Chapter 56: The Successor of Jordan?

  "In the third quarter, the Timberwolves led throughout the first half, and although the Nuggets tried to catch up, the score difference not only didn't decrease but instead showed a trend of getting bigger."

  "But the two teams' attacking desire in this match is really astonishing."

  "In the second half, Nash quickly dribbled past half court, and the Nuggets' defense was already in position. Garnett came up to set a screen, and after the pick, Nash passed the ball back to Garnett, who faced off against McDyess. Instead of shooting, Garnett swung the ball to Pierce on the other side. Beautiful! Eric Williams was bumped by Pierce's body, and Pierce drove into the paint from the wing. The Nuggets' interior defense was empty - where was LaFrentz? Where was LaFrentz?"

  "Now Nash can only play with Garnett, but Garnett's vision is very broad, and Pierce's offense is also very determined. It seems that Garnett has adapted well to the center position," said DeAntoni with a smile, and the Timberwolves are now leading by a big margin, which also made him relax a lot.

  "Not adapting well? No, far from it." Ganan shook his head. After Garnett played center, he didn't adapt as well as DeAntoni thought, but rather the opposite. He was very unadapted in the interior line, especially on offense. When attacking, he would subconsciously move to the outside and look for opportunities to attack with the ball, which was his old routine from his time with the Timberwolves. This is why Garnett and Nash played a pick-and-roll, and after setting the screen, they would roll out to the high post instead of cutting into the paint. If he could actively set screens and then use his speed and jumping ability to cut into the paint, this wouldn't have been Pierce's score, but rather a beautiful alley-oop between him and Nash. Even with Denver's interior defense being so empty, he didn't realize he should cut in, showing that he doesn't like standing in the interior line. Of course, Garnett doesn't want to attack from the interior line either, and Rashard Lewis also doesn't want to attack from the interior line. This gave Pierce a lot of space to attack the basket, which is a contradictory yet complementary relationship. Basketball games are just like this, with one side's gain being the other side's loss. It's hard to say who was better between Garnett attacking the interior line and Pierce attacking the interior line, as both showed the layered nature of offense and the clear distinction between inside and outside. They simply swapped roles, with the interior players playing outside and the exterior players playing inside.

  So overall, in Zhuang Fei's view, Garnett still can't achieve the same effect as Shaq after switching to center on offense, there are his own reasons and Nash's reasons, but fortunately, Garnett is doing well on defense, with good mobility, coverage area under the basket and intimidation. Moreover, his defensive fundamentals are much more solid than Shaq's.

  "Wah, another Pierce, Pierce back to the body against Eric Williams, made a fake action of turning back and forth, then a step-back jump shot, hit, very beautiful back-to-the-body movement, Pierce is very excited today"

  After Pierce made the shot, he swung his arms wildly and gave a cold stare to Eric Williams. He was feeling too good today. Eric Williams looked at Pierce helplessly, the last person who had made him feel this bad had already retired. This rookie's offense was too versatile, and his butt was also very big, making it difficult for him.

  This year for Pierce was like a roller coaster ride, and his originally outgoing personality also became more introverted. Pierce's basketball story is like an inspirational movie. In the first grade, Pierce was just a substitute player on the school basketball team, a small fat man with only 1 meter 78 but over 90 kilograms

  The power forward had a hard time getting the basketball coach's appreciation, because he had a huge butt, and was constantly teased by his teammates as "Barkley the second", until his senior year of high school, when he grew 20 cm in one year, directly from the first position to the third position, and from then on, weight was no longer an obstacle for him, but rather became his killer move, and his big butt also became a weapon. In just one year, that is, his senior year of high school, he became one of the most famous front-line players in the United States, with a rapid rise that left people speechless. After entering college, his advantages from high school did not diminish, but rather increased under the guidance of new Kansas University head coach Roy Williams, and his attacking skills became more comprehensive and mature. In 1998, during his junior year, Pierce refused the sincere advice of head coach Roy Williams and chose to leave school for the NBA draft. Like many college basketball stars, Pierce was also a media darling, constantly being hyped as a small forward who could rival Carter. The 1998 draft ranking was at least top five, which is why he didn't finish college and participated in the draft early. Not everyone has Duncan's determination when facing media hype, and Pierce didn't have Duncan's decisiveness to reject two number one picks. Under Williams' disappointed gaze, he participated in the 1998 NBA draft with excitement and anticipation, but what happened was not what he expected. Carter indeed became a top five pick, but Pierce almost became a nobody, eventually being selected by the Bucks, and then traded directly to the Timberwolves without even reporting to the Bucks. These experiences had a great impact on him, and the media that once hyped him were now silent. Especially after being traded for Marbury, the media immediately turned around and started mocking him and Marbury, which made Pierce, who was always optimistic and cheerful, hate the media so much that it indirectly made his personality more introverted.

