Volume 1: A rookie who breaks into the basketball world Chapter 17: A near-kill!
No matter who his opponent is, he wants to prove himself - Dwyane Wade.
Wade is a little irritable now.
In the first quarter, he led the team to a 9-point lead, and then narrowed the lead to around 5 points.
He did not play at the beginning of the second quarter. Caron Butler led the team alone for half a quarter. Seeing that the score gap was widening again, Heat coach Stan Van Gundy replaced Wade and Haslem with Caron Butler, obviously wanting to widen the score gap in the first half.
Wade was naturally full of confidence at this time.
This is obvious. Compared with Caron Butler, his cheek finishing ability has been more trusted from the beginning.
However, after the second quarter, thanks to Caron Butler's three-pointer from the wing, the Heat only led the Trail Blazers by 3 points, 62 to 59!
If it weren't for Caron Butler's three-pointer, the score difference would have been tied!
After the first half, Wade watched Liu Xiu shrug and high-five Randolph after Caron Butler hit a three-pointer...
For some reason, Wade got angry when he looked at Liu Xiu.
Just like he didn't understand why Liu Xiu's efficiency seemed to be not much different from the first half of the first quarter. As a result, the Trail Blazers made a 14-7 climax to tie the score, and the Heat relied on Caron Butler's three-pointer to enter the second half with a slight lead.
Indeed, Wade couldn't defend Liu Xiu's back-to-the-basket attack, but Liu Xiu only scored 4 points and had only 1 assist. In the first half of the first quarter, Liu Xiu scored 2 points and 1 assist, and the difference in performance data was not that big.
Wade was wondering why the lead was gone during the game. The coaches of both teams were also thinking about the same thing, but the coaches of both teams saw the reason - in this half of the game, the Trail Blazers really played as a team!
If we have to say, in the first half of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers also played teamwork, but they just ran the coordination into place. Liu Xiu was willing to pass the ball and gave the opportunity, and his teammates were willing to follow, but they did not really create effective offensive opportunities. Strictly speaking, it was not considered a play of coordination, but just following tactical running.
There are generally two situations in which tactics can be truly implemented.
First, there is an absolute threat point; second, the functionality of the receiving point is particularly strong.
A better example is Duncan's playing style when he was young and at the end of his career.
In the first half of the first quarter, when Randolph did not exert his strength and Liu Xiu did not have a good way to finish, the Trail Blazers were just running the tactical route map.
But after Randolph started to exert his strength and Liu Xiu began to attack with back-to-the-basket, the Trail Blazers' team offense came into play!
Not to mention, even the Trail Blazers coaching staff did not expect to be able to play this kind of teamwork at the beginning of the summer league.
This kind of coordination , like Wade's breakthrough, Caron Butler's outside containment , Haslem's off-ball pick-and-roll, and a cutting player, is actually relatively easy to achieve.
And it would be even more difficult for Liu Xiu to lead the team to do this!
But what amazed the head coaches of both teams was not that Liu Xiu led the team in a team offense, but that Liu Xiu was able to pass the ball calmly even when he had the advantage in a back-to-the-basket situation!
Indeed, it can be seen that Liu Xiu's ability to organize offense is just average, and there is a considerable gap in his overall ability compared to a genius like Wade. Among the players participating in the summer league, Liu Xiu can definitely be classified as an excellent player, but Wade's performance tonight is definitely one of the top players in the summer league.
However, even Heat coach Stan Van Gundy had to admit that Wade's surprising performance could not overshadow Liu Xiu!
Calm ball handling, simple and direct playing style, good timing of passing... too many advantages!
…
Everyone felt that Liu Xiu had a strong presence, or rather, everyone focused their attention on him.
But there is actually a reason for this - in the game this morning, neither team played any real teamwork, at most it was small-scale cooperation; in the current game, of the two teams, in fact, only the Trail Blazers played teamwork when Liu Xiu was on the court.
Originally, no one cared about the cooperation in the first half of the first quarter. After all, it was a failed cooperation and had no effect.
But the Trail Blazers played well together in the second half of the second quarter, so the coordination in the first half of the first quarter was also improved.
Differences make things special.
However, Liu Xiu believed that Randolph was the key to their teamwork. During the 8-minute halftime break, the two were arguing...
"I clearly got 5 points, why did you calculate it as 2 points?"
"You didn't get 3 points by posting up."
"How come it wasn't a post-up shot? If I didn't make the post-up shot and I grabbed the offensive rebound, it doesn't count?"
"Of course not, that's a second-chance score, so now I'm ahead of you 4-2, Zach."
Randolph stared at Liu Xiu - he had never seen such a shameless person!
"Just wait, I will definitely score more points than you in the second half!"
Randolph twisted his big butt and sat back in his seat, while Liu Xiu also sat lazily aside.
When it comes to playing a game, there is no such thing as not caring about winning or losing just because the game is of a low "level".
Just like playing games, when you are 8 years old and playing CS, you want to win. When you are 38 years old and playing CS, you still want to win.
