"Wow! A living Yao Ming!"
“…”
At around 4 p.m., Yao Ming was speechless at the door of a small villa in the suburbs of Houston.
Yao Ming was very pleased to see the Chinese guard in front of him with his eyes shining with excitement.
But saying this...
Even though he had some understanding of Liu Xiu from Bill Duffy and had prepared himself mentally, Yao Ming still didn't know how to respond to what Liu Xiu said!
"Sorry, sorry," the overly excited Liu Xiu came to his senses and quickly apologized, "Hello, Brother Yao, my name is Liu Xiu, and my English name is Jess."
Brother Yao!
Yao Ming likes this name. To Wang Zhizhi, he is just Xiao Ming...
Bill Duffy's evaluation of Liu Xiu - polite, right!
"Why call me Brother Yao? Just call me Big Yao. I'll just call you Jace."
"Okay, Brother Yao."
"Hey, you really are... Come on, come in and sit down." Yao Ming happily invited Liu Xiu in.
"By the way, Brother Yao, this is a gift."
"Just come, why give me a gift..."
Although he said this, Yao Ming took the gift without hesitation (＊^▽^＊).
It was this familiar feeling, a Chinese characteristic! Liu Xiu followed Yao Ming into the living room and felt quite good.
My uncle and aunt’s house is my own home, and I don’t have this feeling of being a “guest” until I go to Yao Ming’s house.
After entering the living room, Yao Ming wanted to find a place to put the gift, but when he took a look inside the gift bag he saw... an arm guard?
Yao Ming took out the basketball equipment curiously and looked at it. He said in surprise: "Jace, this arm guard is so beautiful!"
"As long as you like it, your center is good at fighting. Wearing it on your non-dominant hand can help to cushion the blow..."
Liu Xiu asked the system, and found out that apart from enhancing confidence and gradually increasing dominance, this arm guard is just an ordinary arm guard.
"You are very thoughtful..." Yao Ming said as he put it on. It was the right size and very comfortable to wear!
Yao Ming was sure that it was not something Liu Xiu bought and didn't want and gave away as a gift.
Don't ask, the only thing you know is that I received such a gift after arriving in the United States.
…
Although it sounds tacky, giving small gifts is definitely a good way to build closer relationships.
Liu Xiu visited Yao Ming's home and both the host and the guests enjoyed themselves very much.
The two chatted about some things related to the game and learned about each other's basketball experience.
Although Liu Xiu has a bad reputation, Yao Ming knows very well that this is not the case.
In the United States, if Liu Xiu didn't have these behaviors and these reputations, he would definitely be bullied by a team like the Trail Blazers.
As he expected, the Liu Xiu he really knew, except for mentioning basketball too much, deserved a beating...
In other aspects, he is good, good-looking, polite, honest...
After having dinner at a nearby family restaurant in the evening, Yao Ming drove Liu Xiu back to the hotel.
Of course, don't drink and drive.
When Liu Xiu and Yao Ming met for the first time, they only talked about their basketball experience. That was the only thing they could talk about since they had just met.
…
…
On November 30th, the third game day of the Trail Blazers' four-game road trip arrived.
At 9:30 in the morning, the Trail Blazers held a very targeted training session at the Toyota Center.
Today and tomorrow, back-to-back games against the Rockets and Spurs.
The coaching staff has a choice - they must win against the Rockets, and they will try to win against the Spurs if they can, but forget it if they can't.
Also, when we left the hotel this morning, there were cameras filming. They were filming tonight's game between the Trail Blazers and the Rockets. Paying attention to this game may help Liu Xiu in some way... Being a coach is a job, but being a coach and being a player are about human relationships.
After the morning training, Kevin Pritchard did not leave.
Every time the training day's preparatory training is over, Kevin Pritchard secretly observes their rookies...!
It's us! Not one person.
"This kid really didn't leave... Eh? He didn't go to the gym!"
Kevin Pritchard pretended to flip through some information as he approached Liu Xiu and Randolph on the training ground, his ears almost standing up.
“…I’ll show you!”
Kevin Pritchard only heard this, and then saw Liu Xiu dribbling with his back to the basket in the low post... and then turned around and shot a jump shot!
The movements are slow and not very smooth, but as a professional coach, Kevin Pritcha can feel the connection between each movement, which is very suitable for Liu Xiu!
But when was it developed?
Randolph, a post-up genius, also saw it and asked what Kevin Pritchard wanted to ask: "Jace, did you figure out the turnaround jumper?"
"Yes! Do you want to learn? I'll teach you for free."
