The annual All-Star Weekend is coming, but this time, many of the players under Jiang Dongbing are not as lucky as selected.

The main reason is that the Trail Blazers' record is not very good now. If they can still win 80 like last season, then many players under Jiang Dongbing will definitely be selected.

Now there is only one glove, Payton is selected as the All-Star and is also a substitute, which disappoints Jiang Dongbing.

This is also impossible. The competition in the West is too fierce and too fierce.

At the center position, at least two big Buddhas, O'Neal and David Tyrone, are under the pressure of the center, and Da Ben and Lao Sa are not qualified to be selected as All-Stars.

In the forward position, Duncan, Garnett, Jackson, Weber and even Nowitzki, who performed extremely well this year, and the current starting forwards of the Trail Blazers are Rashid Wallace and Mageti. Mageti must have no chance at all, and Rashid does not have any advantage, and his data is not as good as others.

In the defender position, although Reed is gradually rising, there are many strong defenders in the Western Conference. First of all, Reed is not the leader of the Trail Blazers' team, and secondly, the Trail Blazers' record is not particularly good. In addition, he is still a new girl, so he naturally failed to be included in the All-Star roster.

This is also the year when Jiang Dongbing has the least All-Star players under his command since he entered the NBA. However, Jiang Dongbing doesn't care. The number of All-Stars is naturally strong, but the Trail Blazers he created is not a vegetarian.

Shortly after the All-Star Game, Artest will officially come back. Jiang Dongbing's external starting lineup will reach its peak, which will definitely open the league's eyes.

...

In the Trail Blazers' training ground, Artest, who had just returned from the psychologist, was called to her by Jiang Dongbing.

Artest now sees a psychologist for six hours a week. The cost per hour is as high as 500 US dollars, which is so high that Jiang Dongbing doubts his life and wonders whether he wants to change careers and become a psychologist.

Of course, this fee must be paid by the local rich man Paul Allen. According to his words, as long as it is useful for the Trail Blazers to improve their strength, he will admit how much it costs. Not to mention this mere $500 a hour, even $10,000 a hour, he will never blink.

"Ron, how do you feel recently? Is there any unreasonable rage?" Jiang Dongbing asked with a smile.

"It feels great, coach, thank you for not giving up on me." Artest said sincerely.

He was really grateful to Jiang Dongbing, especially when he knew that Jiang Dongbing left the grizzly bear he had made for his own reasons, he was even more moved.

"What a foolish thing I said? You are the player I chose. How could I give up on you?"

"Now that we have come to the Trail Blazers, it's a new start. Come on, try to forget all the unhappy things in the past." Jiang Dongbing patted Artest's shoulder and smiled gently.

Artest felt warm in his heart. He had never experienced fatherly love. He had experienced this hazy feeling for the first time in Jiang Dongbing.

"Coach, I will work hard. I will definitely help you win the championship this season!"

"I want to be the strongest outside defender in this league, the strongest! None of them!" Artest shouted loudly, attracting the attention of the players in training.

Payton looked towards Artest and then walked over.

"Young man, do you want to be the strongest outside defender?" Payton asked casually with a smile.

"Yes, Gary, your defense is very strong, but I believe I will surpass you in no time!"

"I must help the coach win the championship!" Artest continued to yell.

Jiang Dongbing scratched his head, as if Artest was still not good at all. He was shocked and didn't look like a normal person.

Unexpectedly, Payton laughed. What was his purpose for coming to the Trail Blazers? Of course, it was to win the championship. Artest's words made him very happy.

"Very good, young man, come with me and let me give you some advice on your defense."

"I watched your previous game, to be honest, your defense is indeed good."

"But it's still too frizzy. You have all appeared in many fouls that shouldn't be there. In addition, the defensive efficiency is not high. I'll teach you how to consume the least physical energy to achieve the strongest defensive effect!" Payton said with a smile.

Although Artest had no brains, he knew that Payton was preparing to give him advice, so he followed Payton onto the court excitedly.

