basketball never sleeps

Chapter 266 Past and Future (6K)

Before the All-Star Weekend, Ray Allen successfully returned and retained his status as an All-Star substitute for the fourth consecutive year.

The Supersonics have many players participating in the All-Star Game this year. Not to mention Mo Wen, Milicic and Ray Allen who will participate in the main game, Gay and Millsap have also been invited to participate in the Rookie Game.

Rick Sander, who has not yet left his job, has received widespread praise for his draft operations. Every year there are teams that have two first-round draft picks in a year, but most teams would be lucky to select one rookie who gets an invitation. Rick Sander actually managed to select two!
Rick Sander didn't expect that he would receive a "hush money" before leaving. As long as he doesn't talk nonsense about Mo Wen's interference in the draft, the credit for this year's Supersonics draft will most likely go to him, and he won't have to worry about finding his next job.

However, many people say that this is not Rick Sander's credit. With Mo Wen, the assists king and the scoring king who can pass the blame, any rookie has the opportunity to perform well.

Before heading to Las Vegas, the SuperSonics have a game against the Bulls.

This is the first time that Mo Wen has met Ben Ge this season. Before the game, Mo Wen wanted to ask Ben Ge out for dinner, but Ben Ge refused because the coach didn't want to.

When Mo Wen first heard Brother Ben say this, he thought that Brother Ben had been possessed by another spirit. After all, although Brother Ben was a "good soldier", he was definitely not a good boy.

It was no secret to him that he clashed with Sanders in the Pistons, and at the time Ben was just a captain with a middle-class salary.

Now Ben earns tens of millions a year and is the highest-paid and most famous star of the Bulls. How can he be so docile?

Mo Wen searched and found out that Brother Ben’s situation was not good recently.

After getting the largest contract of his career, Ben's statistics except assists have declined across the board, from points to rebounds to blocks, from shooting percentage to free throw percentage...

It's easy to associate him with those who fall into depravity after getting a lucrative contract.

But Ben did not spend all his salary on fruit plates. On the contrary, he has never been as dedicated as he is this season. In order to live up to his big contract, he insisted on playing despite spraining his elbow and straining his calf muscles.

The reason why he is criticized is the same as that of the first "billion-dollar man", Uncle Huo. The team gives you a big contract because they hope to see you win the game and lead the team forward, not to see you show any sportsmanship.

It would be fine if only his personal statistics declined, after all, there are a lot of dirty work on defense that cannot be reflected in the statistics.

But the problem is that the Bulls' defense has not necessarily become stronger this season.

The Bulls ranked first in the league in limiting opponents' field goal percentage last season, but this season they are ranked ninth from the bottom! (As of the All-Star Game)
As we all know, Big Ben's success on the court mainly depends on four things: strong assist defense ability, a rebounding maniac after Rodman, a perfect height, and some offensive ability (free throws) at the same level as O'Neal.

As a result, after receiving the gift, Bulls fans discovered that the only thing that was solid in this fluffy afro was free throws, while the rest were just water.

To be fair, the Bulls' decline in limiting opponents' shots can't be blamed entirely on Ben.

Ben's size means he can't become a defensive cornerstone like Harden and Howard who can be plug-and-play anywhere with their talent.

There is a lack of tacit understanding between the players and the system needs to be re-adapted and run-in. A decline is normal. At the beginning of the season, the Bulls even dropped to the fifth from the bottom in the league in this data. Now it can be said that considerable progress has been made.

But fans don’t have that much patience and are too lazy to make an objective analysis. In most cases, when the media blows the horn, the fans just start criticizing.

Not only Ben Wallace, but also the Bulls management was criticized because Tyson Chandler, who they sent away, had a stable double-double level in the Supersonics.

The Bulls saw the same idiotic move as the Raptors' management trading Morrison and a draft pick for Paul for Eddie Jones, trading a taller, more talented, younger, and cheaper player for a high-paid, low-performing Ben.

In addition to his performance on the court and the accusations off the court, there is another key thing that has greatly shattered Ben's pride to a certain extent.

