was a franchise player in the Raptors and would be reused if he joined other teams. As a result, he was not even considered the third-best player in the Trail Blazers, and no one in the locker room took him seriously.
Now, Damon can only stay silent and recover from his injuries. No team will let him be the core, and he will definitely not be able to return to his peak.
Guo Xu couldn't hear the commentary on the court. If he had heard it, he would definitely agree with Smith's statement.
There are too many examples of this in the NBA in the past. When players perform well in one team, the deal becomes useless. For example, Steve Francis, Aaron Brooks, Monta Ellis, Deron Williams, etc., they left the system that suits them.
There are also examples of people moving around, such as Nash, Gasol, Garnett, who fulfilled his championship dream in the Celtics, etc. They have all found their own suitable positions, becoming the boss or stepping down to become the second in charge.
The key to Guo Xu's success is to join the right team. If he went to the Pistons, who are extremely slow to transition from offense to defense, and partnered with Ben Wallace, who was left open after the pick-and-roll, was not very fast on air cuts, and shot 40% of his free throws, maybe he would have gone crazy now.
No matter how many rebounds Ben grabs, no matter how many shots he blocks, no matter how explosive his hair style is, it is impossible for Guo Xu, who advocates offense, to like him.
The Pistons only average 76 shots per game this season. What is this concept? When former Suns coach Frank Johnson coached, the Suns still averaged 80 shots per game. After he left, the Suns averaged 87 shots per game. Whether they scored or not, they had to throw the ball out first.
Putting aside free throws, the Pistons were so slow that the entire team could not shoot 20 times in one quarter. It is obvious that Billups, a point guard who doesn't care about statistics, is slow to advance, and is good at half-court positions, is more suitable for the Pistons. Guo Xu didn't go, and now both of them have a good home.
There was no suspense in the Suns' game against the Trail Blazers. Under the leadership of Guo Xu, Taoyang took a 10-point lead in the first quarter, and it was an advantage gained in a positional battle.
The Trail Blazers' starting five are not slow to return to defense and can prevent run and gun attacks. Their weakness is that they have no point guard, and their organization relies on two swingmen, Pippen and Derek Anderson. Guo Xu's one-on-one challenge with Anderson was an opportunity, which was directly misplaced.
In the second quarter, the Suns ran and bombed, and veteran Sabonis played only 3 minutes before being replaced. During the counterattack, twice before he returned to half court, Suns players played more and scored layups.
111-85 easily achieved two consecutive victories, and the Suns' record improved steadily.
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