Jiang Dongbing was secretly happy that a veteran like Payton is a real treasure. As the saying goes, if there is an old man in the family, Payton is undoubtedly such an old treasure.

...

Artest's first game back against the Phoenix Suns, and it is still the home court of the Trail Blazers.

"God, I hope Ron Artest doesn't do anything stupid tonight. We paid a lot of money to trade him from the Grizzlies. If he has another season ban, then we will be completely finished this season."

"Why is it over? Isn't Mageti strong? That big muscle stick makes people drool."

"What's the use of being big muscles? He should appear on the bodybuilding field, not on the basketball court. Besides, although his muscles are big, his strength is not as strong as expected. The bench press is far from being as good as Ben Wallace."

"Big Ben is a monster, Mageti is just a human. How do you compare humans to monsters?"

Before the game started, home fans began to talk. What they were most worried about was Artest's mischief tonight and was directly punished by the league again.

Moreover, the Suns are also very strong. If Artest performs poorly tonight, the Trail Blazers may lose another game.

"Okay, guys, I can tell you very responsibly."

"The current Trail Blazers are the perfect Trail Blazers in my mind. We may not be able to win completely against teams like the Lakers or the Grizzlies, but if we can't win against the Suns, even if we enter the playoffs this season, it will be meaningless!" Jiang Dongbing excitedly mobilized his subordinates before the game.

Artest was like a chicken blood injection, and he had been holding it in for nearly a year and he was eager for the game more than anyone else.

"Doudu!" The referee blew the whistle at the beginning of the game, and the starting players of both sides began to appear.

It is actually a pleasure for experts and fans to guess that the starting lineup of the Trail Blazers is actually a kind of fun for experts and fans, because when they played for more than half this season, the Trail Blazers have changed at least six starting lineups.

The starter at the small forward alone has been replaced four times, from Tkoglu at the beginning, to Bunchi Wells later, to the muscle-sticking Maggetti, and now Artest again.

However, although the small forwards change their starting positions frequently, the three starting small forwards have one thing in common, that is, they are all muscles and sticks.

Needless to say, Mageti is almost the most muscular outside player in the history of NBA, and Artest, the pure brutal muscle stick, even the stick Wells is not strong enough, so he just expects to have a whole body of muscles to eat.

...

The game on the court has begun, and the Suns' lineup is actually quite good. Otherwise, they would not have achieved such an outstanding record this season.

Starting point guard Kidd, the top three point guards in the league, and there are also hackers Marion, the poor version of Durant Clifford Robinson, and Gugliotta. The only pity is that Penny Hardaway only played four games this season and was seriously injured and reimbursed for the season.

If Penny Hardaway was not injured, it is hard to imagine how powerful the Suns would be.

At the beginning of the game, the players on the field fought one-on-one. Jiang Dongbing was actually not Artest's performance most interested in. Anyway, his main job was to defend the opponent's forward vanguard.

What really interested Jiang Dongbing was the showdown between Payton and Kidd.

Both of them are super point guards who are good at defense, but Kidd has stronger organizational skills, while Payton's offense is stronger than Kidd. Tonight, I don't know what kind of sparks will burst out when the two strong collide.

Kidd and Payton are also old opponents. They have fought countless times over the years and are already well aware of the opponent's style of play.

But what surprised Kidd was that after the start of this game, Payton made three-pointers like crazy, which was completely different from his previous style of play.

The key is that it’s fine if you invest too much, and you’re also very accurate.

Because Kidd doesn't have much reliable offensive ability, Payton can even split some of his energy to help Reed assist in defense.

Artest's side is Robinson. Robinson's parent team is actually the Trail Blazers, and he has devoted himself to the Trail Blazers most of his career and his peak.

However, his style of play was considered a relatively outlier in the 1990s, so Whitset sold him at that time. If he didn't sell it, Jiang Dongbing would definitely reuse this player.

Robinson has the height of a standard power forward, but his flexibility is extremely amazing, just like Durant in later generations. He is obviously the height of the inside, but he plays in the outside style.

