Chapter 367 The end of the regular season + the draft target of the Suns
At the end of February, Wang Tiejun averaged 42 points, 15.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 3.6 blocks, 1.8 turnovers and 2.6 fouls per game, as well as the league's first record, firmly ranking first in MVP.
His average points per game have dropped slightly from before, which previously reached a high of 43 points. His defensive data and assist data have increased. This is because after the All-Stars, he focused more on the defensive end and rebounding.
In terms of control, at the same time, due to the reduced playing time of the Lightning, he also assumed more organizational functions.
Although the Suns have been rushing forward, they have not squeezed the physical fitness of the main players. Except for Lao Wang, whose average playing time has reached 42.5 minutes per game, other main players have been controlled, so he must make all-round contributions on the court.
, you cannot output only in terms of offense.
Because the Bulls increased their rotation, their record was not as strong as it was in the first half, so the Suns also began to increase their rotation, following the Bulls' rhythm and no longer sprinting without reservation, and their record declined accordingly.
On March 10th, he completed 200 medicated baths and medicated oil massages. His physical potential increased to level 104, and his ability to resist injuries and potential increased to level 96/104.
This month, the Suns' games were going very smoothly, but many teams in the league showed signs of failure. Many teams did not try their best when encountering the Suns.
March passed and the official mvp ranking was announced, and he continued to maintain the number one position.
Among them, scoring dropped from 42 points to 40.5 points. Jordan, who scored second, dropped from the peak of 33 points to 30.5 points.
In addition, his playing time has also been reduced to 40 minutes, and he has begun to enter the final preparation stage for the playoffs.
At the end of this month, he was transferred to Phoenix from Los Angeles.
During this period, I often flew to Los Angeles to visit Yu Feihong. Fei Ge's belly gradually grew. By the end of March, she was already three months pregnant and it was inconvenient to study.
Both families already knew about the pregnancy, and they called three times a day. They were extremely anxious. If my parents didn't really have time, they would have flown over long ago.
His parents also said they would come to take care of Yu Feihong, but he refused. He hired someone here, including a nurse, so there was no need for so much trouble.
…
On April 21, 1996, the NBA regular season of the 1995/96 season ended.
The Suns finished first in the league with 72 wins and 10 losses, tying the Bulls' regular season record of 72 wins in 1994.
The last game is an away game against Mosaic. Wang Tiejun really wants to win this game. If he wins this game, he can break the Bulls' record of 72 wins.
It's a pity that Mosaic didn't want the Suns to break the record on him. The Big Three reversed their previous desperate state and went all out to defeat the Suns, but he failed to achieve his wish.
Throughout the season, he played 82 games, averaging 39.5 minutes per game, ranking first on the team, averaging 40.2 points, 15.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 3.9 blocks, 1.8 turnovers and 2.6 fouls per game.
The field goal percentage reached 65.4% and the free throw percentage reached 63.2%.
Ranked first in the league in offensive efficiency, first in player efficiency, and fourth in defensive efficiency.
Among them, the defensive end's performance in the second half was significantly better than the first half, ranking fourth in the league. If not for the slightly inferior performance in the first half, the ranking would be higher.
This season, with the improvement of his single defense and assist defense capabilities, he has completely gotten rid of his weakness of strong offense and weak defense, and has become a true super center that combines offense and defense.
He defended his scoring title this season, his second scoring title, and won the personal honor of rebounding title for the first time.
The assists leader belongs to John Stockton, averaging 11.2 per game.
The leader in blocks is Mutombo, with 4.5.
The steal leader is Gary Payton, with 2.9.
As for the team, Lightning Kevin Johnson averaged 18.5 points and 10.5 assists per game. His performance was better than last season. Whether it was a return to his former glory or the result of Wang Tiejun's efficient performance in the low post, judging from his performance as a first-class point guard.
His performance in this contract year is worthy of a big contract.
Michael Finley, whom the team had previously focused on training, started 44 games in his rookie season, averaging 32 minutes per game, 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0.4 blocks, 1.6 turnovers and 2.4 fouls. He shot 48% from the field and 33 from the three-point range.
