Volume 1: A rookie who breaks into the basketball world Chapter 33: Alternative Summer League Domination
Anne Hathaway's management team can't be said to be in a state of panic these days, but it certainly feels like they are in big trouble.
Things like love have almost no impact on NBA player Liu Xiu .
But for Anne Hathaway, the impact is not small.
However, this is a matter of mutual consent, and Liu Xiu has done nothing wrong. After discussing with his management team, Anne Hathaway can only take a cold approach.
Who would have thought that Liu Xiu would suddenly make such a statement...
As the news direction began to change, with more news saying that she had met the wrong person, was pitiful, and was cheated on... Anne Hathaway felt very complicated.
It was just a date at a special time and in a special environment.
This is normal in the American world.
Anne Hathaway's assistant, Ellie Sanders, exclaimed: "Annie, our beautiful lady is so charming. Did he say that on purpose for your career?"
"Maybe……"
Anne Hathaway also thinks so.
Although she didn't know Liu Xiu very well during their brief contact, she could tell that he was not a stupid person.
Anne Hathaway shook her head and said calmly: "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm an actor and he's a handsome player surrounded by countless beauties..."
There are so many good-looking actresses and men, and there are dozens of NBA lottery picks every year...
…
As for Liu Xiu, some gossip came out during the three-day rest period, but it had basically no impact on him.
On August 2, at the Delta Air Lines Arena in Salt Lake City, the game between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers is about to start.
Liu Xiu was exercising on the sidelines, drawing cheers from the female fans on the scene.
"Jess, why do you still have so many female fans? No, it seems like there are even more!" Travis Outlaw was very envious.
"I'm a little surprised too. Maybe... they all want me?"
What a thick skin! But even Travis Outlaw had to admit that it was really cool.
Liu Xiu was also quite surprised. After he said those words yesterday, Bill Duffy rushed to the hotel where the Trail Blazers were staying in the evening and kept complaining that his fan support would decline.
It is a rare thing for a Trail Blazers player to have so many fans supporting him, and they are female fans with strong spending power.
But the actual situation is not like that.
But it doesn’t matter. Liu Xiu’s attention is not here. When he is on the court, his attention is on the game and the opposing players.
The Clippers selected two centers this year, one is Chris Kaman, who once had some voices as the No. 1 pick, and the other is the 18-year-old Greek shark Sovkris Sksenitis.
The Greek shark cannot play in the NBA due to contract reasons, but the Clippers still have another rookie, Matt Barnes, who was selected by the Grizzlies with the 17th pick in the second round last year.
Liu Xiu's attention was on Matt Barnes, because as soon as he looked at this tough-looking small forward, he found that he was staring at him. The two glared at each other, and neither of them was willing to admit defeat. Whoever looked away first was a dog!
Travis Outlaw came up to Liu Xiu and said, "Jace, look, the players on the other side are really jealous of you and have set their sights on you. This guy is not a good person. Last year, he was cut by the Cavaliers because he had a fight with an opponent during the summer league. No team was willing to give him a contract for a year."
Jealousy is normal.
The grudges between people are sometimes very simple, and jealousy is one of the reasons that easily lead to grudges.
It doesn't make sense, maybe Matt Barnes doesn't even know the actress Anne Hathaway.
But as a young player, Liu Xiu can show off like this, can be on the news, can... it's really enviable.
What Liu Xiu said yesterday was widely reported. Originally, not many people knew about it, but now almost all athletes in North America know about it.
The circle is just this small.
Hearing that the high school students seemed to be gloating, Liu Xiu chose to be a dog, tilting his neck and looking up at Travis Outlaw and said: "You are all small forwards..."
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Travis Outlaw was confused, and then he saw Liu Xiu turn around and yell at the other side...
"Matt Barnes on the other side, look here, this guy, our team's talented high school small forward, is going to beat you tonight! Get your ass clean and wait!"
After saying that, Liu Xiu tilted his neck and looked up at Travis Outlaw and said, "Come on, fight hard and beat him up. If he hits you, I will help you. Believe me, I will pay him back double the number of times he hits you."
Travis Outlaw was stunned - thank you!
He regretted it so much that he regretted just thinking about recognizing the guy in front of him as his boss again!
He swore that he would never recognize this guy as his boss in his life!
…
Liu Xiu's sudden provocation before the game...helping his teammates to provoke, shocked the players, coaches...and even the referees.
Is this... looking for conflict?
Referees should be more careful. If fights break out in the summer league, it will affect their career development!
Matt Barnes, one of the parties involved, was confused. He said he was provoked, but not really. He just felt speechless.
Staring at each other before the game, or even swearing at each other, is a common occurrence. Liu Xiu's behavior...
