Bishop of the Devil

Bowen's joining undoubtedly makes Richard extremely satisfied!

Especially the backcourt defense makes Richard extremely satisfied. Bowen is different from Kobe. He is more similar to Ben. He is already in his prime years. There is no problem with his physical fitness. What he lacks is the NBA game. experience.

As long as he is given a little more playing time, Bowen's defensive strength can gradually move towards his peak period.

But even with Bowen joining and the lineup becoming more and more perfect, it cannot change the fact that the Trail Blazers are a new army.

The players are too young. If these players are all third-year students, then Richard is really confident that he will compete with the Bulls in the playoffs this season...

But now that a bunch of new players want to defeat the Bulls, it will undoubtedly be too difficult.

However, the Trail Blazers' lineup is extremely stable. After this season, at least in the next two years, there will be no large-scale changes in the team's lineup.

Therefore, if Richard really wants to make a difference in the Trail Blazers, the next two years are the best time!

After missing this wave, Richard would have a lot of difficulties if he wanted to form such a lineup again.

…

Next, the Trail Blazers will usher in a wave of four consecutive home games.

The schedule this time is relatively intensive, with four games played in a week, including two back-to-back games.

There are strong and weak opponents. The first two games were against the Eastern Conference Nets and Raptors, and the third game was against the Western Conference powerhouse Houston Rockets!

As for the fourth game, Richard is actually looking forward to this game.

Indiana Pacers!

If based on the strength of the Pacers last season, if Richard used this new team to beat the Pacers, the possibility of losing would be almost 80%!

But this season, things are different.

The Pacers' situation is quite similar to that of the Cavaliers. In the first round of the playoffs last season, after they lost to the sixth-ranked Hawks as the third-placed team in the Eastern Conference, although the lineup has not changed this season, the team's morale has changed a lot. Variety.

The team has no motivation. It had such a good regular season record last season, but it didn't even make it past the first round. So why are they working so hard this season? !

It's better to break the jar and smash it...

Then, with the team's lineup unchanged and no core injuries, the Pacers fell directly from the third place record in the Eastern Conference to the tenth place in the Eastern Conference...

Can you believe it? !

This also shows from the side how "powerful" Larry Brown's coaching ability is!

In this game against the Pacers, Richard can't say that he is sure of winning, but he is also 60% sure of winning!

…

The conflict between Richard and Larry Brown is now not only known to Indiana fans, but the entire United States is aware of the conflict between the old and young head coaches!

Before Richard entered the NBA, he even promised that Larry Brown would never win a championship in his coaching career.

Now the two head coaches, old and young, are about to compete!

What an exciting moment, there is still a week before the start of the game, but the entire basketball circle is already promoting this matter overwhelmingly...

No matter who wins this game, it will be a huge topic!

Richard loses? !

That was wonderful. At that time, Richard and other West Lafayette people vowed to enter the NBA to teach Larry Brown a lesson, but they lost to Larry Brown in the first duel. How to teach him a lesson? ! It's more like entering the NBA excitedly and being taught a lesson...

And if Larry Brown loses...

That would be even more exciting!

Don’t forget, when Larry Brown angrily complained that Richard was not even qualified to be an assistant coach in the NBA!

What if Larry Brown loses this duel?

I bet you, Larry Brown, are just talking nonsense, saying that Richard is not as good as an assistant coach, but you can't even beat Richard, who is not as good as an assistant coach, not to mention that Richard is leading a complete new army!

All fans are looking forward to the start of this game!

Although this game is definitely not much better, after all, the Pacers currently have a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, and the Trail Blazers only have 4 wins and 3 losses. Looking at the league, both teams are considered mediocre!

But I can’t stand the gossip...

After this game, Larry Brown and Richard had enough gossip to keep them chatting for a week.

…

The day before the game against the Nets, Richard convened the players for a team training and played a team training game.

Now that there are more and more players available in the team, especially with the addition of Bowen, Richard feels that only one starting lineup is definitely not enough...

Some teams are good at fast-paced games, such as the Suns.

Against such a team, it is undoubtedly a good choice for Bowen to replace Rasheed or Robinson.

But if Bowen starts, the problem will arise...

Bowen's offense is really not that strong. In the peak season of his career, he only averaged seven or eight points per game.

Moreover, his free throw shooting is simply a nightmare. As a 3D player, his free throw shooting percentage is only over 50%...

There was even a strategy to cut Bowen off because of his poor free throw shooting.

This is probably why Popovich completely positioned Bowen as an open three-point 3D player...

Naturally, Richard would not be smart enough to change Bowen's style.

With the style of most teams in the league now, there are really not many opportunities to get open three-pointers. In this case, Bowen will definitely not be able to make up for the offensive firepower output of Rasheed or Robinson off the court.

In this case, it is necessary to come up with a second starting lineup!

Ben and Rasheed played center and power forward respectively, Robinson returned to the small forward position, and Bowen and Kobe played in the backcourt.

Of course, O'Neal and Ben can continue to guard the inside, Rasheed can play small forward, and Robinson can be the substitute...

It's just that with this arrangement, the team's offensive firepower will definitely decrease, and the defensive end may not be much better than double Wallace playing inside.

It can only be considered as an alternative.

Besides, Robinson is certainly a good old man. Even if Richard is asked to stay on the bench, he probably won't have any objections...

But it is undoubtedly unkind to treat a prime player who averages 20 points per game and has played in the league for so many years to make way for a newcomer.

Sabonis stepped aside because his body was overwhelmed.

…

During the team training session, Bowen showed quite good defensive awareness and defensive skills. Although he is not at the top level yet, compared with Kobe, it is much better. After all, he is seven years older, so it cannot be justified that he is not good. .

The No. 2 starting lineup proposed by Richard received unanimous support from the coaching staff.

The team's backcourt problems have long been exposed. Now with Bowen, the second starting lineup is undoubtedly the best solution.