%, the performance is qualified.
Another rookie, Ben Wallace, started 56 games, averaged 36 minutes per game, 5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.6 steals, 2.5 blocks, 0.7 turnovers and 2 fouls. His performance cannot but be said to be qualified, because he received a basic salary and was defensively
Many of the contributions cannot be expressed using data.
Robert Horry, who replaced Finley as the starter in the second half of the season, started 41 games, averaging 31 minutes per game, 13 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.5 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2.8 fouls, shooting 49% from the field and 38% from three-point range.
The performance is qualified. The key is that it is more stable and more efficient than the previous two seasons.
Of course, this is related to the fact that there are a lot of openings on the outside. Otherwise, it would be difficult for outside shooters like him, who have reduced breakthroughs, to be so efficient.
On the bench, Wilkins averaged 18 points per game and is eligible to compete for the sixth man honor.
In terms of the league, the Bulls' record is closely behind the Suns, with 67 wins and 15 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference and second in the league.
The Sonics rank second in the Western Conference with 63 wins.
The Knicks ranked second in the Eastern Conference. After O'Neal took over the team, the winning percentage was higher than when Ewing was there, winning 56 games.
The Magic are third in the Eastern Conference. After O'Neal left, Hardaway did well and led the team to 55 wins with Ewing.
Western Conference regular season rankings: Suns, SuperSonics, Spurs, Jazz, Lakers, Mosaic, Trail Blazers, Kings.
The top three in the Eastern and Western Conferences are the champions of the Eastern and Western Conferences respectively, so the playoff rankings are the same as the regular season rankings.
Western Conference playoff matchups: Suns-Kings, Jazz-Lakers, SuperSonics-Trail Blazers, Spurs-Mosaic.
The winners of the first two groups and the winners of the last two groups will advance to the second round respectively.
The playoffs will start on the 25th and 26th, and the Suns' first round will start on the 25th, with a few days left to make adjustments.
As the regular season ended, the media became even busier, busy analyzing the playoff situation and summarizing the regular season.
Among them, Wang Tiejun's performance this season and his terrifying average data have become the focus of media hype.
"Averaging 40 points per game this season, he is the number one offensive player in modern basketball. Old K is the most powerful low-post offensive killer. He is truly unstoppable." New York Times.
"Invincible offensively and defensively, a terrifying behemoth is dominating the league." Washington Post.
"There is no doubt that from a statistical point of view, Old K has become the most powerful super giant among active players." Los Angeles Daily.
"The K era, it has officially begun, are you ready?" Phoenix Sports News.
Almost all American media agree that if Old K does not suffer major injuries, then as the Phoenix Sports News said, his era has begun.
Magic Johnson was interviewed and said with some emotion: "Averaging 40 points per game, top offensive and defensive performance, the K era has unstoppably arrived."
"Everyone will be shrouded in the shadow of a giant beast." Buckley said in an interview with the media.
"Two championships in three years, averaging 40 points per game. It took only four seasons for Old K to completely surpass the era of the three super centers. Perhaps, as he said, the era of the three super centers did not exist at all.
Yes." Jabbar sighed.
…
Houston, Mosaic's three giants are getting together at this time.
With the regular season over, the playoffs they were looking forward to are about to begin, and now it's time for them to work hard.
On this day, Dameng specially treated a guest and ordered three chicken medicated meals at K Martial Arts Hall, which cost him nine thousand dollars.
Among the three giants, he is the only one who doesn't have a ring yet, so he needs to win over Barkley and Drexler. The championship depends on these two old brothers.
In this regular season, they and the management and coaching staff decided on a strategy early on. They stopped playing hard and worked hard in the playoffs. This is also the reason why the regular season record fell behind.
Now, their physical condition is very good, they are healthy and confident.
The last regular season game was a test of their own strength, and the result was just as they expected. The Suns, who ranked first in the regular season, were no match for them. Old K was defeated by the three of them.
