no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 271 What is a surprise

The Chinese team defended the Olympic championship without Yao Ming. Xu Yong once again performed at the Olympic level after his brilliant personal performance in the NBA playoffs last season, and what Xu Yong said in an interview, "Thank you James," All of them attracted huge response after the Olympic Games.

The name Xu Yong has given the NBA and even the influence of the sport of basketball an extraordinary increase.

Just like the emergence of Bolt, the influence of the 100-meter event, which was already the king of track and field, was broken, and the emergence of Phelps caused the attention of swimming to skyrocket.

Of course, he is also like Jordan, but unlike Jordan, Xu Yong did this in the Olympics this time. He can be said to have completed a Grand Slam this year.

"Xu continues to enhance the NBA's global influence. We are very, very grateful for his appearance." Bird also reiterated his opinions in front of the media.

There is no doubt that as Kobe, Nowitzki, Duncan and others retired last season, the traces of the early NBA century can be said to have basically disappeared, and the league has entered a new era, and the leader of this era is Xu Yong.

Now anyone can make a simple assumption, that is, if Xu Yong suddenly stops playing in the NBA, the impact he will have is almost the same as when Jordan retired. The NBA will enter a big gap period, and Others cannot support the vacuum market at all.

After the Olympics, Xu Yong returned to China again. Last time he came back from London, he didn't attend the national team's celebration banquet, so he had to make up for it this time. Moreover, he was busy with work before, and this time he had to go home for a few days.

By the time he finished all this, he returned to Chicago in September.

In Chicago in September, the heat wave that hits you when you get off the plane represents the end of summer.

Xu Yong only rested at home for two days, and went to the United Center early on the third day.

Although he has been in a state of excessive consumption since the playoffs last season, because he will not be injured, all he needs to overcome is fatigue.

This kind of fatigue is both physical and psychological. The relatively relaxed state over the past week or so has allowed him to recover. What he needs to do now is to start preparing for the new season in advance.

Because the team was tired last season and he was busy in the summer, he did not hold any small training camp this year, so when he went to the arena, it was just him and the trainer who picked up the ball.

Grover's cooperation with him ended last season, and the trainer he is now looking for is basically a caddy.

Now his skills and abilities have basically reached a peak state. What needs to be done is to maintain this state, which also requires a lot of training.

The first phase of training lasted about an hour. Xu Yong then sat on the sidelines to wipe his sweat and rest, and chatted with the trainer about the details of the training.

At this moment, the door of the training hall was pushed open. The sound of the door opening made them stop communicating, and then they looked at the door in unison.

A person Xu Yong didn't expect appeared there.

Dejounte Murray, the delinquent that Foreman calls.

Xu Yong doesn't know much about Murray, but he is still impressed by this player who came from the Spurs and became an All-Star with the Hawks. After all, when commentating and preparing for a game, the information of the core players is very important. .

Of course, the key is that this guy looks exactly like what he remembers, even though he is only 19 years old now.

You can understand that he looks anxious, or that his temperament seems to be precocious.

When he saw Xu Yong, Murray also seemed very surprised and froze on the spot not knowing what to do.

Seeing this, Xu Yong waved to him.

"I thought there was no one inside." Murray walked to Xu Yong, looked at Xu Yong, probably didn't know what to call him, and pointed directly in the direction of the door and turned around.

"You came early." Xu Yong picked up the watch on the stool and looked at the time. It was only 7:10 in the morning.

"I wanted to come earlier, but the doorman here said the door would not open until 7 o'clock, so I had to come at this time." Murray explained, scratching the back of his head.

Xu Yong nodded. It is true that the door does not open until 7 o'clock under normal circumstances, but Xu Yong has the privilege of having someone open the door early when he arrives.

"How long have you been practicing here?" Xu Yong said and gestured for him to sit down. Murray's first impression on him was a bit unrelated to the troubled boy Foreman mentioned. If you have to say it, you said Stephenson might It's more like a well-behaved boy.

"More than a month? After playing in the summer league, I rented a house nearby." Murray explained after sitting down.

"Have you ever been robbed?" Xu Yong asked with a smile. Murray was brave enough.

"I've encountered it before, but I figured it out."

