Volume 1: A rookie who breaks into the basketball world Chapter 21 Playing with your brain
Liu Xiu closed his eyes and calmed down.
He had actually been looking forward to this mission for a long time.
Now it’s finally here, and I’m a little excited.
"The mission objective is to win this game, there are no other conditions attached... Given my current situation, it would be difficult to come up with any additional conditions."
"There's no need to worry so much now, just figure out a way to win..."
"but……"
"Reverse Conqueror...why doesn't it feel like a good thing?"
Liu Xiu adjusted his mood and quickly got into the game.
Looking at the opponent's starting lineup, Liu Xiu complained to Travis Outlaw next to him: "Are they sending the regular season starting lineup to play in the summer league?"
Although high school student Travis Outlaw is naive and innocent, he still feels that the handsome face in front of him deserves a beating too much.
That’s too bad!
There's nothing wrong with that.
Wagner and Boozer, players from the 2002 class, secured starting positions in the middle of their rookie season.
James, the No. 1 pick, the Cavaliers are weak, so James will definitely start. These are the three starters, the only ones missing are Ricky Davis and Big Z.
Big Z had a miserable time in the past four years. He was seriously injured during the shortened season and played only five games. He was also out for the entire 1999-00 season. He also played as a substitute most of the time in the past two seasons. He seemed to have gotten rid of the shadow of injury at the end of last season, starting in March and April and performing very well.
It feels like the Cavaliers' summer league starting lineup is only missing Ricky Davis from the starting lineup for the new season. Of course, the gap is huge. Last season, Ricky Davis averaged 20.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and the other role players in the Cavaliers' regular season lineup are not comparable to the current summer league team.
But the Cavaliers have always been ridiculed.
At present, the Magic team, which has found a group of experienced old basketball players to support the team, is one level higher in strength. The next strongest teams are the Trail Blazers and the Cavaliers. Both teams currently have 2 wins and 1 loss, and both have only lost to the Magic team.
Although , if nothing unexpected happens, the Magic will win the championship with 5 wins and 0 losses, and the Trail Blazers and Cavaliers will at most compete for second place, but there is always a certain probability, right? As long as the Magic loses one game tonight and tomorrow night, the Trail Blazers and Cavaliers will have a chance to win first place.
Now that we are here, of course we have to fight for it... Mainly because there are more than 10,000 people watching the game, it would be strange if we are not excited about such a game!
Just as Liu Xiu guessed, Randolph and Boozer had a grudge in college. When applying magnesium powder in front of the technical table, they pushed each other with their arms and were warned by the officials at the technical table.
The physical conflict cannot be considered a good game conflict, but the fans at the scene were very excited!
Randolph and Boozer are both the strongest players in their respective teams' current lineups... This was the evaluation of the Orlando Sentinel after the first game day. There is no need to say anything about Randolph, and as for the Cavaliers, Boozer is really the best performing player on this team.
James' talent is obvious to the naked eye, Randolph and Boozer are both rising stars, and both teams have some young talents who may be able to stay in the NBA for many years... The fans feel they have made a fortune by spending $10 to buy tickets this time, since Randolph and Boozer obviously don't like each other!
At 2:58 pm, the starting lineups of both teams came onto the court.
The Cavaliers' starting lineup was the same as in previous games, with James, DaJuan Wagner, Kapono, Boozer and Diop.
The Trail Blazers sent out Liu Xiu, Matt Carroll, Travis Otero, Randolph and Reuben Bontjie as their starting lineup.
Ruben Bontjie and Diop came to the center circle, and when they saw each other, they felt a sense of mutual appreciation.
Unlike Randolph and Boozer who were arranged by the team to train new players, Reuben Bontjie and Diop are players who really should come to the summer league to train.
They are all 213 cm tall centers with strong physiques. Their common advantage is that if their teams do not have a suitable center, it is not always a bad choice to send them.
Of course it wouldn't be a very good choice.
At 3 pm, amid the cheers of the fans, the referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air. Diop easily won the jump ball over Reuben Bontjie's head with his excellent bounce, and the Cavaliers attacked first!
James received the ball and advanced across half court.