That is, Bulls head coach Skiles did not allow Big Ben to take the lead in the game.

Skiles is an old-school coach with a strong desire for control. He likes to manage the team in a military style. Based on the league's dress code, he proposed a dress code within the Bulls - no headbands allowed.

Considering that few Bulls players have the habit of wearing headbands, this can be said to be a "little shoe" for Ben.

At the beginning, the two sides were still able to communicate, but after the Bulls suffered six consecutive losses, the previously accumulated dissatisfaction broke out, and Skiles directly shortened Ben's playing time as a punishment because of the headband issue.

With his statistics declining, fans accusing him, and his coach targeting him, Big Ben finally chose to take off his headband, but he had a new gold hoop on his head.

Mo Wen didn't know what to say in the face of this situation. In his once vague memory, Ben's transfer was nothing more than an annual salary of tens of millions and a title of high salary but low ability.

The sadness caused by fate can be comforted, but the joys and sorrows of the path you choose can only be dealt with by yourself.

But Mo Wen was not completely powerless. Before the game, he was thinking of using the excuse of helping Ben Ge vent his anger to severely attack the Bulls' (Ben Ge) defense and create a big score difference.

In addition, Tyson does have this need when playing against his old club.

But who knew that the league arranged another program for him before the game.

Skiles, the former single-game assists king, went to see Mo Wen with the bald vice president, holding a league-customized commemorative jersey that broke the assist record.

Mo Wen was very suspicious whether the league's activity funds were embezzled by these Jews. Last time, when he broke the third place in history in cumulative triple-doubles, he was given a commemorative basketball. Now, he broke the single-game assists record and was given a torn jersey?

Is the fabric of your jersey woven with gold thread or is the number sewn with gold thread?
After all, Mo Wen was lenient with the opponent, so he did not play any tough games. He just won by 20 points.

In fact, the Bulls' strength is not too bad. The growth of their young players has enabled them to have the ability to steadily bully weaker players. Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, two British Jordans, have reached the peak of their careers. The rebounding problem, a common problem among all previous young players, has also been improved with Ben's experience and the growth of the players.

But their recent trip to the Western Conference has not been smooth. They have only won one of the previous five games. Although they won against the strong Suns, considering that both Nash and Dio, two inside and outside organizers, were absent due to injuries in that game, it was not enough to give them confidence.

The biggest problem of this young team is that their core scorer Ben Gordon is a nervous jerk.

In the first two seasons, Ben Gordon had already shown the potential of a top scorer, but he could only perform well when he came off the bench. Once he was asked to start and was targeted, he could not find his touch and got lost throughout the game, with a terrible performance.

This problem has improved as Ben Gordon grows, but he is still habitually unstable when facing high-intensity confrontations.

The root cause is that Ben Gordon lacks original talent and cannot withstand too much confrontation. He cannot become a superstar simply by relying on technology.

Intimidated by Mo Wen's previous 88 points, Skiles did not really regard Mo Wen as an organizing player just because he handed over the torch of single-game assists king to Mo Wen.

The Bulls also maintained a two-man defense today.

Not surprisingly, this rather twisted defensive formation was quickly broken through by Mo Wen's pass.

In fact, even if the Bulls adopted a conventional defensive formation, it would be difficult to limit Mo Wen.

The Bulls' defense relies more on overall vitality. The Bulls' starting players on the outside all have significant flaws - Ben Gordon is not good enough in confrontation, Nocinio is too slow, and Hinrich is too mediocre.

Luol Deng, the only player suitable for defending Mo Wen, is also responsible for defending Milicic as one of the few tall players.

Because of their relatively short lineup, the Bulls do have a certain advantage in pushing fast breaks, but the presence of Ben prevents them from maximizing their fast break threat.

A classic scene happened 8 minutes into the fourth quarter today. Tyson had scored 14 points, while Ben had only scored 4 points. Seeing that time was running out, feeling ashamed, Ben decided to dunk during the counterattack to save his face.

