Eighty: A Tired Grizzly Bear Is No Bigger than a Cat

The Charlotte Bobcats, an NBA team with a history of less than 10 years, is the second-youngest team in the NBA, and the first is the Thunder. The Thunder does not have a strong inheritance relationship with its predecessor, the Seattle SuperSonics, so strictly speaking, the Thunder are the team with the shortest history today.

Although the Bobcats are "older" than the Thunder, their NBA road is not as smooth as the Thunder. Last season, under the leadership of "Elvis" Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson, the Bobcats finally reached the playoffs for the first time in team history.

This year, the Bobcats' goal is naturally to try to go further in the playoffs while continuing to reach the playoffs. While the Bobcats' roster hasn't had much reinforcement this season, their goals aren't impossible to accomplish. After all, in the East, the competition is far less intense than in the West.

Therefore, for the incoming Memphis Grizzlies, the Bobcats' goal is to bite off a piece of meat. Because of Gerald Wallace's early injury, the Bobcats' record this year is not ideal. So far this season, the record is only 13 wins and 21 losses.

With such a result, even in the less competitive East, it is difficult to reach the top eight. So, they have to win every game they deserve. And facing the Grizzlies, who had just finished playing back-to-back and were still exhausted, was a game that should be won for the Bobcats.

Stephen Jackson, 33, came to the training hall early this morning with a huge responsibility on his shoulders.

The injury to Gerald Wallace forced Stephen Jackson to leave his favorite 2 and play at the 3. The Grizzlies' star, happens to be a 3-position player.

Don't look at Stephen Jackson's image as a "villain", but in fact he is a very professional player.

The so-called very professional means that Stephen Jackson always puts the team's victory first. It is because of this attitude that he was able to win the title with the Spurs. It is precisely because of this attitude that he can help the Warriors stage a miracle of black eight. It is because of this attitude that he was able to drag the Bobcats into the playoffs with Gerald Wallace last season.

Although this professional veteran has caused many troubles off the court, he has always been serious about basketball.

In addition to Rudy Gay, Stephen Jackson is also very interested in the Grizzlies' undrafted pick. Maybe there are still a lot of people in this league who look down on Link, but Stephen Jackson is by no means one of them.

Back then, Stephen Jackson, as a second-round pick, was actually not much better off than Link. After he was selected, he was quickly cut, and then he made a living in various places such as the Continental Basketball Association, Australia, Venezuela, Dominica, etc., wandering around for a long time, and finally returned to the NBA.

The results of it? As a result, he, a player who was abandoned at the beginning, averaged 21.1 points per game last season. He averaged more than 16 points per game all year round. In the 06-07 and 07-08 seasons, he averaged 20 points per game for two consecutive years.

Stephen Jackson knows better than anyone that where you come from isn't everything about your career. What level of athlete you can become depends on your acquired attainments.

Therefore, Stephen Jackson believed that it was not luck that Link played so well. After all, this is how he climbed up step by step.

If Rudy Gay didn't play well in today's game, Stephen Jackson couldn't take it lightly. Because the yellow-skinned No. 0 will definitely seize every opportunity like he was back then!

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"Damn, I feel like I can sleep all day." Randolph complained lazily on the bus to the Time Warner Center.

After playing the Thunder back-to-back the day before yesterday, everyone was very tired. But there was no way, the players had to pack up immediately and head to Charlotte without stopping.

After a two-and-a-half-hour flight, the Grizzlies finally landed in Charlotte. I haven't rested for a long time, and I have to train again in the afternoon.

And today, starting from noon, the team will go to the Bobcats home, the Warner Times Center Arena to prepare. The job of an NBA player is not just as simple as playing those 48 minutes. The preparation for a game actually starts very early in advance. For the players, from the moment they prepare for the game, they start working.

At this point, Randolph wasn't the only one on the Grizzlies' bus. More than half of the players had a tired look on their faces.

