Volume 1: A rookie who breaks into the basketball world Chapter 13 Can’t you learn this just by having hands?
After lunch, Liu Xiu accepted interviews from several domestic media outlets before heading to the TD Waterhouse Center Arena, which had been scheduled long ago.
The domestic sports world attaches great importance to this year's summer league. This year, three Chinese players will participate in the summer league.
Wang Zhizhi, who represented the Clippers in the Southern California Summer League and the Las Vegas Summer League, Battelle, who represented the Spurs in the Boston Summer League and the Rocky Mountain Summer League, and Liu Xiu, who was just selected by the NBA and represented the Trail Blazers in the Orlando Summer League and the Rocky Mountain Summer League.
Battelle and Wang Zhizhi are not new faces. In the 02-03 season, Battelle won the championship ring with the Spurs and became the first Chinese player to win a championship ring.
Wang Zhizhi had American teams interested in him in the mid-1990s, but he waited until 1999 when he was 22 to participate in the draft. He was 24 years old in 2001 before he officially entered the NBA, but his chances were already low.
Neither of them can be considered to have made it, and their commercial value and promotional value are almost non-existent.
The focus is still on Liu Xiu.
Although most U.S. media and management of most NBA teams are still unclear about what the Chinese market represents, and Yao Ming's Chinese player effect has not yet begun, the NBA has been promoting the concept of "Chinese men's basketball team's inside and outside double stars" in the Chinese market since Liu Xiu was selected.
Even if Liu Xiu does not become popular in the United States, he will be popular in the Chinese market.
When Liu Xiu was interviewed by domestic media, he answered questions in a very official and methodical manner.
Liu Xiu also has some understanding of the current domestic public opinion environment. These days, public intellectuals are most rampant. Many people believe that public intellectuals have reached the point of being insane and can link everything together. The public opinion environment can be described as a mess.
When Liu Xiu encountered questions that might lead to mistakes, such as "the difference between the training environment at home and abroad", he would laugh it off and evade the question. If he really had no other choice, he would give as official an answer as possible.
This is quite tiring. Even if you have agreed on the answers with the agency beforehand, troublesome situations may still arise.
But Liu Xiu tried very hard to avoid making mistakes. In many things, it was enough to just follow the rules. There was no need to get into any trouble.
As the Chinese people's horizons broaden, they understand more about the world and have a clearer judgment about the sinister intentions of some people... things will get better slowly.
…
As expected, after the Trail Blazers arrived at the TD Waterhouse Center in the afternoon, they were not welcomed by the American media at all. Even as a summer league team, they were not welcomed. Only Liu Xiu received more interviews.
It was a big year for the draft, and the 13th pick was considered a high pick. The exclusive interview with an American cable TV station was scheduled just as the summer league was about to start, and finally came.
The interview process was pretty routine. Since he was a rookie, they asked about his college life, his college championship journey, his draft experience... This was the first exclusive interview with a national media outlet, and it was because of Liu Xiu's lottery pick status.
People's cognition is always somewhat special. For example, a player, no matter who this player is, always makes it into the lottery zone, giving people the feeling that he may become a superstar in the future, and he will get more exposure resources.
This is the first interview, and it feels more like it is laying the groundwork for future documentaries. This kind of thing, if Liu Xiu really makes it in the future, then it will be useful. If he doesn’t make it... it doesn’t matter. It is difficult to dig out some news from a rookie like Liu Xiu. If there is a general template, of course I will use it.
However, there are still some questions that Liu Xiu needs to think about before answering. Some questions have nothing to do with Liu Xiu... There are some , but if you insist on saying they are related, it would be a stretch - "Jace, who do you think is the best rookie in 2003? Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James?"
Liu Xiu's answer was: "I think Carmelo Anthony is better than LeBron James."
…
There are six participating teams in this Orlando Summer League. In addition to the Trail Blazers and the host Magic, there are four other teams, namely the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Heat, and Bucks.
