"Previously, you've done so much for this team, now it's our turn to support you."

Isn't it justified that Jordan is both a stinking piece of shit but also the GOAT?

I have to say, Artest's evaluation of Jordan truly reflects his style.

That day, through heartfelt persuasion towards Qin Yue...

Artest believed that people would soon see a more composed and effortless Messiah on the court.

However, what puzzled Artest that day was...

"Our team... do we not have a head coach? Isn't it the coach's job to find ways to lighten the burden on the star player?"

Head coach?

Sorry.

Coach Mike Montgomery, from the time he entered the NBA until now...

He has never understood the difference between NBA and college basketball.

Including March Madness, because college basketball only plays about 30 games a year.

So in the NCAA, college basketball coaches try their best to squeeze the energy out of their star players to ensure the team achieves ultimate victory.

But in the NBA...

This squeezing model is inevitably unworkable.

Because in the long NBA season...

As Artest said, even Jordan needs to learn to hide behind his teammates and let them share the burden of scoring.

...

In December, Qin Yue, fully protected by his teammates, smoothly passed through this devilish schedule with the Warriors.

Although at home...

Steve Nash, who suddenly disabled the pass key in the game, led the Suns to defeat the Warriors on the road with an MVP-level performance of 37 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists.

But at Oracle Arena...

In the game against the Mavericks, the Warriors used their splendid offense to slash the Dallas Cowboys led by "Little General" Johnson in just three quarters.

In that game, the Warriors' Messiah scored another triple-double, totaling 14 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, 4 blocks, and 1 steal.

Moreover, the Warriors had as many as six players scoring in double figures.

Before Little Deng Liwei came back from suspension...

This increasingly cohesive Golden State Warriors left an extremely deep impression on all Warriors fans.

"We may lose some games... but now we can beat every opponent!"

On the 17th, in the Warriors' away game against the Supersonic, Mike Dunleavy officially returned from suspension.

It is worth mentioning that compared with the Supersonic team Qin Yue remembered that at least tried to struggle...

Since entering December...

The entire Supersonic team was like a derailed train, rushing towards the bottom of the West with incredible speed.

Qin Yue couldn't figure out what went wrong with the Supersonic this life.

But this year, as the Supersonic began tanking early, the dormant "T-Mac" has to wait until late January to return, and the Wolf King is sinking into silence...

The overall situation in the West became increasingly clear before the Christmas battles.

The upper half of the West was monopolized by the Spurs, Suns, Nuggets, and Mavericks.

The lower half of the West saw the Warriors, Grizzlies, Kings, Lakers, Clippers, and Jazz competing for the remaining four tickets.

Relying on the unique format of that period where the division champion was guaranteed a top-three finish, the Nuggets, with a significant geographical advantage in the Northwest Region, had become a playoff matchup dream for the lower half of the West.

Indeed, since the Nuggets had a high probability of securing the third spot in the West this season...

For the teams currently in the lower half of the West, the best ranking they should aim for isn't the fifth but the sixth in the West.

Because according to the traditional NBA playoff format of "1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5", compared to the fifth seed in the West, which would either face the Spurs or play against Mavericks or Suns in the first playoff round...

The sixth seed in the West, which would meet the Nuggets in the playoffs, is clearly the legendary ticket to round advancement.

Although in the past life, the fact that Anthony never missed the playoffs during his Nuggets career was something many "Gua Mi" fondly talked about later.

But actually, in terms of the competitiveness of the Northwest Region during that period...

At least in Qin Yue's eyes, the difficulty for the Nuggets to make the playoffs was far less than what people imagined.

If Qin Yue remembers correctly...

The NBA would modify this stupid format next season so that division champions are only guaranteed top-four.

Although for teams in relatively weak divisions, they could still use their division advantage to get into the upper half of the East and West.

But at least, the revised system wouldn't make the fifth seed in the East or West an awkward ranking. (Especially in the West)

Actually, as the West's situation gradually became clear...

Within the Warriors, everyone did discuss whether to compete for sixth in the West.

However, after an intense discussion...

The Warriors, increasingly of like mind, quickly made a team decision.

"Now the difference in victories between fifth and tenth in the West is only 5.5 games...

If we try to compete for the sixth in the West and end up failing to make the playoffs, we are destined to regret it."

The intense competition in the West during that period determined that the Warriors find it tough to rely on tactics to strive for the ticket to the first round advancement as the sixth seed.

After all, if the play wasn't executed well...

The result waiting for the Warriors...

Was direct elimination.

...

As one of NBA's most talked-about fixtures...

Although many superstars said in interviews that the Christmas Day games were their most hated matches.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.