NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me

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"In the opening game of the new season, the Bulls defeated the defending champions, the Spurs, 106-94 on the road!"

"The Bulls' Big Three scored 73 points together. Wang Chong scored 34 points and 6 rebounds, Garnett had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Billups had 18 points and 7 assists. Their performance completely outshone the Spurs' combined PIB."

"Unexpectedly, second-round pick Marc Gasol performed well. He scored 8 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the game. He is fully qualified to be the team's starter. The Bulls have successfully selected second-round players for three consecutive years. It's simply amazing!"

After the first game, the outside world wanted nothing more than to praise the Bulls to the skies.

Not only that, but in the post-game press conference, Spurs head coach Popovich expressed his helplessness when interviewed by reporters. "The Bulls' lineup is already a cheat in the league. Wang Chong and Garnett, two MVP-caliber regular-season players, have joined forces. This is an uncommon situation in the league. The Bulls will undoubtedly be the first team to win the championship this season. The biggest obstacle in the way."

Popovich's words are not really praise for the Bulls, but rather admiration.

As the defending champions, the Spurs are recognized as the strongest team in the league. All teams that want to compete for the championship must study, analyze, and constantly play against the Spurs.

But now Popovich's words may make many teams distrust the Bulls. After all, even the defending champions, the Spurs, are no match.

Moreover, Popovich's words were not just praise, but also contained a hint of genuine sigh.

The Bulls' current team not only has a solid lineup, but their tactics have also improved significantly.

In the summer, when he heard that the Bulls had fired head coach Scott, Popovich was puzzled for a while. Although this opponent's tactics were copied from his own team, they were imitated so well that the Bulls managed to outdo the Spurs. The team's regular season record was quite good. With his unique vision and judgment, it is no surprise that the league awarded the best coach honor to Scott.

Of course, Popovich didn't know that the Bulls' tactical system was built at Wang Chong's request, and he attributed all the credit to Scott.

In the first game of the new season, Popovich realized that the Bulls' tactics, especially their defensive tactics, were completely different from the Finals.

He could see a strong Van Gundy-style defensive system in the Bulls' defense, but it was something different in the details. It was more adaptable, not as rigid as Van Gundy's defensive system.

Yes, Thibodeau had served as an assistant coach with the Rockets for many years before coaching the Bulls. Naturally, he was well-acquainted with Van Gundy's defensive style. Not only did he absorb the advantages of the opponent's tactical system, but he also incorporated many of his own ideas.

Popovich understood why the Bulls changed their head coach.

It is impossible to defeat the Spurs with the Spurs' defensive system, so the Bulls replaced Thibodeau with a new head coach. Regardless of whether Thibodeau's tactics are better than Popovich's, at least he had the ability to challenge the Spurs.

The results of the first game proved the viability of this move.

"It's said that the Bulls' coaching change was done at Wang Chong's request... I'm not sure if that's true."

Regardless of whether the rumors were true or false, Popovich was sure that if the Spurs could make it out of the West, the Bulls would likely be the team to fight them to the death in the Finals.

——After defeating the Spurs on October 31, the Bulls immediately began a winning streak. In the following games, they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 96-85 at home, the Milwaukee Bucks 97-78 and 101-91 on the road, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Toronto Raptors 99-71 on the road, directly achieving their first five consecutive wins.

On November 10, the Bulls faced the Phoenix Suns on the road. They were a bit unlucky and ran into a hot hand from the Suns.

Against the Suns, who had no choice but to shoot, with 7 players scoring in double digits and shooting 46% from three-point range, the Bulls lost 112-116, ending their winning streak.

The Bulls in the new season, like last season, maintained a very high win rate and total dominance on the court. Unless they encountered a team like the Suns, which was crazy and irrational, few teams could hold their ground against the Bulls on the court.

After losing to the Suns, the Bulls were unaffected in any way, and then went on another 8-game winning streak, without a single opponent being able to stop them wherever they went!

People were surprised to find that the Bulls didn't seem to have any obvious shooting problems. Although most of the team had been replaced during the offseason, the players on the court had a clear division of labor, each performing their own tasks, and their tactical execution was quite strong.

Especially for the two main stars, Wang Chong and Garnett, some people were initially concerned that if the two main stars played together, there would be conflicts over ball distribution.

But the result was unexpected.

Garnett, who joined the Bulls, was actually very willing to act as the second-in-command of the team. He focused most of his energy on the defensive side of the court. The offensive side represented less than when he was the leader of the Timberwolves last season.

In the 06-07 season, Garnett averaged 17.6 field goals per game and 22.4 points per game, second only to Nowitzki and Randolph at the power forward position.

After eight consecutive wins, the Bulls' November schedule ended. Even in the opening game at the end of October, the Bulls achieved a record of 12 wins and 1 loss in 13 games. Garnett averaged 12.6 shots per game in these 13 games, contributing 17.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.9 blocks.

From a statistical perspective, Garnett's performance seems mediocre, much lower than his average of 22.4+12.8+4 per game from last season.

But there are many things on the court that cannot be measured with data. The most intuitive is defense.

Garnett's main focus this season has been defense. Using his top-level mobility and help defense ability, Garnett has elevated the Bulls' defensive efficiency to a higher level.

Wang Chong, as always, displayed his offensive firepower on the offensive side.

So far in the new season, Wang Chong has averaged 30.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.

The rebounds and assists have slightly decreased compared to last season. This is directly related to his shift from the power forward position to the small forward position. After all, the Bulls currently have Garnett averaging 10+ rebounds per game. With Gasol rebounding, Wang Chong doesn't need to worry about grabbing boards.

