[Records of Old Generals] The high-speed turret that succeeded in the times and failed in the trend!

space-type fourth position does not seem to be a special type now. Even in the past interior era, tall big men such as Perkins and Rick Smitz with long-distance shooting ability, even David Robinson, or the longer-term Ralph Sampson, are unique players who occupy the center position and have forward mobility.

After entering 2000, all-around big men like Garnett, or big men of the projection type of inside line like Nowitzki. The players mentioned above have basically played as power forwards and centers, but their player functions are not limited to the penalty area.

If you want to say that it really set off a space number four trend, it should be Nowitzki. But no matter what, around 2010, many special players benefited from it. For those players whose functions and traditional concepts were different, they all got opportunities in the changing trend of the times, and eventually became the key to the team's tacticality.

Looking at the space inside of today's era, Davis is definitely a top player on the list. Compared to the Pelicans, after coming to the Lakers, his light seems to have decreased a lot. Looking back at the Pelicans era, the modern big man became famous early, but in the end, the Pelicans still failed to achieve much results during the leadership of Davis.

But before winning the No. 1 pick in the Divine Beast, the team had a representative player at the fourth position of space at that time. However, in the end, he only helped the Pelicans move forward a little, and also helped the team to enter the first playoffs after the name change. Davis's former Hyundai Four-position representative player is named Ryan Anderson.

Looking back at Ryan's career trajectory, unlike most players, their parents are only the height of ordinary people, their father is an engineer, and their mother is a designer, and neither of them has any sports background; but his son Ryan was born extremely tall, and because of his height, his mother must bring his son's birth certificate at any time to allow him to participate in many children's activities.

Because of his tall figure, he started to come into contact with basketball early in his school days. Ryan, who lives in California, naturally became a King's fan. Perhaps influenced by the King's gorgeous style at that time, Ryan has never been a traditional penalty area player and was already a standard high-tech player in high school. During his time at UC, Ryan averaged 4.7 shots outside the three-point line, helping him to win the scoring title in the event during his sophomore year.

Surprisingly, although Ryan is tall, he is not a physically strong player. However, he has never been regarded as a white inside player in his career as a traditional North American system, but has been maintaining firepower from the outside with the permission of his coach.

But even so, Ryan did not completely abandon the essence of a big man. He averaged close to double-digit rebounds per game in two years. On the one hand, he could fire from the outside, and on the other hand, he could consolidate rebounds. With this advantage, Ryan eventually became a very special space number four player in the trend of the times. His value also rose without surprise, and he was finally selected by the Nets with the 21st pick in the first round in 2008.

When he arrived at his rookie season, Ryan had quite limited opportunities, and he was quickly treated as a bargaining chip and went to the Magic after just one season. Van Gundy, who was the Magic's coach at the time, attached great importance to the outside ability of the fourth position in order to match the star center Howard, so Rashad Lewis, who was originally a large small forward, became the Magic's starting fourth position, and after Lewis left the team, it was Ryan Anderson's turn.

The Magic of the same period was always in the ranks of Eastern power, and it did not gradually decline until Howard left. This peak period happened to be Ryan's rookie contract. His salary was relatively low and his on-court effect was strong enough to stand firm in the team rotation early.

At that time, although many teams regarded Ryan's value as an additional role for partner Howard, as Howard left, the Magic entered a reshuffle moment, and Ryan was eventually sold to the Hornets (the predecessor of the Pelicans) who were looking for help for Davis.

Combined with the team lineup, Davis is nominally the fourth starting position, and Ryan is destined to be a substitute, but Ryan has more playing time than Davis and Robin Lopez in the original starting penalty area. The reason behind it is not difficult to understand. No matter what lineup is matched, Ryan is an important offensive choice. Although his defense is not as good as Lopez and Davis, Ryan is the team's critical core rotation at that time just by relying on offensive output.

Even from some perspectives, although in one season in New Orleans, Ryan Anderson is completely the team's MVP-level player.

However, standing next to Ryan, it is a talented inside player of Davis at a historical level. After the rookie year, it has improved to a 20+10 inside base. As an inside player with excellent ball-holding ability, Davis's ability to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the penalty area alone is getting better and better, and his cooperation in the fourth position in the space is getting more and more proficient. Judging from the situation at that time, the frontcourt combination of Davis + Ryan is definitely the core team of the Pelicans.

