Chapter 798: The Thrilling West and the Book Written by David Stern!

After the game with the Lakers, the Seattle SuperSonics also finished all the games in the first half of the regular season this season.

The SuperSonics played a total of 52 games in the first half before the All-Star Game, with 37 wins and 15 losses, temporarily ranking sixth in the West.

In the three key games on the same day, the Phoenix Suns lost to the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves lost to the Rockets.

This has led to the Seattle SuperSonics' record becoming the best among the four teams. The Timberwolves and the Suns are both 36 wins and 15 losses, while the Rockets are 37 wins and 16 losses.

After defeating the Timberwolves, the Rockets have won 15 games in a row, making them the team with the most consecutive wins in the entire league so far, and the team with the longest winning streak in the league this season.

However, after so many consecutive wins, the final ranking is still ninth in the West.

It has to be said that the Rockets' weird situation is not only a spectacle this season, but also a rather incredible spectacle in the history of the NBA!

According to many people, the 15-game winning streak without any change in the ranking may only happen once in the history of the entire NBA.

Of course, although the Rockets' ranking has not changed, with the Rockets defeating the Timberwolves at home, the competition for the top eight among the Seattle SuperSonics, Suns, Timberwolves and Rockets has become more intense.

The gap between the four teams has become smaller. Before, the Timberwolves and Suns had 14 losses, which was a bit higher than the Rockets' 16 losses. But now, the Timberwolves, Suns and SuperSonics all have 15 losses, which is only one game away from the Rockets' 16 losses.

As long as the Rockets find the right opportunity, they can take advantage of the situation to enter the top eight.

With the Rockets' strength, it is basically difficult to get down after entering the top eight.

Among the Suns, Timberwolves, SuperSonics and Rockets, the Rockets are of course the strongest in terms of current strength.

Now in order to keep the Rockets in the ninth place, the other three teams are almost in a state of chicken blood.

As long as the Rockets turn over, the chicken blood state of the other three teams will be lifted.

The Rockets' strength advantage will also appear.

If the Rockets cannot turn around, the three teams will be in a state of excitement, and the Rockets must follow suit. If the four teams continue to sprint like this, it will be very disadvantageous for the Rockets. The Rockets' bench is not that deep this season, Roy's body has hidden dangers, and Yao Ming is still a big center. If the Rockets cannot turn around earlier, although they are the strongest, they may be dragged down in the end.

This is the competition situation of the last few teams in the West in the first half, which is quite tragic.

Compared with the last few teams in the West, the competition among the top few teams in the West is also quite fierce.

After losing at home, the Lakers, who are the first in the West, directly gave up the first place in the West to the Mavericks.

However, although the Mavericks are now the first in the West, the Mavericks' record is almost the same as that of the Spurs, who are fourth in the West.

The current record of the top five in the West.

The Mavericks, who are the first in the West, have a record of 44 wins and 8 losses.

The Lakers, who are second in the West, have a record of 44 wins and 8 losses.

The Nuggets, who are third in the West, have a record of 40 wins and 12 losses.

The Spurs, who are fourth in the West, have a record of 43 wins and 8 losses.

The Grizzlies, who are fifth in the West, have a record of 43 wins and 9 losses.

After the first half of the season, although the Cavaliers, who are now 45 wins and 7 losses, are the first in the league, the league's second to sixth teams are all the top five teams in the West.

The Celtics, who are second in the East, have recently come to the West and lost to the Mavericks and Spurs in succession, and only won one game against the Thunder, which was a narrow victory.

In this year's West,

in addition to the fierce competition for playoff spots, the competition for the top rankings is equally fierce.

It can be said that in the West this season, the victory or defeat of a game can determine the final ranking.

According to many media experts across the United States, such an intense and exciting regular season has never appeared before.

Even last season, seven teams in the West won more than 60 games, which is not as exciting as this season.

