warrior godfather

Chapter 553 Santa Cruz's Beloved

California, Santa Cruz.

The 2500-seat Caesars Permanent Arena was filled with spectators, cheering for the Santa Cruz Warriors who were fighting on the field.

This seaside town is the most famous seaside resort and surfing resort in Northern California, with a population of only 5, quiet and peaceful.

The Santa Cruz Warriors also use the name of the Warriors to attract so many spectators to watch the game.

In addition, a young man from Europe is also the key to Santa Cruz's ticket sales.

boom!
On the court, Antetokounmpo held the ball from outside the three-point line, made a huge change in front of his body, swayed past his opponent, strode into the penalty area, raised one arm high, and faced the opponent's center's help defense. Throw the ball into the basket!

"Oh oh oh!"

"Giannis, kill them!"

"I love you, Greek boy!"

There was a huge sound wave in the auditorium, and it quickly echoed in this small arena.

After Antetokounmpo landed, he heard the shouts and cheers coming into his ears, grinned, ran back to the backcourt, and waved vigorously towards the audience.

He likes this atmosphere very much. When he played in Greece, the arena was so big. Although the number of spectators was small, the atmosphere was very hot.

The enthusiasm of the fans infected Antetokounmpo, making him try his best in this ordinary regular season of the Development League, frequently hitting the penalty area to score, and the opponent could not stop him at all, and could only stop him with fouls Wreak havoc on restricted areas.

In the end, the Santa Cruz Warriors relied on Antetokounmpo's outstanding performance to defeat the Pacers' Fort Wayne Wild Ants 112:101.

全场比赛打完，阿德托昆博出战36分钟，21投13中，三分4中1，罚球9中5，狂砍32分8篮板4助攻3封盖1抢断的豪华数据。

After the game, Antetokounmpo won the enthusiastic cheers of the fans. He also came to the sideline with a smile and took a photo with the fans before returning to the locker room.

The games of the Development League are not as formal as the NBA, the ticket price is very low, the distance between the audience and the players is closer, and there are not many chores such as interviews after the game. After the game, the players often interact with the audience and then take a shower. Packed up and left the arena to go home.

However, after Antetokounmpo walked out of the Caesars Permanent Arena, there were still fans waiting for him on the side of the road. They didn't leave satisfied until they signed a photo with him.

"Giannis, come on, you will definitely shine in the league!"

After waving goodbye to the fans with a smile on his face, Antetokounmpo opened the car door, hummed Greek tunes happily, and drove back to his rented apartment.

Snapped.

Opening the door of his apartment, Antetokounmpo threw his sports bag on the floor and collapsed on the couch.

He lay in the most comfortable position for a while, then suddenly remembered something, quickly picked up his phone, and looked through it.

The Warriors also have a game today, and he almost forgot.

Opening the ESPN app and seeing the news headlines, Antetokounmpo's expectant eyes suddenly dimmed.

"The Warriors lost to the Thunder in an away game, suffered a two-game losing streak, and dropped to fifth in the Western Conference!"

Antetokounmpo let out a long sigh, but still clicked in.

“今日结束的NBA焦点战中，金州勇士以112:118输给俄克拉荷马雷霆，凯文-杜兰特34分5篮板4助攻1抢断，拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克25分7助攻6篮板，斯蒂芬-库里32分10助攻5篮板2抢断，哈桑-怀特塞德18分14篮板3封盖，下面是详细报道……”

Antetokounmpo skimmed through the report, threw his phone on the sofa next to him, put his hands behind his head, looked up at the ceiling, and the smile on his face disappeared.

After the Warriors finished their road trip, he was released to the Santa Cruz Warriors, and it has been more than half a month.

In the past two weeks, the Santa Cruz Warriors have played a total of 8 games. Antetokounmpo started every game, and they are the core of the team's tactics.

前两场比赛，阿德托昆博还不习惯球队核心的地位，表现只能说是中规中矩，分别得到12分5篮板3助攻1抢断6失误和15分7篮板1助攻1封盖4失误，得分不多，失误频频。

But soon, he adapted to the intensity of the development league, killing all sides on the field, his statistics skyrocketed, and he led the Santa Cruz Warriors to a 6-game winning streak.

In these six games, he averaged 36.5 minutes per game, scoring 24.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 1.1 steals.

