Chapter 368 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 first record in the league, securing the first position in the MVP.

His scoring average has dropped slightly from before, reaching a high of 43 points, and his defensive and assist figures have risen. This is because he has focused more on defense and rebounding since the All-Star break. Control the above, and at the same time, because the playing time of Lightning is reduced, it also undertakes more organizational functions.

Although the Suns have been rushing forward, they have not squeezed the physical strength of the main players. Except for Pharaoh's average playing time of 42.5 minutes per game, the other main players have taken control, so he must make all-round contributions on the field. , not only on the offensive side of the output.

  Because the Bulls increased their rotation, their record was not as strong as in the first half, so the Suns also began to increase their rotations, followed the Bulls' rhythm, no longer sprinted without reservation, and their record declined accordingly.

   On March 10th, he completed 200 medicated baths and medicated oil massages, his physical potential increased to 104, and his injury resistance and potential increased to 96/104.

   This month, the Suns' game went very smoothly. There are many teams in the league showing signs of rottenness. Many teams encountered the Suns and did not give their best.

   March passed, the official MVP rankings were announced, and he continued to hold the No. 1 spot.

   One of the points has dropped from 42 points to 40.5 points, and Jordan, who scored second, has dropped from the peak of 33 points to 30.5 points.

   In addition, his playing time was reduced to 40 minutes, and he began to enter the final preparation stage of the playoffs.

   At the end of this month, he will pick up Phoenix from Los Angeles at Phenom.

   During this time, I often flew to Los Angeles to visit Yu Feihong. Brother Fei’s stomach gradually grew. By the end of March, he was three months pregnant and it was inconvenient to study.

  The family on both sides already knew about the pregnancy, and they called three times a day. They were in a hurry. If it wasn't for the mother and the father, they would have flown in long ago.

   His parents also said they wanted to come over to take care of Yu Feihong, but he refused. He hired someone and a nurse here, so don’t be so troublesome.

  …

   On April 21, 1996, the regular season of the NBA 95/96 season ended.

  The Suns are 72 wins and 10 losses, the first in the league, tying the Bulls' record of 72 wins in the regular season 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.

  Unfortunately, Mosaic didn't want the Suns to break the record on himself. The big three were in a state of death before they were defeated. He shot with all his strength and defeated the Suns, but he failed to get his wish.

   Throughout the season, he played in 82 games, averaging 39.5 minutes per game, ranking first in 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.

   shot 65.4% from the field and 63.2% from the free throw line.

   The offensive efficiency is the first in the league, the player's personal efficiency is the first in the league, and the defensive efficiency is the fourth in the league.

   Among them, the performance of the defensive end was significantly higher in the second half than in the first half, rushing into the fourth place in the league. If it hadn't performed slightly worse in the first half, the ranking would have been higher.

   This season, with the improvement of his single defense and assist defense ability, he has completely gotten rid of the weakness of attacking and defending weak, and has become a real super center with both offense and defense.

   He defended the scoring title this season, his second scoring title, and the first individual rebounding title.

   The leader in assists belongs to John Stockton, averaging 11.2 per game.

  The king of blocks is Mutombo with 4.5.

The leader in steals is Gary Payton with 2.9.

As for the team, Lightning Kevin Johnson averaged 18.5 points and 10.5 assists per game, and his performance was one step better than last season. The data of the first-class point guard, whether it is a return to light, or because of Wang Tiejun's efficient performance in the low post, anyway, according to his position. The performance of this contract year is worthy of a big contract.

Michael Finley, whom the team focused on training before, started 44 games in his rookie season, averaging 32 minutes per game, averaging 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0.4 blocks, 1.6 turnovers, 2.4 fouls, shooting 48% from the field, and 33 three-pointers. %, the performance is qualified.

Another rookie, Ben Wallace, started 56 games and averaged 36 minutes per game. He averaged 5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.6 steals, 2.5 blocks, 0.7 turnovers and 2 fouls. His performance can not but be said to be qualified, because he was paid a basic salary, and defensively. Many of the contributions cannot be represented by data.

Robert Horry, who replaced Finley in the second half, started 41 games, averaging 31 minutes per game, averaging 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-pointers. The performance is qualified, the key is to be more consistent and more efficient than the previous two seasons.

   Of course, this is related to getting a lot of space on the perimeter, otherwise it would be difficult for a perimeter shooter like him who has reduced breakthroughs to have such a high efficiency.

   On the bench, Wilkins averaged 18 points per game and is eligible to compete for the honor of the sixth man.

  In terms of the league, the Bulls' record followed the Suns with 67 wins and 15 losses, ranking first in the East and second in the league.

The SuperSonics are second in the West with 63 wins.

The Knicks ranked second in the Eastern Conference. After O'Neal took over the team, the winning percentage was a bit higher than when Ewing was there, with 56 wins.

  The Magic is third in the Eastern Conference. After O'Neal left, Hardaway did well and led the team to 55 wins with Ewing.

   Western regular season rankings: Suns, Sonics, Spurs, Jazz, Lakers, Mosaic, Trail Blazers, Kings.

