no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 292 Words under the Sculpture

Xu Yong scored 16 points in the final quarter of the first quarter, and he even performed a wonderful trick of dunking on Okafor.

During the break, the camera kept showing Xu Yong.

Xu Yong, who played the entire first quarter, was panting.

Only one of his first-quarter goals came from the mid-range, and the rest were all at the basket.

Taking into account his physical reaction after playing the first quarter, it will take some time for him to return to his best condition.

He looked up at the score. 31 to 20. The Mavericks had opened the point difference to double digits. Just like he said, % to % was enough to beat the Lakers.

In the second quarter, James tried to lead the team to counterattack during the transition period between the benches, but the Mavericks' veteran Barea performed very well. He even withstood James, who was more than 20 centimeters taller than himself, twice in a row in the high post. , James was so angry that he repeatedly showed his hands to the referee.

By the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks had extended their lead to 20 points, and the last quarter became garbage time.

"This is the meaning of Xu Yong's comeback." In the commentary box, Barkley changed his previous disapproval of Xu Yong's comeback, and instead started the most familiar Xu blowing mode.

Although he can actually see that Xu Yong has not returned to his best condition, it is quite good to play like this, at least much better than Jordan.

So it was a good thing that it was regrettable not to face the Warriors before. The Warriors also made a big deal on this trade deadline. They traded Reggie Jackson, who was just traded at the beginning of the season, with a first-round draft pick, and reached an agreement with the Timberwolves. Traded for Wiggins.

Wiggins was the No. 23.6 pick selected by the Cavaliers that year, and later became the core bargaining chip in trading Love. In his third grade, he averaged 4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1 assists and steal per game. He looked like a player with great potential. It seems that the Timberwolves also reached a five-year maximum salary contract with him in advance.

But who would have thought that when Wiggins received the maximum salary, he also picked up his thermos cup. From then on, he soaked wolfberry in the thermos cup, and Minnesota Wolfberry Brother was born.

Last season, he averaged 17.7 points per game, which improved this season to 18.1 points.

This finally allowed the Timberwolves to choose to stop the loss in time. Regardless of Jackson's potential, he was far ahead of Wiggins in terms of desire to play and key ball ability.

For the Warriors, it's not that Jackson is not good enough, but that he doesn't match up with the Warriors. After all, although Curry is nominally a scoring point guard and mainly plays without the ball, the Warriors have Green and don't really need to control the ball. Guard, Jackson is just a product of their coercion by James.

Whether Wiggins is suitable for the Warriors is still unknown, but at least he is the small forward the Warriors need, and the Mavericks will definitely not be so easy against them.

At this time, the photographer gave the camera to James on the bench.

James stared blankly at the court, biting his nails out of habit.

He did not appear in the final quarter, not because he didn't want to, but because tonight's game was too eye-catching.

He also wants to give some face.

Pop on the side reminded him that the camera was pointed at him.

He raised his eyebrows and looked at it. After making sure that the camera was focused on him, he put down his hand and showed an open-minded expression.

But the frown between his eyebrows completely betrayed his mood.

In the past, whether he was with the Heat, Pacers or Warriors, he was still a villain no matter what, but in the Lakers, the team's poor strength made him look like a passerby.

After the camera moved away from him, he looked up at the score again.

Xu Yong's condition has not yet recovered, DeRozan is still sluggish, and the Mavericks' overall strength is actually not that strong, but with a score difference of nearly 20 points, the Lakers have basically no hope of catching up.

Of course, it's not completely impossible. In the first year he joined the Heat, in the game against the Jazz, the referee gave them a 4-19 free throw ratio in the last 0 minutes. Now, there is still hope for a 23-2 or something like that. Reversed.

But today is different from the past. He actually feels that if the Mavericks are that far behind, the referee is more likely to give the Mavericks 23 free throws than they are.

In the end, the Mavericks easily defeated the Lakers and won the game.

Xu Yong returned to the NBA after more than a year. In his first show, he scored 29 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in three quarters.

Poor shooting touch and lack of physical fitness are problems visible to the naked eye, but this does not prevent Xu Yong from performing well enough.

[A skinny camel is bigger than a horse] could not be more appropriate to describe Xu Yong’s game tonight.

