From sparring to superstar

Chapter 154 152. The player who will never let you down

There's a newcomer in the village!

Early the next morning, Li Ao knocked on the door of the two new teammates with Big Q.

Matt Halprin and Blevin Knight were nervous to see Spider-Man coming.

This super genius has a great reputation, and the two worried that this guy brought his younger brother to give them a bad shot... Then they felt how terrible social terror is.

When we went to have breakfast together, the lively Brevin Knight even wrote a love letter to the high school girl next door when he was in elementary school, and was posted on the community bulletin board by the girl's father. He was ridiculed for five years. It's all said and done.

Li Ao also learned what happened to the two yesterday.

The Cavaliers are currently playing consecutive away games and just finished playing the Pistons the day before yesterday.

The transaction was completed yesterday morning. When the Cavaliers left Detroit at noon, they did not take them with them, and they were thrown in Detroit.

The two were suddenly traded, and it took them a long time to realize that they were abandoned. They could only comfort each other and contact the Clippers. They arrived in Minneapolis in the middle of the night last night.

After listening to Blevin Knight's talk about their tragic experience yesterday, Li Ao said: "Hey, if we played against the Pistons today, then we could be in Detroit yesterday."

Blevin Knight said emotionally: "It would be great if that was the case. We won't be so alone after being traded, with you here."

"Huh? I'm sorry, I didn't think much of it, I mean I'm sorry I didn't see the silly looks of you two being thrown in the parking lot."

Vaco!Blevin Knight is now not to mention moved, even the sadness brought about by yesterday's encounter is gone.

Matt Harprin's personality is more restrained and taciturn. Li Ao took the initiative to ask questions before he could hold back a sentence or two.

But when it comes to playing games, Matt Harprin talks a little more.

When asked what goals he has for his new team, he replied: "Run off the ball, run out of space, grab rebounds, stay focused on taking easy shots around the rim, make free throws, do what the coaches have given me. All defensive tasks."

"Well, Matt, some tasks are impossible to complete, such as guarding O'Neal."

"Target! I'm talking about target!" Matt Harprin's voice suddenly increased and broke.

Li Ao is in a good mood seeing Matt Harprin finally breaking the defense.

After breakfast, he left a sentence "Matt, we are quite similar, I think we will be able to cooperate happily on the court", and left first.

He also has to go to the target center in advance to practice back shots and mid-range shots.

Practice more, and strive to quickly practice to the level where you can complete the training task of the first level of the basic back, and then you can get an additional 1% of the training results.

Mid-range shooting also needs to continue to improve. Off-the-ball back-ups and turn-and-catch shots can trigger "catch-and-shoot experts", but back-up shots with the ball can't. I'm used to the top mid-range shots.

The hotel they are staying in now is a 15-minute walk from the Target Center, and they walked there slowly, just to digest.

After Li Ao left, Blevin Knight and Matt Harprin were speechless for a while.

Blevin Knight asked, "Matt, what do you think of Spider-Man?"

"It's not bad. After chatting with him, I don't have the heart to think about being traded."

"It really is……"

Blevin Knight found that although he had the urge to fight, he was in a much better mood than last night.

But thinking of what Li Ao said when he left...

"Matt, Spider-Man said you look like him."

Blevin Knight doesn't even know how to complain.

Matt Harprin nodded: "It's very similar. What I said is what he did on the court. That's what I've been working hard for."

Brevin Knight recalled his teammate's style of play, and it seemed that it was indeed very much like Spider-Man's style of play.

However, when connecting Spider-Man with Matt Harprin, Blevin Knight is a little disillusioned. People from two worlds.

Bridge Bean Sacks!

Blevin Knight suddenly woke up, this old teammate with thick eyebrows and big eyes who looked calm and serious, could it be that he was licking the new boss just now?

How can it be repaired!
Such a good thing didn't call him!

...

On Li Ao's side, he arrived at the target center at 8:15, and started additional training at 8:[-].

