ATPnovel Chapter 343 Encountering Challenges
Chapter 343 Encountering Challenges
Chapter 343 Encountering Challenges
Although not back-to-back, the Nuggets will play the Kings in two consecutive games.
At the beginning of the season, because there was no intensity in the summer, the players were prone to fatigue. Even if they were not back-to-back, they were not in good physical condition when playing away games.
When they came to Sacramento, they encountered trouble beyond imagination.
Both sides are the original lineup, but this time the Kings showed their power with three players in the first quarter.
Collison, Gay, and Cousins all have extremely high shooting percentages, especially Cousins. His style of play is the same as on the field, and he is somewhat hiding from Xiang Chu, but this time he has a shooting percentage.
As for the Nuggets, the outside lines were all inaccurate, and Xiang Chu was alone.
Not being able to enter the open space will do a lot of damage to the team, and at the beginning of the regular season, it is impossible for Xiang Chu to save the game with crazy scoring alone.
The entire team, except for Xiang Chu, that is, Williams and Chandler performed fairly normally.
Louis Williams felt that it was helpful to the team, but it was indeed affected that all the shooters did not start the team, not to mention that the King's accuracy was a bit exaggerated.
In fact, by the second quarter, the situation became normal.
Although Knight's touch is not good, but the defense is still good, and Collison did not let Collison continue to score.
Just the madness in the first quarter gave the Kings a double-digit lead.
Moreover, the two substitute players, Landry and Casspi, also played well, and the Nuggets' rotation did not have an advantage when they played well.
Cousins felt okay in the second quarter, but without the exaggeration of the first quarter, he completely recovered his previous state in the third quarter. He couldn't score in front of Xiang Chu at all, and he fouled for the fourth time.
Although he had some luck before, he did play well and it was all part of the game.
In the second half, Xiang Chu blocked Cousins and allowed him to graduate with six offenses, but the score was still not overturned.
Rudy Gay used his individual singles to stabilize the team's lead in the third quarter. At the end of the quarter, the Nuggets were too late.
George Karl didn't plan to use Xiang Chu crazily at the beginning of the season, so he didn't work hard in the away game.
In fact, for the team, this is also a good thing.
Just by saying that the players can't generate enough vigilance, although they are the defending champions, although they have the strongest inside Xiang Chu, they are not invincible.
To really defend the title, everyone needs to work hard and make more contributions.
Kings new coach Mike Malone still seemed very humble after the game. He said: "When you win, it is easy for you to want to unite, but the key is to see how you react after you lose."
But Cousins showed positive excitement about winning the Nuggets, "It's time to challenge them, Xiang Chu is very strong, but I have also grown to the point where I can lead the team to win more victories. Last season was a champion, but this season is not necessarily."
When the reporter asked him if he would challenge Xiang Chu for the first center position, Cousins was full of confidence, "Why not, I don't know where he is inferior to him."
His words were also considered brazen by the outside world, and he was ridiculed a lot on social media.
However, some people think that the Nuggets don't have enough background, they will drift away after winning the championship, and they will not have the opportunity to defend their title this season.
They spoke convincingly, giving an example to show that those who can defend the title are all star-studded, so that the fault tolerance rate is high, and it is impossible to win consecutive championships even if it is stronger than the Spurs, let alone the Nuggets.
Xiang Chu scoffed at these topics and posted disdainful expressions on social media.
But he didn't argue. It's meaningless to argue at this time. Whether it's a dragon or a worm can only be known in the playoffs.
However, urging the Nuggets players to adjust to a good state is definitely the top priority.
Only when they play well at the beginning of the season will they have time to prepare for the playoffs in advance.
The championship needs the right time, place and people, and only better preparation can help the team improve its winning rate.
During the training, Xiang Chu began to ask everyone to practice strength with him.
In fact, the problem of shooting can only be recovered quickly if the physical condition is more stable.
However, in the early stage of the season, the bonus of home court advantage is relatively obvious.
Back in Denver, they have to face the topic of the summer team, the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers earned enough attention in the summer because James returned.
James returned to the Cavaliers, and the team also traded the Timberwolves' top card Love, plus All-Star Irving, and it was another Big Three team.
Looking at other people's transactions, I always feel that I am playing very slippery.
This Cavaliers lineup is already good, and the main force is still a sixth man like Waiters.
However, they are still in the running-in period, and the start of the season is not very ideal.
If they want to face the Nuggets, they still lack a good meat shield. The Heywood they traded used to be a good meat shield, but it is old now.
The Cavaliers' current starting insiders are Love and Varejao. They did not directly put the fourth position to the fifth position like the Heat did.
Love should be able to resist more than Bosh, but the defense is worse.
Varejao is also a good defensive insider, but he still needs help to carry the burden.
But this team of Cavaliers also poses a threat to the Nuggets. Love is the Nuggets' sufferer. With James and Irving, they may be more troublesome than the Heat.
Of course, the premise is that they run in well.
For Love, Faried is also fine, but the Nuggets finally decided to start Gallinari.
In this regard, Xiang Chu also had a long talk with George Karl. If they want to become more perfect on the offensive end, Gallinari must start.
Now that Gallinari needs to recover physically, he can save some time, but he needs to get in touch with the main force. Farid is already familiar with the lineup anyway.
If Gallinari really does not recover as expected, then it will be the same as last season, let Chandler and Faried take turns starting.
The degree of Gallinari's recovery is not only related to the team's style of play this season, but also related to the team's long-term plan. George Karl also thinks this is better.
The Cavaliers got off to a mediocre start, James and Irving didn't feel much, but Love was more energetic.
But Love is no longer the team's top card, and he didn't make a shot in the Timberwolves.
Xiang Chu played steadily for the Nuggets, and Fournier also performed well, gradually taking the lead.
But when it came to the rotation period, the Nuggets faced severe challenges again.
Lou Williams wasn't bad, and Dunleavy played well, but for the Cavaliers, Waiters and Tristan Thompson both played well.
Especially Waiters, his characteristics are somewhat similar to those of Williams, but it seems that he wants to overwhelm Williams.
The Nuggets' lead ended when Xiang Chu left the court.
Their defending champions are not strong in every aspect. After being studied by various teams in the league, they need to perform better in order to keep their position as a top-notch team.
(End of this chapter)