The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 481 - 243 History is Always Surprisingly Similar

The Grizzlies and the Rockets’ G1 kicked off in Memphis first.

Hansen had spent a lot on the first round, and Joerger had arranged for Guy to guard Harden.

The result was that Guy couldn’t handle it.

Harden hadn’t peaked yet, but after two seasons as the main ball handler, his skills had greatly improved compared to his time with the Thunders.

His signature move, the step-back jumper, had reached perfection, and his three-point shooting while dribbling had also greatly improved. Paul’s presence also gave him more opportunities for catch-and-shoot after off-ball screens.

One point not to be ignored is that, after studying the league rules at nightclubs until four in the morning, his ability to draw fouls had greatly increased.

In this game he made 7 out of 17 shots, and from 15 free throws, he scored all 15, totaling 32 points. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Such a performance let the Rockets split the scores evenly with the Grizzlies by the end of the third quarter.

There are no weak teams in The West, especially those who survive a seventh game bloodbath.

But they couldn’t laugh last.

The fact that the Grizzlies weren’t falling behind despite Harden’s brilliant performance was very telling.

Hansen said the Warriors are good at warming up the crowd, and that’s indeed true.

After the first round’s intense fight, not only Hansen, but others on the Grizzlies showed notable improvement.

The Grizzlies scored 32 to 22 in the fourth quarter, eventually beating the Rockets 115 to 105 in G1.

Hansen unleashed himself on the defensive end, scoring a whopping 43 points on the offensive end.

This Rockets team still lacked Ariza; their small forward lineup was Casspi and Granger, who struggled after suffering an ankle injury. They could create offensive space for Harden, but defensively, they couldn’t handle Kobe or Hansen.

After the G1 between the Grizzlies and the Rockets ended, the League announced the ownership of the season’s important dpoy award.

Due to UA’s aggressive promotion, there was considerable attention on this award.

Eventually, Noah won by receiving 30% of the votes, beating Hansen who had 28%, and was named the season’s best Defensive Player.

The result had a dramatic impact.

Noah’s defensive performance was outstanding this season, indeed a key factor for the Bulls to reach the upper half of The East.

But the Bulls had only 48 wins, whereas the Grizzlies had 60.

Not to mention, in terms of both statistics and defensive impact shown during games, Hansen was stronger than Noah.

History always has shocking similarities.

This result easily reminded people of Jordan in the 1986-1987 season.

That was Jordan’s first season back after Grover crafted his "Steel Bones", exploding with an average of 2.9 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, ranking third in defensive efficiency in the league.

Yet, in the end, he ranked only tenth in the dpoy voting.

You heard it right, not second, but tenth.

That season, the dpoy eventually went to Michael Cooper of the Lakers, averaging 1 steal and 0.5 blocks per game, with a defensive efficiency ranking outside the top 50 in the league.

The biggest reason given was that Jordan averaged 37.1 points that season.

How could one be good defensively if scoring so much? The statistics must be inflated!

This is the larger environment, just as Hansen is facing the Nike Alliance now, and Jordan once faced the Converse Alliance.

Or perhaps, it’s time to bring up Jordan again during the 1995-1996 season.

That season, Jordan was second in defensive efficiency, and the Bulls led the league in team defense and had the second lowest points allowed.

Jordan also set a record, being the only player in the top three for individual defensive efficiency and team defense and scoring, but ultimately missing the dpoy.

The underlying reason is that Jordan/Hansen had won too much already.

Jordan had already secured the Scoring King, mvp, the first team, and fmvp. If he had also won dpoy, as UA promotion suggested, it would’ve been a true clean sweep of honors in a single season.

And Hansen is now on a similar path to Jordan.

Even though it seems hard for the Grizzlies to become a dynasty, what if?

If you monopolize all the honors, what’s left for others?

This absurd reasoning often determines the final results.

Just like in the 1996-1997 season when Jordan led his team to 69 wins, averaging 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists but didn’t secure the mvp... due to voter fatigue.

But this time, Silva didn’t prevent the result from occurring for the same reason he didn’t block the mvp for Hansen; he needed competition, not monopoly.

Or perhaps, Hansen’s situation now resembles Jordan’s past; elevating a brand to a pedestal is much harder than one imagines.

Because you’re challenging the authority, and you must do it more than once, many times.

In the press conference before G2, reporters asked Hansen for his thoughts on the dpoy voting result.

"I respect Joakim Noah, he had a fantastic season."

Hansen started his response quite graciously, but his next words silenced all the reporters present.

"But what I want to say is, they (the media) are all voting with their feet."

This wave of Area Of Effect from Hansen directly caused splash damage to the reporters present.

That night, before heading to the game, Hansen saw his system’s negative popularity growing visibly.

He opened his phone, only to discover many negative news articles about him.

Those eligible to vote were all major sports media; Hansen’s mocking had indeed maximized the animosity.

However, this let Hansen see the light.

He realized that although he had always been using the media, he hadn’t yet found the best way to harness it.