It's just that Big Ben asked for the ball a little early, or maybe he noticed Tyson's footsteps chasing him from behind and made Big Ben a little anxious. Big Ben, holding the ball, not only forgot to dribble, but also took one, two, three, four, five more steps.

According to James' experience in the dunk contest, the more steps he takes, the more stable the dunk. But this time, Ben was so busy taking steps that he forgot to slow down. Dunking without slowing down was like turning at high speed without braking. Only after passing the free throw line did Ben realize that the basket was a little close.

He originally wanted to fly up and push the ball into the basket, but before he could push it down, the basketball touched the backboard first.

boom--

The basketball shot straight out of the hoop like a serving machine.

Mo Wen tried to hold back for half a second but still couldn't help laughing out loud.

He has seen many dunks blocked by the basket, but this is the first time he has seen a dunk that hits the backboard without touching the rim.

Oh no, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils has really become a technical job.

……

Because the schedule was slow, Mo Wen originally didn't want to bring little Catherine to this year's All-Star Game. He couldn't accompany her, and Las Vegas was a mixed crowd. Even with bodyguards and the amulet sent by the system, Mo Wen couldn't be completely at ease.

But Mo Wen soon didn’t have to worry about it anymore because the whole family had arrived.

After not going home for the New Year for three consecutive years, Mo's father and mother finally couldn't bear it anymore and came to kill him.

This year's All-Star Game coincides closely with the Spring Festival, with the Rookie Challenge on New Year's Eve, the Slam Dunk and Three-Point Contest on the first day of the new year, and the All-Star Game on the second day.

Mo Wen also wanted to take some time to report his injury and go home, but it seemed too late.

"You're very busy, aren't you? You haven't been home for the New Year in a few years? You've really grown up. I think those big leaders are not as busy as you!" After a brief moment of motherly love and filial piety, Mo's mother grabbed Mo Wen's ear.

Mo Wen didn't dare to fight back, so he could only turn his head flexibly to free his ears.

"Can you blame me for this? Weren't you and my father very busy back then? Otherwise, how could I have a brother or sister to accompany you now?"

"You don't need to go home for the New Year because you have brothers and sisters? You still dare to complain. I should take your grandfather's walking stick with you. If you have the guts to not go back next year, I will let your grandfather take you back by force."

Unable to find something suitable, Mo's mother could only hit Mo Wen twice with her fist.

Little Catherine looked a little reserved. No matter how cheerful a person is, they will feel nervous when meeting their partner's parents.

There are only a few people like Mo Wen who are shameless enough to come and provoke the governor.

Mo's mother was very satisfied with little Catherine. Although she felt a little regretful that Mo Wen did not find a Chinese wife, she was happy that the child could find someone she liked who had a good personality and family background, and she could not find any fault with him.

As for Mo's father, he had even less objection. He had always been worried that Mo Wen's influence would get out of control. After all, Mo Wen was almost being molded into a god just by playing basketball, which made the old man feel very uneasy.

But with a father-in-law who made himself a local lord by making a few movies, he didn't worry about Mo Wen going astray. The only thing that worried Mo Wen's parents was that Mo Wen's sister-in-law seemed to be a little too close to him. They had heard rumors about some states before they came, but they didn't know if it applied to the whole United States...

It is said that all roads lead to Rome, and there is a similar saying in the United States - if you don't know how to get to Las Vegas by car, just drive onto the interstate, step on the accelerator and drive all the way, find an area with an unusually bright sky, then go over a hill and you will find Las Vegas.

The gambling city that Chinese people are most familiar with is undoubtedly the "Macau Royal Casino". Thanks to the country's economic boom, Macau is currently inferior to Las Vegas in terms of passenger flow, but its revenue has always surpassed Las Vegas from 05 to 22 years ago.

But the title of the world's number one gambling city has always been held by Las Vegas, not only because of its location, but also because of its scale.

There are more than 200 large and medium-sized casinos in Las Vegas, and countless small casinos. Slot machines are more common here than beverage vending machines.

Mo Wen, who was born under the red flag and grew up in the spring breeze, had never been interested in gambling before, so this was his first time in Las Vegas.

