warrior godfather

Chapter 461 Threesome

April 11, Oakland.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Middleton parked the car, picked up his backpack from the passenger seat, and opened the door of the Chevrolet. Feeling the cold wind blowing in front of him, he couldn't help shivering.

Middleton, who grew up in South Carolina, was a little uncomfortable with the cold and wet winters in the Bay Area. It has a subtropical climate with long, hot summers and short, dry winters.

Fortunately, the parking lot was not far from the player tunnel, and Middleton quickly walked into the Oracle Arena. The cold feeling in the air gradually faded from his body surface, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

After coming to the locker room, Middleton took out the training clothes from his backpack. After changing, he jumped twice on the spot, feeling the lightness of his body, and smiled with satisfaction. I put my things in the locker and walked out of the dressing room.

Yesterday, the Warriors beat the Timberwolves 127:103 at home and won three consecutive victories. The fourth quarter was completely reduced to garbage time.

Middleton also played 7 minutes, 6 of 4 shots, 2 of 1 three-pointers, no free throws, 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. These 9 points are also the highest since he entered the league. point.

It’s just that except for Middleton himself, almost no one else noticed that he created a new career scoring high. Only Zhang Yu encouraged him after the game:

"Chris, well done! Just play like this, the team needs your points, come on, you won't lack opportunities to play in the future!"

This made Middleton very excited. As long as he can play, he is willing to do anything, not to mention the offense he is good at.

After yesterday's game, due to Thanksgiving, the Warriors ushered in a three-day break. Zhang Yu also gave the team a day off to let the players have a good rest.

But Middleton didn't rest. He just called his family, watched a movie, celebrated a career scoring high, slept an hour longer than usual at night, and then came to the Oracle Center for training. .

Although he signed a three-year guarantee contract with the team, he will not worry about being laid off in a short period of time, but the basic salary is far from reaching his goal. In order to sign a big contract, he must continue to improve his strength and play well. better performance.

Moreover, the Warriors' frontline competition is too fierce. Middleton has a strong sense of crisis, and he is afraid that his progress will be slower, and then he will not be able to join the regular rotation.

Butler was selected to the best team, All-Star starter, and best defensive team last season, firmly occupying the starting position.

Leonard has the league's top single defense, and he is well-known for his steals after the first-hand death entanglement. Almost all outside stars have suffered in his hands. He even played in the finals last season, which won Zhang Yu's trust.

Parsons, who entered the league a year earlier than him, can also play small forward. He also served as a substitute at the third position in the regular season last season and performed well. Numbering is also easy.

The most important thing is that they are all very young. Butler, who has been in the league for the longest time, has only three years of professional career. He is also an absolute direct descendant of Zhang Yu. He has played under Zhang Yu since college. Outside of Curry, the most experienced player.

Well, no, Ronnie Turiaf played for the Warriors before Stephen and Jimmy, he is now the most experienced player on the team, but he left the team for a long time, and now he is only on a basic salary , there is no sense of presence in the team, Stephen and Jimmy are the most qualified people on the team...

But what makes Middleton a little puzzled is that Curry has signed a super-maximum contract extension with the team, but Butler did not complete the contract extension with the team in the summer, which was completely beyond his expectations.

With Butler's strength and his relationship with Zhang Yu, he did not renew his contract with the team. This not only puzzled Middleton, but also aroused many speculations from the outside world. Is it because the Warriors and Butler did not renew their contract? close?
Soon, several teams tentatively put forward offers for Butler, wanting to replicate the Rockets' operation of intercepting Hu Harden.

In fact, Butler is hotter than Harden.

Butler is the No. [-] star of the Warriors, with both offense and defense. He has proved his scoring ability in the playoffs. Harden was just the best sixth man before, and he played such a brilliant performance in the Rockets. Butler is the striker that all teams lack. If the Warriors really want to trade Butler, maybe most of the league will be moved by the news.

Those offers were rebuffed by Larry Riley, who later reiterated the Warriors' decision not to trade a single player, and other teams returned in dismay.

