"¡Nuestro jugador, Héctor Herrera, está entrando a las grandes ligas!" El primer All-Star mexicano en la NBA". "¡Felicitaciones!" . "El orgullo de México". This is the front page of the major Mexican newspapers. It's a significant event to celebrate. It's a first and a great one in Mexican basketball, not in Mexican sports.
The most popular sport in Mexico is football, followed by boxing. Basketball, American football, and "jaripeo" also have a certain popularity rating. Hector is a fan of Lucha Libre, and especially MMA. He had the privilege of training with "The Assasin Baby" Brandon Moreno, the first Mexican-born champion in UFC history.
This summer, two years after his draft, he finally competed with the national team for the first time. The Mexican team is nicknamed "Los 12 guerreros," and the number 1 jersey suits him well. Why was he able to show up in friendly matches? Because the Kings don't play in the playoffs. Unlike in the United States, in the world, players rarely refuse to wear the jersey of the selection.
In France, Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert returned to the France team as soon as possible. Same for Luka Doncic and Slovenia, except for significant events such as when a player becomes a free agent. The first game ended with Mexico defeating Poland 80-75 with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks.
A FIBA five by five in his first match. Yes, Hector does not change, regardless of the format. They then faced Tunisia, Greece, Serbia twice, and Puerto Rico. Apart from Puerto Rico and Tunisia, most are made up of NBA stars. Due to the pandemic, these friendly matches served as preparations for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Unfortunately, the Mexicans could not participate because a defeat in the qualifying match ruined their hopes. It was against the Germans. These matches occurred between June 12 and June 29, 2021. The next day's victory against Russia could not prevent their absence from the Olympic Games.
He talked with a great Mexican player Gustavo Ayon who also played in the NBA. It is time to pass the torch to the new generation, and Hector must lead them for the coming decade.
Fox made his return on February 9 in a loss to the Wolves. Pat Ewing will now experiment with the system between Fox and Hector until the end of the season. Setting up an offensive system takes time to happen. Especially with the newcomers and the departure of Buddy Hield, between the ten games of the absence of De'Aaron, he finds another team.
They retaliated the next day with an offensive explosion and a 132-99 victory. Coach Ewing wants to put a defense in place, known to all. As a Knicks player, it's natural for him to work with a great defense. But with the current squad, it is better to bet on the attack.
The defense won titles, but the Kings did not play for the title. So he asked to score excessively. The current trend pushes some teams in the League to play their offensive va-tout, often at the expense of defensive solidity. This is the case of the Kings, and there are several reasons for this trend.
First, the pace of play. The average pace is the number of possessions played by teams over the whole game, to increase over the past ten years. Franchises are playing almost nine more possessions against each other than ten years ago. It is therefore understandable that the average number of points scores has seen the same increase.
The second explanation comes from the massive use of three-point shooting. It goes hand in hand with the former and is the cause. In the mid-2010s, a phenomenon named Stephen Curry took on the momentum.
More possession per game and more point-and-point shots. Inevitably, offensive averages explode, and defenses suffer. The best defenses today are the ones that best lock their opponents behind the arc.
The increasingly massive use of long-range shooting has contributed to the almost exponential increase in the offensive rating of franchises (an indicator that makes it possible to estimate the number of points scored per 100 possessions). We note that the average offensive rating last season (2012) would correspond to the third-best mark in 2015.
Coach Ewing knows that a team must have a defensive base to win the title, but going to the playoffs is the Kings' goal. The defense will come once the playoffs are reached and the flaws observed during this period. He stopped insisting on defense, seeing that his team did not have the weapons to be in the elite in this area.