It's just that the Pelicans' backcourt combination has always been problematic in those years, especially the injury problem. Even Ryan himself only played 81 games in the first year of joining the team, and suffered injuries many times in the last three years. Although the Pelicans held an excellent lineup foundation, they were unable to wait for the moment of rising. They only made it to the playoffs in 2015 and were swept out by the Warriors in the first round early.

Although he was unable to wait for the Pelicans to take off, his partner with Davis fully demonstrates his value as the fourth space position.. It is undeniable that his defense is very poor and his ability to protect the frame is not as good as that of an inside player of the same height. However, thanks to his shooting ability is sufficiently online and he also has rebounding ability above qualified level, especially the unexpected offensive rebounds. He is not just a simple turret outside the three-point line. Whether it is a chance to grab an offensive basket or a two-point shot within the three-point line, Ryan has brought great help to the team on the offensive end.

Coincidentally, Ryan's rookie contract expired just in 2016, when the salary cap increased significantly, but the Pelicans had to give Davis and Holiday first, and Ryan, whose value rose sharply, ended the Pelicans' life and was eventually poached by the Rockets with a high salary of 80 million in four years.

Fortunately, the Rockets coach at that time was D'Antoni who valued the outside. The Rockets' penalty area left Capela, who had a single function and had to match pick-and-roll with the backcourt, so the fourth position with full outside ability became the most suitable choice, which is also the direct reason why they chose to sign Ryan Anderson with high salary.

It's a bit regrettable just for the next story. Since the leader Harden is at his peak, the Rockets must work hard to compete for the championship, which directly pushed the Rockets to trade Chris Paul the next year, but to challenge the championship, you must face the Warriors. In order to deal with the Warriors, the Rockets must have a full-swap defense formation. Judging from the number four, Ryan's lateral movement speed is slow and his defensive ability is poor, and he gradually falls out of the Rockets' rotation.

Compared with that, Ryan, who was abandoned at the time, did not have a technical decline, especially when facing most opponents in the regular season, his shooting four position was still excellent, but on the playoff stage, Ryan basically didn't get much playing time, which to some extent became the reason for his abandonment.

Not only that, because the trend of space fourth position in the league around 2010 was rising, Ryan only had the advantage of the three-point line. When he really entered the era of big three-pointers, judging from Ryan's main fourth position, the league requires not only three-point shooting, but also other face frame technology and even the ability to handle the ball.

Especially when the opponent also has a three-point offensive craze, the requirements for defense switching capabilities have also improved, so more and more teams have misplaced players who were originally small forwards and are just slightly larger in size to the fourth position. He even directly replaced the fourth position with players who are not tall enough in small forwards, focusing on a large and four small lineup.

Under the trend of the times, Ryan Anderson, who is 209 in height and has both external abilities, is no longer the starting fourth position choice. Most of the time, the team will choose a small forward with excellent mobility and internal and external positions to take on the fourth position. In the end, Ryan, who was in a rotation position due to the trend of space fourth position, was overwhelmed by the modern wave of the fourth position. After the Rockets, many teams were wandering one after another, and finally they were given up by the league early in the 2019-20 season and at the peak of 31 years old.

Looking back at Ryan's New Orleans time, although it was early in his career, it was already a critical turning point for him. His beloved girlfriend died of hang herself in August 2013, and Ryan blamed herself for a long time.

At that time, the team coach Monty Williams was a Christian and had a deep friendship with Ryan. Even all Hornets teammates took care of Ryan meticulously during that period. Because of this suicide, Ryan established a close connection with his teammates. He then set up a foundation in his girlfriend's name. In addition, he and Davis also helped local vulnerable families, and donated tickets to the Pelicans game to these vulnerable families every year.

Even though Ryan did not really accompany the Pelicans to rise, perhaps he just took off with the trend of modern four-position. His value lies more in the fact that the Pelicans have played their own basic skills, but they had no choice but to leave after their value soared. It is precisely because of this story that there is a bond between Ryan and the city of New Orleans, which is far more meaningful than the value on the field, or whether he can stay with the Pelicans for a long time.

As a devout Christian, after a career blow, he started again, and the starting point happened to meet the Hornets' name changed to the Pelicans. At that time, Ryan Anderson would celebrate with both hands as long as he made a three-pointer on the court. In the dark, it seemed as if he was thanking the fans in the stadium for everything he gave him. This is the source of strength that he could still look up and face difficulties after he got through the trough. The story has come to this point. Compared to this big man who has gone through 12 seasons, his career trajectory may be mediocre, but for the connection between Ryan and New Orleans, the relationship between the two is more than basketball.