……

Middleton soon came to the exit of the player tunnel, but when he was still some distance away from the exit, he heard a sound of dribbling.

As he got closer to the exit, the sound of dribbling became louder, accompanied by the sound of the basketball hitting the net.

When Middleton walked out of the tunnel, he saw a man training on the court, who happened to be facing his direction.

Middleton greeted him with some surprise:

"Hi Kawhi..."

Leonard, who was practicing mid-range shooting, saw Middleton walking out of the player tunnel, stopped what he was doing, a look of surprise flashed across his face, but he immediately returned to normal, nodded slightly, and said in a muffled voice:
"Good morning, Chris, are you coming to practice too?"

Middleton came to Leonard, looked him up and down, nodded and said:
"That's right, I have nothing to do at home, why not come and practice the ball."

The warm air in the training hall was blowing a lot. Leonard was wearing a sleeveless vest on his upper body and knee-length shorts on his lower body, revealing his muscular arms and thick thighs. It can be seen that he has been practicing for a long time.

Middleton looked enviously at Leonard. Leonard is the same height as him, both 2 meters, but Leonard weighs 01 kilograms, which is a full 102 kilograms heavier than him. He is much stronger than him in terms of strength and confrontation, and at the same time is very agile, maintaining an athletic ability above the average level in the same position, and he does not lose much in the confrontation with James.

And Leonard also has the league's top static talent, with a pair of long arms and big hands, making him a nightmare for all outside players, and also giving him the upper hand in the process of grabbing rebounds.

In contrast, Middleton is much worse in terms of static talent and dynamic talent. This is because he clearly showed good scoring ability in college, but he was only selected in the second round. Even though Nader's offense is very unstable, the main reason why he was selected by the Warriors at seventh place.

"Oh..." Leonard nodded, fell silent for a while, and then said, "Me too... Well, you played very well yesterday, and you shot much more accurately than me. You are very good."

In the game against the Timberwolves yesterday, Leonard played 9 minutes in the fourth quarter and 22 minutes in the game. He made 14 of 6 shots, 4 of 2 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 steal. Blocking shots, excellent defense, but low offensive efficiency, among which 5 of 2 mid-range singles is the main reason.

Although Middleton shot less, he made 4 of 3 shots from the mid-range, and his efficiency was much higher than Leonard.

Middleton said with some embarrassment:

"That's because the Timberwolves didn't defend at the end, and I got a few good opportunities..."

Leonard nodded lightly:
"Then you are much better than me. Timberwolves' defense is not good, and I can't make shots. It seems that I still need to practice mid-range singles."

"Uh..." Middleton didn't expect Leonard to say that, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

But Leonard is usually taciturn. As a rookie who just entered the team, Middleton is also cautious in the locker room. They have hardly communicated before, and he doesn't know how to answer.

For a while, both of them were silent, and suddenly, Leonard said:

"Why don't we play a game? I practice alone, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. I want to try your singles in the middle distance, can I?"

Middleton was taken aback for a moment, and immediately agreed:

"Of course, come on, I just want to try your defense too, we haven't faced each other in the training game..."

"Then you attack first."

"Okay, then I'm welcome!"

……

"Huh...huh..."

Middleton was panting heavily, sitting on the sidelines, holding a bottle of energy drink, and sipping it into his mouth.

Leonard sat beside him, wiping the sweat off his body with a towel. His breathing rhythm was a bit disordered, but it was far less rapid than Middleton's.

"Huh..." Middleton put down the energy drink in his hand, exhaled a long breath, turned to look at Leonard with admiration on his face, "Kawhi, your defense is too strong, better than any defense I have ever met." A small forward must be strong!"

"Better than Jimmy?"

"Uh... each has its own merits. I don't know the details. After all, you also know that I don't have the authority to play singles in training games, but when I run without the ball, Jimmy can always accurately judge my intentions. , His defense is very sophisticated, but not as strong as your sense of oppression and aggression."

The two had just played three rounds of bullfighting, with ten balls in each round. Leonard won with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, but the process was very anxious. The scores were 10:4, 8:10, and 10:9. Nader missed a little, and the winner was Middleton.

