no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 129 He was beaten away by you

A meme that only NBA players would understand.

Rookie A: The six-month offseason is coming, have you thought about what to do?
Star B: You only have six months of offseason, but you have six months of offseason every year!

Well, only members of teams that have not made the playoffs will start the offseason early.

Xu Yong followed the team through two rounds of playoffs, and his offseason was five months.

Of course, this is theoretical, because there is still a team training camp, and his offseason is only about four and a half months.

Unlike last year, more than half of the four and a half months did not belong to him.

Last year he did not represent the national team in the Asian Championships, but this year, he will represent the Chinese team in the World Cup.

Oh, it should still be called the World Championships at this time, and it was officially renamed in 2014.

For a national men's basketball team, the World Championships are second only to the Olympic Games.

However, the competition system at this time, because it is not linked to the number of Olympic places, the world's basketball powers like the United States will pay less attention to it.

Including some NBA overseas stars, they will also be restricted by their home team, preventing them from participating in the World Cup.

Because players, especially stars, are injured while participating in international events, their parent teams suffer the most.

Including the Bulls, in fact, they also communicated with Xu Yong about letting him give up the World Championships.

But Xu Yong finally decided to fight. On the one hand, it was because it was an agreement with Yao Ming. On the other hand, more importantly, he knew that he would not be injured, and he could pursue the national honor he wanted.

And he is also very clear that although he is playing in the NBA, the fans in China are the ones who support him the most. Even for those who support him, he will appear on the stage of this kind of world series.

Of course, that was at the end of August, even if you count the warm-up match, it was also in August.

In the three months before this, he had other things to do.

The first thing he did was to go to AJ's headquarters in Oregon with Schwartz.

It's a bit exaggerated to say, but it's so reasonable that AJ is ready to issue signature shoes for him!
In fact, when Xu Yong and AJ signed a short-term contract at the beginning, how could AJ not know that he meant to make a transition?

Don't use your hobbies to challenge other people's majors. The operation of such a big brand is very sensitive.

Of course, the main reason for this is that Xu Yong's performance in his rookie season was so explosive.

Winning the best rookie has exceeded many people's expectations. You must know that he started his career with the title of "No. [-] in parallel imports", and then went to a team with a top backcourt like the Bulls.

Then there is the style of play, which will not be obvious in the data, but it is the most real in terms of sneaker sales.

In a word, AJ's overseas shoes, especially in China, have sold like crazy in the past year.

Coupled with the dunk contest in the middle of the season, and the black eight in the playoffs.

You can now see many Xu Yong concept signature shoes designed by fans on social media.

According to the words of the fans, if you don't make signature shoes, the fans will make them for you!
And because of its high popularity, it can be said that it is a new generation of popular signature sneakers. AJ also attaches great importance to it and even respects Xu Yong's personal ideas.

No way, if you can sell shoes, you are the father of the shoe factory.

Xu Yongyong understands sneaker design, but as a reborn person, he has seen many popular shoes that have not been designed yet. He just needs to look at which technologies are relatively mature in this era and add a little personal touch.

So when asked about his ideas, he basically based it on PG1 shoes, and then added some personal characteristics.

This was basically adopted by AJ’s designers.

The development of sneakers is generally forward, and this kind of advanced sneaker design is in line with the concept of advanced fashion.

As for whether this will interrupt George's future sneaker career, it certainly won't, but don't underestimate the ability of sneaker designers.

After leaving the AJ headquarters, Xu Yong followed Schwartz and flew around for half a month, basically participating in some commercial activities of endorsement brands.

Such concentrated running is also because he is a little different from other stars.

Most stars will find time to participate in business activities during the game, but Xu Yong usually trains for a long time, and many activities have been postponed to the summer.

However, he has not returned to China for the time being, because NBA officials specially arranged a trip to China this year, and he and several other people will be together.

So after half a month of busy work, Master Xu bought a plane ticket to Tempe.

Like last summer, he made an appointment with Harden to go back to school for training.

He was the first to arrive, but he was not the only one in the training hall. Butler and several other Devils players had been training here for more than a month.

Arizona State University's enrollment last summer must have been more than Butler, after all, Butler can't get in even if he sits on the ball.

