Chapter 650 Holt's Interview (Second Update!)
After falling behind 1 to 3 and finally successfully reversing, there are only nine teams in NBA history, including the Rockets in the first round of this year.
This success rate is frighteningly low, not to mention the experienced Spurs on the opposite side.
Although the series has not yet ended, the fans' judgment is not wrong.
The Pelicans have one foot off the cliff, and it's only a matter of time before they're eliminated.
But the consolation is that even if the Pelicans are eliminated in the next game, they will not be the first to be eliminated in the conference semifinals.
In the remaining three groups of games, the Bulls 3-1 the Eagles, the Cavaliers 2-2 the Knicks, there are still some games.
But it's game over again on the Warriors' side.
The Rockets did not cause any trouble to the Warriors, and were directly swept out 0-4.
Not only the Clippers next door, this rocket has also missed the Western Conference Finals for years.
The three dark horse teams, now the Pelicans and the Eagles are 1 to 3 behind their opponents, but the Warriors showed their dominance, sweeping two rounds to the Western Conference Finals.
Before the start of the season, fans and the media believed that after James returned to his hometown, he would bring Yu Wei to achieve his two consecutive championships.
Even before the start of the playoffs, they felt that the fully run-in Cavaliers were the favorites to win the championship.
But now it seems that the Warriors are the more competitive team in the playoffs.
Game 5 between the Pelicans and Spurs will be played in three days, with the Pelicans returning to New Orleans the day after Game 4.
Although the situation is very unfavorable, the good news is that they have enough time to adjust, and the next game will also be played at their home court.
At this time, the league announced the second batch of season awards.
In the selection of the Most Improved Award, Jimmy Butler averaged 22.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, with an absolute advantage of 50% of the votes, beating Draymond Green (17%) and Whiteside (16%) were elected.
In the selection of the best defensive player, Kawhi Leonard, with an average of 2.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, and excellent defensive ability, got 30% of the votes, beating Draymond Green (26%) And Jordan (20%) were elected.
With his hard work, Leonard finally won the first gold-rich award in his career.
After the award was announced, Tang Tian immediately sent a congratulatory message to Leonard.
Leonard also responded immediately.
"Thank you for your guidance and help, I will remember it forever."
Although Tang Tian left the Spurs for two years, Leonard knew very well that his growth would not be possible without Tang Tian's help.
Although he is now an opponent, he still respects Tang Tian very much.
If there is a sixth game in the series, then Leonard's award ceremony will be held in the sixth game.
If not, the award ceremony will take place in the opener of the next round against the Warriors.
But no matter what time it is, it will be a great bonus to the morale of the Spurs.
After Leonard won the award, he remained as low-key as before, neither posting on social media nor accepting interviews with reporters.
However, the Spurs' management seems to be a little restless.
Not long after the results came out, the team's official Twitter posted a message.
"Time for us to take back what we lost last season x-on:KawhiLeonard."
This lost thing obviously refers to the team's dynasty and championship last season.
The Spurs this time can be described as unprecedented high-profile.
However, considering the doubts they encountered after their failure to defend their title last year, and the instructions given by the team owner Holt, it seems not difficult to understand.
It's just a little embarrassing that although Leonard has opened social media at the beginning of last season, he has not posted a status so far.
And he didn't respond to the Spurs' official Aite.
But it doesn't seem to matter, because the purpose of the Spurs' tweet is to tell everyone that they have the next core.
Such a high-profile way naturally attracted the attention of the media and fans.
At this moment, a reporter from FOX Sports approached Spurs owner Holt for an exclusive interview.
There are many questions mentioned here, including about Leonard being selected as the best defensive player, and about the official tweet just released, and even mentioned for the first time such a sensitive topic as whether he regrets letting Tang Tian go.
Holt answered all these questions one by one.
"Do you regret letting Don go? He's now a top-five superstar in the league."
"No, no regrets, after we made that decision, we have never regretted it."
In the interview, Holt made a clear answer to this question for the first time.
"You said he was a superstar, that was now, but at that time he was just a role player in the team, no one could have predicted that he would grow so fast, so looking back at the decision at that time with the current situation, in itself It's just wrong."
"But at that point he was the Finals MVP."
The reporter reminded.
"Yes, he is."
Holt laughed when he said this.
"But you also know that that may be the most unconvincing FMVP. I don't mean to belittle Tang, but because we are absolutely team basketball, so that is a fact that has to be admitted."
"Even if he is a superstar now, don't you regret it?"
The reporter asked again.
Holt nodded.
"Like I just said, no one expected him to grow so fast, and the reason why he can grow so fast has a lot to do with the Pelicans giving him a lot of shots, which is difficult to achieve in the Spurs. Well, Popovich wouldn't allow that, and that's not our style.
Like everybody knows, we have a system where we're a team and Tim is good enough, but if you just look at his stats, you think he's just an average All-Star. "
"You mentioned Tim, there are rumors that he may retire this season? After he retires, will this system continue to exist?"
The reporter continued to ask.
"Of course, Popovich is here, it's there, and we've found a new replacement, Kawhi, he's as good as Don, he just won Defensive Player of the Year, he did what Don did things, and do it better.
You see now we have a chance to go for a third championship in four years, very promising, honestly, it has something to do with our original decision, we let Don go, and then we have room to sign Paul · Gasol, and we're now 3-1 up against the Pelicans. "
Holt couldn't hide the confidence between his brows.
From this passage, we can also see the original intention of Holt to accept the interview at this time and publish these long speeches.
Ever since Tang Tian finished his first game with the Pelicans, the Spurs have been on the cusp and have become the target of criticism from the outside world.
Now, Leonard has been elected as the best defensive player, and the Spurs will immediately eliminate the Pelicans. It is finally his turn to express his anger!