"Is this a question of whether or not to charge? I was the one who taught you how to post up! This summer I was trying to expand on your post-up play, and I found three trainers to work with me on this, but we still haven't figured out how to do a turnaround jump shot... When did you figure it out?"
"Just these two days."
Randolph is going to split - I was the teacher first!
Liu Xiu looked at Randolph coldly, and asked, "Do you want to learn?"
"Learn... but it may not be suitable for me."
"It won't hurt to try."
"That's right, let's give it a try!"
After finishing training, the two men stretched their joints and started practicing directly.
"Zach, we use our strength like this. We are usually stronger than our opponents, so we don't have to worry about the space for jumping. We can definitely create space. When we turn around, do this and that... When we jump, do this and that..."
Liu Xiu demonstrated it again, even more slowly, breaking down each movement one by one.
After watching it once, Randolph followed Liu Xiu's movements and tried it out... The part that he had been struggling with when making a turnaround jump shot, now it's going so smoothly!
There are definitely some details that need to be adjusted, but that’s not the point. The point is that an extended difficulty in his back-to-the-basket play has been solved!
When it comes to practicing skills, you can reach a certain level by just working hard, but to reach a higher level that will satisfy a genius like Randolph is not something that can be achieved by just working hard.
Randolph was surprised, Kevin Pritchard was surprised + confused + angry + unhappy + happy + self-pitying +...
"Healing value +67, from Kevin Pritchard."
"Healing value +42, from Kevin Pritchard."
"cure……"
“…”
"?"
Liu Xiu turned around and looked at the chief teaching assistant who was among the onlookers and had even knocked down the documents. What's wrong with this guy?
…
As Kevin Pritchard expected, he taught Randolph two back-to-the-basket moves in the morning, then called in the trainer in charge of inside techniques and asked the cameraman from the imperial TV station to help film... After lunch, Liu Xiu went to the gym for two hours... Then he slept for an hour at 3:30, got up to eat something, and warmed up... He did not practice low-post back-to-the-basket turnaround jump shots.
If you have the time to practice boxing, wouldn’t it be better to practice your techniques more?
Also, your country’s TV station’s cameras are filming!
The warden didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, and it was useless for the chief assistant to get anxious and angry.
Not to mention, even the people at the TV station felt that Liu Xiu was not doing his job properly, as he was only responsible for the filming.
Moreover, people at the imperial court had heard a rumor in the past few days - Liu Xiu could make faster progress by just casually practicing than others who trained hard, so he was very lazy.
As a result, the TV station's people's regret turned into "my god".
Liu Xiu didn't care about all that. He got up at 4:30, ate a strawberry-flavored candied haws, and started warming up at 5:00.
At first, he thought about showing off his hard work in front of the camera of the Imperial Court TV, but after thinking about it, he decided not to. Pretending to be good may work for a day or two, or a year or two, but what about ten or eight years? It would be better to just leave it as it is.
If you insist on creating a perfect personality, it will be even more miserable if it collapses. There are many things about everyone that you don’t know.
Will basketball fans pay attention to him, watch his games, and buy his endorsements because of how hard he works? Playing well can bring these.
…
…
At 7:10 p.m. on November 30, 2003, the Trail Blazers and Rockets entered the Toyota Center in Houston.
The match was broadcast live by two domestic TV stations, Chaoting Sports Channel and Guangdong Sports Channel. Television stations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the island countries also broadcast the match live. The promotional title was - China Derby.
Other TV stations are not important. What Chaoting Sports Channel said means that this is the first NBA "China Derby" certified by domestic official media.
Tonight Liu Xiu started again. After entering, he followed the established process and shook hands, communicated, and took photos with Yao Ming... Everything else was fine, but taking photos with Liu Xiu was really unbearable.
As for squatting to shoot?
Fortunately, it only took a few minutes, and the live broadcast of the "China Derby" ended quickly. Even if it was broadcast live on the court TV station, the league would not let them delay the game.
Entering the final stage of preparation, Liu Xiu looked at the Rockets' player detection report... "Is it so outrageous?"
Liu Xiu knew that the Rockets had a poor lineup, especially a terrible inside lineup, but he didn't expect it to be this bad.
"Yao Ming, 23 years old, height 226 cm, wingspan 220 cm, weight 133 kg, C, ability rating 88... 31 minutes per game, 17.2 points, 9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2 blocks... Shooting percentage 52%, shooting percentage at the basket 73%, close-range shooting percentage 42%, mid-range shooting percentage 41%..."
Yao Ming, a sophomore, has already reached All-Star level and is expected to compete for the best team.