After getting off the plane, Mo Wen saw what a gambling city was. As soon as he walked out of the boarding bridge and entered the service hall, he saw several rows of slot machines in front of him.

The sound of coins clinking, keys clicking, lively and noisy electronic sounds, and the players who are fully engaged.

The unique smell of this city hits you right in the face.

Just after settling his family down, Mo Wen was pulled by the person in charge of Nike to take promotional photos.

Unlike Adidas' unchanging five tigers, Nike's lineup this year is quite luxurious - Mo Wen, Kobe, James, Ronaldinho, Rooney, Nadal (Rafael Nadal), and Federer.

It must be said that the photographer hired by Nike is capable of taking pictures. Once the lights are turned on, black, white and yellow people all turn out like black people.

Of course, Mo Wen is undoubtedly the most handsome one.

"Is Nike a little too partial to him?" Looking at the five or six makeup artists surrounding Mo Wen, the young Nadou felt a little unbalanced.

"Don't look at him, he's much more handsome than you," Federer said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Even if we don't talk about whether he's handsome or not, his contract is there, we can't compare."

"You heard about it too? How many?"

"The specific amount has been kept strictly secret, but Adidas has been offering 1.5 million for five years. Now that they have not broken down in the negotiations, it means..." Federer shrugged.

"It's just three consecutive championships, I can do it this year." Nadal pouted in dissatisfaction. Three consecutive Grand Slams are a bit difficult, but he has won the French Open twice in a row, so it shouldn't be a problem to do it again this year.

Federer's mouth twitched. He only had one Grand Slam left to win, the French Open. He had been sniped by this guy in the past two years. This year...

……

This year's All-Stars became a great excuse for many celebrities to come to Las Vegas to have fun.

From the entertainment industry to wealthy businessmen, Mo Wen couldn't count how many acquaintances he had met in the past two days. Some of them came to get on camera, while many others came purely to travel and indulge themselves. By the way, the domestic basketball administration also sent a group of people to observe the All-Stars and learn from them.

Mo Wen didn't know whether these people who couldn't even sell tickets came here to learn from others or to absorb the essence. They started investigating at the beginning of the century, but the CBA All-Star Game became more boring every year.

While taking photos in the casino, he met a Chinese dealer who boasted to him that Jay Chou had come to play two days ago and won $10 with just $9000. But when Mo Wen asked him how much Jay Chou had lost later, the dealer stopped talking again.

When he met Barkley earlier, the fat guy was bragging to everyone that he had won 70 this year. As for the fact that he had lost 1000 million here before, it seemed that no one cared.

Mo Wen is not a saint who can remain untainted in such an atmosphere, but the lessons of the past are still before his eyes. Barkley's loss of a year's salary in 6 hours is a small matter. It would be really embarrassing if a big-name player lost even his ex-girlfriend's private photos. In some ways, the boundary between gambling and drugs does not seem so obvious.

It was not until the All-Star Rookie Challenge began that Mo Wen's various activities came to an end.

There are no professional sports arenas in Las Vegas, so the All-Star Game is held in UNLV's school stadium.

Because there were not many seats, the tickets were very expensive. The front row tickets were as high as more than 1 US dollars. It was a bit exaggerated just to watch a group of rookies play. So Mo Wen chose to sit in the coaching seat as a special coach.

Mo Wen was too lazy to come at first, but three of the first-year team members had to call him boss, and it seemed a bit unkind of him not to come.

In addition to Gay and Millsap, Al-Farouq Aminu was also selected as a member of the Rookie Challenge.

The Bucks this year are as bad as ever. Mo Wen and TJ Ford are having a blast on the Bucks' outside line. Following Mo Wen's advice, Al-Farouq Aminu is also working hard to improve himself (brush up his stats). He now has a level of 13+6. Although he cannot compete for the best rookie, he is one of only six players this year who can score in double digits.

However, even with Mo Wen's experience bonus, the gap between the first-year team and the second-year team is still quite large.

The quality of the 05 draft was much higher than that of the 06 draft.