Yes, James' registered position is point guard.
However, the one waiting for James was not the point guard Liu Xiu, but the Trail Blazers' starting small forward Travis Outlaw.
As a high school rookie, Travis Outlaw naturally wants to defeat LeBron James, who is rated as the "strongest high school student in history" by ESPN Sports.
Liu Xiu followed Dajuan Wagner, who was of similar height.
Liu Xiu is very worried about Dajuan Wagner's speed. This guy once relied on his speed to score 100 points in a single game in high school. He averaged 13.4 points and 2.8 assists per game in his rookie year last season, which was quite good. Although he is a short shooting guard who can hold the ball, he has good off-ball skills. He has the ability to catch the ball at the baseline and attract the defense before passing the ball to the middle. He cooperated very well with Boozer last season.
However, after crossing half court, Dajuan Wagner stood on the sidelines and did not participate in the offense.
Looking back at the top arc, Travis Outlaw tried to defend James with great fighting spirit... but was directly knocked away by James!
Travis Outlaw was selected in the first round as a high school student when he was less than 19 years old. His physical fitness was definitely top-notch in the NBA. He was most confident in his physical fitness, but James made him realize what real amazing physical fitness was!
James drove all the way to the baseline and passed the ball back to the right side of the free throw line. Boozer moved into position and made a jump shot from the free throw line.
It was a very beautiful combination. Boozer's wide shooting range and top-notch ability to find opportunities to receive the ball, coupled with James's breakthrough points, even if James can't play pick-and-roll yet, the two are quite compatible.
In the original time and space, Boozer broke his promise and ran away for more money. There is a reason why Cavaliers fans hated Boozer for more than ten years and did not stop until Boozer retired.
The offense and defense switched, and the Trail Blazers attacked.
The offense was launched around Randolph's low-post back-up, Liu Xiu was the main controller distributing the ball, Travis Outlaw cut in to threaten, Matt Carroll looked for an open space to receive the shot, and Reuben Bontjie contained the low-post defense...
The Trail Blazers' lineup has become very proficient in this style of play in the past three games.
Travis Outlaw circled the middle and walked to the baseline, received a pass from Matt Carroll on the left side of the three-second zone, jumped towards Diop who moved a beat slower, and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand!
Just after being hit, Travis Outlaw immediately hit back!
Travis Outlaw did not think about responding in the way James is good at. As a 2.06-centimeter small forward, he can only handle the ball when facing a sieve like Caron Butler. He chose to respond in the way he is good at.
This kind of spirit and this quite calm mind really make the teammates feel comfortable when they see it.
As predicted by the local media in Orlando before the game, the strength shown by the two teams on the court was not much different, and the game was back and forth.
Randolph and Boozer are the main scorers for both teams.
Boozer is better at mid-range and long-range shooting, and is the best defensive rebounder of the game. He is also good at attacking the basket, and is good at cutting in, facing the basket in the low post, or back-to-the-basket singles. Randolph is the best offensive rebounder of the game, has an okay mid-range shot, is strong at close range and under the basket, and has reached a first-class level in low-post face-to-the-basket and back-to-the-basket singles.
Randolph led the Trail Blazers to fight against the Cavaliers; as for the Cavaliers, James is currently attacking around Boozer, and his first goal is to get the ball to Boozer who has a chance to shoot.
After playing a few games, the two teams, which have been playing together for a long time, have developed a certain tacit understanding. When the strength of the two teams is evenly matched, both teams are trying to adjust and do better.
If the opponents are evenly matched and neither side is a bad chess player, then such a match is definitely the easiest way to make progress.
Liu Xiu did not become the focus after the start of this game.
He is very tactful. He does not steal the limelight, nor does he even think about stealing the limelight. Instead, he does what he can and should do - distribute the ball well; when he does not have the ball in his hands, he moves to the threat point, shooting point, and transition point in time, just like he cooperated with Anthony and Hakeem Warrick in college.
Compared with the previous three games, Liu Xiu did not perform well at all today.