Antetokounmpo's outstanding performance also made him quickly become the darling of Santa Cruz Warriors fans.

The Caesars Permanent Arena is full of spectators, and the residents of this seaside town have been conquered by this shy boy from Greece.

While leading the team to continuous victories, Antetokounmpo himself is also growing rapidly.

The intensity of the Development League is very different from that of the NBA. After a summer of hard training, Antetokounmpo came to the Development League. It can be said that it is a dimensionality reduction blow.

This didn't seem to have any tempering effect on him, but the core position of the team's tactics allowed Antetokounmpo to integrate the skills he practiced hard in the summer.

His screen quality and inside finishing ability have improved rapidly, and he has accumulated a lot of defensive experience. His frame protection, big defense and small defense, low single defense, and assist defense have all improved.

In the Santa Cruz Warriors, he mainly played off the ball, but he also had a lot of offensive rounds with the ball, allowing him to practice a set of tricks that use his physical talents to change direction/fake + breakthrough.

This trick is very simple, but very effective. It is very suitable for Antetokounmpo, and can give full play to his advantages of long legs, long hands and quick movements.

And in the development league, his confrontation is also the strongest. As long as he shakes out a little space, he can forcefully go in and hit the basket to score.

But back in the NBA, his confrontation is not dominant, so he can't play like this.

But this is not something that Antetokounmpo should worry about. He has only one goal now, which is to play well, train hard, dominate the development league, and always be ready to return to the NBA.

His efforts have paid off. No one in the Development League can stop him. The Warriors coaching staff is also very satisfied with his performance. Frazier has guided him many times, and Zhang Yu often sends him text messages to encourage him and let He was able to maintain a positive attitude all the time.

However, Antetokounmpo's goal of returning to the NBA to play seems far away.

When the Santa Cruz Warriors were winning consecutive victories in the Development League, the Golden State Warriors' footsteps in the NBA were stumbling, and their record fluctuated.

After losing to the Thunder at home on November 11, the Warriors won two games against the Jazz, one home and one away, and the winning percentage finally returned to above 14%, which made Antetokounmpo a little relieved.

But then, the Warriors lost to the Grizzlies again, and just rose to the eighth place in the Western Conference, but fell again.

Antetokounmpo watched that game, and the Warriors couldn't restrain the Grizzlies' black and white twin towers at all, they could only increase the contraction.

The Grizzlies in turn took advantage of the Warriors' shrinking defense, strengthened the outside offensive, from the inside out, and finally relied on Mike Miller's 6 three-pointers to narrowly beat the Warriors by 4 points.

This veteran shooter who has returned to his roots from the Heat's fallen leaves can be regarded as a small revenge.

After losing to the Grizzlies, the Warriors finally ushered in a wave of sweet games. First, they beat the Lakers in the away game, and then returned to the home court to beat the Blazers, the youth team, and won two consecutive victories.

在这场比赛中，库里大发神威，狂砍41分4助攻5篮板1抢断，飚进9记三分球，完爆利拉德的24分7助攻3篮板，率领勇士以118:114惊险取胜。

In fact, Lillard's performance is also very good. The Blazers' starting five tigers all scored in double figures, but Curry was on the opposite side, so he could only return with hatred.

And at the last moment, Curry hit the winning three-pointer on Lillard's head, killing the game.

It happened that the Santa Cruz Warriors did not play that night. Antetokounmpo watched the game and was very impressed.

After defeating the Blazers, the Warriors ushered in a wave of four consecutive trips.

On November 11, the Warriors beat the Hornets by 26 points.

Antetokounmpo didn't watch the game, but he watched the news.

Whiteside's data is amazing. He played 38 minutes and scored 28 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks, which made Antetokounmpo envious.

The thick eyebrows were transferred outside the three-point line by a pick-and-roll by Curry, and the Hornets only had the soft Jason Smith and Ryan Anderson inside.

Whiteside directly turned into Winier, killing the Quartet, and his hand was swollen after dunking.

Antetokounmpo feels that he can go to him.

On November 11, the Warriors challenged the Mavericks in back-to-back away games.

Antetokounmpo watched this game, Nowitzki showed his power, blasted the Warriors inside, scored 32 points, and even the old Salem Potter dreamed of his youth in front of Whiteside , 6 of 4 shots, 3 of 3 free throws, 11 points and 8 rebounds.