"Oh?" This surprised Xu Yong.

Murray hesitated for a moment, saw Xu Yong looking at him, and finally said: "I went to the largest gang in Chicago and gave their boss in this area a sum of money."

Xu Yong laughed when he heard this.

This way of dealing with it is very street-like, and it finally has something to do with the troubled boy Foreman mentioned.

The two briefly chatted for a few words, and Murray went to train at Xu Yong's signal.

Xu Yong also observed for a while.

Murray gave him the feeling that his movement control skills are quite good and his impact power is sufficient, but his body looks very thin and his shooting is relatively poor.

Coupled with his excellent physical talent (1 meters in shoes and 96 meters in wingspan), this is obviously a diamond in the rough. Even if the body looks thinner, theoretically he should be on the edge of the first-round lottery.

It seems that the identity and background Foreman mentioned had a considerable impact on his draft stock.

However, after the two briefly came into contact today, Xu Yong felt that at least he was not a thorn in the side.

Of course, this is just the first impression. After all, people are complicated. Performing well in front of the team boss and seeking opportunities to play is what normal people do.

After a period of time, Murray knew that Xu Yong was there and arrived at the training hall earlier.

After this period of time, Xu Yong felt that although Murray was a little taciturn, he was very hardworking, and the most valuable thing is that he, like Butler at the time, knew exactly what he should do now.

Because in addition to court training, Murray also spent a lot of time in the gym, trying to make himself stronger.

So although Xu Yong is still not sure whether Murray is a problem boy, what is certain is that, like Butler, he is the kind of player who can perform well in different places.

After more than a week passed, other players came to Chicago one after another.

What surprised Xu Yong again was that the Serbian tea master came earlier.

"What, you didn't win the horse race?" Xu Yong asked with a smile to Jokic, who came to the training hall and looked [thin] and had slept a lot.

"No, no, no, boss, I have been training in Serbia this summer. I feel that I have become a lot stronger. I am ready to do a lot in the new season." Jokic smiled.

Xu Yong glanced at the top of his head and nodded. He believed it.

By mid-September, other members of the Bulls team began to arrive.

Xu Yong also met the team’s biggest signing of the summer, Joe Johnson.

The two have played against each other in the East all year round and can be considered old acquaintances.

Johnson is actually not a typical swingman, because generally swingmen play more flexible and are lighter in weight. Just like when Xu Yonggang entered the league to lose weight, he played the No. 2 position, and Paul George played the No. 2 position. They were also very light when they were in position, and they only gained weight after playing mainly small forward.

But Johnson, a player who mainly plays the second position all year round, is 2 meters tall in shoes, but weighs 01 kilograms. This gives him an obvious advantage in high and low confrontations when playing singles at the second position.

This is also the reason why he plays Joe in singles, because the natural mismatch in the second position makes him a great threat in singles.

Regarding this point, Johnson performed impressively in the team's first full-court confrontation training session.

Even against Butler, he still has a lot of confidence in scoring.

But for such a player, his character is extremely low-key. He has never trash-talked anyone or made any celebratory gestures. He seems to have devoted all his energy to the game.

It is said that Duncan is called Stone Buddha, but Duncan's level of trash talk is actually very high. In comparison, he is more like that rock, or that iceberg.

In addition to the Murray they met before, the Bulls' newcomers this year seem to have a low-key, or boring personality.

No, that's not all. There is one person who is exactly the opposite. From the first time he participated in a full-court confrontation, his voice never stopped in the arena.

Beverly was like a loudspeaker in the market, shouting non-stop.

How many words did he output per game in other people's games? What's even more amazing is that even after shouting so many words in one game, his voice didn't even sound hoarse at all.

But what must be admitted is that there is such a person in the training session, which is full of excitement for both the confrontation and the schedule.

And he is not just a voice. During the team training, the confrontation is very intense, and sometimes his movements are a bit big.

This aroused resentment from some people, such as Anderson, who felt that Beverley was a bit too emotional and could easily lead the team astray.

"We need to be more tolerant of newcomers, Kyle." Xu Yong was surprisingly patient.

But if you think that he is just tolerant as he said, then you are wrong, he thinks about more.

The last time the Bulls dynasty failed, in addition to injuries, there were also some problems with the players' desire to compete.

