Chapter Ninety-One: The Greatest Victory
"This goal is for you, brother......!"
Off the court, Allen Iverson was like a flash of lightning, pulling the backcourt rebound from the Captain and then completing the almost impossible task by himself.
Pick up the rebound from the backcourt, turn around and start dribbling to break through, then shake the defender with amazing skills, start to accelerate in the frontcourt, and finally score a one-handed dunk.
This series of actions may not be difficult for Iverson at his peak, and after a game, he has to come once or twice.
However, all fans know that in the 2005 and 2006 season, although Iverson scored the highest points per game in his career, his impact and physical decline were very obvious.
Whether it is speed, bounce, reflexes, or the ability to combine man and ball, Iverson at this time is a certain gap from his peak.
If you look closely at the games from 2000 to 2001, that is, Iverson's MVP season, and compare the game footage of this season, it is not difficult to see that Iverson's offensive options have changed a lot.
From the MVP who is relentless and lunges inside with every ball, or dribbling at top speed to find open space, to more mid-to-long-range options, more mid-speed dribble cuts, and looking for scoring masters who make fouls on physical contact. In the past few years, in order to use his height of only 183 cm to work hard in the NBA, it is difficult for outsiders to imagine how much effort and sweat Iverson has put in.
And in this game, this seemingly unimportant regular season, Iverson once again took out his mastery that had been pressed at the bottom of the box for a long time, gritted his teeth and tried his best to perform a one-stop performance throughout the court, the purpose was to reassure the rookie on the bench who was restless and eager to play with an injury.
"There are us on the field, you give me peace of mind to sit and wait to embark on the triumphant return journey with us!"
Iverson's dunk also aroused the fighting spirit of the 76ers players on and off the court, and everyone was shouting loudly to cheer for the team.
After this crucial score, the 76ers overtook the score on the road, 97-96, a one-point lead!
There is less than half a minute left in the game.
The Wizards called a timeout as no surprise and Eddie Jordan began to quickly draw a game on the board, laying out an offensive attack that was about to decide the outcome of the game.
The 76ers also walked off the court, listening carefully to Cheeks' defensive strategy.
"According to past experience, although the Wizards' conventional tactics are mainly based on attacking the interior, when it comes to critical moments, they rely heavily on Arenas's solo play."
Cheeks is a typical workaholic, although the level of coaching is not superb, but the game footage he has watched and the tactical strategies analyzed are no less than any famous coach.
"And at this time, Arenas will mostly choose to play alone, and in the last minute, in a game where the difference between the two sides is within three points, the probability of Arenas holding the ball and then passing the ball is very low."
As he spoke, Cheeks drew a circle at the top of the arc on the tactical board and sucked the magnet representing Arenas up with a snap.
"He's got a lot of shots and he's got a lot of range, and he can't let his guard down. Andre, you go to the top of the arc to defend him, Allen goes to defend Caron, and Kyle goes to defend. β
It is not a complicated tactical arrangement, and Cheeks focuses on asking Iverson to pay attention to the defense at all times, because according to statistics, even if Arenas is forced to choose to pass, his pass object is mainly Jamison, and Butler is unlikely to hold the ball at the last moment.
"Do you understand? If you understand it, let's cheer yourself on! β
Cheeks played this psychological game rarely, gathering all the team members together, everyone just wanted to speak, but Hunter quietly gave up his position close to the center and pushed Chen Mu in.
"Steven, you're ......"
Hunter didn't speak, but just smiled at Chen Mu, and the rest of the team members also understood it, and instantly understood Hunter's intentions:
In this game, although Hunt was present at the critical moment, the reason why he was able to reverse the away game and get the chance to win was that Chen Mu was the most important part.
"Come on."
Iguoda stretched out his hand to hold his little brother Chen Mu, and smiled encouragingly: "Steven is such a person, don't grind about this." β
ββ¦β¦ Well. β
Chen Mu glanced at Hunter gratefully, and then stretched out his hand, overlapping the palms of his teammates.
β1γ2γ3γGetItοΌβ
Get it.
Get this one a win!
At the end of the timeout, the referee began to urge players from both sides to enter.
Before going on the field, Iverson looked back at Chen Mu deeply.
Chen Mu was stunned for a moment, then reacted, imitated Iverson's previous movements, stretched out his finger and pointed at the latter, and then clenched his fist and gently pounded his chest.
"Hey ......"
Seeing this, Iverson smiled slightly, a complex look flashing in his big eyes, and stretched out a fist to stop in the air.
Chen Mu immediately understood what Iverson meant, and also stretched out his fist, and the two of them lightly punched in the air, and then Iverson walked into the arena without looking back.
This is the unique tacit understanding that Chen Mu and Iverson have gradually formed in dozens of games, and it is a special action that the two will use when celebrating each other's good shots.
In the seemingly simple boxing, what is contained is the peculiar spiritual connection between two players who hate to see each other late.
The inextinguishable aura that belongs to the "fighter".
The game restarted, and everything was as Cheeks expected, with Arenas holding the ball and playing alone at the top of the arc, looking up at the time from time to time to determine the attacking options.
"They want to press the time and play the success rate, if they score a goal, they defend with all their might, and if they don't score, they immediately use foul tactics!"
Iguodala immediately understood the Wizards' tactical arrangement, did not give Arenas time to wait, and quickly stepped forward to press the defense.