He first practiced two sets of turnaround jumpers. At first, the team's personal coach James Worthy stared at him after watching it.

When did Spider-Man secretly practice God's turning over?
But after watching a few more balls, he said "Oh", it turned out to be just a layer of skin.

There is only one movement that is beautiful and picturesque, and there are basically no skills, and the turning movement is more like turning around with a step.

Li Ao defeated the Lakers, completed the mission objective 3 of "Counterattack OK", and got the "Random Action Pack for Back Hitting". What he got was actually not Jordan's turnaround jumper action bag, but Kobe's turnaround jumper related to the OK combination. action pack...

But the movements are really too similar, and Li Ao only turns over, there are no other back steps, and there is no distinction between the details of the movements when facing the defense.

In fact, Li Ao's turnaround jumper action includes a schematic diagram of the full action, and his impression of Jordan's turnover jumper, the difference is quite obvious. Kobe after 30 years old, and Jordan after 30 years old, the difference in physical fitness, compared to 30 years old Before the age of 35, Jordan was still waiting for his opponent to fall in the air. Although Kobe was still at the top of the league in terms of physical fitness before his Achilles tendon rupture, the gap with Jordan of the same age was already obvious. action details.

But from James Worthy’s point of view, Li Ao first looked for Jordan to learn to play back, and Kobe’s side is still playing face-up, with back-up, but it’s not as strong as face-up play, anyway, he didn’t enter James Worthy With his discerning eyes, he naturally thought that Li Ao secretly practiced Jordan's turn-around jumper according to the video.

Maybe in the future, when Kobe is over 30 years old, when James Worthy sees Kobe's turnaround jumper, he may not think of Jordan...

After practicing two sets of turnaround jump shots, Li Ao devoted himself to the training of back shots and mid-range shots.

At 9:1 in the morning, Li Ao came to the visiting team's training ground after completing an hour of extra training in the small single-open training ground to watch the test of the two new teammates.

All the other Clippers players came to get to know new teammates and new competitors.

Gentry is very satisfied with this atmosphere. In the last season, no one cares about this.

And finally there is no need to worry about the impact on the team atmosphere. Seeing that the team has become cohesive, if McGinnis is really given a few more chances to get good data, he thinks about the character and brains of this former player. horrible.

On Li Ao's side, he focused on observing the technical characteristics of the two teammates according to the player evaluation report, and how he wanted to partner with the two new teammates.

The team is not ready to watch the video and has no experience in playing against each other, but it is always good to know more about the technical characteristics of the two.

Matt Harprin, with a comprehensive evaluation of 77, averaged 28 minutes per game, scored 11 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Without close shots, mid-range shots, and three-pointers, the shooting percentages are 34%, 29%, and 25%, respectively.

But the long two-point shooting rate is an exaggerated 48.9%, averaging 3.1 long two-point shots per game, scoring 1.5.

He averaged 3.6 shots and 2.3 goals per game at the basket, and his shooting percentage was as high as 63%.

The total shooting percentage is a very beautiful 45.6%.

The flaw is also obvious, holding the ball slag, has some breakthrough ability but not much.

On the defensive end, Kenyon Dooling and Maggette, who returned from injury, went to serve as sparring partners.

Li Ao was eager to try, but was heartbroken by Gentry.

"He will definitely not be able to outrun you in a long-distance race."

Li Ao glared at the head coach angrily, but the other side just played badly, with a posture of "as long as I can't beat me to death, I will endure it". He could only watch Matt Harprin's defensive test resentfully.

Strong body, large muscles, 201 cm + 105 kg weight, fierce and active in confrontation, better mobility than his body looks, full of defensive pressure, but rarely reach out for the ball, defensive method against interference, solid footwork .

The style of defense is kind of like... Afro.

However, although he has a weight of 10 kg heavier than the explosive head, the confrontation effect is not so good. He does not have Kobe's outstanding explosive power. He defends the light-footed Kenyon Dooling. The types are not that wide.