Anyway, Trail Blazers assistant coach Kevin Pritchard is in a bad state.
Thinking back to when Liu Xiu first came, although he wasn’t a good kid, he was still pretty good.
But now... "Is our team really cursed? Whoever comes here will learn bad things?"
At 3 pm, the game between the Trail Blazers and the Clippers started.
The two teams' summer league playing styles are very different, the Trail Blazers are good at offense, and the Clippers are good at defense.
This is the difference brought about by the characteristics of the NBA players of the two teams.
For the Trail Blazers, Liu Xiu will organize the offense, Travis Outlaw will be the main attacker, and Matt Carroll will receive the shots and has a decent passing ability. The game will revolve around these three people, and the focus will definitely be on offense.
After winning all 4 preliminary games, the trio is becoming more and more confident in their cooperation. Although Liu Xiu often "criticizes" his teammates, he always mentions "how they were in the NBA." In the Rocky Mountain Summer League, the trio is very confident that they are the "Big Three" of this tournament!
As for the Clippers, Barnes and Kaman are both defensive players, one on the forward line and the other at center, so it is easy to build a defensive system.
The college players of both teams are not the top players, which means they are basically not the core of their respective university teams. They are very good at team offense and defense. Moreover, they are players selected by both teams around rookies. After the preliminaries, they have time to adjust their tactics and played even better than in the preliminaries!
Judging from the situation, the Trail Blazers had the advantage after the start of the game.
But the score couldn't be closed!
Defensive teams are resilient, and this is reflected in the Clippers.
Although he didn't know why, since the high school rookie on the opposite side had provoked him, the tough-minded Barnes naturally had to have a good fight with Travis Outlaw.
Kaman is a taciturn person, but he also knows that he has to show himself well. It is true that the summer league is not important, but if he can't play far in unimportant games, it is hard for him, who thinks he is the best player in the 2003 class, to accept it.
At the second official timeout at 6 minutes and 11 seconds in the first quarter, the Trail Blazers led the Clippers by 4 points, 11 to 7, and Liu Xiu was replaced.
Kevin Pritchard replaced Liu Xiu for two purposes, one of which was to let Liu Xiu rest for a while.
Another is to compare the difference between whether Liu Xiu was present or not.
At the end of the first quarter, taking advantage of the 4 minutes when Liu Xiu was substituted, the Clippers made an 8 to 3 run! 15 to 14, the Clippers overtook the Trail Blazers by 1 point!
In the second quarter, Kevin Pritchard replaced Liu Xiu with Travis Outlaw, a young, strong and energetic high school student, and continued to play.
The Trail Blazers have always been excellent in their ability to develop players. Liu Xiu is characterized by his strong tactical execution ability, while Travis Outlaw needs a lot of playing time to get used to the rhythm of adult games.
As the second quarter began, Maurice Cheeks and Kevin Pritecha chatted on the sidelines.
"I discovered during the game against the Cavaliers that Jayce has pretty good defensive mobilization abilities," said Morris Cheeks with a somewhat proud tone.
Kevin Pritchard was fooled by this guy again. He laughed and said, "You sound as if you have such ability..."
"I already have it. I was a superstar back then, unlike a role player like you."
“…”
Damn it, can we still have a good chat?
Why are you becoming more and more...Xiu'er-like?
Kevin Pritchard had a thought in his mind... Did Liu Xiu learn bad things from coming here? Or would their team become even more extreme because of Liu Xiu?
Anyway, recently Maurice Cheeks has been increasingly fond of speaking the truth.
The thought flashed through Kevin Pritchard's mind, just in an instant.
If Liu Xiu knew what Kevin Pritchard was thinking now, he would tell him one word that would easily ease his grief and anger - if anyone dies...
…
On the court, after playing one quarter, the two teams had a certain understanding of each other's characteristics, and also had a clear feeling of the other side's competitive state tonight.
At the first official timeout of the second quarter, the scores between the two teams were still very low.
It can be seen from the first quarter that although the Trail Blazers once had the advantage in the field and the score, their score was much lower than in the previous game. In other words, in fact, the Trail Blazers were brought into the slow pace of the Clippers, so they were quickly overtaken after Liu Xiu was replaced.
Because when Liu Xiu was on the court, his outstanding tactical execution ability led the team to steadily implement the tactics in a slowed-down rhythm.
In the first three minutes of the second quarter, Matt Barnes led the Clippers to speed up the defensive rotation and be more active in helping defense. In these three minutes, the Trail Blazers only scored 4 points, 18 to 20, and the Trail Blazers were two points behind.
When the official timeout came, seeing that the coaching staff did not make any substitutions, Liu Xiu directly pulled a few teammates onto the court to discuss.