Although it is not as obvious as the Lakers, in a difficult season, you will not succeed if you cannot have a hard-fight mentality.

Counting it all, the Bulls struggled last season.

But this situation will be more obvious in the third year than in the second year, so it is a good thing for the Bulls to have such a person.

By the time training camp is over, preseason games are about to begin.

At this time, the league announced a small news. Officials will update the team strength rankings every week based on the team's record and performance. The first period of rankings will end at the preseason and the regular season will officially begin. Baked before.

This is taking away ESPN's job.

However, this method is very intuitive, and the team's strength and performance can be said to be clear at a glance.

And this will inevitably make the team invest more in the preseason, which is equivalent to attracting attention to the seemingly useless event of the preseason.

So Xiao Hua is a disgusting person, but he can really survive.

After half a month of preseason, the Bulls have won seven games and have confirmed that the last spot on the lineup belongs to Curry.

Of course, this Curry is not that Curry, he is Curry's younger brother Seth Curry.

Compared with his brother, Seth is shorter and thinner. He is a defensive black hole player on the court.

According to the scouts, his passing ability as a point guard is not enough, and he is not tall enough as a shooting guard. Other forwards are neither three nor four, and he is neither one nor two as a defender, which is very embarrassing.

But the good thing is that he inherited the Curry family's shooting talent and can shoot three-pointers very accurately.

The Bulls' current perimeter configuration does not have a shooter role, so it is not surprising to keep him.

(Attached is the Bulls’ 15-man roster: Beverley, Stephens, Murray; Butler, Holiday, Seth Curry; Xu Yong, Johnson, Artest; Anderson, West, Diaw; Adams , Jokic, Yi Jianlian)

When the preseason ended, the league officially announced the first strength list of the new season.

However, unlike ESPN, he did not analyze the team's strength, but just a ranking, leaving more room for fans to imagine.

In this list, the Warriors are at the top of the list.

James joined the Warriors and received a lot of criticism, but not without criticism. For example, FOX, which is relatively weak compared to the other two major sports media, became James' new partner.

"James and Curry are the strongest duo in history", "When the strongest organizer meets the strongest shooter, it is a nightmare for all opponents", "You must choose one of two cups of poison"...

These words may sound a bit exaggerated, but in fact they are not unreasonable. The Warriors were recognized as number one in the league before the start of this season.

The Bulls, as the defending champions, are closely behind in second place. The third place is the Thunder, and the fourth place is the Raptors.

What is a bit surprising is the Cavaliers. Without James, they are still ranked fifth.

But this may not be completely unreasonable, because looking back on history over the years, the Heat and Pacers have performed well after James left, so James has brought enhanced benefits to his parent team in recent years.

Therefore, although the Cavaliers have not made much reinforcements in the lineup due to salary space issues, and the Big Four have become the Big Three, their strength may not be weakened too much.

This list has attracted a lot of heated discussion. In the last training session before the official start of the season, the media asked Xu Yong about this ranking.

"I very much approve of this list." Xu Yong's answer was unexpected.

"They should be champions. If they are not champions like this, what do you think other people will think?" But he then asked.

What would you think? I'm afraid it will become a bigger joke than the 73 wins and runner-up in history!

Why is it that in history, the Warriors, whom Durant defected to, were looked down upon even if they won the championship, with the gold content of the championship catching up to Wade's two championships?

To put it bluntly, even if this kind of champion who takes shortcuts may be covered up by history in the future, at least at the time he will be looked down upon by everyone.

And if he doesn't win the championship, don't worry, James' fate will be the fate of everyone on the Warriors.

Xu Yong's words caused a violent response, because many fans suddenly found that the pressure on them disappeared instantly.

Yes, compared to what other teams have to face, the pressure the Warriors players themselves have to endure is extremely huge.

Success is natural, failure is inevitable.

So are the rules allowed? Of course it is allowed.

But while it allows it, it also means that everyone in the Warriors has embarked on the most difficult road.

With Xu Yong's remarks, the door to the new season has officially opened.

In the 2016~2017 season, there were two big plays on the first day of the season.

One is the Bulls vs. the Heat, and the other is the Thunder vs. the Warriors. The latter is in front and the former is in the back.

