The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 396 - 206 Key to NBA Data_2

"Don’t even start, Guy’s method sounds far-fetched at first since Randolph’s bad mood is due to his trade worries, totally unrelated to whether he makes the All-Star or not."

"But from another angle, making the All-Star would increase his value and decrease the likelihood of being traded, naturally improving his mood."

After both found the plan feasible, they went to find Little Gasol.

Little Gasol instantly gave it two thumbs up.

He and Randolph had great on-court chemistry, and their relationship off the court wasn’t bad either. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Moreover, his skills in the low post had improved so rapidly because Randolph shared a lot of experience with him.

That article had made their relationship awkward.

Once the three of them were in agreement, the rest fell into place naturally.

Hansen turned to speak with Joerger again, and things were pretty much settled.

Of course, the smooth progress was also because the Grizzlies were strong this season.

Don’t be fooled by the tough game on Christmas Day; that’s because they were up against the Heat, who were contenders for the best in history.

Other times, the Grizzlies were the kind of team that could wrap up a game in three quarters.

So Randolph shooting a few more times would lead to losses for the Grizzlies?

Clearly impossible.

What’s more, Randolph was in form this season.

Of course, those in the know didn’t tell Randolph because doing so would negate their original intent.

They even handpicked their opponents, giving the first game to the Rockets.

The Rocket’s interior line-up was Patrick Patterson and Vucevic.

Both were stretch big men, and Harden’s great season was in large part due to their presence.

But their defense was quite mediocre, especially Vucevic, who looked big but had a very slow movement speed and basically no help defense.

As long as Randolph used his size to bulldoze Patterson to the basket, that was pretty much two points in the bag.

The Rockets’ head coach was McHale, one of the Celtics legends, who tried adjusting defensive strategies to put Vucevic on Randolph and Patterson to help, but that didn’t work well either.

Randolph had the skills; put a slow-moving big man on him, and he’d dribble right past you to the basket.

Randolph had 13 shot opportunities by halftime and hit 10 of them, racking up 25 points.

During the halftime break, Randolph finally showed a smile that had been missing for a long time.

When Guy saw it, he fist-bumped Hansen, sporting a "look how clever I am" expression.

By the second half, the Rockets adjusted their defense again.

McHale seemed to finally remember that help defense can come from the outside as well as the inside.

Patrick "Pat" Beverley and Lin Shuhao started to condense their defense.

Randolph dealt with it simply; if you double me, I pass.

That’s the benefit of not knowing the plan in advance; Randolph might have had more shot opportunities, but he was fundamentally after a win.

Both Guy and Conley did their part, hitting shots in succession.

McHale displayed the stubbornness typical of old-school coaches, sticking with this defensive tactic, and then the Grizzlies bloomed all over.

In the first half, thanks to Harden’s explosive performance, the Rockets were behind the Grizzlies by just single digits.

But with McHale’s maneuver, the game lost suspense after three quarters were done.

Randolph tallied a triple-double by the third quarter with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.

This was the second triple-double of his career; the previous one was against the Heat two years ago.

And this time, it was a "fat" triple-double with even more impressive numbers.

At the post-game press conference, Hansen was all praises for Randolph.

"Zach was not himself last season because of injuries. This is the real him. He’s still one of the best big men in the League." even Joerger joined in the praises.

This made Randolph somewhat embarrassed.

After this, Randolph continued to excel, putting up an average of 20+10+5, not falling short of his peak performance two years prior.

In a game against the New York Knicks, he even scored 44 points, setting a new career-high.

His previous scoring record was back in 2007; then with the Blazers, he scored 43 points against the Grizzlies.

Back then, he was a "stat stuffer," but this time, he truly earned the points.

"Zach Randolph is reaching the peak of his career," became a focal point of media reports.

At this time, the All-Star voting had already begun, closely linking him to the All-Star game.

So, is it possible to stat-pad in the NBA?

Some people believe that it’s impossible. The NBA is the apex of basketball, where even scoring a single point is difficult; how could anyone manipulate their stats!

The answer, of course, is yes.

However, this requires certain conditions. The first is that the player’s ability must be strong; without the skill, even if you get the ball, you can’t produce the stats;

The second is that the team must be strong. Weak teams can’t sustain stat-padding because poor records will quickly reveal the truth.

So if you want your stats to look good without being questioned, you’ve got to stay with a strong team.

Or at the very least, you need to have sufficiently strong teammates as a safety net so that when you stat-pad, you don’t lose too embarrassingly.

Time quickly advanced to the end of January.

The results of the 2013 All-Star voting were released at that time.

Without much suspense, Hansen became the fourth player in NBA history to win the fan vote for three consecutive years.

Despite his "ordinary" stats, being a defending champion, first in the West, and scoring 61 points in the Christmas day game was already enough.

Not to mention the support from East University giving a massive number of votes, which even at a ratio of one hundred to one, would still result in a large sum.

Then, Randolph not only was selected for the All-Star, but he also started alongside Hansen.

In addition, Little Gasol also earned the coaches’ trust and was selected as a reserve.

This was the first time in Grizzlies history that three players were selected for the All-Star game.

However, it was reasonable for the leading team in the West to have three players selected, considering the Heat from the East also had three players chosen.

Moreover, the rookies of 2009 dominated the headlines once more.

Aside from Curry’s regrettable omission, Hansen, Griffin, and Harden all made the list.

Also, Jrue Holiday, the 17th pick from the 2009 draft, became the leader of the 76ers after Iguodala’s departure and was selected as a reserve thanks to his excellent performance.

Right after the results were announced, Hansen immediately spoke up in front of reporters, expressing disappointment for Rudy’s omission.

"Rudy is one of the best small forwards in the league; he deserves a spot."

Has there been a team in history with four All-Star selections?

Of course, there have been multiple instances.

Not to mention the 2015 Hawks and the 2017 Warriors, two classic examples known to Hansen,

there have already been several occurrences, like when the Celtics had four players selected in 2011.

To mention an unexpected one, in the 1998 All-Star game, the Lakers had O’Neal, Kobe, Van Exel, and Eddie Jones all selected.

Simply put, the leading team has visibility, and if the stats are somewhat decent, selection is quite normal.

However, Hansen’s grievance attracted a great deal of criticism.

Some said Hansen was insatiable, after all, with the fierce competition in the West, Curry and Iguodala, who were both key players on their teams, were not selected; the Grizzlies should feel fortunate to have three players chosen and not aspire for more.

Of course, most of the criticism came because Hansen mentioned Rudy again.

His previous statement that "Rudy is better than James" had not been forgotten by the fans.

What, does he really expect James to give up his starting spot to Rudy?

After these two rounds of comments, Hansen’s detractors surged dramatically.

Capitalizing on the All-Star voting results, Carrell revealed that Hansen would not participate in the 2013 Asia Championships.

Hansen had never considered participating in the Asian tournaments, which wasn’t exactly news.

But, given his absence from the Olympics and the national basketball team’s poor performance there, the basketball association had been pointing fingers at him.

Thus, the news triggered a chain reaction, with some radical fans already clamoring to permanently remove him from the national team.

One after the other, Hansen’s negative reputation quickly broke the million mark.

—Separator—

The West starters: Hansen, Kobe, James, Griffin, Randolph

Reserves: Paul, Westbrook, Parker, Harden, Duncan, Nowitzki, Little Gasol

The East starters: Rondo, Wade, Durant, Anthony, Howard

Reserves: Irving, Jrue Holiday, Paul George, Bosh, Garnett, Noah, Brook Lopez