The press conference after the game was a bustling place, and the door was crowded with reporters. If it weren't for the staff blocking the way, there would be no place to set foot in the small room.

Xu Yong played such a wonderful comeback battle, and the media can't wait for it.

It is no exaggeration to say that every move Xu Yong made at the press conference tonight will be written into the post-game report.

"How did you manage to play such an outstanding game after retiring for a year and a half?" The reporter from ESPN was the first to be asked a question, and the reporter from ESPN couldn't wait to speak.

The reporters all looked at Xu Yong. Xu Yong's reaction was beyond everyone's expectations. He looked at the reporters and asked, "Is it outstanding?"

"If a game with two field goals can be considered a good game, then that seems to be too low a standard."

"But you scored 29 points. Michael only scored 19 points." The reporter reminded.

"If our opponent tonight was the Warriors or the Thunder, I would agree with what you said, but unfortunately not."

Xu Yong's words caused a commotion among reporters. Xu Yong did not take the Lakers seriously at all.

If this were put in the past, the Lakers' No. 24 would definitely say harsh words and beat the Mavericks next time they meet. But unfortunately, the current Lakers do not have a No. 24, only a No. 23, wearing a pirated jersey.

And this is irrefutable. After all, the Lakers are being bullied by everyone. Even in the season when Kobe led the team alone, they have never been so cowardly.

"How much strength do you think you have regained?" The second reporter who asked the question was still from ESPN, but she was a female reporter. She tried her best to smile.

"I don't know." Xu Yong shook his head. He originally thought that he had recovered to about 70% to 80%, but after the game, he was not sure because the Lakers did not put too much pressure on him.

"But I believe there will be an answer soon." Xu Yong then replied.

A week later, the Mavericks will visit Chicago. The Bulls are currently ranked second in the Eastern Conference, surpassing the Cavaliers. This question will be answered in that game.

"With 29 points in the third quarter of his debut, Xu proved with his actions what he is the best in history";

"Even if you retire, you still insist on training three times a day, self-discipline from the God of Basketball";

"Xu asked sponsors to set up a training court on the sidelines when he returned to China. He never really wanted to leave basketball";

……

The media coverage after the game was overwhelming.

It's a pity that Xu Yong is practicing more in the training hall to find his condition, otherwise he would not help laughing when he saw these reports.

During his retirement, he first enjoyed it for half a year, and then started to work as a coach. If you say that he plays occasionally, it is nonsense to practice three times a day.

But this is the media, especially at this time of the storm, if they didn't say that he retired for a better comeback, it would be an understatement.

Compared to that, he was more concerned about his recovery.

There is only one way to regain your touch, and that is training.

The muscle memory has been completely restored, and the hand feel has naturally returned.

Of course, that will take time.

In the blink of an eye, a week has passed and Xu Yong has participated in four games on behalf of the Mavericks.

Except for the first game, the data in the remaining three games are 21 points, 23 points, and 27 points.

The data looks pretty good, but his shooting percentage is much worse than in his debut.

Because opponents know that his touch is average, they choose to shrink their defense when facing him. At this time, it will become difficult to rely on attacking the basket to score.

The knock-on effect is that DeRozan did not play better because of his comeback, and the purpose of his original comeback was not achieved. He desperately needs a really good performance in a game now, but they are about to start a road trip, and their first opponent is the Bulls he mentioned before.

Just one week after his comeback, Xu Yong will return to Chicago. How Chicago fans will face him is something worth paying attention to.

After arriving in Chicago with the team, Xu Yong also returned to his manor in a low-key manner.

Because it was a temporary decision to come back, his properties in Chicago, including the villa in the city center, are still there.

Daddario also lives in the manor now. When Xu Yong went back, she was resting on a soft chair in the yard.

Xu Yong went over and kissed her forehead, then rested his head on her belly.

If you don’t have any ball to play when you retire, you can only play another kind of ball.

The more balls you hit, the more likely you are to win the bid.

And he and Kobe can be said to be two extremes.

Kobe gave birth to one daughter after another, and Daddario was pregnant with the same son that Theron was pregnant with before.

No, not quite, because Daddario was pregnant with twins.

That is to say, it hasn't been announced yet, otherwise Kobe Bryant will definitely be jealous.