Just looking at this test, Matt Harprin's performance... did not meet Li Ao's expectations.

If it's this level of defense, even if this new teammate is combined with offense, it can't be said to be particularly good.

His high rating on Matt Harprin's offense is based on the fact that he's an excellent wing defender.

The expectations are too high, and the disappointment is even more.

Instead, it was the small point guard Brian Knight, who he didn't look up to before, and his performance in the test was impressive.

Blevin Knight's speed test and pass test are flying.

Boykins, who was the fastest in the team, was called to compare his speed, and the onlookers cheered wildly as if he was watching a track and field competition.

The passing accuracy is also amazing. In the previous game against the Jazz, Li Ao was amazed by Stockton's super long-distance ground pass from one side of the baseline to the other side of the free throw line. Blevins - Knight also actively performed this trick in the test.

Compared with Matt Harprin, who talks less, has a stern expression, and a dignified figure, Blevin Knight, who has a lively personality and a more entertaining style of play, is obviously more popular with his new teammates.

Everyone is welcoming Blevin Knight to join, only Boykins said "welcome to our big family" to Matt Harpring.

Boykins noticed the disappointment in Li Ao's eyes when he looked at Matt Harperin. After the team's pre-match training, he found Li Ao.

"Leo, the new Matt, you can be more patient with him, you will find that he is very good."

"Ok?"

Boykins found that his words were not quite right, and Spider-Man's eyes were disappointed, that is, with expectation.

He rephrased and said, "Leo, Matt is the kind of player you don't notice at first glance, but will never let you down."

Li Ao responded, "Maybe."

Boykins emphasized: "He is a player who keeps sprinting forward, and time will tell everything."

"I'll watch, but now I have a question."

Seeing Li Ao's expression full of doubts, Boykins asked, "What's the problem? I'll tell you if I know."

"When you welcomed Matt to join just now, he didn't pay attention to you..." Li Ao's expression changed from doubt to enlightenment: "So it's because he only saw the front and his ears are not good, so he didn't see you?"

Boykins: (へ╬)
Believe it or not I jump up and hit you on the knee!
Li Ao stopped teasing Xiaochong, and asked seriously, "Earl, do you have a good relationship with Matt?"

"We were classmates in high school."

"Oh, old teammate! No wonder you speak up for him."

"We are not teammates..."

"You are fired?"

"You just got kicked out! He was captain of the football team in high school and I was captain of the basketball team, not teammates of course.

When he was 14 years old and still in the 8th grade, he was borrowed by the high school team as the main force and helped the school team win the city championship. In his senior year, he led our high school football team to a 32-game winning streak and won the championship. All the colleges want him, he's as popular as Allen Iverson.

But in the end he chose to play basketball. It is said that he has never liked rugby. It is only because his father, grandfather, uncle, and brother are all professional rugby players. After studying in college and leaving home, he has the opportunity to devote himself to the sport he likes. .

We both entered the NBA in 98. Before that, he and I played in the Magic and Cavaliers, but the funny thing is that we have never been teammates.

We're not really close friends, he's not very gregarious, he won't talk if he doesn't feel like he has anything to say... not because I'm short and he can't see! "

"Really, eh? Earl, where are you? Why is there only sound? Are you a ghost..."

Li Ao stood up straight and looked around, his expression gradually frightened.

Boykins couldn't restrain himself any longer and jumped up to hit Li Ao, but Li Ao moved flexibly and easily dodged again...

...

In the evening, the game between the Clippers and the Timberwolves started as scheduled.

2小时23分钟比赛打完，森林狼队以95比89险胜快船队，让快船队再度回到五成胜利，19胜19负。

李敖今晚出场36分钟，17投8中，其中三分球3中1，加上6中4的罚球，拿到21分9板6助攻3盖帽。

He made several dunks against Garnett in the last game, and his deterrence is still there tonight. Philip Sanders will not play fancy games tonight, and will directly play conventional tactics.