After all, from last season to now, the Rockets and the Suns have been one or half a level higher than other teams, while the Supersonics and Spurs have also surpassed the Lakers and Nuggets by half a level, and the Nuggets and Lakers seem to be half a level higher than the Grizzlies.

Last season, seven Western Conference teams with 60+ points were indeed legendary, but the intensity of the competition was actually not as fierce as this season.

In the Western Conference this season, four teams can compete for the first place in the Western Conference, and there are also four teams that can compete for the eighth place in the Western Conference.

The only remaining Denver Nuggets seem to be a bit neither up nor down, and they are just looking at the sea.

Eight of the top nine teams in the Western Conference are now playing chicken blood, and only the Nuggets are unexpected.

This is the view of the outside world. In fact, Yes thinks that his Supersonics are not playing chicken blood now.

His Supersonics teammates have been working hard this season, but if we say whether they have reached the level of playing chicken blood, it should not be yet.

After all, they have been carrying Ibaka's pit, and it is actually useless for them to play chicken blood, and the effect of playing chicken blood is not that good. If they really play chicken blood from the beginning of the season, even if they are young, they will burst blood vessels in such a long season.

Therefore, the state of the Sonics players this season has been the kind of working very hard and being very focused, but they really can't burst out with anger and blood. The state of the Sonics this season is taking the long-term approach.

And as Ibaka's strength improves and the tacit understanding between Ibaka and the team's tactical cooperation increases, Milicic, Millsap, Gasol and Rondo feel relaxed.

The most tired player in the team may always be Yes, who is the only strongest point of the team.

When Ibaka just entered the league this season, in addition to his physical talent, his basketball skills, whether it is offense, defense, organization, shooting and other basic skills, are almost the lowest among professional players, and he has not even reached the level of professional players.

When he was 15 years old, he was a beggar. Only when he met the European population transfer expert did he have time for systematic basketball training.

And in order to sell Ibaka for a good price, the population transfer expert took Ibaka all over Europe after signing him. There was no stable team at all, and he wanted to change three or four teams a year.

It can be said that Ibaka was systematically exposed to professional basketball after he was selected by the Supersonics.

A player who is almost 20 years old and can't do anything will indeed be regarded as a fool with only physical talent.

Now that more than half of the season has passed, more than half a year has passed. Ibaka's more and more shining points have made the Sonics feel more and more that this kid is not really a basketball idiot who has no basketball IQ and can't go on the road of basketball.

Even now, many Sonics players have already felt that Ibaka may have been really cheated by his former agent.

Of course, he was really saved by Yes.

Ibaka's current shining points are still difficult to show in the game.

Now Ibaka's offensive skills, defensive skills, and shooting skills may all be C or C-level.

This level of skills on the outside is really just the entry level!

Such NBA entry-level skills, put on the NBA court, are almost equivalent to those ordinary rookies' NBA debut. Ibaka's current skills and talents are at best those of the NBA rookies at the end of the first round.

It's nothing that the strength is a rookie at the end of the first round, the key is that his popularity is higher than that of ordinary All-Stars, and he is the target of all the league's outside superstars.

Those outside stars are embarrassed to say that they are stars if they can't get data on Ibaka.

In this case, although Ibaka's current strength has improved a lot, from an amateur player to a rookie player at the end of the first round, such strength is still not so good in front of those wolf-like opponents.

Therefore, in the game, Ibaka now gives people the same feeling as when he just entered the NBA, and he is still a big pit.

Only in training, Ibaka's growth and progress will be seen by the players of the Supersonics.

Old Nelson actually appreciates Ibaka's talent very much, but he thinks that the best training for Ibaka is to put him in Europe, play a season in a European team, and then come to the NBA next season.

Laying a foundation in the NBA may destroy all Ibaka's talent and confidence.

Old Nelson did not expect that Yes's method of letting the league's outside superstars train Ibaka would be so effective. Although Ibaka's performance on the court looked miserable, Ibaka learned a lot on the court. This blank sheet of paper is now filled with rich patterns.