There are many reasons why Randolph was very aggressive in offense tonight. In fact, Randolph didn't try too hard in the previous few games, let alone try his best. But tonight, Randolph's performance made Liu Xiu truly understand what a superstar is - a superstar in the summer league. Randolph who gave his all on this stage is a superstar.
In the previous few games, Randolph would actively create opportunities for Liu Xiu after he made a threat, and would give Liu Xiu more opportunities to practice back-to-the-basket defense, but tonight, it was obviously not so suitable.
But Liu Xiu's performance was not bad! He distributed the ball very well. Although he didn't have a single assist in half a quarter and only scored 2 points, he did organize the team's offense.
His ability to organize offense is average, but his strengths are organizing the offense and distributing the ball tactically.
Six minutes into the first quarter, the second official timeout was called and the score was 18 to 16, with the Trail Blazers leading by two points.
Liu Xiu was substituted, and Kevin Pritcha patted Liu Xiu on the shoulder when Liu Xiu returned to the bench, so Liu Xiu had no objection to being substituted. He knew that although his performance was not outstanding, he should have done what the coaching staff wanted to see him do in tonight's game.
But, when you sit down, your mind is different from when you are on the court and focusing on the game itself...
His performance in the first six minutes of the first quarter met the expectations of the coaching staff, but there was certainly no surprise in the coaches' hearts.
Watching Quintel Woods, the big name in the summer league, go on the court to fight against the opponent, Liu Xiu was thinking about whether he should do something.
He looked at the ability evaluation of his steady point guard who only reached an excellent level in the summer league, and suppressed his restlessness... "My playing style cannot change. I have to be the most stable one and do the basic work well, but I can help my teammates think of ways!"
…
Quinter Woods was a real killer in the summer league, scoring 5 points in 4 minutes, including a counterattack jumper and a 2+1 layup after a breakthrough.
Thanks to Quinter Woods' 5 points, the Trail Blazers withstood the counterattack of the Cavaliers led by James after the first quarter, and the two teams entered the intermission with a score of 28-28.
The intermission was only 2 minutes, and Kevin Pritech called Quintl Woods over during the intermission. At the beginning of the second quarter, Kevin Pritech was ready to continue to send Quintl Woods on the field.
But this time, before Kevin Pritchard could speak, a 188 cm tall handsome boy came up to them.
Kevin Pritchard is only 36 years old now. He was the 7th pick in the second round of the 1990 draft. His talent was at the bottom of the NBA. He played for 4 years, changed 5 teams, earned $500,000 in pre-tax salary , and became an assistant coach at the age of 30.
Although he does not have much talent in playing basketball, Kevin Pritecha's height is quite standard for a shooting guard.
Liu Xiu regretted standing with the two men a little, but since he was already here, he said, "Coach, we didn't distribute the ball very well just now..."
As soon as these words were spoken, the teammates who had just returned to the sidelines from the court immediately became excited.
After a few days, even the teammates who disliked Liu Xiu began to recognize his steadiness and his ability in these most basic things.
However, although he recognized it, even assistant coach Kevin Pritchard felt that Liu Xiu's words were excessive.
Without waiting for Kevin Pritchard to say anything or Quinter Woods to defend his teammate, Liu Xiu continued, "If I play, I will distribute the ball better. In some rounds that require adjustments to the team's offensive strategy, I can make better adjustments and provide better help for the tactics around Quinter."
After Liu Xiu said this, Quintel Woods fell silent. The always meticulous chief assistant coach Kevin Pritchard felt that Liu Xiu was indeed a talent...but his mouth was too...honest?
Quintel Woods still has expectations - to win the trust of the coaching staff, to be valued by the team, and to show his talent in the new season.
Summer League, this stage, Quintelle Woods wants to seize, even if it is just a little bit better, it is better...
As for Dita Carter, who provided Liu Xiu with 41 healing points first and then 79 healing points, although Quintel Woods expressed his gratitude for the support of this teammate, Dita Carter did hold back tonight.
Kevin Prittach looked at the slacking coach who had appeared next to him at some point, Maurice Cheeks nodded, Kevin Prittach also nodded, and quickly made adjustments.
Unlike the past three games, when the score was tight, Liu Xiu and Quintel Woods were substituted in together!