It's not that everyone doesn't want to work hard, but it's really tired. The intensity of NBA games is so intense, three games in four days, and flying around, no one can stand it.

Randolph stared out of the window, but when he turned around, he found that Link was intently watching the Bobcats game video.

"You haven't vomited yet? You've been watching since you got in the car." Sometimes Randolph really admires Link's patience.

"I haven't watched it five times. The Bobcats lost one offensive point after losing Gerald Wallace. With our defensive strength, it's not difficult to limit them."

"Damn," Randolph held his forehead, "please, let me rest for a while and stop talking about tactics. Speaking of which, you are very energetic, and you were very energetic during training yesterday, you just Aren't you tired? Did you practice more yesterday? How did you recover your physical fitness?"

"I'm only 22 years old Zach, I'm still young." Link made a joke, good physical fitness is his own condition. In the past, Link's light energy was useless, but when his physical energy was combined with Hill's ability, it was very practical.

Randolph, who will turn 30 in July this year, gave Link a glance and secretly felt heartache. Before I knew it, I was about to turn 30.

While chatting, the huge Warner Times Center Arena appeared in front of Link. The rest of the Grizzlies frowned when they saw the arena. Only Link is full of expectations and yearning for tonight's game.

He wasn't tired at all, and he was eager to fight.

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Although Hollins had long guessed that this game in Charlotte would not be easy, he didn't expect it to be so difficult.

On the court, Randolph, under the defense of French striker Boris Diaw, passed the ball back to Conley, because the big black bear found that he had no chance to make a shot, and Diaw was not separated from his defense.

Conley's eyes smeared when he received the basketball. He looked at the timer on the backboard and saw that the attacking time was running out, so he simply attacked himself.

Conley's opponent, D.J. Augustin, is only 1.83 meters tall. ESPN once described him in one sentence, "This guy is not helpful to the team on the defensive end."

But today, Augustine at 1.83 meters makes Conley feel the pressure. Whenever Augustine confronts Conley, he gets tired.

After finally carrying Augustine to the inside line, Conley was blocked by the famous NBA champion Kwame Brown.

Brown hasn't shown his strength as the No. 1 pick, but it's okay to have a major rotation in the NBA. His defense is very tough, which makes it even more difficult for Conley to score.

Under the combined efforts of Augustine and Kwame Brown, Conley's layup hit the frame. Hollins sighed, the team's offense was horribly inefficient today.

"Failed again, Grizzlies had a very weak offense today. Randolph, Conley, Gay and Mayo weren't very efficient today, none of them shot over 45 percent. Bobcats fought back, Stephen . Jackson's two-step pull-up jumper from inside the 3-point line. Bang! The ball went in, Rudy Gay didn't respond to Jackson's shot. The Bobcats were up by 8 points, and the Grizzlies had to adjust quickly."

Seeing Stephen Jackson scoring another goal, Lionel Hollins stopped the game. That's what Gay is. When he's exhausted, he can't concentrate on the defensive end. Stephen. Jackson is a good player with dry pull-up shots, but Gay just didn't even give Jackson a confrontation.

The game was 6 minutes into the game and the Grizzlies were already 8 points behind. Of course, it wasn't Gay's fault that the Grizzlies didn't play well today. Almost all the five starting five were very weak.

As the players walked off the court, Hollins could clearly see each of them gasping for breath. In the case of huge physical consumption of players, it is futile to arrange any tactics. Because if the players can't execute, your tactics will be useless no matter how well laid out.

In the end, Hollins turned his attention to Link, the only Grizzlies player alive so far.

"Link, you play. Next, I need you to take over the offense."

Link suddenly raised his head, he couldn't wait! 4 days and 3 battles is not a problem for him, the problem is that he is afraid of not playing time. Guy's performance in the first two games was so good that Link didn't play much, and he was going crazy. Now, I can finally release my remaining strength.

Wait, what did the coach just say?

Need me to take over the offense?