rpbooks Chapter 863 New Orleans Talent Team
Chapter 863 New Orleans Talent Team
Chapter 863 New Orleans Talent Team
After returning to Oklahoma City from Houston, An Luo took a day off before stepping onto the field again.
This time, the opponent they encountered was relatively weaker.At least from the perspective of strength on paper, the opponent is not as strong as the two teams in Portland and Houston that the Thunder encountered before.
However, the exposure of this team this year is no less than that of the Thunder, the defending champion.
The New Orleans Pelicans, a big team.At the moment when they had a bright spot two years ago, at that time, the New Orleans team had Anthony Davis and LaMarcus Cousins, two of the league's top inside players, and Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo, the two former All-Star guards, not only made the playoffs, but also defeated the Portland Trail Blazers and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
The success of this season hasn't lifted the team out of the quagmire, though.Rondo's departure and Cousins' injury made this "non-mainstream" team with bright prospects lose the opportunity to rise completely.Since that season, the Pelicans have once again fallen to the bottom of the West.Although New Orleans still has a strong internal and external combination of Davis and Holiday, except for these two brothers, there is no one who can make it.As a result, Davis often scored explosive points, but the team lost the game.Davis was also re-crowned as the leader of the league's "empty cut group".
Since entering the NBA in 2012, Davis' career has been running for 10 years.For a player who wants to make a difference, Davis doesn't want to taste the taste of never breaking through the second round of the playoffs.In fact, Davis has made very, very few playoff appearances over the years.New Orleans can give him superstar treatment, but not glory.Therefore, Davis offered to trade.
It was Davis' misfortune that the Pelicans also began an earth-shaking change.
Anthony Davis went to the Lakers, New Orleans got Ingram, Ball and Hart, and Hayes.The first three players were traded directly from the Lakers, and the latter was the No. 8 pick traded with the Atlanta Hawks with the No. [-] pick.
All these guys have great potential.Especially Ingram and Ball, who were the cornerstones of reconstruction selected by giants like the Lakers.Hart and Hayes are also good young people who can play well on any team.
After sending away Davis, the Pelicans seem to be very happy.They drew the No. [-] pick in the draft lottery, and then selected Zion Williamson, the favorite of heaven.This is known as the most influential rookie after James.New Orleans lost a No. [-] pick and gained another.
In addition to the No. [-] pick in Zion, Hayes was also a lottery pick in this year's draft.
All of a sudden, the Pelicans directly became a youth team.Except for Holiday and Okafor, the main players in the team are all players still under rookie contracts.Moreover, these young people are all very talented. Judging from the draft picks alone, except for Hart, the rest are lottery picks.No. 2015 pick Zion, No. 76 Ingram and Ball, No. [-] pick Hayes, and even Okafor are the No. [-] picks who have just ended their rookie contracts. In [-], the [-]ers selected him, which is also the cornerstone of the team.Of course, the draft position cannot represent the ability of these players, but one thing is certain is that the future of these guys is worth looking forward to.
Therefore, the Pelicans that An Luo and others faced this time were a completely different team.
It is a pity that the No. [-] pick Zion, who everyone has high hopes for, missed the game due to injury.In fact, this is not the first game that the young man has missed.Anyone who knows him knows this guy's talent and ability, but at the same time, everyone knows this guy's flaws and hidden dangers.
Since his debut, Zion's figure has attracted the most attention. With a weight of more than 258 catties, he can show a completely inconsistent athletic ability, which is the only one in history.However, from representing Duke University in the NCAA competition last year, stepping on his sneakers, and then spraining his knee in his summer league debut, Zion's weight has also made countless people worry about whether the future of this talented No. [-] pick will be affected by his weight. affected.
If you are looking for a player similar to Zion in NBA history, Charles Barkley may be the most suitable candidate.And Barkley's concerns about Zion also focus on his exaggerated weight.He once said to the media:
"I heard that he weighed 280 pounds. This weight can't play in the NBA. His knees need to bear too much pressure. Although he is so tall and strong, players in the NBA are like this. He It's just too heavy!"
Barkley's worries are not unreasonable. For a player of this size, the biggest enemy is knee injury.Barkley also had the same hidden dangers back then, so after coming to the NBA from the college campus, the first thing he did was to lose weight.
Although the No. 29 pick is missing, the Pelicans' lineup does not lack talented young people.This can be seen from Gentry's starting lineup.Ball, Holiday, Ingram, Merry, Okafor.Holiday, the oldest, is 22, and Ball, the youngest, just turned [-].
Young people have the advantage of being young.
In this game, the Pelicans played a very explosive offense as soon as they came up.Under the impact of this group of young people, the Thunder's defense did not appear to be so deterrent.As a result, for a long time in the first quarter of the game, the Pelicans took the initiative in the game.
However, young people also have the flaws of young people.
When the Thunder slowly adapted to the offensive mode of this youth team, the situation of the game began to reverse.In the second half of the first quarter, An Luo and Alexander teamed up to play a wave of 12:3 offensive, overtaking the score.
In the following half of the game, the Thunder always maintained the lead, and the leading score was more and more.
The talent of the Pelicans is indeed enviable, but their talent is now more on the offensive end.On the defensive end, they have never found their own rhythm.In fact, since the start of the season, the Pelicans' defense has been in the league's worst sequence.They conceded an average of 122.8 points per game, ranking second to last in the league.
In the west where there are many strong enemies, if a talented team like New Orleans wants to grow as soon as possible, it must fully understand defense, and improve the defensive ability of the players as soon as possible to form a system.Otherwise, the reconstruction of the Pelicans will still have a long way to go.
(End of this chapter)