no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 162 The season ends, first in the league!

“When Jimmy was born, his father abandoned him and his mother. When he was 13 years old, his mother kicked him out of the house because of long-term life pressure and Jimmy’s appearance, and he became a homeless boy. "

Xu Yong's first words successfully attracted Foreman's attention.

It is very common among black people to abandon their wives and children, but it is very rare to become a homeless boy and still get an NCAA scholarship.

When eating becomes a problem for you, you can still know the goal of your struggle and persist in your struggle. This quality is very commendable.

Xu Yong continued to tell how 13-year-old Butler had to seek shelter from relatives after being kicked out of his home. But the relatives of poor people were all poor. Even if they could accept him, they could only drive him away within a few days.

So at that time, little Jimmy was like a hot ball being kicked back and forth.

Gradually, Butler developed a habit of shamelessly staying with relatives for a few days and then leaving voluntarily.

Sometimes no relatives are willing to accept him, and he goes to the trash can to find some food like a real homeless man.

It was in this environment that, like many other blacks, he pinned his hopes on basketball and started training crazily.

There was no coach to teach him, so he practiced those basic skills crazily on his own.

In high school, his skills were rough, but his tenacious style of play made him the main force of the team.

In his senior year of high school, he met the most important person in his life, Jordan Leslie, who had transferred to another school.

Leslie challenged him, and the two were evenly matched.

Leslie later invited him to his home as a guest. Although Butler agreed, he consciously left before the meal.

This happened every time he visited Leslie's house.

Finally, Leslie's mother, Michelle, noticed this and called him out.

After asking about Butler's childhood experience, Michelle couldn't help but get red-eyed.

Although the family already had six children and was not well off, Michelle finally decided to adopt Butler.

And that also became a turning point in Butler's life, because he finally had a new home, he didn't have to be full and hungry, his physical fitness began to improve, and he quickly became the team's number one star.

In his final year of high school, he averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds per game and won the team's MVP.

But that didn't earn him a scholarship to any NCAA team.

The high school he attended was too ordinary, and his static talent was too average.

In the end he was forced to choose a junior college, Tyler Junior College in Texas.

There, Butler was like a madman.

Desire for success, pursuit of scholarships, he tried his best to destroy every opponent he faced every night.

18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists, the team's scoring leader, and the All-American College Team. This is an achievement he achieved as a freshman.

With this kind of performance, and with the help of Michelle, he got a tryout opportunity at Marquette University, and finally succeeded in impressing the opponent during the tryout, winning himself a coveted scholarship.

Entering the NCAA Division I league was a new beginning for Butler. He began to be exposed to real basketball skills and tactics.

That's crazy, considering he was already a sophomore at the time.

But at this time, Butler showed an invisible basketball talent: basketball IQ.

He can quickly absorb and understand those techniques and tactics, and then improve himself through crazy training. He is like a sponge, making rapid progress.

The next story is that he was recruited by Sandek to Arizona State University, and then here we are.

Foreman looked surprised several times. As a scout, he has had experience with too many players, but Butler's experience is still unique.

But at the end, he asked this question: "You know when a person is in deep trouble, he will have the most primitive desire to live, but when everything around him starts to get better, that desire will disappear. .”

Foreman expressed his concern that Butler would not work as hard as he does now after entering the NBA.

"Yes, I believe many people are like that, but Jimmy is not included." Xu Yong shook his head.

"Are you so sure?" Forman looked at Xu Yong. Xu Yong was really recommending Butler as a junior.

"Last season, Arizona State University missed the championship due to being defeated by Pondexter. Jimmy found a photographer, printed the winning scene into a poster, and posted it on the back of the dormitory door, just to motivate himself at all times."

Xu Yong's words made Forman stunned.

He came today to inspect the players, so he naturally did some homework. He knew that Butler did not play in the game last season because he was the ball monitor.

This kind of mentality really shows that Butler is a special case.

At this moment, Butler blocked Joseph's layup after a tough confrontation. Arizona State University once again launched a defensive counterattack. With Butler's follow-up tip-in, they had tied the score.

……

In the end, Arizona State University once again defeated Syracuse University 66-62 and successfully reached the Sweet 16.

Butler played another game with a personal label, 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

The statistics are still not very impressive, but his tenacious playing style and influence on the game are clearly visible.

After the game, Xu Yong and the others went down to the field to congratulate Butler and the others.

"If you have any questions about participating in the draft, you can ask me at any time." Xu Yong, a senior, was very considerate.

Butler is a senior this year and will enter the draft after playing in the tournament.

Butler nodded gratefully. After he arrived at Arizona State University, Xu Yong was like his guiding light.

After leaving the arena, Xu Yong and the three of them took a car to the airport together, and prepared to go back to their respective homes to fight for the rest of the season.

While waiting at the airport, a few people chatted, and Ayers talked about his intuitive feelings after staying with the Heat for a while.

"They split into two camps."

Ayers' description instantly attracted the interest of Xu Yong and Harden.

"The DW camp includes Chris Bosh, Haslem, and Chalmers, and the LeBron camp includes Mike Miller, James Jones, Ilgauskas, and Arroyo. Be a member of it.”

Xu Yong nodded subconsciously, because that was exactly what it sounded like.The Heat's Big Three are essentially Wade's Heat faction and James' outside faction with a group of younger brothers.

But I didn't expect Arroyo, a former Heat player, to be on James' side.

And now Arroyo is gradually losing his status with the Heat, which means Riley chose to side with Wade.

The Heat team looks restless on the surface, but there is an undercurrent surging underneath.

Xu Yong then looked at Ayers. He suddenly felt that it was not all bad for Ayers to go to the Heat. Just like when he was with the Cavaliers, he could know a lot of internal news.