   Eastern regular season rankings: Bulls, Knicks, Magic, Pacers, Cavaliers, Pistons, Hawks, Heat.

  The top three in the East and West are the champions of the three divisions of the East and West Leagues, so the playoff rankings are the same as the regular season rankings.

  Western playoffs: Suns-Kings, Jazz-Lakers, SuperSonics-Blazers, Spurs-Mosaic.

  Eastern Playoffs: Bulls-Heat, Pacers-Cavaliers, Knicks-Hawks, Magic-Pistons.

  The winners of the first two groups and the winners of the last two groups will enter the second round respectively.

  The playoffs will start on the 25th and 26th, and the first round of the Suns will start on the 25th, with a few days to adjust.

  With the end of the regular season, the media was even busier, busy analyzing the playoff situation and summarizing the regular season.

   Among them, Wang Tiejun's performance this season and the terrifying average per game data have become the focus of media hype reports.

   "Averaging 40+ per game in the season, he is the number one offensive player in modern basketball. Old K is the most powerful low-post offensive killer. He is really unstoppable." The New York Times.

   "Invincible on offense and defense, a terrifying beast is ruling the alliance." The Washington Post.

   "There is no doubt that in terms of statistics, the 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 the old K does not suffer major injuries, then as the Phoenix Sports said, his era has begun.

  Magic Johnson was interviewed and said with some sighs: "Average of 40+ per game, top offensive and defensive performance, the K era has come unstoppable."

   "Everyone will be shrouded in the shadow of a giant beast." Barkley said in an interview with the media.

"Two championships in three years and an average of 40+ per game. In just four seasons, the K era completely surpassed the era of the three super centers. Perhaps, as he said, the era of the three super centers did not exist at all. Existed." Kareem sighed.

  …

  Houston, the three giants of mosaic are getting together at this time.

   With the regular season over, the playoffs they were looking forward to are about to begin, and now is the time for them to go all out.

   On this day, Big Dream was a special treat, and ordered three medicated chicken meals at K Wuguan, costing 9,000 US dollars.

   Among the three giants, he does not have a ring yet, so he has to win over Barkley and Drexler. The championship depends on these two old brothers.

   In this regular season, they and the management coaching staff set a strategy early in the morning, played hard, and worked hard in the playoffs, which is why the regular season record fell behind.

   And now, their physical condition is very good, their bodies are also very healthy, and they are full of confidence.

   The last regular season was a test of their own strength, and the result was not what they expected. The Suns, who ranked first in the regular season, were not their opponents at all, and Old K was defeated by the three of them.

"Brothers, I hope the three of us can work together and play a beautiful playoffs. Come, let's replace the wine with soup, kill this bowl of soup, and wish us a sweep of David Robinson in the first round, and a sweep of the Supersonics in the second round. Sweep Old K in the finals, and kill the Bulls in the finals." Scooping a bowl of soup for himself, Da Meng picked up the bowl with high spirits.

"Dry!"

  Buckley was preparing to dry the bowl, and found that he only had half a bowl of soup. Then he looked at his crock pot, was it empty?

   "Slow down, share with me." He hurriedly stopped and held the bowl in front of Da Meng.

   "I don't have it either, share a little." Drexler also held out the bowl.

  Dameng has a dark face, one person per person, one can, why should I divide it?

"Hakim, we are working hard for you. The hundreds of thousands of expenses in the K martial arts hall a season are all for you, and I can't bear a little soup. How can you be brothers?" Dissatisfied.

   "Charles is right, as a brother, yours is mine." The honest Drexler agreed.

   "But this is my soup." Da Meng said angrily.

   "Yours is ours, this is our soup." Barkley and Drexler said at the same time.

   "Robbers!" Da Meng's eyes flashed with anger.

   Well, the three old brothers of the Big Three of the Mosaic team just wanted to work together to win the championship, and now they are about to turn their faces over a bowl of soup.

   "These two **** have learned badly from old K, they are not good people!"

   Big dream really wanted to smash a bowl on Barkley's face, but after thinking about it, forget it, this bowl of soup is left, and the championship has not yet been won, so I can't turn my face.

  …

  The hype of Wang Tiejun by the American media has a bottom line. After all, he is not an American, and the most influential star in the league is still Michael Jordan, which can be seen from the sales of sneakers.

  The propaganda of the domestic media is even more subtle. CCTV called Wang Tiejun "the most powerful superstar in the NBA Western Conference" and "one of the most famous superstars in the NBA", as well as "the world's super sports superstar".

   But the Japanese media has no bottom line, and the praise of Pharaoh has reached the point of unscrupulous, the **** of basketball, the king of basketball, the number one active player in the basketball world, anyway, when Pharaoh sees these news, he will feel embarrassed.

   "Old K, I'm going to Japan again after the playoffs." Hawksman called.

   "Didn't you sign a contract last year, why are you going?"

  Pharaoh doesn’t really want to go to Japan. Every time he goes, he arranges dozens of chicks for him. His wife is on the side. He can watch it or not.

   "Go for the money, don't you want to make money?"

