Chapter 1310 Owen I Can Shake the Hammer

Payton discussed the problem of too few inside players with Griffin during the halftime break.

Griffin said: "Gary, we don't count the Hammer's salary now. The contracts of the other twelve people alone have exceeded five million. Including the Hammer's salary, we have paid more than 60 million in luxury Tax, there is a shortage of people inside, do you think Parsons can let him play the fourth position?

Or, if you want to suppress Drummond, you can let Nene and Garnett play more time. They can still play now and are in good condition. "

Payton thought for a while and nodded.

Nene is indeed in good shape, and Garnett is also okay. There is no problem for the two of them to play for 55 minutes together, and just give Drummond a little more for the rest.

Now Drummond's average time per game has reached 25 minutes, which has given the rookie a misunderstanding that the team cannot do without him and he is very important.

But in fact, as long as the Hammer is here, no one is indispensable, let alone a rookie?

Standing outside the locker room, David Griffin was really starting to consider the possibility of trading Drummond.

Of course not now. To trade Drummond, you must let him produce data first, otherwise there will be no trading value at all.

He still wants to trade Ginobili because a substitute takes up $14 million in space, which is a bit too much.

In the locker room, Drummond was very excited. He scored 6 points in the second quarter. If he plays another quarter, he can score in double figures. If the rebounds can also reach double figures, he can get a double-double.

He was eager for his first career double-double.

He turned around and glanced at Li Ba. He didn't want to be a blue-collar worker. He longed to be a super player on both offense and defense like the boss.

In the third quarter, the Suns played the main game, and Nene replaced Drummond.

Zhuang Shen was a little confused sitting on the bench. Doesn't he usually partner with the boss in the first half of the third quarter?

After the third quarter, the Suns overtook the score, 82:75, leading by 7 points.

In the fourth quarter, Drummond continued to sit on the bench in a daze.

At the end, 111:100, the Suns won by 11 points.

Li Ba once again played 5*5+4 doubles+double 20s, playing 36 minutes, leading the team to defeat the defending champion Heat and win the first five consecutive games.

Barkley said after the game: "When the Hammers were on the court, there was no suspense in the game. The Heat's offense could only be launched on the outside. But in the second quarter when the Hammers were not on the court, the Heat frequently attacked the inside, and the Suns' own offense also had some problems. Inefficient, the Suns’ bench needs to be improved.”

Kenny Smith said: "The media generally believe that the Heat have an advantage in this game and think that the Heat are the touchstone of this Suns team, but the facts tell us that the Hammer said that this season is not challenging, and he was not exaggerating."

Barkley shook his head and said: "The main problem is the Heat's inside line. The inside line is at a huge disadvantage, especially at the fourth position. Haslem is only a substitute. The Heat need to find another main power forward."

Kenny Smith said: "So, controlling the paint area can control the game. The current league is still dominated by traditional teams."

Barkley said: "The Heat once wanted to trade Gasol, but they made no move after winning the championship last season..."

Kenny Smith interjected: "That's because the Hammer is not here, and Gasol's disadvantage of being too slow is not obvious. But now that the Hammer is back, Gasol's speed disadvantage has been highlighted. This also symbolizes that the Heat Likely to seek insider trading.”

Barkley said: "According to statistics in the five games played by the Suns, they averaged 94 shots per game and averaged 35 fast breaks per game. Excluding the average of 15 secondary attacks per game, the ratio of fast breaks to positional battles is almost the same. .

This shows that fast break tactics have once again become the basic tactics of the Suns and one of the main tactics. So, Kenny, I agree with you. The Heat are very likely to take action on the inside, not only the fourth position, but also the fifth position. "

At this time, Li Ba was interviewed at the scene. A local Miami reporter asked: "Hammer, what does defeating the Heat mean to the Suns?"

"Beating against the Heat is just an expected thing and has no special meaning." Li Ba said with a smile.

That reporter has a bit of an itchy tooth, you damn hammer, will you die if you don’t pretend to be 13?

On the third day, the Suns defeated the Bobcats and completed their away trip, returning to Phoenix on the 8th.

At about the same time, the Cavaliers also arrived in Phoenix.

Since the Cavaliers left James, although they selected No. 1 Irving, their record in the past few seasons has not improved and they have not been able to enter the playoffs.

But Irving's growth still makes the Cavaliers happy. In his rookie season, he became the team's first scoring point and the team's first in assists. This season, he continued to improve, averaging 18.5+3.7+5.4 per game, an increase from last season. At 22.5+3.7+5.9, the growth is gratifying.

The Cavaliers spoke to the media at the hotel.

"Kyrie, are you confident that you can score in the Suns' paint area?" a reporter asked Irving.

"Of course I am confident, and no one can stop me from doing that." Irving said immediately.

"Are you confident in a duel with the Hammer? Will you try to duel with the Hammer on the court?" the reporter asked.

Only then did Irving realize that he had been tricked by reporters, but he was too unique to show weakness, so he immediately responded:

"It's not difficult to challenge the Hammer alone. I can even knock him down!"

"oh!"

a group of reporters exclaimed.

Soon, Irving's words were reported by the media, sparking a wave of public opinion.

Craig Sager, a famous basketball commentator who once criticized Li Ba, stood up and expressed his opinion on Irving's words. He wrote in his ESPN column:

"Irving's ball control skills are very good. He and Iverson are two different types.

Iverson's breakthroughs are mostly based on one method, using speed to eat the opponent hard, and achieve the goal of a one-step breakthrough.

And Irving's breakthroughs usually combine multiple methods, just like a combination punch, by shaking the defender's focus to achieve the purpose of a breakthrough.

These two breakthrough methods are very good, but no matter which one, if you want to shake the hammer, it is difficult. Quite difficult.

We can watch the Hammer's game videos. When he encounters a breakthrough master, he often adopts a preemptive defensive strategy, forcing the opponent to do what he wants first, and fully maintains his initiative.

As we know, the Hammer has a record, that is, he has never been knocked down, and his opponents include Kobe, Ginobili, Parker, Iverson and other breakthrough masters.

So, can Irving knock down the Hammer? I doubt it. "

Many superstars in the league have stood up and expressed their opinions. Generally, they do not think that Irving can knock down Li Ba.