The two main superstars, Wang Chong and Garnett, used offense and defense, causing the Bulls to average 88 points per game, the lowest in the league. They also averaged 101 points per game, ranking 10th in the league.

Obviously, the Bulls are a typical defensive team, and their offensive capability is not the best in the league. In fact, the Bulls' offensive tactics are the same as last season—very simple, except for Wang Chong's ball-handling drives. Now, Bill Lu's pick-and-roll advancement only includes Garnett's post play. There's basically no difference.

But with this increase and decrease on both ends of offense and defense, the Bulls' average point differential per game reached an exaggerated 13 points! They are the only team among the 30 teams in the league with a double-digit average margin of victory.

With the team's record of 12-1 and Wang Chong's personal stats of 30+6+3 per game, Wang Chong was undoubtedly the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for November.

In fact, Wang Chong still had a relatively strong competitor in the Eastern Conference in November. This person wasn't James, but Howard from the Magic.

The Magic, who acquired Lewis, has officially formed a system of four shooters with one star, and their effectiveness in combat skyrocketed in the new season. With so many shooters on the outside, Howard's rebounding skyrocketed.

Due to the schedule, the Magic played five more games than the Bulls, with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses. Although they lost more games than the Bulls, who had 12 wins and 1 loss, their advantage in wins meant they still ranked above the Bulls, temporarily holding the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

In these 18 games, Howard averaged 23.8 points, 15 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game. He was dominant both offensively and defensively, and already had the shadow of a top-level center.

Unfortunately, the strong dominance shown by the Bulls allowed Wang Chong to successfully be selected as the Player of the Month in November.

As for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were considered the Eastern Conference duo with the Bulls before the preseason, their record in November was somewhat unsatisfactory.

Ray Allen, who joined the Cavaliers via trade in the summer, did not integrate into the team as quickly as Garnett. On the contrary, during the games, Ray Allen clearly felt a bit uncomfortable with his new position as a

 catch-and-shoot player.

Although Ray Allen is currently the best three-point shooter in the league, he is not actually a pure catch-and-shoot player. Especially in recent years with the SuperSonics, Ray Allen's offensive ratio while handling the ball was much higher than without the ball.

This doesn't mean Ray Allen can't play without the ball. On the contrary, Ray Allen, who originally joined the Celtics in the 2007-08 season, went from holding the ball to playing without the ball and gradually evolved into an effective off-ball shooter.

And it takes time to adapt to this. Ray Allen also had moments when he handled the ball during his time with the Celtics.

Now, Ray Allen has joined the Cavaliers without any buffer or adjustment period, and directly teams up with James, who is a force in ball handling. This causes Ray Allen, who averaged 26 points per game last season, to be a bit confused and completely out of rhythm. For himself, with his new positioning as a catch-and-shoot player, he only averaged about 17 points per game in the new season, a sharp drop of 9 points compared to last season, and his shooting percentage also slightly decreased.

In contrast, James' personal stats have reached a career high, averaging 30 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game, showing his dominance in ball handling and central statistics.

This resulted in a poor start for the Cavaliers' regular season, with their record occupying only the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, behind the Magic, Bulls, and Pistons.

Wang Chong also expected this situation.

This is James' fifth season in his career, but he still hasn't won anything in terms of honors. Naturally, he's hungrier for stats. How can he think about sharing the ball with others?

This is fundamentally different from when James joined the Heat in the future, having to give way to local leader Wade and share the ball equally with the opponent.

At that time, James was 26 years old, mature in thought, and very astute. He knew very well that if he went too far when he first arrived, it would cause dissatisfaction among the Heat fans.

And even so, James eventually managed to seize the ball and take control of it, letting Wade and Bosh do the work for him.

Now in his Cavaliers, as a 23-year-old young and energetic star of tomorrow, James certainly wouldn't allow a 32-year-old veteran like Ray Allen to be left on the sidelines. The stats and honors belong to Emperor James—how could he allow others to get involved?

But as a result, the combat effectiveness shown by the Cavaliers obviously has no power to compete for the championship.

Most Cavaliers fans don't understand why. They think this is only because Ray Allen has just changed teams and is still not used to it. They also look forward to the team adjusting midway and by the end of the season, the Cavaliers will have the strength to compete for the championship.

But this is obviously impossible. Ray Allen might adjust to James' ball handling style midway and by the end of the season, transforming into a catch-and-shoot shooter. But by then, what deterrent power does Ray Allen have as a catch-and-shoot player? Just a JR Smith without the spasms.

Among the Big Three of the Celtics, the most important is undoubtedly Garnett. As for Ray Allen and Pierce, both are completely replaceable players.

Also, aside from James and Ray Allen, the Cavaliers have no other noteworthy players. Ben Wallace, known as one of the Big Three, is essentially a worker player, and although Ben Wallace was around in the 2007-08 season, he was already at the end of his career.

In the original 2007-08 season, Ben averaged only 4.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and missed the All-Defensive team for the first time. Subsequently, Ben was traded to the Cavaliers, Pistons, and other teams, and could only be an ordinary interior player with no standout moments. In the 2011-12 season, Ben played 62 games for the Pistons, averaging 1.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

In Wang Chong's opinion, Big Ben during this period wasn't even as good as Big Z in terms of skill. The Cavaliers should have traded Big Ben for Ray Allen instead of Big Z. But if they really swapped trades for Big Ben, it's hard to say whether the Sonics would have agreed.

End of this chapter

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