The only thing is whether you treat this game as a game or not, and not caring about winning or losing because of the high or low "level".
Randolph didn't take this as a game in the first half, but now, after the second official timeout in the second quarter, he played seriously for 4 minutes and is now in good shape.
During the half-time break, both teams made personnel adjustments.
On the Heat side, Wade led the team while Caron Butler and Haslem rested.
On the Trail Blazers side, Quinter Woods led the team, while Liu Xiu, Randolph and others were resting.
Quinter Woods led the team and played back and forth with Wade. It's not that Quinter Woods' strength can be compared with rookie Wade. The gap is actually quite large. It's just that in such a game, Quinter Woods can perform similarly to Wade.
Quintel Woods felt that the team valued Liu Xiu more than him, and the team did not collapse in the second half of the second quarter as he expected. Instead, Liu Xiu led the team to keep the score close, and one goal was enough to tie the score, and the pressure was on him.
But he did not play randomly, nor did he set a trap for the later games. Instead, he fought very hard.
Because he is just a sophomore player who didn't play well in his rookie season and was a bit of a troublemaker. If he messes up in the summer league, it will only make things more difficult in the new season.
Liu Xiu was originally worried that this teammate who disliked him would set a trap for him, but when he saw Quintl Woods competing hard against Wade, he knew he was wrong...
But that’s a good thing!
As the game progressed, players from both teams kept replacing each other and the scores rose alternately.
The Heat's roster heading into summer league is better, primarily with better pitching.
Both sophomore small forwards Caron Butler and Rasual Butler were excellent shooters, and undrafted player Kirk Penny, who was signed to a partially guaranteed contract by the Heat, also made a three-pointer in the second half.
The scores were staggered until the end of the fourth quarter. At 7 minutes and 56 seconds in the fourth quarter, with more than two minutes left, the score was 109 to 105. The Heat were leading by 4 points and still had the ball.
Wade advanced to the frontcourt and saw that Liu Xiu still chose to take a step back to defend. He did not show any sign of getting angry, but instead showed a hint of appreciation.
In the past two rounds, Wade still completed strong breakthroughs and passed the ball to help his teammates score under such circumstances.
It’s not that Wade thought Liu Xiu should be pulled out to defend. Wade thought Liu Xiu’s defensive choice was correct. It’s just that Liu Xiu remained calm and not panicked. He even directed his teammates’ defensive movements while retreating, which surprised Wade. After all, the game had already reached this point.
Wade continued to break through and launch an attack. This time, the defensive changes directed by Liu Xiu were executed very well.
Blocked Rasual Butler's three-pointer who came off the bench, blocked Haslem's cut, guarded the basket with Reuben Bontjie, and left Kirk Penny on the wing open for a pass.
The ball finally came into Kirk Penny's hands. Although Kirk Penny made a three-pointer before, he still missed this time.
Liu Xiu made the right choice this time. Kirk Penny missed the three-pointer in a wide open space, and Randolph protected the defensive rebound!
Liu Xiu received the ball and advanced steadily without speeding up the pace, waiting for his teammates to join him.
He was not fast, and the opponent was trying hard to retreat, so he could not launch an effective fast break.
Liu Xiu came to the top arc and waited. In the previous round, Randolph launched an attack with a back-to-the-basket shot in the low post, and this time it was Liu Xiu's turn.
Just when Liu Xiu was about to pass the ball to Travis Outlaw who was at the top of the arc, he saw Wade had already retreated to the basket!
Liu Xiu looked around and saw that there was no one within a two-meter radius. He was silent for a moment, picked up the ball, and raised his hand...
"Um?"
Wade had already retreated within the free throw line when he realized that Liu Xiu had not come in. He turned around and saw Liu Xiu making a shooting motion!
“This guy has three-point ability?”
Liu Xiu carefully adjusted himself and tried to find the feeling, then took a three-point shot in a wide-open space...
Wade watched Liu Xiu's slow three-point shot go into the basket... "He actually has the ability to shoot three-pointers!"
Although his three-point shooting became NBA-level after he decided to participate in the draft and practiced in simulation, he still has a summer league three-point shooting ability of over 70, which is a good level.
Liu Xiu is not good at shooting three-pointers in singles, but in this kind of big gap, there is no defense, so of course he has to shoot.
Good luck, got in!
108 to 109, the difference narrowed to 1 point!
This time, it was really Wade's fault. It cannot be said that he was not focused. He was concentrating on thinking about how to deal with Liu Xiu's back-to-the-basket attack, but he was too focused on this and made a mistake!
When the Heat attacked, Wade made a close-range rebound shot and saved some face.
But Randolph immediately responded with a back-to-the-basket single-player turnaround and close-range fadeaway jump shot.
110 to 111, the Trail Blazers are keeping the score close!
There is no pause at critical moments in the summer league, just keep going.
When it was the Heat's turn to attack, Wade wanted to try again. This time his intention to attack the basket was too obvious. At the signal of Reuben Bontjie, Randolph moved in time to block the opponent and cooperated with Liu Xiu to block Wade. Wade's jump shot missed!
