Legendary star

Chapter 17
On November 1999, 11, US time, at 5 pm, the Spurs left the hotel where they were staying and went to the Compaq Center in Houston, where they would face their third opponent of the season, the Houston Rockets.

In the moving bus, almost all the players were hurrying to rest, only Meng Xu was tossing and turning there. After repeated psychological struggles, Meng Xu left his seat and ran to the front row of the bus. Head coach Popovich sat next to him.

"Meng, what's the matter?" Popovich asked actively, looking at Meng Xu who was sitting next to him with an expression of embarrassment.

"Oh, coach, it's like this, I think, today I think..." Meng Xu hesitated for a long time, but he still couldn't say it. Popovich is a very principled coach. If he hastily put forward some special requests that do not conform to his principles, Popovich will definitely refuse without hesitation, and even lose his temper.

"Haha, what's wrong with you kid today, are you sick?" Seeing Meng Xu's embarrassment, Popovich joked.

"It's like this, head coach. I want to increase my playing time today. I'm going to match up with Steve Francis." Looking at Popovich's serious face although he was smiling, Meng Xu still puffed up. Courage to speak out, while looking at Popovich nervously, for fear that Popovich would be furious and scold himself.At the same time, he slandered in his heart that it was all caused by this damn mission.

"Um, Meng, I think you should know that with your current physical condition, it is not enough to handle a whole game. About 10-15 minutes per game is just right for you at present." Popovich The smile on his face disappeared in an instant, but another sentence from Popovich made Meng Xu feel hopeful: "Tell me, is there any special reason? If you can impress me, maybe I will Your request will be considered."

"Head coach, it's like this, Francis on the opposite side..." Meng Xu opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't find a good reason to make it up, so his voice became smaller and smaller, and at the end he was afraid He couldn't even hear what he was muttering.

"Huh? Hahaha, I understand, I understand, I will consider your request, you go back and rest first." Popovich looked at Meng Xu who lowered his head, and suddenly laughed, although Meng Xu finally said Popovich didn't hear what he said very clearly, but Popovich, who has been playing in the NBA for so many years, doesn't understand.Meng Xu and Francis both belonged to the ACC league when they were in college, and entered the NBA at the same time, so they naturally wanted to overwhelm each other.And for people like Meng Xu, they grew up watching Jordan, Olajuwon, and David Robinson play, and it is normal for them to want to show off in front of their childhood idols.Thinking of this, Popovich thought of Tim Duncan in his rookie season. David Robin was still at his peak that year. Although the team selected Duncan with the No. 19 pick, they had no immediate plans to make Duncan the core. On the eve of the Spurs-Bulls game, Duncan made a similar request to Popovich as Meng Xu did. After some mental struggle, Popovich still agreed and asked David Robinson to let Duncan do whatever he wanted. In that game, Duncan scored 22 points and [-] rebounds in a large double-double, which almost overturned the King Bulls led by Jordan. It was after that game that Popovich gave birth to establish Duncan as The idea of ​​the team's offensive and defensive core was finally put into action last season, and Tim Duncan did not let himself down.

"Friends in the audience, we meet again. As soon as I come back here, I will feel a sense of intimacy..." At 8:[-] p.m., Compaq Center in Houston, TNT commentator Kenny Smith I was laughing and joking with my partner in the commentary booth, and by the way, I would like to introduce the situation of the game.As the focus of this round, the defending champion will play against the Rockets, a veteran strong team with Olajuwon and Barkley. In addition, this game is still a derby between the top three in Texas, so this game also attracted countless fans and fans. media gaze.

"Let's take a look at the starting lists of the two teams just obtained." Looking at the players of the two teams warming up on the field, Kenny Smith took the starting lists of the two teams just handed over by his assistant and read: "Let's take a look at me first. Oh, sorry, I thought I was a member of the Houston Rockets until now." Kenny Smith also laughed when he said this.

The starting lineup of the Rockets in this game is basically unchanged from the previous games. The starting center is still Hakeem Olajuwon, power forward Charles Barkley, small forward Walter Williams, shooting guard Shanton Anderson, and the ball control Guard Steve Francis.

Compared with this, the Spurs team's starting lineup has also made some changes. The starting center and power forward are still David Robinson and Tim Duncan, point guard Avery Johnson, shooting guard Mario Ellie, At the small forward position, Meng Xu replaced Chucky Brown as the starter.

Meng Xu's mood has not been calm until now, and the words Popovich said in his ears when he walked out of the locker room still echoed in his ears, "In this game, you will be on the same level as Francis, but only this Once, after this game, you still have to honestly go back and play as a substitute."

In fact, what Meng Xu didn't know was that after the game against the Warriors yesterday, Popovich wanted to increase Meng Xu's playing time. In these two games, Meng Xu played 11 minutes and 13 minutes respectively. Contributing 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5 steals and 1 assist per game, averaging 12 minutes per game, is already very good, but these are not the key points. The important thing is that as long as Meng Xu is on the court, the Spurs Defensive strength can be improved immediately. Iverson of the 76ers, Jamison and Starks of the Warriors, these outside players who have always caused troubles for their teams in the past, in the team composed of Meng Xu and Duncan Robinson Under the defensive system, everyone was in trouble, even being successfully frozen. The feeling made Popovich addicted to it like taking drugs. On the bus that came, Popovich just I have been thinking about what it would be like if Meng Xu was allowed to play for 20 minutes, or even 30 minutes and 40 minutes. There is a famous NBA saying "defense wins championships". Popovich believes in this sentence. As Larry Brown's former assistant, Popovich's basketball philosophy is similar to Larry Brown's. That is Teams and defense, even in some ways Popovich is more paranoid than Larry Brown.After the game against the 76ers this season, his former mentor Larry Brown kept praising Duncan and Meng Xu in an envious tone, which also made Popovich very useful.

And Chucky Brown, who worked last season, is really disappointing. Popovich is already thinking about trading him.I just took advantage of today's game to see if Meng Xu can adapt to the 30-minute high-intensity game. If he can, then he will be righted. If not, then he will gradually increase his playing time according to the original plan. time.

(End of this chapter)