Last season, in addition to Cooksix, Albert and Boateng, the core of the team also added a five-star high school student and two four-star high school students.

The five-star high school student was Lance Stephenson, who was ranked eighth in 2010. That's right, he was the "junior brother" that Xu Yong knew.

As for four-star high school students, one is Solomon Hill, ranked 56th, and the other is Tony Mitchell, ranked 93rd.

However, they failed to reach the tournament. When they faced the University of Washington in the league playoffs, they were defeated by Quincy Pondexter, the core of the University of Washington, and were eliminated in the first round.

After the season ended, Stephenson had left school to participate in the draft, while Hill and Mitchell chose to stay in school.

So after Xu Yong arrived, he could play half-time in addition to training, which was very convenient.

And during training, Xu Yong found that Butler had improved a lot this year, especially his mid-range and long-range shooting, which surprised him a bit.

However, if you think about it carefully, Butler's mid-range has always been stable in the NBA, which shows that he has talent in this area. As for three-pointers, the NCAA's three-point line is one meter closer than the NBA.

However, if he is able to practice like this as a ball supervisor, he is indeed a person who works hard enough, and the environment cannot stop him from progressing.

After the training, Xu Yong and Butler went to the school dormitory.

It is also fate, butler lives in the same room where Xu Yong and Harden lived.

"When I first came here, I don't know who removed the mattresses from the two beds here, or the school replaced them later." As soon as they entered, Butler and Xu Yong were complaining.

Xu Yong coughed dryly. They seemed to have forgotten to get the mattress back after training last year.

Returning to the dormitory, Xu Yong looked at the old things with many emotions.

Just then, he found a poster pasted behind the door.

Not Jordan, not Kobe, and certainly not James.

Xu Yong still knows that person. He and Harden were in the Pac-10 league when they were playing at Arizona State University.

"Is this the ball that Pondexter killed?" Xu Yong asked, pointing.

Butler nodded: "I asked the photographer for a photo of that game. Looking at this photo every day makes me very motivated."

Hearing this, Xu Yong glanced at Butler, feeling quite touched in his heart.

Butler couldn't play last season, so he sat in the back row of the bench and acted as a VIP spectator.

But just like that, he still ran to ask for a photo, and then hung it on the wall.

Ordinary people can't do this kind of thing.

It can only be said that Butler's ability to play well is really due to his character.

He also suddenly felt that no matter how Butler played, he had to recommend it to the management.

And the success rate of this matter should not be small.

Because Butler's dynamic and static talents are very average. If he remembers correctly, the prediction for the election in history is only in the middle of the second round. It was Wade, the old Marquette University senior who recommended it to the Bulls, and the Bulls were the last in the first round. He took it off.

So for a late first-round pick, it's quite a big deal for Foreman to take his advice.

Xu Yong continues to train in Tempe and Butler, but besides training, he is also paying attention to the games later in this year's playoffs.

In the East, the Magic swept two consecutive rounds and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they faced off against the Celtics for the top spot.

With this posture, if it weren't for a reborn like Xu Yong, there is a high probability that they will be able to reach the finals for the second consecutive year.

In contrast, the west side is much more intense.

The second round of the contest between the Lakers and the Suns played the intensity of the conference finals, and the Lakers who won in the end relied entirely on Kobe's random kills.

In the Kobe series, he averaged 33.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game, shooting 52.1% from the field, 43.2% from the three-point range, and 88.1% from the free throw line. His efficiency value is outstanding.

Especially in the first game of G6, the Suns were 17 points behind at home and chased all the way to only 3 points. At the critical moment, Kobe made two consecutive ultra-difficult mid-range hits, one of which was double-teamed. The Suns head coach Gentry smiled wryly, and finally eliminated the Suns with 37 points in a single game.

Facts have proved that Kobe's overall strength in the past two years has been unsolvable. Defenses other than the Celtics' level cannot restrain him at all.

Another set of Rockets and Spurs series also played sparks.

A trivia fact, although the Spurs and Rockets are both in Texas and right next door to each other, the last time the two teams met in the playoffs dates back to the Western Conference Finals 15 years ago.

