swing striker

Chapter 19 Red Houston

Shi Lei didn't want to be the one who was eliminated, so he began to observe Bowen, observing every move Bowen made in the offense, every pick-and-roll, every choice of pass, observing his defense, observing how he chose every time. Fill in for a sluggish Parker or Ginobili.

It has to be said that this was the most correct decision Shi Lei made, of course, at least at the time, it seemed very wise.

The Spurs are one of the most demanding teams in terms of tactical discipline.A player who cannot adapt to this system, no matter how strong he is, cannot survive here. A strong player will not choose to play for such a team for a long time, unless Duncan is willing to give up his tactical core position.

After the end of this game, the Spurs flew back to the United States, and their opponent in the seventh game was the Orlando Magic.

87:92, the Spurs lost the game at their home court.Michael Finley, the All-Star swingman, is still doing badly.However, Popovich was very patient at this time, and he still gave Finley 27 minutes of playing time.

The tactical experiment failed. In the fourth game, the Spurs lost even their own underwear at home. They lost to the Chicago Bulls by a big score of 67:99.

The poor performance made Finley return to the bench and temporarily exchange positions with Ginobili to take on the heavy responsibility of scoring from the bench.

The Spurs, who were back on track, defeated their opponents. They defeated the Miami Heat with a score of 103:93.

In these few games, Shi Lei didn't get even one minute. The Chinese media who came to San Antonio were completely disappointed and gave up their follow-up reports on him.

Marketing, in a team's daily affairs, occupies a considerable proportion. How to expand the team's influence and the team's fan base are things that every team is considering.

So, after a lapse of half a month, Shi Lei got the chance to play again, because their opponent in the next preseason game is the Houston Rockets, a team that the Chinese are most familiar with, and also the home team in our minds.

Of course, there is also Finley’s credit for this. In the running-in of several games, Finley failed to fulfill the responsibilities that Popovich had in mind for him in the team, even more so than Gino, whose role overlaps with Parker’s. Billy is much worse. In this way, it doesn't make much sense to slam the main players in the preseason.Because compared to the stability of the main lineup, the Spurs' bench will undergo considerable changes every year.

How much attention has people paid to the Rockets?You only need to watch that all the Rockets games in the preseason have live broadcasts on the Internet, and CCTV5 will broadcast some exciting pictures in the games during important time periods.Shi Lei is not well-known, and not many people pay attention, but this does not prevent this game from becoming a "derby".Yes, that's what people like to call it, the "Chinese Derby".With the help of this game, Shi Lei once again returned to the field of vision of domestic fans.

"How does it feel to come to America?"

Before the game started, Yao Ming came to the Spurs' bench while the players on both sides were warming up. After a simple hug and greeting, he asked Shi Lei this way.

At this time, in the live webcast, a close-up of two people appeared. Yao Ming was tall and burly, with a steady expression, looking like a big brother. Shi Lei appeared short in stature, with a young face, like a shy little brother.

"Look, Leilei is out."

Shi Lei's mother pointed to the screen and said to Shi Lei's father beside her.

Ever since Shi Lei appeared in the media reports for the first time in Lyon, France, the domestic media has never stopped warming up for this game. The domestic fans also have great expectations for this game. Among them Shi Lei's parents are the ones with the highest expectations.Before the game started, they turned on the computer early.

Well, we don’t need to say much about this, imagine how our parents treat us, imagine how they are happy for us when we achieve certain achievements, how they often talk about these perhaps insignificant achievements, We can know the mood of Shi Lei's parents now.

"It's okay, the teammates are good. How about it? I heard that your left foot thumb is injured. How is it recovery?" ************************************************************* mother tongue.Hearing the familiar local accent, Shi Lei felt inexplicably agitated, and the depression accumulated in his heart about not being able to play seemed to have dissipated a lot.

"Old problem, no big problem, you should be playing today, right?"

The "little giant" dismissed the topic lightly. Obviously, he didn't want to talk too much about his injury, but asked Shi Lei if he could play.

"Yes, the coach told me before the game that there will be playing time."

"Perform well, this game may not be a big deal, but it is very important to you."

Yao Ming told Shi Lei meaningfully that he has been in the NBA for many years. He understands that the biggest problem Shi Lei faces now is not how much playing time he can get, but whether he will be dismissed by the team after the preseason is over. cut off.

The preseason is a warm-up match, and it is also a knockout match. Every year, almost all NBA teams will cut off players they think are worthless after the preseason is over.

"I understand, Brother Yao."

"That's it, we'll contact you after the game."

Yao Ming exchanged contact information with Shi Lei and returned to his own half.The game is about to start, and he has to do some warm-up preparations as he is about to start.

In this game, Duncan and others did not start. The starters were point guard Benno Udry, shooting guard Brent Barry, small forward Michael Finley, power forward Robert Horry, and center Fabricio Obo. support.If nothing else, this lineup should be the main substitute lineup for the Spurs in the new season and the regular season.

The Rockets played with all their main players, Yao Ming, Juwan Howard, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier who had just been traded, and streetball king Alston.

On rare occasions when Yao seemed to win the jump ball, Fabrizio Oberto slid the ball into Udrih's hands, and the Spurs got their first chance.

Shi Lei sat on the sidelines, watching the game quietly, he had already developed such a habit.Every game, he might just sit like this for a whole night, but what if he was lucky enough to get a little chance?Reality requires him to seize this little opportunity and try his best to give himself points in the coach's mind. If he wastes it, it is very likely that he is wasting his already bleak future.

His offensive ability is poor, his shooting sight is unstable, and he doesn't have a wide field of vision. Once he encounters defense, it will become difficult to dribble. The only thing Shi Lei can do now is to do his own defense well.

Scoring depends on talent, and defense depends on attitude. Although they all say so, the knowledge of defense is really no less than that of offense.

(End of this chapter)