After playing so many summer league games, Liu Xiu has become very clear that for a game of this level, not to mention whether the coaching staff has the time to adjust, even if they do, they may not be able to play well. It's not that the players are unwilling to execute or lack execution, but for most college players, they do not have the ability to execute those on-the-spot changes.
At this time, the coaching staff's adjustments are unlikely to be as fast as the players on the field making adjustments based on their own feelings.
Soon, the timeout ended, the Trail Blazers had the ball and served from the center line.
Liu Xiu received the ball and started attacking.
Travis Otero's movement was more aggressive, and Andre Gion set a wing screen for Travis Otero, taking Kaman out.
At this time, Barnes' defensive awareness was revealed, and he retreated back to the basket... but was pushed away from the side!
Barnes turned around and saw Liu Xiu breaking into the inside and making a layup!
The Trail Blazers had three players creating opportunities for Travis Outlaw. A player cut in from the right baseline to tie down the opponent's forward. There was a shooter moving in the left corner, and the center was also screening for him... but in fact, the main attacker in this round was Liu Xiu!
"Healing value +47, from Matt Barnes."
Liu Xiu patted the opponent's arm and turned to retreat.
Tonight, the opponents' emotions due to him were obviously more than usual! The total amount was more, so naturally there were more emotions about basketball and against him.
And the quality! Obviously, the healing value provided by the opponent tonight is a few points higher than usual. Under the same circumstances, it will always be a few points higher.
What Liu Xiu wanted to point out was not the fire in the girl's heart, but the fire in the hearts of other basketball players...
As for his ability on the court...he himself is very good at it. He can simply rely on the game itself to make his opponents have more emotional fluctuations towards him. There is no problem in the summer league, but what about when he enters the NBA?
But he discovered his unique advantage, so he had to make good use of it...
When I was a student, I had a naive idea that he just looked good, and grades were not important.
Only when I grew up did I realize how important it is to look good.
This will definitely make his basketball career more difficult and bring more targeting... but there is no gain without pain!
On the court, the score was tied, and the Clippers had to work hard to score again.
The Clippers' playing style in the Rocky Mountain Summer League is similar to that of the Pistons in the playoffs. Their head coach Mike Dunleavy is capable and, seeing that Kaman has the potential to become a defensive core center, he decisively developed him in that direction.
But with this lineup, it is really difficult to score after playing purely defense and slowing down the pace!
When the Clippers attacked this time, the Trail Blazers blocked the flanks and left the middle open for the opponent to force a breakthrough.
Not to mention, although Matt Barnes has almost no offensive ability in the NBA, he was one of the main scorers in college, and this time the Trail Blazers gave him just that opportunity.
Barnes dribbled the ball to the basket in the middle and made a layup... but missed! He was blocked!
Liu Xiu stepped back to grab the defensive rebound. The Clippers blocked the ball quickly and the Trail Blazers failed to counterattack. However, Liu Xiu tried his best to speed up the tempo and create an opportunity in the transition period of positional battle!
Barnes has a good sense of defense, is very active, and has great defensive talent... but he is still too young and inexperienced!
Liu Xiu rushed towards the basket, and Barnes immediately retreated. Liu Xiu made a lob move, and Barnes was prepared and took a step back. However, Liu Xiu did not throw the ball into the air, but threw it to the middle of the left rear... Travis Outlaw cut in from the middle and received the ball. His legs rose rapidly as if they were equipped with springs, and he swiftly slammed the ball into the basket!
22 to 20, overtaking the score!
…
On the court, Liu Xiu helped the team regain the initiative through an adjustment during an official timeout.
And unlike the first quarter, this time they truly took the initiative and began to push the tempo in the direction they were accustomed to.
The game is still slow and the scores are still low, but at some stages, Travis Outlaw's speed and athletic inside impact... have been better utilized.
The two coaches of the Trail Blazers were watching the situation on the sidelines. They knew that if nothing unexpected happened they would have to prepare for the semifinals.
Obviously, because of a player like Liu Xiu, even if the team with the No. 1 or No. 3 pick comes here, it is unlikely that they will be a match for the Trail Blazers.
In a one-on-one basketball match, Liu Xiu was no match for them, but when it came to tactical play with a group of college students, these people were no match for Liu Xiu.
The trio of Liu Xiu, Travis Outlaw and Matt Carroll are giants here.
Too good! In the eyes of the two, Liu Xiu is too good!
It’s not about personal ability, but about the characteristics of the playing style!
Looking at Liu Xiu, they saw hope—the hope of connecting the Trail Blazers’ group of big-name players together!
Pippen used to do this, but he couldn't hold on last season, and the team didn't plan to renew his contract...
The two knew that the management's actions were intended to destroy and then rebuild, but they both still wanted to struggle!