If you look at it this way, why do you feel like Ayers is a spy behind enemy lines?

……

After the NBA trade deadline, another important time point is the buyout deadline.

In normal years, there are no valuable players in the buyout market. After all, if you can really play, you won't be reduced to a buyout.

But there are a lot of valuable people in the buyout market this year.

For example, Corey Brewer, who was traded to the Timberwolves in a three-way trade, is also the "Captain of the Cavalry Company" as Xu Yong knows him;
Another example is Peja Stojakovic, who began to suffer from injuries at the beginning of the season and was bought out after being traded to the Raptors by the Hornets;
There is also Mike Bibby who was bought out after being traded to the Wizards;
In addition, Leon Bowie, who won the championship with the Celtics, older rookie Al Thornton, who averaged 16.8 points per game with the Clippers, and came back after retiring and performed well with the Magic. "White Chocolate" Jason Williams and more.

Although the Bulls have made gains in the free trade market, they are still active in the buyout market. Their goals are one of Brewer and Peja.

But in the end, neither of them chose the Bulls, but instead joined the Mavericks one after another.

The reasons for both of them are basically the same. The Bulls' current rotation is basically fixed, and they have little chance to play.

As for the Mavericks, due to Caron Butler's season reimbursement, they are short of players at small forward and shooting guard.

The Bulls didn't gain much, but the Heat made a lot of noise.

In order to sign Mike Bibby, Riley chose to waive Arroyo before the buyout deadline.

This move seems a bit incredible to others, because after trading for Ayers, they can choose to lay off players on the edge of the team like Dampier or Pittman.

Even if Bibby is signed, Arroyo can still serve as the team's backup point guard.

After all, no one can guarantee that Bibby will be able to integrate into the Heat, and Bibby's current defense is very bad.

In fact, this decision also caused strong dissatisfaction from James, and he publicly expressed this sentiment in front of the media.

"We hate losing Carlos. He played very hard. At the beginning of the season, he was our starting point guard. Even if the coach took away his opportunity, Carlos's game attitude was still very positive. We hate losing a player. A brother."

However, shortly after James expressed his views, Riley immediately responded in front of the media.

"Whether it is in terms of personal performance or professionalism, I recognize that Arroyo is a qualified player. But we have a bigger picture, so I can only say goodbye to him and wish him good luck in the future. "

It seems extremely weird for the team's core players and the team president to express their opinions to each other in front of the media.

However, people like Xu Yong who know the inside story will not be surprised. The Heat's overt and covert struggles are constantly escalating.

Or in other words, this incident verified Ayers' previous remarks that the Heat are not united internally.

This is obviously good news for the Bulls.

……

The final month of the regular season is the happiest period for Bulls fans and the easiest period for head coach Thibodeau.

In many games, the Bulls won the game in the third quarter, and then Thibodeau entered the custody mode.

After more than half a season of grinding and trading, the Bulls have found their most suitable lineup.

Even in order to reduce the consumption of veterans, Thibodeau began to reduce the playing time of veterans such as Yao Ming, O'Neal and O'Neal at this stage, and even found excuses to rest them.

Low-ankle sprains, calf cramps, and groin injuries, which are injuries that generally determine whether or not to play depending on the severity, began to appear on these Bulls players.

Although Thibodeau's experience in this area is still lacking, at least it is much more reliable than Popovich's tight hips next door.

Time flies to mid-April. After more than five months of competition, the curtain of the NBA 4~2010 season has come to an end.

In the Western Conference, the Spurs unexpectedly ranked first in the Western Conference with a record of 61 wins.

Their lineup has basically not changed from last season, but the team has not suffered from injuries like last season.

The Lakers ranked second in the West with 58 wins. Kobe averaged 25.3 points per game, the lowest since the 03-04 season.

小牛队以57胜排在西部第三，诺维茨基场均23分同样也是自03~04赛季以来的最低，但其51.7%的投篮命中率为生涯最高。

It is worth mentioning that this is also the 11th consecutive year that the Mavericks have recorded more than 50 wins, which is second only to the Spurs' 12 times.

The reason why the Mavericks feel weak this season is because the team is older and Caron Butler is out for the season.

The Thunder ranked fourth in the Western Conference with 55 wins. Westbrook scored more than 20 points for the first time in his career. With the trade of Jeff Green, Harden also averaged 15.6 points per game in his second year as a rookie. Perkins has greatly improved their competitiveness in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Hornets and Grizzlies ranked 5th to 8th.

After the Rockets traded Battier, the team's record declined and they missed the playoffs by one win.

Alexander was reluctant to give up the luxury tax, but in the end he got the hammer.

The Western Conference first-round matchups have not changed much from the history known to Xu Yong, Spurs VS Grizzlies, Lakers VS Hornets, Mavericks VS Trail Blazers, Thunder VS Nuggets.

In the East, although the Bulls' record had some ups and downs in the final stage due to rest periods, their record was still settled at 64 wins.

This record not only ranks them first in the Eastern Conference, but also ranks first in the league!

In terms of the team's core statistics, Rose averaged 25.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, shooting 47.5% from the field and 34.2% from three-point range, a career high;
徐永场均23.4分5.8板4.2助攻1.6抢断1.5盖帽，投篮命中率49.5%，三分球命中率41.2%；

It is worth mentioning that Rose's scoring average ranks third in the league, and Xu Yong's scoring average ranks 3th in the league. The Bulls' double-gun backcourt firepower is evident.

姚明场均18.7分9.3板3.1助攻2盖帽，投篮命中率58.8%；

阿泰斯特场均8.5分3.4板2助攻2.1抢断，投篮命中率44.3%，三分球命中率36.2%。

O'Neal averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1 block per game, and shot 61.2% from the field.

(End of this chapter)