NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 727 Former Commander's Son Protects You

Old Lee is the former head coach of the Clippers, and Little Lee is also a former Clippers player. Back when Jia Fei took over, the Clippers management got rid of the "Pig Head" father and son, which made the father and son resent Jia Fei. If it weren't for this Asian guy's arrival, their life with the Clippers would have been much more comfortable.

But that damned Jia Fei came along and shattered all his good life. Now, although Old Li has found a new job with the Bucks, his son has started living on the streets. He can't take his son with him, so he can't give him special treatment, and naturally, he can't do what he did with the Clippers.

Austin Rivers was a prodigy back in the day. In the 2012 NBA draft, he was selected 10th overall in the first round by the Hornets and officially entered the NBA.

As a lottery pick, Austin Rivers was a phenomenal talent under Coach K at Duke University. In his freshman year, the 2011-12 season, he averaged 15.5 points per game, joining Jonny Hawkins (1983) and Bill Sapp (1945) as the third freshman in Duke's scoring record. He was named to the All-ACC First Team and the All-NBA Coaches Association Third Team, and scored over 20 points eight times.

In Duke's freshman record list, he ranks in the top 5 all-time in 7 statistical categories: points (527, third); points per game (15.5, third); total free throws made (121, first); free throw attempts (184, first); three-pointers made (58, fifth); double-digit scoring (30, third); and 20+ points (8, fifth).

His dominance in college and lottery pick was certainly not something his father's connections could achieve; it was genuine talent. However, his failure to carve out a niche for himself in the NBA is largely due to his own playing style.

Standing at 193cm, he's incredibly fast and has a sharp drive, making him a promising potential combo guard. However, since entering the NBA, he hasn't been able to develop a proper shot, whether it's a three-pointer or a mid-range jumper, which has made his offense awkward. When he's the primary ball handler, opponents frequently run screens to give him the ball; when he's the second ball handler, he's largely ineffective off the ball, often left wide open. In today's small-ball league, teams expect even their big men to have excellent shooting ability, let alone guards. The league's emphasis on and demand for spacing is higher than ever before.

For a guard who isn't good at shooting to become the engine of a team's backcourt in today's league, he needs to be exceptionally strong in other areas. For example, his penetration skills must be at least top-tier (T0 or T1), and his ball-handling ability also needs to be extremely powerful.

But clearly, Austin Rivers can't do that at the NBA level.

Nuggets head coach Mike Malone's decision to assign Austin Rivers to guard Jia Fei was a last resort. He lacked a true perimeter defensive stalwart and a suitable player for leading the defense. Assigning Morris or Barton to guard Jia Fei would not have been as effective as assigning Rivers.

Rivers was annoyed with Jia Fei, but he also admitted that Jia Fei was indeed stronger than him. Jia Fei's strength was something he could only dream of, which made him even more helpless. He wanted to teach Jia Fei a lesson, but he wasn't capable enough. Sometimes he could only talk his way out of it, but he didn't like talking his way out of it.

Jia Fei has the ball, and Harten comes up to screen.

Jokic's pick-and-roll defense has always been a problem. His weight makes him slow, which means he can rely on his skills and rhythm on offense, but his slowness on defense is never an advantage. It's common to see him getting outmaneuvered and blown past by fast guards.

The strategy of the Nuggets was to attack Jia Fei from both sides.

Jia Fei was caught in a pincer movement, and passed the ball to Hatten on the way down!

Harten received the ball, took a step and took off, then slammed it home with both hands!

The Clippers scored first!

The Nuggets' paint lacks rim protection; Jeff Green is definitely getting old, and he wasn't particularly good at rim protection when he was younger. He's still Green, but not the Green who chased the ball out of the box...

Despite the criticism, Draymond Green's interior defense is something that Jeff Green, Jamaco Green, or Danny Green can't compete with.

The Nuggets were on offense. Jokic called for the ball in the low post, dribbled inside, and faced Hartenstein's defense. He stumbled into the paint and made a soft high bank shot!

2-2, both sides scored at the start!

Jia Fei brought the ball over, faced Austin Rivers, didn't ask for a screen, turned his back to the basket and sat inside, turned and went in, leaned against the opponent and cut in, facing Jokic's rim protection which was like air, and scored with his left hand!

Jokic then scored again in a one-on-one match against Hartenstein, making it 4-4!

Jia Fei brought the ball over and continued to isolate Rivers. After a crossover step, he drove to the vicinity of the free-throw line, faked a shot to shake off his opponent, then gathered the ball and shot again, easily making the shot!

“Jia Fei beats Rivers so easily, I don’t think he even bothers to draw fouls!” Wang Zixing said.

Su Qun nodded: "If it's one-on-one defense against Jia Fei, there are basically very few people who can defend against him. It's not that Rivers couldn't defend against him because he didn't try hard enough, it's just that Jia Fei's offense is too strong."

Jokic continued to attack Hartenstein, and after being double-teamed, he passed to Jeff Green on the weak side!

But Jeff Green missed a three-pointer!

Jia Fei grabbed the rebound, dribbled the ball up the court, used an in-out dribble to cut inside, and passed to Grant on the right wing!

Grant catches the ball and dunks it in!

4-8, the Clippers lead by 4 point!

Nuggets offense, Barton goes one-on-one against Bridges, jump shot misses!

But Jokic tipped the ball in under the basket, making it 6-8!

The match instantly turned into a duel between Jia Fei and Jokic! Although they weren't directly facing off, their offensive exchanges made for a very exciting game.

The Christmas Day games are all about excitement. A one-sided match isn't what fans want to see. It's much better when both sides are attacking and creating a lively atmosphere.

Jia Fei dribbled over and was double-teamed on the right wing. He made a wide cross-court pass to Grant on the weak side!

Grant misses an open three-pointer!

But Hart grabbed the offensive rebound!

Hart passes the ball to Jia Fei at the top of the arc!

Jia Fei received the ball and ignored Austin Rivers in front of him, then unleashed a three-pointer—but missed!

But Hart keeps grabbing offensive rebounds!

The ball was back in Jia Fei's hands, and this time Jia Fei was too embarrassed to miss, so he sank a 3-pointer!

The Clippers' home arena, Intuit Dome, erupted in cheers... Jia Fei's three-pointer that ignored the defense, and Hart's consecutive offensive rebounds were thrilling to watch.

"Teacher Su, Hart is less than 2 meters tall, he's the shortest of the starting five, but his offensive rebounding is really amazing!" Wang Zixing said excitedly.

Su Qun adjusted his glasses and nodded, saying, "Yes, Hart was very good at grabbing offensive rebounds when he was with the Lakers. Sometimes it's strange how a short guard like him can compete with centers for rebounds."

The score was 6:11, a difference of 5 points. The difference wasn't actually that big, but judging from the game, the Clippers were clearly much stronger than the Nuggets in terms of energy and overall athleticism.