Of course, Li Ao's deterrence for dunking Garnett will not be lost because of this. He has a lot of mid-range shooting opportunities and a lot of passing opportunities.

In terms of rebounds, O'Neal and Chris Mihm, who came off the bench, both changed their way of grabbing defensive rebounds. When Li Ao had the action of shrinking and filling the flanks, both of them chose to block and cooperated with Li Ao to complete the game. On the backboard, Li Ao got more rebound opportunities and grasped them well.

However, the Clippers can maintain the possibility of reversal tonight, not by Li Ao.

The newcomer Matt Harprin got 31 minutes of playing time in the first game, and he played as a power forward!

At the beginning, Gentry sent Brian Skinner, who was 206 cm and 111 kg, to start. After being blown away, he chose to let Matt Harperin play.

Garnett was underestimated by Matt Halperin's defense ... and then tortured by Matt Halperin.

One-on-one defense, Matt Harprin didn't defend Garnett very well, but he was rough and defensively continuous. As long as Garnett stopped, he would be stuck and forced to Accept melee.

Garnett didn't expect such a No. 8 role for the Clippers. He played very well in the first half, 5 of 6, but only 1 of [-] in the second half. The goal he scored in the second half was an angry throw. A three-pointer was scored.

加内特全场14投6中，其中三分球1中1，加上6中4的罚球拿到17分8板3助攻，表现低于赛季平均。

不过森林狼队还有17分9助攻的特里尔-布兰登、15分10板的斯泽比亚克、16分的安东尼-皮勒，最终笑到了最后。

Li Ao was amazed by Matt Harprin's performance just as a partner for the first time.

After lowering expectations, the feedback he got made him even more delighted.

This new teammate is indeed implementing the 'goal: complete all defensive tasks assigned by the coach'.

As long as the task has not been completed, try to do it with all your strength, even if it cannot be completed in the end.

Truly a player who won't let you down!

And Blevin Knight... The reason why he was given up by the Cavaliers can be felt in the first game of Li Ao's partner.

It's not a bad player, but he's fundamentally different from Boykins.

Boykins is positioned as a scorer. When he goes on the court, his teammates will know that he wants to shoot, and he doesn't need his teammates to accommodate him. He will look for opportunities by himself, and find opportunities to shoot.

He can pass, he can play, but his first goal is to shoot, and he can score.

Blevin Knight is the complete opposite, a core player.

Moreover, his scoring ability is extremely poor, and he cannot rely on his personal ability to drive his teammates. He needs the whole team to move around him to play a role.

Matt Halprin is plug-and-play and can contribute immediately, while Blevin Knight is difficult to integrate in the first place.

Li Ao is actually more suitable to partner with Blevin Knight. In terms of passing, this new teammate is really good. He has a good vision and can deliver the ball stably when he sees an opportunity. So far in his career, the ratio of assists to turnovers is 3.1:1. sharp.

But the teammates may not be able to adapt to this kind of play where one person holds the ball and the whole team runs.

However, Li Ao did not pay attention to Blevin Knight. How to integrate this new teammate is a matter for the coaching staff.

His current thoughts are all on improving his personal ability and how to help the team win.

...

On the 17th, the Clippers came to Milwaukee to challenge the Bucks in back-to-back away games and suffered a disastrous defeat 101-122.

Li Ao met Ray Allen, who was completely different from the version of the Celtics in his impression. He was good at shooting suddenly, organized offense well, and got 7 assists in a single game.

However, Li Ao's defense was okay. Ray Allen only made 21 of 8 shots and scored only 22 points.

Ray Allen's 44% three-pointers this season were only 6 of 2 by Li Ao tonight.

The breakthrough is not as sharp as Iverson and Tracy McGrady, and Kobe's quickness in retreat, emergency stop, and frame attack is not as fast as Kobe's. In terms of comprehensive scoring methods, they are not as comprehensive and strong as Carter.