Liu Xiu recalled that Yao Ming was selected to the third team in his sophomore year, and was selected to the best team five times in six years starting from his sophomore year. However, he was reimbursed at the age of 29, which was theoretically his peak age when he was selected to the second team.
The reason may be that the national team's games are not really that tiring.
No matter how tiring the national team games are, can they be as tiring and exhausting as playing more than 80 games in more than five months per NBA season?
"Kevin Cato, 29 years old, 211 cm, 116 kg, PF/C, ability rating 70, offense 62, defense 79...average 6.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks..."
"Morris Taylor, 27 years old, 206 cm, 114 kg, PF/C, ability rating 71, offense 79, defense 60...average 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists..."
Coincidentally, both of them were from the class of 1997, Maurice Taylor was the 14th pick in the first round, and Kevin Cato was the 15th pick in the first round.
Liu Xiu carefully looked at the detection reports of other inside players of the Rockets, and then looked at the inside players of the opposing team.
It's outrageous!
These two are Yao Ming's best partners in the interior!
On the other side, Yao Ming, who was adjusting the arm guard on his left arm in a good mood, also glanced at Liu Xiu and happened to meet Liu Xiu's eyes.
Yao Ming felt that Liu Xiu's eyes were strange, as if they were - sympathy?
…
At 7:30 in the evening, the game between the Trail Blazers and the Rockets started.
Rockets starting lineup: Francis, Mobley, Jim Jackson, Cato, Yao Ming.
Trail Blazers starting lineup: Liu Xiu, Reuben Patterson, Travis Outlaw, Randolph, Rasheed Wallace.
At the beginning of the game, the Rockets used Yao Ming as the main attacker to quickly open up the situation. Yao Ming, who was full of energy, easily scored two consecutive goals by relying on his huge body and flexible footwork to get into the basket, forcing the Trail Blazers to double-team him.
At this time, Yao Ming passed the ball to three teammates on the outside. Although he could not get assists directly, Francis, Mobley and Jim Jackson all had the ability to average 3+ assists per game. Yao Ming attracted double-teaming in the interior and was able to pass the ball, so he could easily attack from the outside.
Not only that, on the defensive end, Yao Ming also made Randolph suffer, Cato's defense was close to excellent, and Tianzun, who was functional in outside defense on the offensive end, did a very good job.
In the first half of the first quarter, the Rockets beat the Trail Blazers 14 to 7!
But after the official timeout in the first quarter, the situation changed suddenly.
After Yao Ming was replaced by Van Gundy, the Rockets' inside combination became Cato and Maurice Taylor.
The Trail Blazers did not replace Randolph, and these two people felt what cruelty was...
Not only that, the Rockets' offensive performance also plummeted.
The Rockets' strength is unbalanced inside and outside, and their inside abilities are relatively poor, leaving them isolated and helpless after breaking through from the outside.
It is true that Francis is a cross-era point guard, and Cuttino Mobley is also a scorer averaging 20+ points per game, but the strength of the opponent is beyond the level that the two of them can deal with alone.
Compared to playing against the Grizzlies the day before yesterday, playing against the Rockets tonight is much easier.
Even if Liu Xiu did not have an outburst, and just played in a conventional way, sorting out tactics, playing one-on-one when necessary, shooting when conditions allowed, providing help defense, and shrinking the rebounds... the Trail Blazers also played quite easily.
The difference lies in the centers of the two teams.
Gasol can play more than 40 minutes, but Yao Ming under Van Gundy protects him very well, and his average playing time so far this season is 31 minutes.
At 10 minutes and 51 seconds into the first quarter, the Trail Blazers went on an 11-5 run to narrow the score to 18-19, reducing the difference to 1 point. Van Gundy was forced to replace Yao Ming.
The Rockets' substitution immediately took control of the situation, but this was exactly what the Trail Blazers wanted!
When Yao Ming came on, the Trail Blazers switched to a grinding combination and tried their best to hold the team back. When Yao Ming went to the lower zone, the Blazers let the Flying Squirrel and Randolph attack fiercely and force Yao Ming to come up.
Generally speaking, Yao Ming would rest for 15 minutes in the first three quarters of a game and two to three minutes in the last quarter. Tonight, he only got 8 minutes of rest in the first three quarters combined.
The intermittent playing time greatly affected Yao Ming's performance, which in turn affected the Rockets' performance when he was on the court.
The Trail Blazers executed their tactics smoothly...
After 2 hours and 22 minutes, at 9:52 pm, the game ended.
Relying on Randolph's 21 points, Little Flying Squirrel's 14 points and 4 assists, Tianzun's 16 points, Liu Xiu's 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal...the Trail Blazers reversed the Rockets 98 to 91 and won the victory!