The inside line was exploded, and the Warriors failed to win the game, and finally lost to the Mavericks 113:121.

However, Whiteside's data is still very good, with a double-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The third stop of the Warriors' road trip is November 11, which is today's game against the Thunder.

After losing this game, the Warriors ushered in a two-game losing streak, with a record of 9 wins and 8 losses, and their ranking once again slipped to ninth in the Western Conference, falling out of the ranks of the playoffs.

Thinking of the Warriors' record, Antetokounmpo couldn't help but feel a burst of anxiety.

He is not worried that the Warriors will not be able to make the playoffs. The regular season is only a quarter of the way, and the Warriors will be able to return to the playoffs with a little effort later.

What he is worried about is that the Warriors lost so many games at the beginning of the season, which will have an impact on the subsequent competition for the first place in the Western Conference and the home court advantage in the playoffs.

The Western Conference this season can be said to be a pack of heroes. The Thunder strengthened the backcourt and the inside, and made great strides all the way. It currently ranks first in the Western Conference with a record of 15 wins and 2 losses, and it is also the first in the league.

The Clippers traded to Iguodala, the weakest link was made up for, and super shooter Redick joined, forming one of the strongest starters in the league. The record of wins and 13 losses ranks second in the West.

The Rockets have caught the biggest fish in the free market. Harden and Howard's internal and external dual-core are in the honeymoon period. They also achieved a record of 13 wins and 4 losses, but they are at a disadvantage in the relationship with the Clippers, ranking third in the West .

The Trail Blazers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Mavericks and other strong teams behind cannot be underestimated. Whether it is a veteran team or a new youth army, they are all hard nuts to crack.

The Warriors did not gain an advantage at the beginning of the season, and if they want to catch up later, they must work ten times harder.

The most important thing is that the Warriors focus on winning. Zhang Yu will definitely be very cautious in employing people. Antetokounmpo's desire to return to the NBA and even get a chance to play may be shattered.

"Hey……"

Antetokounmpo let out a long sigh, and the good mood of returning from the victory disappeared.

He lay down for a while before sitting up, picked up his phone, entered the Warriors section of Reddit's basketball section, and scrolled through posts, trying to relieve his boredom.

Reddit is a well-known forum in the United States. Its basketball section gathers most basketball fans in the United States. Each team has its own section, and a large number of basketball-related posts and news are generated every day.

But looking at it, Antetokounmpo's mood did not improve, but became more and more annoying.

After losing to the Thunder, the Warriors area was flooded with fans from other teams, mocking the Warriors:

"The defending champion lost to the Thunder, Clippers, and Grizzlies. Do you really want to defend?"

"I tell you a good news. The next two opponents of the Warriors are the Kings and the Raptors, but there is also a bad news. The Warriors are about to fight the Rockets. Prepare to accept James Harden's revenge! Hahahahaha! "

"Hey, I thought the Heat could get revenge in the finals, but now it seems that it is impossible for the Warriors to rush out of the West, hahaha!"

Facing the fans of other teams, it is difficult for Warriors fans to say anything. After all, the Warriors' record is there, and they can only match up with them by expressing their disdain for the regular season.
But the Heat fans dared to mock the Warriors, they couldn't bear it anymore, and immediately scolded back:
"Heat fans are still in the mood to hang around? The Heat's record is only 10 wins and 7 losses, not much better than the Warriors!"

"Get out of the Warriors Zone, you XX XX of XX!"

"When Chandler comes back, we will immediately return to the top three in the West, just wait and see!"

Many Warriors fans have confidence in the team, especially Chandler, who is about to return from injury.

But at the same time, many Warriors fans raised doubts:
"We just lacked Chandler, why did we play like this? This is not our true strength?"

"Man, we're missing Butler, I think that's the point, Coach Z is great, but this time he's really wrong..."

"No, guys, Whiteside is the reason we lose so many games, he can't defend at all! I don't understand why Coach Z is giving him so much playing time, it's a crime!"

When Antetokounmpo saw these posts and replies, his mood became more and more irritable. Just as he was about to post a post to defend Zhang Yu, he saw a new reply:
"Don't worry, I promise, Whiteside will be traded soon, and the Warriors will get back on track soon!"

　Thanks to the lord Yu Qingfeng for the reward!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)