   "Of course, my sports center is about to be tendered. The investment of 100 million US dollars is still tens of millions."

   "That's it, the Japanese side has made arrangements. This time, a few well-known first-line actresses will be arranged to serve you, what Miyazawa Rie, Sakai Noriko, haha..."

   "Go away, I'm about to get married and become a father, stop tempting me."

  …

The management of each team is also very busy. Non-playoff teams are preparing for the draft, rookie trials, and final analysis of their favorite rookies, while playoff teams are rushing to prepare for the playoffs. Also prepare for the draft.

  The same goes for the Suns, Colangelo Jr. is busy.

   Now that the regular season is over, the positions of the three first-round picks in hand, some of which have been determined.

   The Suns have the first record, and their own draw is the final draw. The No. 29 pick in the first round is probably not very useful.

   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 Hornets' unprotected first-round pick. The Hornets' record is 9th in the Eastern Conference, and they failed to enter the playoffs. They are 13th from the bottom of the league. If they don't get the top three picks, they will be No. 13 in the first round. Sign, the last lottery pick, and the best in the hands of the Suns.

   In addition, the Suns' second-round pick this year has been traded to the Hornets, so there is no second-round pick.

   Now Colangelo's job 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, nor to choose those with better draft prospects, but to choose the person the Suns need most.

   He opened the folder in his hand, and there was a piece of paper on it, which was the predicted list of this year's first-round picks.

  This list is based on predictions from major media and the Suns' scouting system.

   He has to make the most suitable choice based on this list.

   Looking at the top name, which is the predicted No. 1 pick, Allen Iverson, if the Hornets' Lexiu draw can win the No. 1 pick, will he choose this young man?

The probability of the Suns winning the No. 1 pick is very small, only a measly 1%. With the performance of the Suns in the last two seasons, the frenzied performance of the old K this season, and the fact that almost all teams in the league now require the league to carry out the old K. To analyze the situation of restrictions, this 1% possibility can also be said to be zero, and the league cannot let the Suns draw the No.

   So, he just crossed out Iverson's name.

"Ugh!"

   He sighed, the Hornets' pick, it is estimated that it is difficult to draw the top three, the league will not allow it, so the final position is the 13th pick in the first round.

He looked at the No. 13 position, Vitaly Potapanko, a Ukrainian, a center, but only 208 cm tall, which is still shoe height, and weighed 127 cm, this is a meat shield, the other So such a high forecast 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 meat shield, so he crossed out the young man's name, looked up, Kobe Bryant, and predicted No. 12 in the first round.

  Guard, high school student, Jordan is his idol, and his technical style is similar, but he is not yet 18 years old, and the future is full of uncertainty.

   This young man also has an identity, Old K's apprentice, and the only person in the league who has learned Old K's power-by-play technique.

   For this reason, he asked the old K for his opinion. The old K did not say anything for Kobe, but only said that Kobe was very persistent, confident and arrogant.

  Old K only asks for one point. If Kobe is not selected, the Suns will give him a chance to try out.

   Of course, this is a joke, Kobe's talent is there, just because he has no NCAA experience, he will definitely be a first-round pick, and it is absolutely impossible to lose.

   He picked up the pen, thought about it, put a tick on it, thought about it again, and added a question mark to the back.

   This is undecided, just a reference candidate.

   He looked down again, and the following picks below No. 13 were Peja, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal and others.

   Originally, the Suns were going to choose a power forward, but Ben Wallace's performance was okay, and it is necessary to continue to cultivate, so the first task now is to choose the outside line.

   It is necessary to have good mid-range and long-range shooting ability, to be able to play without the ball, but also to have a certain ability to hold the ball, to have the ability to pass the ball, and to have the ability to defend. These are several criteria.

   Based on these criteria, he first ruled out Nash. From the scouting report, he was a young man with a poor defense and no physical confrontation.

   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, so it is not suitable. It is better to choose Kobe than him.

   Further down, the ranking is lower, and there are no people he is satisfied with. He looked up again, looked around the top five, and saw the names of Ray Allen and Marbury.

   "No, it's too high."

   looked around, he smiled wryly, and on the whole piece of paper, he also only made a mark next to one person's name.

"such a pity!"

   He has been working hard, trying to add the three first-round picks in his hand to get a top-three or top-five pick, but unfortunately no team agreed to him.

   In fact, among the three first-round picks, the one who really has a chance to pick a potential rookie is the Hornets' pick, and the other two picks are of little value unless they can dig a treasure at the back.

   But even in the draft year, the chances of digging treasures are very small. Under the digging of so many scouts, every rookie will strive to perform, so few jewels are missed.

   He doesn't really want to choose Kobe, because he is a high school student, and he can't just use it when he is selected.

This year's lineup was actually ranked first in the league by the old K. Although there are many reasons for the team's rottenness, plus the Bulls and the Mosaic team have retained their strength, it cannot be denied that this rebuilding Suns team, Really not weak, the outside line is slightly strengthened according to the standard, and it must have the strength to fight against the Bulls and Mosaic.

   (end of this chapter)