no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 309 A few things about Poole

When the national anthem sounded in the island country, it was the Chinese players and Chinese fans, and it was also Xu Yong's proudest moment.

That feeling, in a sense, is more fulfilling than winning the championship at home.

And when the national anthem sounded, most of the Dream Team members standing next to the Chinese team had very serious expressions, except for a few people such as James who still had smiles on their faces.

Although the facts may not be as exaggerated as Yang Yi said, what is certain is that this will be the swan song for most members of this dream team in the national team.

The probability that fans will see them again at the next Olympics is almost zero.

And without this group of super giants, the US team, just like the World Cup two years ago, is indeed no longer worthy of the title of Dream Team.

After finishing his journey to the Olympics, Xu Yong did not return to China to participate in a series of celebrations. Instead, he returned directly to the United States to rest and spend time with his family.

Although his body will not be injured, his mental state will be fatigued. The mental consumption of continuous spinning is sometimes greater than the physical consumption.

It will be mid-September when Xu Yong returns to the team after his break.

At this time, the Mavericks also held a team training camp for the new season.

On the first day of the training camp, Xu Yongyou noticed that the players were somewhat slack.

For example, Jokic looks like he has gained a lot of weight, as if he has returned to the way he was when he first entered the league.

If this were the Bulls era, Xu Yong would have definitely pushed his teammates hard, but having experienced the previous dynasty, he knew that this kind of scene was normal. If he was still full of desire in the third year, then On the contrary, it is abnormal.

So this time he didn't say anything, he just quickly adjusted his state and then showed his most focused appearance during training.

On the first day, the players didn’t feel it yet.

But within a few days of the start of training camp, it’s impossible for the players not to discover it.

Then, they subconsciously began to curb their emotions.

This contrast fully reflects those four words: lead by example.

A style of being strict with others and being lenient to others is unlikely to be effective. What can really drive the atmosphere is always setting an example and doing more and better than others.

By the time the Mavericks' training camp ended, Xu Yong had not said a word about discipline, but the atmosphere of last season's championship team had returned.

It was only then that Xu Yong gave a simple speech at the end.

"Each of you should know what happened in the island nation. They will do everything they can to get revenge on me in the new season, just like they will go all out to prevent us from completing the dynasty. I know that two championships are for most people Enough said, but if you want to be part of a dynasty, you have to keep your hunger alive because that's your only chance."

The season is about to start, and the league has conducted its initial strength rankings as in previous years.

This time the Mavericks ranked first without any doubt.

If a team has completed two consecutive championships and is not ranked first, then it can only be said that the person who made this list has something wrong with his eyes.

At the start of the season, the Mavericks quickly showed their form.

That's right, it's state rather than strength. Compared to strength, state is the most noteworthy issue for a team that has won two consecutive championships.

The success and failure of the Lakers' two dynasties are the best examples of both positives and negatives.

They started with a seven-game winning streak. Although they lost in the eighth game, the team's overall condition was still quite good.

Poole, in particular, has shown great improvement, largely due to his starting experience last season, which has made his confidence on the court completely different.

Compared with Rose, who has potential injuries, Poole is younger and more energetic. While he has become the new favorite of Dallas fans, he is also becoming the sixth man of the Mavericks championship team.

Xu Yong also recognized Poole's strength because Poole had a competitive spirit.

As a reborn person, he increasingly feels that if it weren't for Green's punch, Poole in history would have made a name for himself with the Warriors.

But when the time came to December, the situation changed somewhat.

The reason for this change came from a post-match interview.

In the game against the Lakers, Poole was in hot form and scored a season-high 25 points.

This led to him being interviewed by sideline reporters after the game.

The reporter asked a more sensitive question, that is, whether he thinks he should start.

Most people would avoid talking about this kind of question or change the subject, but Poole's answer was very unusual: "I think that position should belong to me."

He didn't even politely say "I'm ready to become the team's starter."

Xu Yong only learned about this when he was asked by reporters at the post-match press conference.

He was stunned for a moment.

Normally, Poole gets better and better as he plays, and Wright has no space ability. With the team's perimeter defense strong, it is only a matter of time before Poole becomes the starter.

But if he says it so publicly now, and if he still does so, it will undoubtedly be a huge damage to the team's atmosphere.

But just at the moment when I couldn't help but want to scold my mother, I suddenly remembered something.

That was after Poole was traded to the Wizards and was questioned by reporters because of his poor performance. Poole's answer at the time was also classic: "This is my team."

These two sentences can be said to be completely different but have the same purpose.

Xu Yong found that he seemed to have underestimated Poole's ambition.

"It's Coach Malone's business to set up the lineup. If I had known, I think I should have been the head coach of the Devils instead of an assistant coach."

Xu Yong used his unique humor to skip this question, but the impact of the incident continued.

In the training session on the second day, Wright was particularly serious about Poole's defense during the full-court training, which also made Poole play very hard.

Moreover, high-intensity offense and defense will inevitably lead to physical collisions, which also led to some unpleasant conflicts between the two sides, and the two sides also exchanged some trash talk.

"You don't have the ability to get out of that position." After a goal, Poole spat trash talk at Wright.

Xu Yong was nearby at this time, and he scolded Poole directly: "Shut up and leave your trash talk to your opponent."

Just at that moment, the deeper memories in Xu Yong's mind were awakened.

Green beat Poole. Although Green was very brainless, the reason why he beat Poole was because Poole was trash-talking Green at training sessions.

“I slept with more women than you in college at Michigan State,” “Don’t worry, you’re going to the Kings next year,” “You won’t get your next contract and you’ll go bankrupt, so why are you still on Twitter? Where’s the title of Money Green on it?”