"I saw a lot of reporters hanging around the door this morning." Daddario touched Xu Yong's hair and said.

"Well, I will ask people to strengthen security." Xu Yong felt the child's movements with his hands.

"There are also some people who should be fans."

Xu Yong raised his head when he heard this: "I'll ask Jay to take care of the house tomorrow."

Because Xu Yong had just arrived in Dallas and hadn't bought a house yet, the villa provided by Ballmer had a noisy surrounding environment and was not suitable for raising a baby.

But now that there was an emergency like this, he had to deal with it in advance. If Daddario was frightened, the gain would outweigh the loss.

But Daddario smiled: "They put some things at the door, and I asked them to bring them in."

Xu Yong glanced at Dadario with some confusion, then Dadario stood up and he helped him into the living room.

Then, Xu Yong was stunned when he saw the things placed there.

The first thing that caught his eye was a giant poster. The content of the poster was a scene of him and his teammates holding the cup when he completed three consecutive championships. Then there were many people's names signed on the poster.

Then there is a handmade photo album.

After he stepped forward and opened it, he found a three-dimensional painting showing Xu Yong's wonderful moments in each year of the Bulls.

There is even electronic music embedded in some pages, such as "Sirius", the background music of the opening ceremony.

Then there are some various gifts, most of which are homemade.

Even though Xu Yong was a human being, he felt a warm current in his heart at this moment, and his eyes turned red unconsciously.

Are there bad people in this world? Of course there is.

But even if we have different skin colors, different beliefs, and different cultures, we are still more ordinary people like you and me.

Fans have seen every detail of what Xu Yong has done for the Bulls over the past few years.

When James decided to leave the Cavaliers, fans would burn his jerseys and storm his mansion.

But Xu Yong, fans will only send such the most sincere blessings.

Xu Yong brought nothing but glory and pride to Chicago.

When leaving the manor, Xu Yong called Shipp and asked him to take care of the house in advance.

He was touched by the gifts from fans, but there are extreme fans everywhere, so for safety reasons, he still needs to prepare in advance.

After leaving the estate, he then went to the United Center.

And when he drove past the main entrance of the arena, he found construction workers busy next to the Jordan sculpture.

He opened the car window and saw that someone was pouring a new cement platform, as if to place a new sculpture.

After he parked the car in the garage, he happened to meet Foreman when he was about to enter the elevator.

"Xu." He was surprised to see Xu Yong Forman, but the flesh on his face was trembling, and he was obviously very excited.

Xu Yong has made many achievements in his eight years with the Bulls, and Forman is one of them.

He took the initiative to open his hands, and Xu Yong hugged him.

Raunsdorfer aside, the collaboration between him and Foreman was quite enjoyable.

"Did you see they were building a platform at the door when you came?" Foreman asked with a smile.

"Are you going to build a statue for me?" Xu Yong could more or less guess that his Bulls career had been finalized.

Foreman smiled and nodded: "We're just making preparations now, so I haven't discussed the details with you yet, but there will definitely be no shortage of statues, and they will be alongside Michael's."

Xu Yong nodded, and a wave of warmth flowed through his heart.

When he returned to Chicago this time, there were many things that surprised him.

These things are touching him little by little.

"It just so happens that you are here, we have made a preliminary plan." The two of them got out of the elevator, and Foreman simply took Xu Yong to his office, chatting while walking.

The statue of Jordan is a leap, because he is a flying man. If Xu Yong has to be the most iconic, it is actually a dunk, and it is a 360° turn dunk.

So what they initially decided was Xu Yong's 360-degree turn and dunk in the air.

But similar to Jordan, there will be a faceless person below, and it is up to the world to guess who he is.

Xu Yong did not express any opinions, because erecting a statue to him before he retired was the Bulls' respect for him. Since others have given him respect, he will also give respect to others.

As long as it's not too detached, he basically won't object.

However, when Foreman mentioned the subscript of the sculpture, he was stunned.

Jordan's [The best there ever was. The best there ever will be. (unprecedented, unprecedented)] is basically unsurpassed.

Xu Yong even felt that there were no more domineering words than this.

But what Forman said was comparable to it.

【The Greatest Of All Time】

(End of this chapter)