During the bullfight, the two showed their respective technical characteristics to the fullest.

Middleton is good at offense, especially good at mid-range pull-up jumpers, but his defense is very average, with poor confrontation and insufficient strength.

Leonard is good at defense, and his one-on-one defense made Middleton miserable. Under his death entanglement, Middleton was often intercepted and made frequent mistakes.

But Leonard's singles are a bit lame. He is inferior to Middleton in dribbling and shooting, his movements are inconsistent, and sometimes he makes unforced errors. Middleton's defense and shooting often hit the iron.

After hearing Middleton's evaluation, Leonard nodded slightly, and said thoughtfully:

"Compared to offense, defense still suffers. I have tried my best. It looked okay at first, but in the end I barely won a goal. It would be great if I hit less iron..."

"Actually, if you only play singles once or twice, the efficiency is very high, especially the turnaround jump shot. But to be honest, you are only proficient in this move, and the other moves are very unfamiliar. If you keep playing singles, you only need to defend yourself. The back is enough, so in the end you only win one goal..." Middleton explained.

"You mean, I should continue to develop new moves?" Leonard's eyes lit up.

"No, you should continue practicing post-ups."

"why?"

"Do you know how much I envy your shoulder width? Your body is so perfect, with broad shoulders, long wingspan, and a pair of big hands. It is very easy to create shooting space, especially when you are behind the body! I If you have such a good static talent, you definitely won't be selected in the second round!"

"Well, you're right, come on, let's go on."

"Continue what?"

"One-on-one, I just need to practice offense, and you need to practice defense. Time is limited, how can you waste it so easily! You haven't rested yet, have you?"

"It's only a few minutes...Of course I'm fine! Come on, continue!"

Middleton took a few deep breaths, tried to calm his rapid heartbeat, and stood up gritted his teeth.

Just then, a voice sounded:
"Chris, aren't you resting at home?"

Middleton and Leonard turned their heads and saw Butler walking out of the player tunnel.

He looked at Middleton in surprise:

"Today is Thanksgiving, are you still here for training?"

"I'm also idle at home, so I simply came to practice the ball..." Middleton explained.

A smile appeared on Leonard's face:
"Jimmy, I thought you would come to practice in the morning, but instead of you, I waited for Chris."

Since last season, he and Butler have often coincidentally practiced together when the team is on vacation, and they both know each other's habit.

Butler looked away from Middleton, who was soaked in training clothes, and looked at Leonard, who was also sweating profusely, with complicated eyes:

"I went to bed late yesterday, and woke up late today..."

What he didn't say was that he went to the nightclub yesterday and didn't come home until midnight. He wanted to rest at home today, but he was driven by habit and came to the arena.

"Chris and I are going heads-up, do you want to come?" Leonard issued an invitation.

"Of course!" Butler agreed without hesitation.

Seeing his two substitutes working so hard, he already regretted going to the nightclub to party yesterday.

Of course, he wasn't afraid that his starting position would be taken away. Even if Leonard and Middleton had potential, their current strength was far inferior to him.

But Butler's goal is to get a super maximum salary. This year, he must be selected as the All-Star starter or the best team, and there is no room for slack.

He immediately made a decision in his mind that he would never go to nightclubs again this season, and put all his energy into training. The All-Star starting is beyond his control, but he must rely on his undisputed strength to be selected to the best team !
"Who will come first?" Butler asked.

"Chris and I will come first, and whoever wins will fight you later!" Leonard said.

"Okay, come on!" Middleton's expression became serious.

"How about this, we can practice together in the future, the effect will be better, how about it?" Butler suggested.

"No problem." Leonard nodded.

"This proposal is great, I agree!" Middleton said happily.

"Very good, let's start!" Butler laughed, "You can play a little slower. When I play, you will have no chance of winning!"

　The time in the previous chapter was wrong, the game against the Nets should be on November 11, it has been corrected.

　　Thank you for the rewards of Naughty Jie and book friend 20180427150943639!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)