The sophomore team has Anthony Davis and Andrew Bynum in the interior, Granger and David Lee on the forward line, Monta Ellis at guard, and Paul, Deron Williams and Fatton at point guard.

The first-year players who are capable of fighting now are Roy, Gay, Al-Farouq Aminu and Millsap.

Aldridge was injured some time ago and couldn't come, resulting in the first-year team not even having someone who could symbolically protect the rim.

From the very beginning, the rhythm of the game was firmly controlled by the sophomores. In the original time and space, this game would have developed into a one-sided massacre. The sophomores set the highest scoring record and created the biggest score difference.

But because Gay and Millsap have a certain tacit understanding on the same team, and Roy's high basketball IQ also led to several offensive climaxes in his freshman year.

Yi Jianlian inherited the glorious tradition of China's big men and high artillery. He made three three-pointers over Bodog's head and became a highlight of the freshman team.

It’s a pity that Channing Frye’s statistics declined this year and he was not selected for the sophomore team, otherwise we could still see the scene of two high-altitude artillery batteries shooting at each other.

In the end, thanks to David Lee's amazing performance of 14 out of 14 shots, the sophomore team still won by 22 points over the freshman team.

However, the freshman team lost, but Mo Wen did not lose, because Gay scored 22 points, Millsap scored 19 points, and Al-Farouq Aminu also scored 16 points, so his goal was achieved.

On the third day of the All-Stars, there was finally a project that Mo Wen participated in.

After Wade won his second Skills Challenge trophy in his career, which was also his second personal honor trophy, Mo Wen also began to prepare in the locker room.

It's another three-point contest.

After Mo Wen won the three-point championship for two consecutive years, this year's three-point contest attracted particularly high attention.

People are looking forward to whether Mo Wen can become the third three-point king after Larry Bird and Hodges.

But not many familiar faces chose to snipe Mo Wen at the last moment, leaving only Nowitzki and Arenas.

The remaining three spots were taken by Mike Miller, Jason Terry and Kapono.

But before the three-point contest, there was a running competition on the court.

The 44-year-old Barkley and the oldest active referee (67 years old) Bavetta began betting in January to see who could run faster at the All-Star Game.

The two planned to compete in three shuttle runs, and the bet was US$5 sponsored by Barkley.

Local casinos in Las Vegas also opened handicaps for this match.

What’s even more surprising is that quite a few people actually bought Bavetta to win!

Their reason was simple: although Bavetta was old, he still needed to run back and forth with the players in every game, while Barkley had completely become a donut superman and chair load checker.

At the beginning of the game, Barkley showed the passion of an older generation athlete. His two consecutive attempts to false start fully demonstrated his competitive spirit.

But in fact, Barkley's speed was faster than the old man without any early start. In order to save face for the old man, Barkley was very "emotionally intelligent" and chose to run backwards in the last leg.

Finally, when the old man dived to grab the ball, he did a back throw and a roll to score the first touchdown, and the show was fully effective.

"Is there something you don't want to say, Mo?"

In the locker room, Arenas looked at Mo Wen, who was wearing a red Tang suit, with some anticipation.

"say what?"

Mo Wen was a little absent-minded. He was still memorizing the New Year's Eve message written by the press officer. Now that his status had risen, he couldn't improvise like before at this point in time.

"You have a chance to win your third three-point title. Don't you want to say something, just like Bird?"

Arenas said in a mean way.

Mo Wen raised his eyelids. He felt that if Arenas didn't get some system of pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger, he must be seriously ill.

However, Mo Wen glanced at the people in the locker room again. Hmm? Why do you all look so expectant?

"No need. In fact, there are two people here who can compete with me."

Arenas made a tactical fade away, and Nowitzki, who was eavesdropping on the side, couldn't help but smile and began to nod.

As for Mike Miller, Terry and Kapono, they all showed expressions that knowing one's life is enough.

"So who is it?" Arenas continued to ask.

Mo Wen did not rush to answer but flicked his sleeves, stood up and walked towards the player tunnel.

"My past self and my future self."

(End of this chapter)