At that time, the Rockets were still in Olajuwon's peak era.

In terms of the scene, this year's Rockets are obviously overpowering the Spurs.

Popovich put Parker on the bench this year and started George Hill and Ginobili, but it didn't work out.

Of course, the most terrible thing is that with Bowen's retirement, they lack a perimeter defensive pioneer, which makes them unable to limit Hamilton's performance.

In the end, after six games, the Rockets successfully eliminated the Spurs 4-2 and successfully entered the Western Conference Finals.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time in Yao Ming's career that he has touched the floor of the Western Conference Finals.

The rematch between the Lakers and the Rockets is also full of highlights.

The East and West finals have not yet started, and Harden, DeRozan, and Ayres finally came to Tempe one after another.

Harden was the first to arrive, but he didn't come alone, but with a large truck.

As soon as the back door of the big truck was opened, my good guy, it was a used mattress.

"I was worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep well, so I airlifted the mattress I slept on from Oklahoma." Harden's explanation made people unable to refute it, but also unable to complain.

When they get together again, their faces are full of excitement.

Although they met privately during the season, the last time they got together like this was before the draft.

In a season, there are always many interesting things to talk about.

Harden was the first to show up his "KBforever" account, causing the other three to yell.

Xu Yong was also very moved.

The relationship between NBA players is essentially a colleague relationship. Like him and Rose, although they also have intersections in private, they are not close to the level of friends.

Including Noah, they have little communication off the court.

But Harden is different. The guy who recognized him as a friend at the beginning has really always regarded him as a friend.

This is the friendship of the student days, how can we say that the friendship of the student days is the most precious?

Moreover, Xu Yong noticed that Harden was always wearing the red string of copper coins that he had given him before. Harden was indeed a very emotional person.

Of course, Harden didn't say how this account came about. If Durant is mentioned, he really can't hide anything.

"You don't know how miserable I have been this year." Ailes put on a bitter face, and then the plot of the Cleveland story meeting.

The first story happened after the G3 game, when James gave a [King's Speech] to boost morale.

It's just that this speech is not so serious, because James described the series as an upgrade to fight monsters. In order to make his teammates better understand, he also used Contra and Super Mario as examples.

Judging from the final effect, it didn't seem to have much effect, so there was the social media status chart at 3:33 in the morning that appeared later.

Then it was after the G6 game. When the players returned to the locker room and Varejao gave a speech as the locker room captain, encouraging the players to make a comeback next season, James had already left the locker room before he finished speaking. Leave the awkward crowd behind.

"This summer will be very exciting." Harden said with anticipation after listening.

Although James has always avoided talking about the contract issue in the summer, there have been rumors about him leaving the Cavaliers.

These details unknown to the outside world also verify that point.

"If LeBron really leaves Cleveland, does it count as being beaten away by Xu?" At this moment, DeRozan, who had been silent before, suddenly asked shrewdly.

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, then nodded one after another.

Calculate!
In their opinion, if they hadn't been hacked by the Bulls, the Cavaliers would still have a good chance of winning the championship this year.

If he wins the championship, James will most likely stay.

As for the Bulls' ability to complete the black eight, Xu Yong's guillotine kill is the well-deserved first contributor.

So even if the King of Heaven comes, this will definitely be considered.

"Speaking of which, LeBron shouldn't be going to Chicago this summer?" DeRozan continued.

Hearing these words, Harden and Ayers burst into laughter, and Ayers even put on an expression of "it's not impossible".

Xu Yong had a dark look on his face.

I didn't expect that you kid looked harmless to humans and animals, but turned out to be pure Zhanhei!

But when DeRozan said this, Xu Yong was curious about where James would go.

Because the Bulls may not necessarily pursue James, but there is a high probability that they will pursue Bosh.

There are currently five positions on the team, and the one that can be strengthened is the power forward.

Bosh's words can open up space and can also be used as the team's low-post offensive strength, which is perfect.

And even if the Bulls don't trade Hinrich, they still have enough salary space to sign any top-paid player.

　Excellent!It’s really not easy, thank you for your continuous support, and the sixth book, just echoes the 6th, I hope everyone will be happy~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)