no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 298 "The Rise of the Lone Ranger: The Beginning"

Because of Jokic's poor athletic ability, he basically just taps his toes, or gets the ball and then takes a shot. But tonight he was also in high spirits. Looking at the ball flying over, he jumped up directly. Although it was only a few centimeters above the ground, he still completed an alley-oop and smashed the ball into the basket.

DeRozan, Gibson, Xu Yong, Jokic, the Mavericks used the Warriors' penalty area as their own back garden tonight, wreaking havoc at will.

The score difference is also getting bigger and bigger.

Finally, when the game came to the tenth minute of this quarter, Curry finally found an opportunity to boost morale.

It was a missed shot from the outside by the Mavericks. After the ball popped up, it was a long rebound that flew directly to Green's hands.

Curry was the first to start a fast break. After receiving a pass from Green, he rushed to the frontcourt. The image of the Mavericks destroying the basket tonight came to mind, and he also knew that the team needed to boost morale at this time. He just held the ball and wanted to fly into the air, ending the fast break with a dunk.

The fans at the scene were also cheering. Once Golden State LaVine came out, who in the league would dare to compete.

But just when Curry was about to exert force, he suddenly felt a slip under his feet, and he fell directly to the ground. The ball was also thrown out. gif.

The fans' cheers that reached their throats instantly turned into agitation.

Curry quickly got up from the ground and wanted to pick up the ball. At this time, Iguodala followed up. He quickly picked up the ball, and Curry also moved to the bottom corner tacitly.

When Iguodala passed the ball to Curry, he also used his body to block Wright who was chasing him.

Curry seizes the opportunity to shoot a three-pointer. The basketball spins through the air and draws a parabola, then directly throws a three-pointer out of bounds.

The fans were stunned.

Curry didn't expect it himself, and couldn't help but smile to hide his embarrassment.

Curry's "skating show" became a famous scene in the opening game, but it did not have much impact on the game between the two sides.

The Mavericks played as a team, got into shape, and beat the Warriors' defense to the point where they were helpless.

And the key is that the Warriors' trump card, the five dead players, cannot show their strength in front of the Mavericks.

Firstly, there is the presence of Jokic, and his suppression of the Warriors' inside line, which was verified in the finals that year; secondly, the Warriors use this style of play too much, and the Mavericks' main The coach is Ma Long, so he can deal with it very calmly.

Therefore, the Warriors were unable to guard against the Mavericks' offense, and they were unable to play their fast-paced style of play. They could only watch the score slip away a little bit.

In the end, the Mavericks defeated the Warriors 116-98 on the road, ruining the Warriors' championship night and the opening game of the new arena.

According to the statistics after the game, the core of the Mavericks only played three quarters. Xu Yong was only slightly sweating and contributed 25 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Jokic scored a near-triple double with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. DeRozan also scored 21 points and 4 rebounds, and Rose contributed 11 points and 3 assists on the bench.

This is the first time since the three-person team formed a team that three people have performed 3+, and the key is that they have produced such data in three quarters.

At the press conference after the game, Malone directly brought the three of them to the press conference.

Although they were the away team, the press conference was already crowded with reporters when they arrived.

"I feel like I'm in the best shape of my career. For the first time, I feel like I can really accomplish something." DeRozan showed his confidence in changing in front of the camera.

"All this is the credit of my teammates. They can always seize opportunities. Our opponents are very strong, but they make the game so easy." Jokic attributed the credit to his teammates.

"This is just the beginning." Xu Yong's answer was brief, but the most impressive.

After the game, ESPN and TNT, major sports media, also started boasting mode.

"Overtaking the Warriors easily, the Mavericks are the favorite to win the championship"

"This is just the beginning, Xu Haoyan will bring a championship to Dallas in the new season"

"Dallas may start a dynasty"

……

However, there are still many fans on social media who question the performance of the Mavericks. Perhaps it is because of the media reports, or perhaps they are unhappy with the Mavericks.

"This is the most ridiculous argument I have ever seen. The Mavericks just felt good in one game."