Reuben Bontjie became bolder at this point. He actually had a pretty good brain, but when it came to playing basketball, his brain often learned but his hands and feet couldn't keep up... At this point, he decisively directed Randolph to help with the defense, catching Wade off guard!
After Randolph completed the tip-in, he protected the defensive rebound himself. Looking back, Liu Xiu's mid-range shot from the free throw line missed, but Randolph made another contribution in rebounding, grabbed the offensive rebound and made a tip-in!
In terms of comprehensive team capabilities, the Heat are definitely slightly stronger, with better overall configuration in all aspects, but in terms of individual ability, Randolph is definitely the strongest one in this game.
If the battle line is extended, Randolph's personal ability will not play a stronger role than ball-holding outside players like Wade and wing shooters like Caron Butler in the summer league. But with only a few rounds left, Randolph is like a BUG, with no solution!
112 to 111, at the critical moment, Randolph scored 4 points in a row and led the Trail Blazers to overtake the score!
At this point in the game, although the number of spectators did not increase much, and the $10 ticket price was not too much, but also not too little, the fans at the scene were very excited to watch the game.
Wade and Quintl Woods' physical fitness, Caron Butler's shooting, Liu Xiu's overall view, Randolph's personal ability... the two teams' team cooperation or small-scale cooperation were all very good.
The game was coming to an end, and Randolph relied on his unreasonable personal ability to overtake the score. More than 5,000 fans at the scene began to shout "No. 3".
Wade was excited when he heard the call, but also a little unhappy - these people didn't even know his name!
Amid the cheers of the fans, Wade chose to attack!
Wade broke through to close range, and under the double-team of Liu Xiu and Randolph, he threw the ball high... and it hit the backboard!
With 21 seconds left, Wade made a key shot, 113 to 112, and the Heat overtook the Trail Blazers by 1 point!
The Trail Blazers did not call a timeout in their last attack. After Randolph passed the ball to Liu Xiu, he shouted "GOGOGO" and urged his teammates to press forward quickly.
Actions will reversely affect a person's mentality, and the same is true for playing basketball. Tonight, Randolph unknowingly became an inside leader that he has never had since entering the NBA. He led his teammates with strong offense, impact play, and a certain degree of coordination and distribution of the ball. This is the mentality that he did not have when he was ordered to play as a starter in the playoffs last season .
The teammates pressed forward quickly, and Liu Xiu followed behind without being in a hurry, controlling the rhythm very well.
After half-court, Liu Xiu began to direct his teammates to move, speeding up and moving towards the top arc.
Randolph pressed inside and made a rushing gesture. Travis Outlaw followed the instructions and went to the wing to provide an off-ball screen for Matt Carroll. Reuben Bontjie was on the left side of the three-second zone, posing a natural threat with his height and physique.
The most valued player of the Trail Blazers at the moment is Reuben Bontjie, the weakest link. A big center is like this, he can just tiptoe and shoot the ball when he receives the ball in the right position. This is also the reason why the outside players can't get a non-guaranteed contract, while big centers like Reuben Bontjie and Lauren Woods always have contracts as long as they have a good physique, no matter how badly they play.
The Heat are currently leading and did not implement aggressive defensive strategies such as pressure and steals, choosing to follow closely.
After Liu Xiu reached the top of the arc, Wade did not give Liu Xiu any more three-pointer opportunities. He stayed very close to him, focusing on the screen where Travis Outlaw was screening Matt Carroll on the left side of the three-second zone, ready to make up for it at any time.
No one expected, not even the Trail Blazers players, that Liu Xiu would choose to break through at this time!
At the moment when Travis Outlaw helped Matt Carroll block Kirk Penny, Wade focused most of his attention on the possible immediate backup defense and was passed by Liu Xiu!
Liu Xiu's speed is not very fast, but it is not slow either. Wade reacted quickly and caught up with him, but he was still a beat late. Liu Xiu broke into the inside, jumped, and made a layup with the help of Haslem... Wade who followed up to block the ball failed to block it!
When Liu Xiu passed Wade, no matter how he did it, the fans at the scene were excited... Neither team had any popular young players, and everyone was there to watch the fun, cheering for whichever side played better.
When they saw Liu Xiu successfully jump shot after entering the paint, more than 5,000 fans at the scene were ready to cheer again... They were not disappointed, as Liu Xiu's front-facing jump shot bounced on the rim and went straight into the basket!
With 2.3 seconds left, Liu Xiu made the winning shot!
The fans who were cheering for Wade just now are now cheering for Liu Xiu. As one of the parties involved, Wade's emotions are complicated.
But this didn't make him angry. What made him angry was that after Liu Xiu scored the goal, he did a chest expansion movement in front of him, as if to say, "I finally got some exercise." Then he smiled and high-fived Randolph and retreated...
Wade gritted his teeth, his cheeks bulging. The excitement he showed after scoring the one-on-two goal that reversed the score just now, compared with Liu Xiu now, he seemed like a fool...
I’m so angry!
Although the opponent did nothing and the celebration was so simple, it still made Wade angry!