Ray Allen's physical condition and style of play were just restrained by Li Ao.

But the Bucks still have a big dog who is still stable with 19 of 9 and 21 points under Matt Harperin's mad dog defense.

And the aliens who soared 32 points and 14 assists tonight!

李敖今晚19投10中拿到27分5板8助攻2抢断1盖帽，表现相当好，但对方飙得太狠了。

The firepower of the first generation of three musketeers is so fierce that Li Ao can only lament that they are indeed the league's top scoring super offensive team.

After a day of rest, on the 19th and 20th, the Clippers played back-to-back against the Pacers and Eagles.

After two games of adaptation, Matt Harprin quickly integrated into the team's defense.

Gentry put Matt Harprin in the starting lineup against the Pacers, starting with Greg Anthony, Big Q, Li Ao, and O'Neal.

With this lineup, only looking at defense, the Clippers have reached a new level.

But the offense is astonishingly poor. The 2-4 positions are all players who play mainly off the ball. O'Neal did not have the offensive state when he played the Lakers tonight.

In the first half of the quarter, the Clippers only scored 6 points against the Pacers, but they only had 4 points...

In the following time, Gentry asked Li Ao to practice back hitting on the court...the performance was not bad!
Gentry, who was standing on the same side, was paralyzed, and he was full of plans. Their Spider-Man had only developed a back-up game for a month. Stopping the catch and shooting, he already looks good, and he made 4 of 2 shots!
Although Jaylen Rose has put all his energy into offense this season, his defensive performance is far worse than last year, and his defensive enthusiasm is not as crazy as when he stepped on Kobe. From a first-class player with both offense and defense, he has now scored 20+ points and 5+ assists An all-round offensive player, the offense is strong and the defense is weak.

But the development progress of Spider-Man still shocked Gentry.

What he originally expected was that next season Li Ao would be able to use backs as an offensive method with the ball...

In the end, the Clippers lost to the Pacers 71 to 79.

李敖拿到18分11板，生涯第二次两双，外加3助攻1抢断4盖帽。

The defense did a good job, but the offense pulled the crotch.

But Li Ao didn't miss someone who could attack when McInnis was there. During the half-month of McInnis' rise, their defense was almost loose.

Now it's hard to come to a defensive leader... Yes, Matt Harprin came to the Clippers in just 3 games, and he has already won the respect of his teammates on the defensive end.

People who lack the ball to attack can wait.

But the defense that was finally tightened up fell apart, and it will be even more difficult to tighten up again.

Besides this, Li Ao still has a little bit of selfishness.

Odom hasn't come back yet. It's very difficult for them to win. They can't win. Let McInnis dominate the ball and play singles. It's better for him to play singles a few times and practice backs...

...

On the 20th, the Clippers finally won.

105 to 79, the Clippers beat the Eagles away again.

Although the Eagles also lost the last time they played against the Clippers, Terry himself was very fierce, but his style of play, once he became iron, was really iron. Tonight he made 9 of 2 shots and scored 8 points and 6 Assists, and 7 turnovers...

With Li Ao's single defense, Matt Harprin's supplementary flank defense, and O'Neal's frame protection, Terry missed a wide shot from the outside, so he had to squat down after the game to count whether he wore fewer socks.

Jermaine O'Neal was defended by Mutombo again tonight... No matter how ruthless and courageous he is, he still cannot match the difference in strength.

但老鹰队外线防守很糟糕，李敖18投9中，其中三分球5中2，外加10中10的罚球，拿到本赛季第6次单场30+，30分4板4助攻1抢断6盖帽！

He avenged O'Neal, who was capped 3 times, and Mutombo 3 times.

This season, Duncan has one thing that has attracted great attention-he has been blocked 40 times in 60 games, averaging 1.5 blocks per game.

But in fact, the age-unknown Mutombo, who averaged 9 points per game and shot only 47% from the field, is the king of caps. He has been capped 35 times in 70 appearances.