In addition, if it can only form a dislocation advantage, that's fine. The key is that Robinson's defense is very strong, exactly like Durant.

Unfortunately, he was born in the wrong era. If he delayed the entry into the league by twenty years, Robinson's achievements would be absolutely extraordinary.

Artest's defense is already strong enough, but there is no good way to face Robinson. The main reason is that Robinson relies on his height and long arms to shoot, Artest can only watch and watch.

This is the way Durant played in later generations. Relying on his height and arms length, he will have the advantage of his height when he hits anyone. It would be strange if he doesn’t hit the ball at a high rate.

Fortunately, Robinson is old now and his shooting rate is not that high. If Durant is really good, Jiang Dongbing will be able to control one of these players, so no one can defend against them.

...

After the half-time game, the Trail Blazers led by eight points. These eight points were mainly played by Payton. Payton's three-pointer tonight was extremely brave.

Since Payton's three-point shooting attribute reached the limit, his three-point shooting percentage has been stable at 467% in recent games. When he is in good condition, he can reach 50% outside, and when he is in bad condition, he can maintain 40% even if he is in bad condition.

Kidd couldn't stand such a three-point shooting percentage and the desperate three-point shooting.

In the second half, the Suns adjusted their strategy and began to guard Payton strictly. You should know that Payton scored six three-pointers in the first half and continued to let him shoot like this. That would be great.

But they ignored Payton's identity. One of the top point guards in the league, and double-teaming the point guard is undoubtedly one of the stupidest tactics.

Reed directly gained a comfortable shooting space, scoring a few three-pointers, directly hitting the Suns in a dilemma.

The Suns' inside lineup is at a disadvantage, and now the outside line has been completely thrown by the Trail Blazers. It would be strange if they don't lose in this game.

When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the game, the Trail Blazers beat the Suns at home by 17 points.

After the game, Payton was very excited. He took 14 three-pointers tonight, scoring 8 of them, scoring 31 points and 12 assists in the game, and won the head-on battle with Kidd.

This was enough to make Payton look stunning. When everyone thought Payton was old and could no longer be able to join the league's strongest point guards, he slammed the questioners in the face with a powerful force.

In the next few games, the Trail Blazers became more and more powerful, and they even won seven consecutive victories, including some powerful teams like the Spurs.

Artest's return to the team immediately achieved immediate results. The Trail Blazers now have the strength to challenge those top tycoons.

Paul Allen was so happy that his total salary of the Trail Blazers this season was cut by at least one-third compared to last season. It was really gratifying to have such an impressive record.

And this is because of Lao Sa's contract that is not very cost-effective. By the end of this season, Lao Sa's contract expires, the total salary of the Trail Blazers will definitely be further reduced. At that time, no one will say that the Trail Blazers are a silly and rich local team.

After spending small money to do big things, Paul Allen began to enjoy this feeling more and more.

However, the true combat power of this Trail Blazers still needs to be examined through the top touchstones, such as teams such as the Lakers or the Grizzlies.

After seven consecutive victories, the Trail Blazers will challenge the Los Angeles Lakers away, and this game is also particularly valued.

The top powerhouses in the league are all in the West. The Trail Blazers are now showing signs of rising. If they can compete with the Lakers, they will also become the favorites to win the championship this season.

The players from the Lakers were ready to fight. When Jiang Dongbing was with the Grizzlies, they cheated them miserably. They were knocked down by the Grizzlies in the playoffs for two consecutive years and failed to win the championship.

Now Jiang Dongbing has gone to the Trail Blazers, and this is the best time for them to take revenge. O'Neal and Kobe have long been looking forward to the arrival of this game.

Jiang Dongbing is actually looking forward to this game. In his opinion, the Grizzlies cannot actually talk about their obstacles to winning the championship, because of the particularity of their system. In fact, if they really face the Grizzlies in the playoffs, they will have a way to temporarily lose their combat power.
Chapter completed!