ATPnovel Chapter 177
Chapter 177
Chapter 177
"Damn it!" Cousins slammed the basketball on the ground and walked off the court.
Five fouls, he wanted to face off once, but he didn't expect to be even more depressed in the end.
After Cousins went down, Thornton and Thomas Jr. were still sharp on the offensive end, but both were sieves on the defensive end. The score gap between the two teams could not be narrowed, and they could only accept a home loss.
After the game, Kings coach Smart sighed: "Facing a strong team like the Nuggets, we must perform perfectly to win, but unfortunately we didn't do it today."
Xiang Chu had 33 points and 13 rebounds, but Cousins didn't even score in double figures.
Last season, it is estimated that everyone will think that Cousins will grow faster, which is really unexpected.
When the reporter asked about this, Xiang Chu said with a smile: "Cousins is actually good. He has all the skills of the inside line, but he must be honed more solidly."
Cousins entered the league a year earlier than Xiang Chu, but now that Xiang Chu gives Cousins advice, no one will find it strange that the league is a place that depends on strength.
With six consecutive victories, everyone in the Nuggets feels good. Xiang Chu also knows that he is not the only one who started the winning streak during this period of time. Many people in the team played well.
The first is that the lineup is tidy, and the other is that Ty Lawson has stabilized a lot.
The coaching staff of the team are very happy, thinking that the running-in between him and Xiang Chu has been relatively perfect at this time.
If the two are still out of tune, the end result is to trade one of them.
Xiang Chu's super performance this season, as long as he does not strongly demand to leave, he will be the absolute core of the Nuggets in the next few years.
In fact, the Nuggets have considered trading in the middle of the season, but there is no suitable response.
The team's performance in the second half of the season is getting better and better, and the Nuggets' management is finally relieved. Now as long as they look at the results of the playoffs, they have begun to put pressure on George Karl.
The old man became more and more arrogant during this time, clamoring for a bigger contract next time.
But if he can't meet the team's requirements, coach Qian Sheng's team will not pay attention to him.
The Nuggets are not a big ball market.So if they want to pay more, they have to deliver better results.
Coaches are very important, but they are not as important as popular players, let alone Qiansheng coaches, no matter how powerful a coach is, the league is an alliance of capital and players.
The current performance of the Nuggets has received all kinds of praise from the media, and Xiang Chu's net worth has also risen.
But it is still false for the time being, Xiang Chu still has to prove himself in the playoffs, and some brands in the United States who are willing to spend money will generously find him.
Xiang Chu still has a relatively large Chinese market, but unfortunately the Chinese market is different from the Chinese market.
He and Jeremy Lin, who are popular Chinese players, are much more comfortable in terms of endorsements than other players, but they are much worse than the United States' favorites and China's leading players.
Back in Denver, the Nuggets have to face the visit of the Clippers again.
The Clippers are now third in the West, but they are only half a game away from the Thunder, which is second in the West.
The opponents that the Nuggets are facing now are not so easy to deal with, that is, they are now in a good state.
In fact, the Clippers are three wins away from the No. [-] Spurs in the Western Conference, which is not an insurmountable gap. In the final stage of the regular season, they will definitely make more efforts to rush to the top.
They are gearing up this season, and they definitely don't want to repeat the same mistakes in the playoffs. To gain an advantage in the playoffs, ranking is quite important to them.
Now, the most important thing for the Nuggets is not to be caught up by the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies have taken medicine during this period of time, and they have been in a row. The Nuggets can't get rid of each other with six consecutive victories.
Now the playoff teams in the Western Conference are very concerned about the Nuggets.
There are only three teams in the West that can be regarded as traditional strong teams with both offense and defense, and they are the best-performing Spurs, Thunder and Clippers.
For the other teams, the Nuggets have deficiencies in defense and the Grizzlies have deficiencies in offense, but they are all hard bones that Western teams are unwilling to encounter in the playoffs.
The Grizzlies grind people to death, the Nuggets are crazy and no one can stop them, and Xiang Chu is a big killer.
If the Nuggets can also reach the level of the regular season in the playoffs, they will be the opponents that the Western Conference teams are least willing to face.
The Clippers' main weapon against the Nuggets is the firepower during the rotation period. However, Crawford suffered a small injury in the last game, and this time he will have a truce.
The playoffs are approaching, and strong teams are even more reluctant to have problems with the team's main rotation.
So if they want to win this game, they have to work hard on the inside to get some results.
Jordan has grown very fast in the past two seasons, and he patted his chest before the game.
However, on the court, the situation was not so smooth. There was no fight for a while, and the previous impression faded. Once again feeling Xiang Chu's dominance in the three-second zone, Jordan remembered the previous embarrassment.
Little Jordan has the strength anyway, so he can only focus all his energy on defense.
Xiang Chu was too strong, causing the Clippers' main lineup to be suppressed.
But when it came to the rotation period, their absence of Crawford also changed the situation.
Barnes felt very good this time, and he hit consecutive shots when he came up, helping the Clippers to overtake the score.
After Xiang Chu played, he could only lead others to chase points.
The Nuggets didn't feel good on the perimeter, and Xiang Chu played very hard by himself.
However, in order to cut off the connection between Xiang Chu and his teammates, the Clippers did not choose to flank, and Xiang Chu didn't care. He pressed Jordan to play, and finally helped the team equalize at the last moment of the first half.
In the Nuggets' home court, they must be disqualified for not getting a leading performance.
However, it is acceptable to recover the score without opening the outside line.
There is not much to say about the Nuggets' tactics, which is to seize shooting opportunities.
Ty Lawson was not in much form during this period, and his individual singles also increased. It happened that he didn't feel good in the first half.
George Karl didn't want Xiang Chu to do everything, so he didn't stop Ty Lawson from taking more shots, and Xiang Chu didn't intend to destroy the team's current chemistry.
But it doesn't matter how much Ty Lawson can play. Don't force him when he can't play. If he can't play inside, he won't pass it out in time. Everyone can grasp the overall strength of the team.
Xiang Chu didn't say much, but stood up to let everyone feel his fighting spirit, "We will work harder in the second half and beat them back to their hometown."
The players stretched out their hands, cheered loudly and defended the home field.
Both Griffin and Paul played more actively in the second half, and the Clippers were obviously not satisfied with their performance in the first half.
However, they did not expect that the Nuggets' outside line suddenly opened.
Xiang Chu continued to abuse Jordan inside, Ty Lawson, Iguodala, and Gallinari hit three-pointers outside, and the Clippers' defense suddenly faltered.
(End of this chapter)