While other teams were quite lively during the interview session, the players of the Trail Blazers summer league team were in a miserable state and had fewer opportunities to be in the news than other teams. But they also had their own things to do - they were working hard to impress the coach, which meant practicing extra at the training ground arranged for them by the Magic.
Randolph and Liu Xiu made an appointment to go buy a computer and play video games together after finishing their work in the afternoon.
Seeing Liu Xiu coming back from an interview, Randolph joked, "Wow, our big star is back for an interview. I'm so envious."
Liu Xiu responded: "Who made you not selected in the lottery? I can't do anything about it. I really don't want to go."
It was another wave of map artillery, but the healing value Liu Xiu got from his teammates was very little.
"Some people may be numb, and some people's negative emotions may not be purely because of basketball, but simply because they are unhappy with me..."
Liu Xiu didn't care much about this; Randolph just rolled his eyes, thinking that this rookie really holds a grudge.
Randolph was impressed by the situation on that day when they first met.
It doesn’t matter. Randolph said, “Let’s go to Digital City to buy a computer!”
"Wait, Zach, I need your help with something."
Randolph asked, "What's going on?"
"I want to learn low-post post-up play from you!" Liu Xiu was very direct.
"I can teach you," Randolph did not refuse, and continued, "but this technique is difficult. It requires talent and time to hone it."
Liu Xiu nodded: "I understand. Then you teach me quickly, I will learn it quickly and buy a computer earlier."
"Didn't you understand what I said?" Randolph exploded: "This technique is difficult!"
As Liu Xiu expected, Randolph was easily provoked.
In this situation, rookies Travis Outlaw and Matt Carroll didn't know what to do. When they took a break during the training, they saw Liu Xiu and Randolph arguing with each other and they had no idea what to do.
Before Liu Xiu could continue, Morris Cheeks appeared from nowhere and said, "Hey, Zach, Jace, what are you doing?"
Although he didn't know where the head coach came from, seeing Randolph suppress his anger after seeing Maurice Cheeks saved Liu Xiu some trouble.
Liu Xiu responded: "I am learning how to post up from low position with Zach."
Randolph suppressed his anger and responded, "Yes, I'm going to teach Jace how to post up right away. I want to see how a genius can learn it so quickly."
Morris Cheeks nodded and said, "You two still have such a good relationship. You should always help each other and be united and friendly in the future!"
Maurice Cheeks left after he finished speaking, leaving Travis Outlaw and Matt Carroll confused - how can we tell that they are still so close? Where is the solidarity?
…
A few minutes later, Liu Xiu and Randolph finished stretching their bodies, and Randolph started teaching directly.
Liu Xiu wanted to move around for a while longer, but Randolph was in a bad mood, so he gave up.
"I want to see how you can learn it right away. How dare you look down on my skills so much!"
With this in mind, Randolph walked onto the court and said, "I'll show you the basics. If you don't remember them, you can let me do it again. You're welcome."
Randolph's tone was full of sarcasm, but Liu Xiu didn't think there was anything wrong. It was he, Liu, who started the trouble first.
After Randolph finished speaking, he didn't care whether Liu Xiu answered or not. He walked to the second half of the court and introduced the force technique, saying how difficult the technique was while performing the movements.
Obviously, Randolph specifically chose a difficult back-to-the-basket move to teach, which is completely different from the normal teaching method from easy to difficult.
After introducing and demonstrating it twice, Randolph said, "Jace, if you haven't seen it, I can show it to you a few more times."
Liu Xiu did not answer, feeling pain in his heart...
"Great Magician (incomplete): Quick learning is enabled. Learning target: Zach Randolph. Learning content: Zach Randolph's excellent post-up singles skills training method. Enabled, consumes 1,500 healing points..."
The healing value's thousandth digit changed from 5 to 3...
Without saying a word, Liu Xiu walked onto the court, picked up the ball, recalled the movements that had just "come into" his memory, and his body moved involuntarily.
Randolph originally wanted to make fun of Liu Xiu and let him realize that his technique was very difficult!