"Brothers, I hope the three of us can work together to have a wonderful playoffs. Come on, let's drink soup instead of wine and drink this bowl of soup. I wish we can sweep David Robinson in the first round, sweep the SuperSonics in the second round, and the Western Conference.
Sweep the old K in the finals, and defeat the Bulls in the finals." Ladle a full bowl of soup for himself, Dameng picked up the bowl and said with high spirits.
"Dry!"
Buckley was about to dry the bowl when he found that he only had half a bowl of soup. He looked at his earthen pot again. Was it empty?
"Slow down, give me some." He quickly shouted to stop and stretched out the bowl in front of Dameng.
"I don't have any anymore, just share some." Drexler also held out the bowl.
Dameng has a black face, one can for each person, why should he share it with me?
"Hakim, we are working hard for you. We spend hundreds of thousands in K martial arts gym every season, all for you, and we can't bear to give up even a little bit of soup. How can you be brothers?" Barkley was very worried when he saw a big dream and didn't want to part with it.
Dissatisfied.
"Charles is right, as brothers, what's yours is mine." Drexler, an honest man, agreed.
"But this is my soup." Dameng said angrily.
"What's yours is ours, this is our soup." Barkley and Drexler said at the same time.
"Robber!" Dameng's eyes filled with anger.
Well, the three big brothers of the Mosaic team just wanted to work together to win the championship, and now they are about to fall out over a bowl of soup.
"Both of these bastards have learned bad things from Old K. They are not good people!"
Da Meng really wanted to throw a bowl at Barkley's face, but when he thought about it, forget it, this is the only bowl of soup left. Besides, he hasn't won the championship yet, so he can't fall out.
…
The American media's hype about Wang Tiejun has a bottom line. After all, he is not an American, and the most influential star in the league is still Michael Jordan. This can be seen from the sales of sneakers.
Domestic media's propaganda is even more implicit. CCTV calls Wang Tiejun "the most powerful superstar in the Western Conference", "one of the most famous superstars in the NBA", and "the world's super sports star".
But the Japanese media has no bottom line. It has reached the point of unscrupulous praise for Lao Wang. He is the God of Basketball, the King of Basketball, and the number one player in the basketball world. Anyway, Lao Wang will be embarrassed when he sees these news.
"Old K, I'm going to Japan again after the playoffs." Hawksman called.
"Didn't you sign the contract last year? Why are you going?"
Lao Wang doesn't want to go to Japan very much. Every time he goes there, he arranges for dozens of chicks. His wife is on the side. She can watch or eat, and she can't watch more. Is this an interesting arrangement?
"Collect the money, don't you want to make money?"
"Of course I do. My sports center is going to be put out for bidding soon. The investment of 100 million U.S. dollars is still tens of millions short."
"That's it. The Japanese side has already made arrangements. This time they will arrange for several popular first-line actresses to serve you, such as Miyazawa Rie, Sakai Noriko, haha..."
"Go away, I'm going to get married and be a father soon, so stop tempting me."
…
The management of each team is also very busy. The non-playoff teams are preparing for the draft, trying out rookies, and making final analysis of their favorite rookies, while the playoff teams are rushing to prepare for the playoffs.
Also prepare for the draft.
The same goes for the Suns. Colangelo Jr. is very busy.
Now that the regular season is over, some of the positions for the three first-round picks in hand have been determined.
The Suns have the best record, and their pick is the last pick, the 29th pick in the first round, which is probably of little use.
The second is the Cavaliers' first-round pick protected by the top seven. This time the Cavaliers' record is fifth in the Eastern Conference and the pick is No. 20.
The third is the unprotected first-round pick of the Hornets. The Hornets' record is 9th in the Eastern Conference and they failed to enter the playoffs. They are 13th from the bottom in the league. If they don't get the top three picks, they will be the 13th pick in the first round.
The last lottery pick is also the best one the Suns have.
In addition, the Suns' second-round pick this year has been traded to the Hornets, so there is no second-round pick.
Colangelo Jr.'s job now is to use these three first-round picks to make the best choice for the team.
The best choice is not to choose the most popular ones, nor to choose those with better draft prospects, but to choose the people the Suns need most.
