The Raptors challenged the Hawks on the road and suffered a two-game losing streak 81-95. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

With John Wallace leaving, the Raptors lost one less rotation player, Maddy, Billups, and O'Neal Jr. became blacksmiths, and only Carter performed well, recording a double-double of 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Hawks, led by Mutombo, are extremely tough defensively, conceding only 83 points per game in the new season, and today he blocked O'Neal Jr. twice in a row in a round, shaking his finger to humiliate the rookie.

Yang Rui loves and hates newcomers, when they feel good, they can play gorgeous and smooth attacks, and when they feel bad, they don't know how to adjust, and they keep throwing waves.

Back in Toronto, on the morning of March 5, Yang Rui met Kevin Cato, a rookie who could play for the Raptors.

"Hello, Coach." Cato looked very honest, and shook hands with Yang Rui with a smile.

"Hello, Kevin, nice to meet you." Yang Rui looked him up and down, much higher than he imagined.

He used to think that Cato was short because he watched too many rocket races, and Cato often stood next to Yao Ming.

As one of the 15 rookies in the first round in '97, Cato certainly didn't want to be a marginal person all the time, and when he saw Yang Rui, he didn't know how to "sell" himself, so he could only giggle.

Yang Rui smiled: "Kevin, I mean to trade you to the Raptors, I need you to be the toughest person on the team, play your strengths, cover the offensive end and cut in the air, grab rebounds and score under the basket, you will definitely get more playing time than when you were with the Trail Blazers." ”

Cato nodded, which is good news, he had a good two years with the Trail Blazers, and he only played 13.6 minutes last season.

During training, the coaching staff put Cato to to the test and was pleasantly surprised.

Cato has excellent physical fitness, the strongest strength in the team, and a slower movement speed, similar to veterans Willis and Miller, with an arm span of 224CM, and he has what it takes to be a super defensive player.

On the offensive end, Cato is useless, with a bad mid-range shot, rough footsteps, a hook hand on the left low post, and a dunk after blocking and dismantling.

The player in Yang Rui's memory is more similar to Cato is the Celtics' "second fat" Kendrick Perkins. He is good at resisting people and blocking, and he basically doesn't need to practice shooting, this kind of "black and hard" feel is not soft, and his free throws are not very accurate.

Miller is currently just an average center, and if he wants to be a star in the Kings period, he needs to practice and learn from Detreve. Cato will certainly be useful and improve the Raptors' interior defense.

After training, Yang Rui talked to Cato alone. "Kevin, what did you practice when you were with the Trail Blazers?"

"Defend in the low post, block and cut in the air, and help defend the block."

"Here, you add an extra pass, like Dete, and if you grab a rebound in the front court, I want you to get it out in time. When you receive a pass in the high post, if you can't make a mid-range shot, you must pass the ball accurately to your teammates. ”

"Okay, I can do it." Cato replied aloud.

Yang Rui nodded with satisfaction. This person is very obedient, don't attack the ball, and it's easy to renew the contract when it expires next year. At present, there is a market for big men in the league, and Cato is the cheapest player he can get in exchange.

As soon as he comes, O'Neal Jr. and Miller don't need to gain weight, maintain weight and mobility, and the offensive end is more threatening.

That night, the Raptors lost to the Magic at home, suffering a three-game losing streak.

The Magic started the game 12-4 under Chuck Daley, and they had an outstanding record under the premise of no strongman.

Rookie Matt Harprin unexpectedly gained the upper hand against O'Neal Jr.

Harprin is only 201CM tall, weighs 105 kg, is very strong, comes from a rugby family, has a tough style of play, and is good at confrontation. He has always been close to O'Neal Jr. to make it difficult to turn around and face the frame, and the turnaround and backward jumper was too reluctant, and he shot 5 of 15 in the game.

Maddie was defended by "Penny" Hardaway and performed even worse, shooting just 2 of 12, plus 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists from the free throw line.

The Raptors sleepwalked collectively on the outside, except for Carter, who scored 21 points, the others played in a mess, and the best performance on the inside was Willis, who scored 20 points and 14 rebounds, and the two failed to help the team win, and the final score was 88-93.

Cato played 11 minutes and had only 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1-of-3 shooting, and poor statistics.

The bad luck has just begun, the Raptors have an unfavorable schedule, playing strong teams back-to-back, losing to the Heat and Hawks one after another.

It's embarrassing to suffer a 5-game losing streak, and the Raptors haven't won since the trade. Cato didn't play much time and the stats were poor. Although John Wallace, who joined the Trail Blazers, is also a bench, he averages 7 points per game, which is better than Cato no matter how you look at it.

The media began to find fault with the Raptors, and many people sprayed Yang Rui and management for brain-dead trades, and sending Wallace away is likely to make the Raptors miss the playoffs.

There are many teams that are gloating, and the Trail Blazers are one of them, with the Portland media saying: "Thanks to the Raptors for sending players, the Trail Blazers are getting better and better." ”

The stronger the Trail Blazers, the more pressure there is on competitors. The Los Angeles media expressed dissatisfaction. "The league is advised to investigate the Trail Blazers and the Raptors, and the two teams frequently engage in unfair trades, which makes one wonder what is going on."

Even some of the Canadian media have begun to look down on the Raptors, thinking that it is a bit difficult to make the playoffs, and they have recently forgotten about the feeling of winning.

Glenn talks to Yang Rui. "Jerry, you have to hurry up and figure it out, although we have a good record now, but if it goes on like this, the team may not be able to make the playoffs, right?"

"It's definitely in the playoffs, don't be nervous, there are so many newcomers, it will take some time to get used to it." Yang Rui sighed: "Now they have collectively hit the rookie wall, not only a few rookies, but Jermaine and Tracy also have problems with their physical strength." ”

The boss has a big appetite and wants to fight for a high ranking in the regular season, not only in the playoffs, but also in the first round, so that he can make a lot of money. But the team led by newcomers is destined to encounter some problems, and the Thunder Sanshao in the future is no exception.

The term "rookie wall" is used in the top sports leagues in Europe and the United States to describe the decline in form that occurs during an athlete's first two rookie seasons as an amateur-to-professional player.

After the start of the season every year, the rookies are generally more active at the beginning, jumping high, running fast, and having unlimited youth.

But the N.B.A. is a marathon league, not a sprint event, with a much tighter schedule of shortened seasons, with lots of back-to-back and endless flights, hotel stays, and bus rides.

This special season is a bit unbearable for experienced players. Newcomers simply don't know how to allocate their physical strength properly, and in the same amount of time, the NBA game is played in college games multiplied by three. It just so happened that the main tactic arranged by Yang Rui was to run and bomb, and these young people wanted to perform too much, they would never go to the basket when they could dunk, and they would not raise their hands to interfere when they could block the hat.

When both physically and mentally start to get tired, the rookie wall comes.

After two days of rest, the Raptors defeated the weak Celtics 108-92 at home on the 13th, finally ending the losing streak.