There is a reason why Randolph is irritable. He is often said that he only relies on his body to play basketball and has no future. He wants to prove himself, but he didn't expect that the friends he just met would look down on his skills.
However, Randolph was surprised, shocked, and stunned when he saw Liu Xiu's back-to-back moves...
Just now, when Randolph was doing this back-to-the-basket move, he didn't do it so standardly because he had to introduce and break down the move, but he explained each step very clearly.
And Liu Xiu followed the movements he learned very smoothly!
Randolph even felt that Liu Xiu's movements were no different from his standard movements during training!
"Oh, Zach, this technique of yours is really difficult. This fake move must be effective when you are posting up in the low post. It also makes great use of your physical fitness. Let's learn the next move! Hurry up!"
“Oh…oh…”
Randolph returned to the court and finally came out of his shock.
"It's unscientific! It's impossible! How can I learn it in just one go? I spent the whole summer last year!"
Randolph is in a bad state!
"I don't believe it! I'll show you the most difficult moves in detail. I don't believe he can learn it just by watching it once!"
…
Maurice Cheeks came to TD Waterhouse Center today for something. He accepted the work arrangement of the team's new general manager John Nash and came to discuss a trade with Cavaliers head coach Paul Silas.
Just make contact and see if the other party is willing to trade.
When I came, I happened to see Liu Xiu and Randolph about to have a conflict. Maurice Cheeks didn't care about this kind of thing. If he saw it, he would help to suppress it. If he didn't see it... In the past two years, Ruben Patterson, one of the troublemakers of the Trail Blazers, was beaten 8 times by Randolph.
Half an hour later, Maurice Cheeks finished his work and returned to the training ground arranged by the Magic for the Trail Blazers, wanting to encourage the members of the summer league team since they were already there.
As for Liu Xiu and Randolph, Maurice Cheeks felt that they should leave, these two lazy guys.
But, they are still there!
Liu Xiu was practicing layups while Randolph was squatting in the corner.
Maurice Cheeks thought, no way...
"Zach, were you forced to squat in the corner by Jace?"
Maurice Cheeks was well aware of Liu Xiu's campus gang background. He chose Liu Xiu because his playing style was simple and theoretically he had strong plasticity, and his campus gang background might help Liu Xiu gain a foothold in the Trail Blazers.
But Randolph, this is not a campus gang, it's pure black!
Anthony was born in the gang city of Baltimore... This kind of relationship is a bit far-fetched. At the moment, it should be a comparison between Liu Xiu and Randolph's one-on-one abilities.
Although Liu Xiu would not necessarily lose, with such a huge size difference, it was impossible for him to knock Randolph into the corner, right?
Randolph looked up at Maurice Cheeks after a while and said aggrievedly, "Coach, I spent a whole summer learning my post-up singles last year, and Jace learned it in just 20 minutes!"
"????"
Maurice Cheeks suddenly turned his head and looked at Liu Xiu who was playing with the ball.
This incident was even more shocking than Liu Xiu beating Randolph into a corner.
Maurice Cheeks knew very well that Liu Xiu did not have the ability to post up!
Liu Xiu's victory over Randolph in a fight can be said to be a sign of his natural talent. It is an exaggeration, but it is within an acceptable range.
As for the back beating...
After Randolph's rookie season, he opened up his back in one summer and Maurice Cheeks was already amazing. During the playoffs last season, after seeing Randolph lay a solid foundation through a regular season, he decisively sent out the twin towers of Randolph and Wallace in the playoffs, and almost turned the tables on the Mavericks from a 0-3 deficit, but finally lost 3-4.
Randolph's talent was incredible to Maurice Cheeks.
Now Randolph told him that someone learned the post-up game by watching it once!
It’s just over 20 minutes, isn’t it just a watch?
It was only then that Maurice Cheeks noticed that the members of their Trail Blazers summer league team had all gathered around them, but he had been staring at Randolph and hadn't noticed.
Liu Xi felt the incredulous look in Maurice Cheeks' eyes and said with a smile: "Post-up play, can't you learn this as long as you have hands?"