In contrast, the Thunder's opening game against the Warriors can be regarded as the best start.

Because of all the offseason events, including Durant being thrust into the spotlight after the U.S. team lost two consecutive Olympic championships, the showdown between them has attracted much attention.

There has been a lot of talk between James and Durant this season.

If it weren't for the fact that there was a game that day, Xu Yong would definitely not miss this game.

Let’s talk about the Bulls’ opponent, the Heat.

Last season, Bosh "cheated" for half the season. Although this season, according to the media, Bosh is still trying to return, but in fact, everyone knows that Bosh has been completely eliminated for the season.

This also means that the Heat's giant era is completely over, and they will also experience what the Bulls have experienced before, with a maximum salary in the lineup.

Moreover, the Heat lost two starters this summer. One was Luol Deng, who was poached by the Lakers with a high salary. The other was Hibbert, who they voluntarily gave up on renewing his contract because of the [vertical jump rule]. Existence is basically useless.

Their current core is Dragic and Wade on the outside, as well as Whiteside, who performed well on the bench last season. The Heat spent a lot of money to keep him.

The match between the two teams took place at the United Center, and a championship ring presentation ceremony was held before the start of the game.

The Bulls players were very happy after receiving the rings, especially Anderson. He even brought last season's championship rings, which truly achieved a symmetrical scene of wearing one ring on each hand.

"Kyle, what will you do if you win another championship this season?" Jokic couldn't help but ask after seeing his operation.

"Then take another one." Anderson said confidently.

Xu Yong was very happy when he heard this. Why, does Anderson have the idea of ​​becoming McCaw?

After the opening, the starting lineups of the two teams were announced one after another. The Bulls lined up the starting lineup of Beverley, Butler, Xu Yong, Anderson, and Adams.

Let's not talk about strength first, but this starting lineup is directly full of defensive intensity on the field.

Of course, the problem is that the offensive space is weaker than last season, and Beverley's three-pointers have always been unstable.

Catching up with the Heat's excellent start today, Dragic threw 3 three-pointers in a single quarter. The two teams were evenly matched in the first quarter.

The two sides entered the substitute transition period. On the Bulls side, Xu Yong and Butler both took a rest. The lineup on the field: Stephenson, Holiday, Johnson, West, Jokic.

Perhaps because he felt that the two core players were too harsh last season, Thibodeau directly entered the ten-man rotation tonight.

However, it can be seen from the people replaced by the Bulls that the depth of the Bulls' lineup this season is quite good.

On the first attack, Jokic showed off his skills. He caught the ball at the top of the three-point circle. Seeing that Whiteside, who had not yet come off the court, did not save two, he shot a three-pointer directly.

Xu Yong was slightly surprised when he saw this, not because Jokic made this three-pointer, but because Jokic's shooting rhythm was obviously faster than last season.

And this three-pointer was just the beginning, because the time period that was supposed to be Johnson's main attack and show that he could bring substitute firepower to the Bulls became Jokic's personal performance time.

James became Xu Yong's toy in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and Whiteside unfortunately became Jokic's first toy.

Jokic was originally bigger than Whiteside, but Whiteside looked very clumsy in front of Jokic.

For example, in an offensive round, Jokic was obviously stuck in the low post by Whiteside, but when the Bulls missed an outside shot, Jokic turned around and bypassed him, then grabbed the rebound and made a sideways low shot. A hand layup and the ball went in right under Whiteside's nose.

Xu Yong couldn't help but nod when he saw this.

Although he knows that Whiteside is a data-brushing player, he can also confirm that what Jokic said before is true. Jokic has really worked hard this past summer and has obvious control over all aspects of the offensive end. improvement.

He then couldn't help but turn his head to look at Thibodeau.

I don’t know when Thibodeau will start experimenting with Jokic playing the fourth position.

Because of Jokic's current strength, being a substitute is a bit humiliating.

Under the leadership of Jokic, the original stalemate was quickly broken. By the time the main force came back in the second quarter, the Bulls had already opened the point difference to double digits.

When Jokic came off the court, Xu Yong reached out and slapped his butt as a reward.