He opened the folder in his hand, and inside there was a piece of paper with a predicted list of this year's first-round picks.
This list is based on predictions from major media and the Suns' scouting system.
He will make the most appropriate choice based on this list.
Looking at the name at the top, which is the predicted No. 1 pick, Allen Iverson, if the Hornets can win the No. 1 pick in the lottery, will he choose this young man?
The Suns' chance of winning the No. 1 pick is very small, only a pitiful 1%. However, based on the Suns' performance in the past two seasons, Old K's violent performance this season, and now almost all teams in the league are asking the league to punish Old K.
Analyzing the restricted situation, this 1% possibility can also be said to be zero. It is impossible for the league to let the Suns win the No. 1 pick.
So, he directly crossed out Iverson's name.
"well!"
He sighed. It would be difficult for the Hornets to get into the top three with that pick. The league would not allow it, so the final position was the 13th pick in the first round.
He looked at the No. 13 position. Vitali Potapenko, a Ukrainian, is a center, but he is only 208 centimeters tall, which is still the height of shoes, and weighs 127 centimeters. This is a human shield.
So such a high predicted position is of course because the two giants, Old K and O'Neal, have raised the price of meat.
But the Suns didn't need a human shield, so he crossed out the young man's name and looked up. Kobe Bryant was predicted to be No. 12 in the first round.
He is a guard, a high school student, his idol is Jordan, his technical style is similar, but he is not yet 18 years old, and his future is full of uncertainty.
This young man also has another identity, Old K's apprentice, and he is also the only person in the league who has learned Old K's power-dispensing technique.
For this reason, he asked Old K for his opinion. Old K didn't say anything for Kobe. He only said that Kobe was very persistent and confident to the point of arrogance.
Old K only asked for one thing: if Kobe loses the draft, the Suns give him a chance to try out.
Of course, this is a joke. Kobe's talent is there, but because he has no NCAA experience, he will definitely be a first-round pick and there is absolutely no way he will lose the draft.
He picked up the pen, thought about it, and put a check mark on it. After thinking about it again, he added a question mark at the end.
This has not been decided yet and is just a reference candidate.
He looked down again, and the few picks below No. 13 were Peja, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal and others.
Originally, the Suns were planning to select a power forward, but Ben Wallace's performance is not bad and there is a need to continue to develop him, so the first priority now is to select an outside line.
You must have good medium and long-range shooting ability, you must be able to play without the ball, but you must also have a certain ability to hold the ball, you must also have the ability to pass, and defensive ability is also a must. These are a few criteria.
Based on these criteria, he first excluded Nash. Judging from the scouting report, this was a young man with poor defense and no physical resistance.
Peja and Jermaine O'Neal are also not suitable. The former is still playing in Europe and I don't know if he can come to the NBA. The latter is also a high school student and is not suitable. It would be better to choose him than Kobe.
Further down, the picks were lower, and there was no one he was satisfied with. He looked up again, near the top five picks, and saw the names of Ray Allen and Marbury.
"No, it's too high."
After looking over and over, he smiled bitterly. On the whole piece of paper, he only made a mark next to one person's name.
"What a pity!"
He has been working hard, trying to add the three first-round picks in his hand to a top-three or top-five pick, but unfortunately no team agreed to him.
In fact, among the current three first-round picks, the one that really has a chance to select a potential rookie is the Hornets' pick. The other two picks are of little value unless they can find treasure later.
But even in the big year of the draft, the chance of finding treasure later is very small. Under the digging of so many scouts, every rookie will strive to perform, so there are very few gems that are missed.
He didn't really want to draft Kobe, because he was a high school student who couldn't be used immediately after he was drafted. It would take at least several seasons of training, which did not meet the Suns' rebuilding standards in recent seasons.
This year's lineup was actually ranked first in the league by Old K. Although there are many reasons for the team's poor performance, and the Bulls and Mosaic teams have retained their strength, it cannot be denied that this rebuilding Suns team
It's really not weak. With a little reinforcement on the outside according to the standard, it will definitely have the strength to fight against the Bulls and Mosaic.