Arenas, on the other hand, bent down, increased his dribbling rate, and after a few physical battles with Iguodala, he suddenly stepped back.
Iguodala was stunned and hurriedly stepped up, and just as he stepped up, Arenas dribbled again and shook it off the side.
"Worship the Buddha!"
Chen Mu was shocked in his heart, the extraordinary move made by Arenas just now was Iverson's housekeeping skill, using the change of center of gravity and rhythm to create the illusion that he was going to stop his move, and then accelerate over.
This method of passing is extremely demanding for players, not only requires the players themselves to have super control, passing, and dribbling skills, and have excellent mastery of the body, but also requires the players themselves to have a strong ability to stop and jump shots, in order to attract opponents to be fooled and create space.
And Arenas has all these abilities.
But as mentioned before, this trick is also Iverson's housekeeping skill.
At the moment when Arenas passed, Iverson came out of nowhere, almost at the moment when Arenas just rushed behind Iguodala, Iverson rushed out of his blind spot, stretched out his hand, and simply broke the ball.
βDAMNοΌβ
Arenas scolded him for being careless and hurriedly turned around, aiming at the empty backcourt for a split second, and if Iverson was allowed to pass with the ball, the MVP would definitely control the tempo and time, using his speed and dribbling skills to maneuver with the Wizards and find a way to run out of time.
"Beep!"
Arenas had no choice but to foul Iverson and send Iverson directly to the free throw line.
"There's hope!"
Seeing Iverson's steady two free throws, Chen Mu's heart finally fell.
The rest of the game was uneventful, with Arenas trying to miss a three-pointer and the 76ers possessed the ball. After hitting two free throws again, although the Wizards also hit a desperate three-pointer by Jamison, the clock was running out and the game was over.
101-99, the 76ers came from behind on the road, came back to win, and began to exit the game amid the cheers of the entire team players and staff.
Cheeks stepped forward to shake hands with Eddie Jordan and walked into the players' tunnel quickly despite the boos of the fans.
Back in the locker room, the 76ers players who have been in poor condition recently let out a bad breath, and after some celebration, the "drunkards" and "SE ghosts" huddled together and organized the "second half" of the event.
"Chen."
Sitting in the corner of the locker room, looking at the smiles of his teammates, Chen Mugang was about to get up to take a shower, but the staff handed over the technical statistics of the game.
"Thank you."
After receiving the technical statistics, Chen Mu didn't dare to take a closer look.
In this game, although Chen Mu played a big role at the critical moment, especially the "cramp cap", it greatly boosted morale.
It is precisely because of Chen Mu's injury and retirement that the fighting spirit of the 76ers players was completely aroused, and then Iverson's solo dance, Iguodala's determination, Hunter's violent dunk, and Weber's bloody battle to the end will seem logical.
For Chen Mu, this is undoubtedly the best win of the whole season. In this game, he felt for the first time that the whole team of the 76ers was fighting as a unit.
Whether it's a starter or a substitute, whether it's inside or outside, whether it's a competitor in the same position or a partner in a different position.
All the players are twisted into a rope in this game, and they have nothing to do with each other, and they fight together to the end.
But looking back on the game process, Chen Mu also knows very well that this game may be the worst game in his entire rookie season in dozens of games played by the 76ers.
The stupid fouls in the opening stanza, the Wizards' targeted defensive strategy led to fewer rebounds, second-half physical exhaustion, back-to-back missed shots, passing errors, missed rebounds in the forecourt that were bound to happen, and the usual ATM-like botching of defensive interior players when playing with their backs to their backs.
Combining these factors, Chen Mu knew that his data must be very bad, and hesitated for a long time before taking a deep breath and opening his eyes to look carefully:
Back number: No. 5
Name: ChenMu
Position: Power Forward/Center
Playing time: 24 minutes
Shooting: 3-of-9
Score: 6 points
Frontcourt rebounds: 3
Backcourt rebounds: 4
Rebounds: 7
Assists: 2
Steals: 1
Caps: 3 times
Mistakes: 3
Fouls: 3
β¦β¦
Next, the more detailed high-level data, Chen Mu couldn't bear to look at it carefully, hurriedly put away the statistical table, covered his eyes with one hand and sighed.
"YO, plus/minus +17?!"
Just when Chen Mu was lamenting that his average data per game was about to decline again, Weber's voice sounded on the side.
"Huh......?"
Chen Mu opened his eyes in confusion, only to see Webber pointing to the positive and negative value column on the statistical table and said with a smile: "The highest positive and negative value in the field, it seems that you are the hero of our victory today, haha!" β
"Really......!"
Chen Mu was taken aback, and then took out the data table to take a closer look, and sure enough, he saw that in his plus and minus column, the words "+17" were marked.
My role...... Is it really that big?
Chen Mu couldn't believe the numbers he saw, and when he was still stunned, Weber's big hand had already put on his shoulder.
"Remember what I told you? The data may not be comprehensive, but it doesn't lie. β
Webber smiled lightly, patted Chen Mu's shoulder meaningfully and said, "Call and ask your agent, this summer after the season, you will be busy~"
Meanwhile, Philadelphia.
On Billikin's desk, a classified document had just been opened and browsed.
"It's really hard to predict what shareholders think......
Glancing at the "guidance" on the document for the team's future operation, Billikin smiled bitterly and said to himself: "'Match any offer', heh, this Chinese kid, is it really so good...... β