"How amazing is it to beat the Warriors? The Warriors' championship last season was just luck. If they met the Thunder or Bulls, it would be impossible for them to win the championship."

"The Warriors are in very bad shape in the new season. You can tell by looking at Curry's fast break dunk. He actually slipped while no one was guarding him. It's so funny."

……

The boasts or doubts from the outside world did not affect the Mavericks. They achieved a wave of seven consecutive victories within half a month of the start of the season.

In these seven games, in addition to defeating the Warriors, they also have a game against the Celtics.

The Celtics' strength is obviously better than in the past two seasons, especially after Thomas left and Irving did not come, which gave the two outsiders enough opportunities to practice. They started to resist the pressure in advance and gradually began to show their talents. .

They also put enough pressure on the Mavericks in this game, and both sides were very anxious in the first three quarters.

But by the fourth quarter, Xu Yong began to take over the game.

In the previous games of the Mavericks, Xu Yong's data declined compared to last season due to the team's style of play. This allowed some fans to seize the opportunity and make remarks that "Xu Yong is in poor condition due to excessive consumption in the World Cup."

But in this game, when the Mavericks were forced into a stalemate, Xu Yong completely silenced these doubters with his dominant performance of 23 points in the final quarter.

Just after this game, when he returned to Dallas and was training, Nelson mysteriously brought someone to the training hall, and then Malone called Xu Yong over alone.

Looking at the person brought by Nelson, Xu Yong couldn't help but look at him a few more times.

This man's appearance smelled like curry, and he was 70-80% similar to the characters in the Indian movies Xu Yong had watched before.

Although judging people by their appearance is sometimes inaccurate, this should be true.

"I am Pratibha Patil, a reporter from the Dallas Morning News." The other party quickly introduced himself to Xu Yong.

When he heard the name, Xu Yong basically confirmed his judgment.

After introducing himself, Patil also explained his purpose of coming. He was preparing to follow the Mavericks throughout the new season.

Every team in the NBA will have reporters accompanying the team. They are not team staff, but reporters sent by basketball media who have senior cooperation with the team to get first-hand news about the team.

They will reveal some inside information about the team, so the relationship between the players and them is relatively subtle.

But what Patil wants to do now is to have more in-depth contact than reporters accompanying the team. This requires not only the permission of the team, but also the consent of the players. "If the team finally wins the championship this season, this will be the material library for the season documentary." Patil also stated his purpose.

Xu Yong smiled. Patil's sense of smell is quite sensitive, but someone does have to do these things, because this Mavericks team needs to be different from the previous Mavericks team and needs to establish a new team culture.

"I have no problem, but I can't represent everyone." Xu Yong answered after putting away his smile.

Patil's face burst out with excitement this time, Xu Yongdu agreed, and the rest of the Mavericks team had no reason to refuse.

"Do you have a theme for the documentary?" After Xu Yong left, Nelson asked Patil with great interest.

Although this matter has not been revealed yet, it is the kind of thing that makes people’s lips curl up when they think about it.

Patil shook his head.

"I have a suggestion, just for reference."

Patil looked at the general manager of the Mavericks in confusion.

"A new page." Nelson said.

Patil thought thoughtfully after hearing this, then smiled and nodded: "I will consider it."

Nelson's suggestion is actually very good. On the one hand, the core character of the documentary is definitely Xu Yong, and Xu Yong's move from Chicago to Dallas is equivalent to opening a new page; on the other hand, the Mavericks changed their name to Mavericks in the new season. Team Xia, although this is just a change in Chinese translation, it also represents a new page, a pun.

However, Patil only said that he would consider it instead of directly adopting it, because he already had another name in mind that was more in line with his personal preferences: The Rise of the Mavericks: The Beginning.

……

The Mavericks' winning streak at the start of the season lasted for 13 games, until they lost to the Thunder in the 14th game.

Although they failed to reach the Finals last season, the Thunder still maintained their core lineup.

And after the loss, they showed an unprecedented desire to compete this season, especially Westbrook.

