On December 27, the Suns defeated the Clippers 118-95 at home and won 8 consecutive victories.

The two sides only played halftime and decided the winner. Guo Xu played for 7 minutes in the third quarter and got enough to get a double-double to get off the court.

Since playing the running and bombing tactics, the Suns have also had "bench bandits", and their opponents were in trouble in the second quarter. In this game, Jacquesen scored 4 three-pointers in a single quarter and scored 14 points.

The swinging position is the weakness of the Suns. After joining Kirisek, he became a strong point. Three people who can shoot three points share their playing time. Marion can often play guest appearances as a power forward.

Haslem's playing time has been reduced because of Marion's guest appearance as a power forward, but he trains a lot and works harder to lose weight.

Guo Xu found a staff member to shoot a lot of videos for Haslem. He started filming during the preseason, and his teammates also appeared on the screen to interact with him and made comments. He was planning to let people see Ha Pang's weight loss results in the playoffs. It was an interesting gimmick for the Suns and was very inspiring.

On the 29th, the Suns beat the Cavaliers, who were at the bottom of the league 110-84 away, and won 9 consecutive victories.

Xiao Si and Guo Xu beat the Cavaliers with one pick-and-roll move. Ilgoskas couldn't defend Guo Xu's breakthrough. As soon as he left the basket, the others could not defend Xiao Si's strong attack.

In order to prevent Sir Xiao from cutting, the Cavaliers players made a lot of fouls. Sir Xiao made 12 of his free throws in this game, and combined with the goal in the game, he scored 32 points and 11 rebounds in the game.

The Cavaliers can't use joint defense tactics. Guo Xu breaks through and attracts the formation to shrink. He will split the game with Jo Johnson, Kirisek, and Jacquesen.

Guo Xu watched many Suns games as a fan in his previous life. He used Nash's style of playing, Nash with stronger personal offensive ability. Although the Suns' core players are much younger and lack experience, they are not inferior in running.

The result was the same as when Nash first joined the Suns, and the team exploded. Unless he met a team that could run and had outstanding single defense, the Suns could always use talent and shooting to kill their opponents. Running and bombing tactics have always been the nemesis of joint defense and a killer in the regular season.

After the interview after the game, the Suns and their group flew to Minnesota and played back-to-back away against the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves had only 16 wins and 14 losses at the start, but it was a very difficult game because the Suns flew from the east to the west, and it took four hours to get to the hotel by plane and bus, which was not counting as waiting for the plane and leaving the airport.

It was already midnight when everyone was staying in the hotel and immediately went into the room to rest. There were no players in the Suns who liked to visit nightclubs, and even if there were, they would not choose to visit Minneapolis this month. They would easily be frozen to death when they went out.

Guo Xu asked Hapi to help book the seats at the Heyday restaurant yesterday, and invited the whole team to have a meal at noon the next day. There are the most popular delicacies in the United States and it is also a paradise for cocktails.

At Guo Xu's suggestion, the coaching team canceled the plan to adapt to the training, and discussed the tactics directly during the meal. Everyone talked and discussed the game while eating, and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

It is estimated that no country in the world knows the culture of drinking tables better than the Chinese. Working in China, drinking and eating is the most commonly used public relations method. If the usage is appropriate and regular, many things that cannot be negotiated in offices or formal occasions, and some important contents that require private negotiation can basically be completed smoothly after drinking and eating.

Guo Xu has no ugly links to treat guests to dinner, because everyone has the same interests and does not have so many complicated motivations. It is common sense that athletes cannot drink before the competition, alcohol will slow down their reactions, so the whole team bans alcohol, so there is no urging alcohol to drink, and drinking more will appear righteous. This is not popular in the United States.

Other teams have never had any such thing as discussing tactics, and everyone feels good.

Of course, this is also related to the simple tactics of the Suns. Fighting against the ball is running. When you see the opportunity to pass the ball, players will catch the ball and shoot the ball, and everyone will do it. It is the difference between the speed and speed of the run. Leave the positional battle to Guo Xu and hold the ball, and the others will be ready to catch the ball and shoot.

In the Sun's positional battle, except for Marion who was too physically strong and unable to stay free and ran a lot, the others were relatively fixed.

Therefore, the biggest advantage of a dinner party is not about tactics, but about enhancing friendship between players, chatting more and communicating. When playing in this way, everyone is selfless and willing to pass the ball to the other party. The team is united and the ball runs very well.

D'Antoni now admires Guo Xu very much. He has been in the NBA for some time. He joined the Nuggets in the 1997-98 season and coached the Nuggets in the 1998-99 season; he worked as a scout for the Spurs in the 1999-2000 season; he also served as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000-01 season.

In D'Antoni's impression, the team's interpersonal relationship is a very difficult part. There will be various conflicts in the locker room, and players are prone to conflicts with the management. But in the Suns, the atmosphere in the team's locker room is too good, and there is no conflict at all.

Guo Xu is the leader on the court, and in the locker room, and he can talk to all the players. Very few young people are so mature.

In addition, Gugliotta can be a mentor for young people, without airs or temper, and carefully teaches young players experience.

In other teams, veterans like to use young people is an unspoken rule for the NBA, but there is no such thing in the Suns. Guo Xu, Marion, and Gugliotta will not let others be the ones carrying bags. Can you still be tired if you hold a sports bag yourself?

D'Antoni briefly talked about the tactics and then analyzed: "Although we lost 13 games at the beginning, I believe the team's record will definitely catch up. We not only want to win, but also strive to gain a home advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Let's work together for this goal."

The newcomers did not respond. They all felt that this goal was a bit vague. How many games should they win to have a home advantage?

Guo Xu stood up and added: "I think it's not difficult to win about 50 games in the regular season to get the first round advantage. I have a basis. This year, the Lakers have become weaker. The Timberwolves have only 50 wins in fifth place last year, and this year's four and five are almost the same level. In the whole season, we only have to lose within 30 games, and 52 wins should be able to achieve the goal. Now there are 17 games to lose. Do you feel that this is under pressure?"

"No, we will definitely succeed!" Haslem took the lead in responding. Although he was a substitute, he was the most energetic. Whether it was training or playing games, he was like a chicken blood.

Others also responded, believing that they will succeed. Now they have a clear concept. The Suns are currently winning 9 consecutive games, and everyone feels that they will continue to win in a row. There are 52 games left in the regular season, so how can they lose so many 17 games?

If Guo Xu said that he would aim for 60 wins, the Suns would only lose 9 games next, which would sound very difficult, and his words would directly relieve the pressure on the players.

In fact, Guo Xu’s real goal is 60 wins. This number is almost enough to compete for the regular season championship. Last year, the Kings ranked second and barely reached 60 wins. Even if it is not a champion, the gap is not far away. In this way, he may win the regular season MVP and reach the top in one step. As for the Eastern Conference team, Guo Xu did not take it seriously at all. Generally, more than 50 wins are the championship.
Chapter completed!