I have to say that Poole's level of trash talk is quite good, but he shouldn't speak such trash to his teammates.

Xu Yong's scolding made Poole shut up, but the contest between him and Wright continued.

This is not only on the court, but also extends to off the court.

When the two sides arrived in the locker room, the smell of gunpowder was still strong. At this time, even Rose, the leader of the team's locker room, couldn't say anything.

Because all you can say is that Poole's actions were a little hasty, but his motives are understandable.

The NBA is a competitive place, who doesn't want more opportunities?

And if you want a chance, starting is the step you must take.

The key to all this still lies in Malone's decision.

The season is still going on, but Malone did not put Poole in the starting lineup.

On the surface, Poole said he wanted to be in the starting lineup, so Malone put him in the starting lineup. Did Malone not want to lose face?

But on a deeper level, Malone obviously intends to temper Poole's character. After all, Poole is still some distance away from the finished product.

It's just that things developed beyond Malone's expectations, because after Poole saw that Malone refused to let him start, he immediately started to mess up.

It's not just a matter of state, but also the body language of his body showing resistance.

Before Malone was angry, Xu Yong couldn't help it anymore. This was the first time he had seen such a person in the NBA for so many years.

"If you are not ready to play, sit down for me." Once Poole was chased by his opponent due to consecutive mistakes. When he was replaced, Xu Yong stopped him directly.

Because he said it in public, not only his teammates, but also Malone heard it.

Poole dared not speak in anger. After sitting down, he angrily threw the towel to the ground in front of him.

The consequence of his dumping was that the Mavericks traded him the next day.

As mentioned before, although Poole has played well this season, he is not indispensable to the Mavericks.

Of course, more importantly, Xu Yong's majesty in the Mavericks team is unchallengeable.

But this trade is interesting because the Mavericks sent Poole to the Lakers.

The chips the Lakers offered were veteran Danny Green and a protected first-round pick.

Green's condition has declined significantly this season and he is no longer able to play in the starting lineup.

VanVleet's performance this season has not met the team's expectations. The Lakers are gambling again.

When Xu Yong saw this transaction, he only thought it was interesting. He sent players who ruined the team's atmosphere to competitors. He even suspected that Nelson Jr. did it on purpose.

The Poole incident is just an episode for the Mavericks this season. Xu Yong also expressed his welcome to Green's arrival.

Although Green no longer has the ability to start the starting lineup, as a swingman, he can bring game experience to the Mavericks bench.

Of course, another important point is that Bain's performance in this meaty armor library is much better than expected.

In a few opportunities, Bain showed his excellent mental ability, shooting more than 40% from the outside.

This may be the reason why Malone is really not in a hurry to start Poole, because someone more suitable to start in the future is already in the lineup.

And it is worth mentioning that James played a big role in promoting Poole's transaction.

Perhaps because of this, Poole made many shocking remarks as soon as he arrived in Los Angeles.

"They're going to regret trading me. They have no idea what I've done for the team."

"Xu is a dictator and no one dares to oppose him there."

"The Lakers made the smartest choice because they got a true starter."

……

Although his words were more ridiculed by fans, he seemed to have no intention of stopping.

This also makes the outside world look forward to the match between the two teams.

When the time came to early February, before the All-Star Game, the game between the Lakers and Mavericks finally started.

When the two sides met for the first time this season, James missed the game due to a groin injury, explaining what it means to have policies and countermeasures.

But this time, James is healthy, because Poole's remarks have filled up the traffic of this confrontation.

In the first round of the game, James showed his big brother style and gave Poole a ball at the beginning, and Poole also seized the opportunity.

In front of the Dallas fans, Poole celebrated excitedly.

Then there is no more then.

Because Xu Yong directly switched defenses with DeRozan.

If it were just the previous events, Xu Yong would not actually take Poole too seriously. After all, his goal was the dynasty, and Poole's influence on this matter was almost non-existent.

But what Poole said after arriving in Los Angeles, saying that he was a dictator, was really lame.

James took advantage of the opportunity to face off against DeRozan and scored a lot of points, and the Lakers also had a stalemate with the Mavericks in the half.

During halftime, James was interviewed by reporters.

When a reporter asked about Poole's performance, James praised Poole with his eyes open: "His arrival has brought unprecedented vitality to our back line. Although he didn't get many opportunities tonight, he contained the defense for us. His performance cannot be reflected in statistics."

James's remarks are not completely unreasonable. After all, if Xu Yong defends him, he will not have so many opportunities.

But when the second half started, the boomerang came unexpectedly.

Poole was so guarded by Xu Yong that his mentality exploded, and he also wanted to talk trash. Although Poole had some skills, he was not enough in front of Xu Yong.

"You should be lucky that Deron (Wright) is not Draymond (Green), otherwise you will be the second LeBron (James)."

James was on the side at this time. When he heard this, he instantly felt a burning pain on his face. Xu Yong's wave was caused by splash damage.

Poole, who had been kept off guard by Xu Yong, had no temper at all, but after being sprayed again, he was completely discouraged.

Confidence is the foundation that supports Poole's outstanding performance. When confidence is lost, he brings more mistakes and side effects on the court.

Then, Pu'er was replaced, and Xu Yong faced James again with a "happy" expression on his face.

In the end, the Mavericks scored 50-35 in the second half and defeated the Lakers in one go.

"He's just a little lost, but it won't always be like that. This is just a regular season game. I'm looking forward to playing against them in the playoffs."

At the post-game press conference, James once again supported Poole.

After all, I had to drink the tea I made with tears in my eyes.

(End of this chapter)