Xu Yong remembers that Westbrook once played for the Lakers for one season. In that season, he was completely blackmailed by the media, as if the Lakers' poor record was entirely his fault.

Then, when Westbrook left the next season, an interesting thing happened, that is, halfway through the season, the Lakers actually had the same record as that season while still having James and Davis.

Simply controlling the variables, it is easy to conclude that the crux of the Lakers' problem is not him.

It is true that Westbrook's style of play has some problems, but he can bring energy to the team, which can infect all teammates.

The positive effect he brought to the Thunder when he returned two years ago has worked again this season just as he did after joining the Clippers.

So fans are right about one thing. The Warriors won the championship last season, but they may not be the best team in the league in the new season. The competitiveness displayed by the Thunder is no weaker than that of the Warriors.

After the loss to the Thunder, Patil watched the entire Mavericks team practice, and his mouth was open most of the time.

Because what he saw was not a training at all, but a war.

Yes, that's the word. The situation he saw among the Mavericks' trainers was even more intense than during the official game.

"They aggressively fought against their teammates and glared at them as if they were their own worst enemies."

When he wrote this sentiment, he seemed to understand for a moment why the Mavericks were able to perform completely differently this season than last season, because everyone on this team has an unprecedented desire to win.

When the training ended and he learned something from Ma Long, he came to the training hall that night and saw Xu Yong practicing there.

After getting along for a while, Xu Yong became accustomed to Patil's presence, and instead directly called him to come over and pick up the ball for him.

When he finished training, nothing happened to him. Instead, Patil was panting from exhaustion.

Then when he calmed down, he walked to Xu Yong and sat down, and looked at Xu Yong who was breathing steadily in surprise.

"Do you practice like this every day?" He was full of curiosity.

Xu Yong nodded, there was nothing worth hiding.

"Isn't this the case since joining the league?" Patil's eyes widened.

Many people know about Xu Yong's training methods, such as the players who have played for the Bulls and some of the current Dallas players. However, because Xu Yong is the kind of player who needs to rely on the media to brag about maintaining his influence, this matter In fact, it has not been made public.

Xu Yong shook his head.

Patil was relieved to hear this. Even if the year and a half of retirement are removed, Xu Yong has been playing in the NBA for nine and a half years.

With the intensity of training just now, and the additional training after the team training, most normal people would have given up long ago. If Xu Yong could really persist, he would be a monster.

"It probably started in my senior year of high school," Xu Yong recalled.

"High..." Patil's eyes widened completely. His expression when he looked at Xu Yong was no longer like looking at a monster, but like looking at an alien creature.

Starting from the senior year of high school, that’s a full 14 and a half years!

No, according to previous media reports, Xu Yong also maintained high-intensity training for the year and a half after he retired, that is, for 16 years.

This...is this really something humans can do?

Seeing Patil's reaction, Xu Yong just smiled and did not add that he practiced three times a day.

But after Patil came to his senses, he had already thought of the lines needed for this scene.

"Perhaps Xu Yong's greatest talent is not how high he can jump or how fast he can run, but his durable body. When he trains once more than others every day, after 16 years, he is equivalent to being better than others. After training for more than 5 years, this is the secret of Satan's success. You are not afraid that others are more talented than you, but you are afraid that people who are more talented than you will work harder than you."

……

Patil is recording every detail of the Mavericks, and there are many interesting and unknown things in it. For example, Jokic would call Xu Yong boss in private, and DeRozan suffered from depression last season. And how he came out and so on.

This is something that reporters accompanying the team cannot possibly know, but now he is like peeling an onion, peeling it off layer by layer and summarizing it bit by bit.

If this documentary is eventually broadcast, it will definitely become the best-selling documentary of the century.

However, when the time came to the end of December, the Mavericks started a new winning streak, but his record had to be interrupted.

It wasn't because something went wrong with him or the Mavericks, but something happened that most people didn't expect. The epidemic began to sweep the world, including the NBA.

(End of this chapter)