Not only is the offensive ability poor, but also poor in eating cakes, and the awareness of avoiding blocks is also poor...

Blevin Knight played 31 minutes tonight and got 31 assists in just 9 minutes!
When the opponent's peripheral defense is not tight, he can use his speed to intersperse at will, and he has played a miraculous effect!

Gentry found an opportunity to use Blevin Knight-to play a big team.

A point guard with an average annual salary of nearly 500 million US dollars can only be used for fishing. It is too extravagant, but it is better than there is really no way to use it.

And you can use it like this first to see if you can develop more uses.

...

Halfway through the regular season, they played 41 games and got a record of 20 wins and 21 losses.

The Clippers fans are very satisfied, and the coaching staff and most of the players are also very happy with this record, which has surpassed their 15 wins last season.

Li Ao's side...he has learned to use training to share this part of the pressure.

After 5 consecutive away games, the Clippers get two days off.

At noon on the 21st, the Clippers returned to Los Angeles.

After Li Ao got off the plane, he couldn't wait to drive back to the apartment.

The day before yesterday, on the morning of the 19th at Yingjiang's home time, his parents had already arrived in Los Angeles!
When he returned to the apartment, he saw that his small apartment had been evacuated...

Go to the auntie of the hospital assistant, um, it has not been evacuated, and the tables, chairs, sofas, TV cabinets and so on are still there.

but!That's all!
Not to mention that the other things have been moved to a clean place, there is not too much difference. It seems that they have even been cleaned by cleaning, as if they are about to be rented out.

Li Ao's expression was embarrassing.

His family moved, but the auntie assistant didn't tell him. The day before yesterday, his mother called and chatted with him for half an hour, but she didn't tell him.

And this isn't his hometown, it's the home he lives in now!

He went downstairs in a murderous spirit and drove to his new home. He parked the car on the road outside the yard, got out of the car, and was about to go in and question the parents of the house assistant... Then he saw the house assistant, who was dressed very ladylike, playing with the outermost fence of the yard. potted plants inside.

Usually, the aunts Li Ao sees are either wearing work clothes, close-fitting pajamas, or tight-fitting sportswear. The usual casual clothes are mostly T-shirts, sweaters, and jeans.

He suddenly put on a dress, the kind with a fluffy skirt, and he was stunned for a moment.

Vivian heard the sound of the engine, and when she looked up, Li Ao had already got out of the car and looked at her. She was a little nervous at first, although she looked younger than many of her students, but after all, she was 31 years old, and she was worried that Li Ao would dislike her Pretending to be tender.

But seeing Li Ao's stunned look, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, she trot out of the yard, raised her neck and looked at Li Ao.

Li Ao subconsciously moved his head closer, but Vivienne did not resist, and the two embraced gently, kissing each other...

On the side of the main road, the two of them stopped carrying each other.

But there was no one on the road now. On the basketball court in the front yard, two people hid behind the basketball pile and watched this scene with their mouths covered.

Both of them are not short in stature. Li Ao's mother, Zhou Limei, is just over 170 centimeters tall. She was a flower in the supply and marketing cooperative and also worked as a literary soldier.

His father, Li Weidong, was born in the army. He is a big man close to 1.9 meters, and he is also very strong now.

The two hid behind the basketball pile, hiding their loneliness, that is to say, the two outside started chatting after kissing, and they didn't notice them at all.

Zhou Limei was very excited, she tried her best to lower her voice and said: "I told you that Xiao Ao of our family must have taken a fancy to his teacher, and they all moved in together, you still don't believe me!"

Li Weidong was very puzzled, and asked in a low voice: "Daughter-in-law, didn't the news say that Ao Zi likes 18-year-olds? Those female stars he dates seem to be all 18-year-olds."

In the eyes of a mother, if her son is her son, she will not be the one who suffers.

Zhou Limei guessed: "Uh... Maybe Xiao Ao, who looks like 18 years old, also likes it?
(End of this chapter)