After the main team came back, Xu Yong also started to exert his strength. He scored 18 points in a single quarter with sudden shots. Under his leadership, the Bulls opened up the score and by the end of the half, they had extended the lead to 20 points. .

After halftime, after returning to the locker room, several people took out their mobile phones to quickly check the situation of the Western Conference's opening game.

At this time, the game has entered the third quarter, and the two sides are still inseparable.

Xu Yong also took out his mobile phone and watched the live broadcast of the game.

At this time, James happened to be holding the ball for a sudden score, and the ball was thrown to Curry for a three-pointer.

Don't tell me, the combination of the technical characteristics of the two really seems to be a perfect fit.

Because Curry is essentially a player who is better at scoring without the ball than in isolation with the ball. Now, in addition to the system, the Warriors also have a super giant who can create opportunities with the ball. This improvement may not be smaller than the addition of Durant. .

But Durant played really fiercely on the opposite side.

He has scored 40 points in three quarters and is almost eating Green alive on the offensive end.

Green was definitely the one who suffered the most tonight, because on the offensive end, his possession of the ball was completely deprived by James, and on the defensive end, he had to face Durant, and the key point was that he couldn't guard it at all.

It hurts to think about it.

Oh, and he's missing an egg.

So although Green is dirty, it definitely made sense for him to state that he didn't want James to come.

"Boss, a pack of black tea, I bet the Thunder will win." Jokic leaned over and said.

"I can give you two packs." At this moment, Dio suddenly joined in.

Xu Yong looked at Jokic and then at Diaw, and he suddenly realized that the two seemed to have a very good relationship.

But there seems to be nothing wrong with this. The current Dior is a health-preserving Dior. It is said that he did not take a plane from New York to Chicago, but drove all the way by himself. He also took a lot of scenery photos on the roadside, which was quite interesting.

Two interesting people who definitely have a lot to talk about, and they are both from Europe, and both are good at passing the ball.

"I also think the Thunder can win."

After Xu Yong said this, Jokic immediately spread his hands and turned around helplessly.

Everyone is optimistic about the Thunder, because this game will obviously reach the decisive moment, and the Thunder's ability to hit the winning goal is stronger.

Coming back in the second half, the Heat did not pose much of a threat to the Bulls. After being injured for two consecutive seasons, Wade's influence on the game is obviously not as good as before.

The Heat's performance tonight, compared to the Bulls, who were also on a maximum salary last season, also made fans more aware of how shocking Xu Yong's performance was last season.

Finally, after garbage time in the final quarter, the Bulls defeated the Heat 116-103 on Championship Night at home, getting a good start to the season.

In terms of statistics, Xu Yong scored 35 points in the three quarters without sweating much. Butler warmed up even more with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

The most surprising thing about the Bulls is Jokic. He played 24 minutes as a substitute and contributed 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He abruptly stole Johnson's limelight.

Because the NBA stipulates that players are not allowed to bring their mobile phones to the scene, so as soon as the game is over and they return to the locker room, everyone takes out their mobile phones to watch the results of the game there.

The Thunder really won!

And it was not much different from what Xu Yong expected, there was a winning goal in the game.

It’s just that the person who completed the buzzer beater was a bit unexpected, it wasn’t Durant, but Harden!

Facing Thompson's defense at the last moment, Harden used a signature double step-back three-pointer that he invented by studying the rules at 4 o'clock in the morning this season to kill the Warriors.

The ball was controversial, but the referees confirmed after watching the replay that it was not a walk.

It was a dramatic battle.

赛后的数据统计，勇士队那边库里拿了25分，詹姆斯24分7板12助攻，汤普森17分，格林8分4板4助攻5犯规。

For the Thunder, Durant scored 47 points, Harden scored 29 points, including 14 points in the final quarter, and Capela scored 16 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks.

When he saw this, Xu Yong sent Harden a text message to congratulate him.

The Devils quartet didn't train together this summer, but now it seems Harden is working hard.

Speaking of Harden announcing his breakup with Kardashian this summer, this is really [leaving Kardashian, Harden is like Jordan].

At this time, social media was already abuzz with cheers, because the Warriors, the Warriors ranked first in the league's strength list, lost at the beginning.

Have to say, it was a surprise.

(End of this chapter)