Of course, the effectiveness of Yes's peculiar training method is also closely related to Ibaka's own tough character.

For people with ordinary personalities, such as James Harden, who is also a rookie, Old Nelson thinks that James Harden does not have such a strong will.

At the beginning of this season, when Old Nelson heard that Yes was going to use this peculiar method to train Ibaka, he immediately felt that the goal of the Seattle Supersonics this season might not even be achieved in the playoffs.

At that time, he also hoped that Yes could give up using this method to train Ibaka earlier.

But now, he has completely given up such an idea.

Seeing Ibaka's progress and the current record of the Seattle Supersonics, to be honest, Old Nelson feels that it is difficult for him to refuse such a development of the team.

Old Nelson can be sure that as long as the team can enter the playoffs and as long as Durant returns in the playoffs, the strength of the entire Supersonics will become stronger after Ibaka is trained.

There is indeed a gap in hard power compared to the Heat, but he is confident that such a Supersonics can have a chance to defeat any opponent!

The key is whether Yes can really take Ibaka all the way, as he did in the past half of the season, until Durant returns!

It is now mid-February, and more than nine months have passed since Durant was injured. According to the news from the hospital, Durant will be able to conduct recovery training immediately.

Although it is only a recovery training for one person, although such recovery training is still a while away from paying.

But all this indicates that the Seattle Supersonics are moving towards a very bright future.

And all this bright future is brought by Yes with his strong strength!

Average 48 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2.5 steals and 2 blocks per game!

This is Yes's average data in the first half of the season!

In the entire NBA history, only Yes can average such data per game!

At the same time, in the entire history of the NBA, only Yes can bring such hope to the Seattle Supersonics this season!

The half-time games of all teams in the league have ended.

Old Nelson is very satisfied with the performance of the Seattle Supersonics in this half.

The players and fans of the Seattle Supersonics are also very satisfied with the performance of the Seattle Supersonics in this half.

After the half-time, the Seattle Supersonics officially entered the All-Star schedule.

This year's All-Star, the participation of Seattle Supersonics players is very high.

Yes, Rondo, Milicic are the main players of the All-Star.

Marc Gasol and James Harden are the first-year players of this year's Rookie Challenge.

Barea participated in this year's Skills Challenge, Quentin Richardson participated in this year's Three-Point Contest, and Ibaka participated in this year's Slam Dunk Contest.

In addition, as one of the reform projects of this year's All-Star, although the All-Star Rookie Challenge is still divided into freshmen and sophomores, the head coach of the Rookie Challenge is no longer the assistant coach of the All-Star Game, but the two players with the highest votes in the All-Star Game, that is, the two captains of the All-Star Game.

Therefore, in addition to participating in the All-Star Game, Yes will also serve as the head coach of the freshman team during this year's All-Star Weekend.

Except for the high ratings of the All-Star Rookie Challenge in these two seasons, the ratings and attention of other years are very low. Now Yes can no longer participate in the All-Star Rookie Challenge. David Stern is squeezing Yes's surplus value.

You players can't see Yes anymore, but you can continue to watch Coach Yes!

Although David Stern's small reform did extend the life of the Rookie Challenge, it must be said that it has also been complained by many people.

The NBA has developed rapidly in recent seasons.

It was so fast that David Stern said in an interview: "I can now publish a book on business management."

"Is the content of the book just three words, Yes?"

The words of the reporter on the spot almost stimulated the high blood pressure of the proud David Stern. The president was really embarrassed at that time.

Damn, do you have to be so disrespectful? !

Although he was very irritated by the teasing, David Stern felt that the reporter's statement was really good.

The content of the book he wrote was really the three words written crookedly, Yes!

After the game with the Lakers, Yes and the Supersonics players did not return to Seattle, but went directly to Phoenix, not far from Los Angeles.