  Today his desire to attack, the desire to perform is very strong. Because the Nuggets have a former University of Kansas teammate, LaVine, this year's No. 3 pick, originally in the media's hype, this position was supposed to be his, and the Nuggets had also quietly said they were willing to accept him. He had vowed to make the Bucks regret it, to make the Nuggets regret it.

  This time the Timberwolves' attack, Nash again handed the ball to Pierce. Nash was very dependent on Pierce when facing the strong defense, or subconsciously thought that handing the ball to Pierce was not wrong, because in the previous few games when he made mistakes one after another, Pierce, this usually quiet teammate, was his most trustworthy partner.

  One, a change-of-direction acceleration, Pierce leaned on Eric Williams' body to burst into the free throw line area, then in Eric Williams' astonishment, Pierce jumped high, a shot with an obvious lean back, a shot that made Eric Williams think of that man who used to be like God.

  Swish, another hit. After landing, Pierce's eyes were filled with extreme excitement, as if the whole world was under his feet, and the hoop on the blue frame seemed as wide as the ocean.

  "This, this is a stop-and-pop jump shot after the fast break, too beautiful, Eric Williams had no way to defend it, today's Pierce was as strong as Jordan, nobody can stop him, will he become a great player like Jordan?" ABC's commentary added another name to the list of players who are considered to be the next Jordan.

  "Pierce is too good today!" DeAntonio excitedly shouted to Zhuang Fei.

  Zhuang Fei just smiled indifferently. He was not surprised by Pierce's performance.

  Paul Pierce, 21 years old, 2m01, Position: SF/SG, Shooting: 81, Defense: 75, Offense: 90, Physical Talent: 85, Hidden Ability: Unknown, Ability Score: 86, Potential Level: A, Luck Index: B+, Status: Enchanted (Dynamic), Stamina: Excellent (Dynamic), Injury: None.

  This is the attribute data of Pierce described by the upgraded dynasty system, and there are two pieces of information in the player relationship column that make Zhuang Fei surprised.

  "Hated teams: Denver Nuggets (100)"

  "Hated teams: Milwaukee Bucks (100)"

  On the court, Garnett crossed his arms and looked at Pierce. For Pierce's explosive performance this season, Garnett had mixed feelings. After the Timberwolves left Marbury, it seemed that they would continue with a dual-star pattern.

  "Kevin, this Pierce is great, he's absolutely no worse than Marbury, this is a player who can become a superstar, and that second-round pick Mobley on the bench is also very good, it seems Coach Z's trade is not bad," said the Timberwolves boss excitedly in front of the TV, without thinking about how he was going to split the power with Flynn not long ago, and completely ignoring McHale's awkwardness.

  The Timberwolves almost bloodlessly took down the Nuggets, with a final score of 125-109. The last few minutes were garbage time, but Lillard brought the Nuggets back some points.

  Paul Pierce had the best performance in this game, scoring 36 points on 13-for-19 shooting.

  ..........

  ..........

  "What's up with Pierce?" Zhuang Fei said, holding a newspaper in a hotel in San Antonio. The headline read "Coach Z's debut, crazy offense shines in Denver, Pierce, the new Jordan successor". This was the sports section headline of Today USA. After Jordan retired, the media liked to find his successors, and after this nationally televised game, Pierce couldn't avoid it either. Today USA is just one of these media outlets, and the title "Jordan's Successor" isn't a good thing.

  "I was just about to report this to you, Pierce's behavior is too abnormal, he doesn't have any psychological fluctuations at all, it seems that these praises in the newspapers have no effect on him" DeAntoni shook his head and sighed, which also made Zhuang Fei, who had been ready to scold Pierce, speechless.

  "Hmm, that's good. I hope he can continue to remain calm and low-key." Zhang Fei sighed and said. He and DeAntoni had no idea that Pierce had been hurt by the media hype before, and Pierce was deeply resentful of those American media.

  "Zhuang, what's the plan for tonight's game against the Spurs?" DeAntoni asked worriedly. Seeing Zhuang Fei didn't have any expression, DeAntoni could only shake his head. Against the Spurs, this immature Timberwolf was in trouble.

  NBA shortened season, the schedule is extremely tight, and Timberwolves came out with a back-to-back.