Pick Westbrook

Chapter 430 Christmas Battle
"The ability to control the ball is difficult to achieve overnight. It requires gradual and long-term persistent training."

"Even with Paul's words and deeds, I'm afraid it will be difficult to have a significant effect before the playoffs."

"And the simulation of basketball IQ and tactics also needs a long period of polishing, because Antetokounmpo was too late to touch basketball, and he urgently needs such growth."

"Playing against the brightest players helps shorten the growth process."

Li Lai took a deep breath, which is why he arranged for Antetokounmpo to defend James.

Of course, he has already anticipated what will happen next, but Li Lai believes that with Brother Antetokounmpo's heart, such a blow will only make him stronger.

The game continues.

James saw that the Pelicans did not bring up his sufferers Leonard and Jimmy Butler at this time, but took a rookie this year, the No. [-] pick whose name was too long to pronounce.

He felt underestimated by the Pelicans.

"This little guy who has only played a dozen games will be my opponent?"

James attacks with the ball, and Antetokounmpo lowers his center of gravity and is ready to defend at any time.

This defensive position and posture was taught by the legendary Payton in the team. Antetokounmpo also used this defensive position and posture many times to defend his opponents by relying on his physical talent.

He thinks he can also defend James with this position and posture, because those fans are saying that James has no offensive skills.

Dribble, accelerate suddenly, get close to Antetokounmpo, and then see James push Antetokounmpo to the basket like a bulldozer.

The thick eyebrow immediately made up to help defend, James turned around under the basket, staggered the thick eyebrow's defensive area and faced the basket.

Jordan on the side has long been paying attention to James' position. At this time, seeing Antetokounmpo being bullied and Anthony Davis being staggered to defend, he hurried to defend from the other side.

"The overall defense of the Pelicans is really good!"

boom!
James forcibly took off and dunked with Jordan on the hook.

Brother Antetokounmpo on the side was dumbfounded, what kind of operation is this.

Anthony Davis and Jordan Jr. are very used to each other's performance, after all, they are opponents who have experienced the finals.

"Although James' breakthrough posture is ugly, his speed is not fast, and his rhythm does not change much, but he is the best player in the league who is good at relying on physical breakthroughs."

"When you're not his match in terms of strength and size, you're just going to be pushed to the basket."

Anthony Davis patted Antetokounmpo on the shoulder and said.

Antetokounmpo immediately recalled the opponent's actions just now, and James really pushed him to the basket like a bulldozer.

Jordan added: "James's turn around the basket is the ugliest I have ever seen. My turn is more handsome than him, but his timing and turn skills are the true inheritance of the big dream Olajuwon."

"Don't look ugly, it's really useful, and few people have learned it yet."

At this time, the three of them were standing near the free throw line. The referee came to execute the free throw. James was still raising his right bicep to show off his muscles to the audience.

Antetokounmpo looked at James' hang, and suddenly understood what the coach said to him.

"You have to gain muscle and weight, you have to improve your basketball IQ, you have to practice ball handling and your template is LeBron James."

Swish!
James scored 2+1.

The Pelicans attacked, and Antetokounmpo took the initiative to ask for the ball from beyond the three-point line.

Without hesitation, Paul passed the ball immediately, and shouted in motivation: "Hit him!"

Jimmy Butler chimed in: "Hit him!"

Antetokounmpo took a deep breath with the ball, the same breakthrough with the ball, the same straight approach to the basket with his body leaning on James, but just pushed it near the free throw line, James was as stable as a rock, preventing Antetokounmpo from One step inside.

Antetokounmpo was very smart to turn his back in advance, but James was so smart that he immediately started the moment the opponent turned around.

boom!
Cut the ball!

Wade picked up the floor ball and launched a fast break, and James sprinted with all his strength.

call!
Wade ignored the pass and threw the ball behind his head.

James descended from the sky, jumped from the free throw line, and blew up the frame with both hands.

"What a great hatred!"

"James' dunk is to vent the hatred and loss of last season's finals."

"The Pelicans ruined the Heat's two consecutive championships and ruined the Heat's dynasty plan. This hatred is even more mortal than the hatred of killing your father."

Antetokounmpo, who was easily intercepted, was taunted by the Heat players on the field.

"Who does he think he is?"

"LeBron James?"

Mario Chalmers compared a number 23 on his chest and said: "You should change the number 34 to 23, so we will think you are LeBron number 2."

Because Antetokounmpo is not a player who grew up as a local rookie, he has been encountering a lot of trash talk from his opponents on the court.

This is why Victor Oladipo dared to complain directly in front of the media that Antetokounmpo was not worthy of taking the No. fundamental problem.

No one looks down on Antetokounmpo, and seriously speaking, this should be regarded as discrimination.

On the court, Paul and other Pelicans players did not help Antetokounmpo fight back at this time.

Anthony Davis taught Antetokounmpo how to gain weight and muscle in the previous offseason, so the relationship between the two is deeper than other teammates.

Anthony Davis walked up to Antetokounmpo, patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are a man, and this counterattack should be reserved for yourself."

"Let all the players on the Heat remember this day, you will have your revenge on them."

Antetokounmpo stood up, without any weakness in his eyes, and said, "I'm going to be as good as James, but my name is Giannis Sina Hugo Antetokounmpo, and I don't Call James 2!"

Li Lai looked at Antetokounmpo who was still running all over the court and tried his best to defend James. He was very satisfied with the opponent's fighting spirit and spirit.

Li Lai did not intend to replace the opponent, so he asked Antetokounmpo to compete with James in this game.

Halftime is over.

The Pelicans trailed 51:60.

In the second half of the game, Li Lai gave Jimmy Butler, who played well, more playing time.

Jiba seemed to have had a chicken blood, and he was excited when he faced James, but he was very smart not to go head-to-head with James and Wade, who are the best defenders.

Jimmy Butler always uses pick-and-roll screens and passes to make himself a very bright performance.

The game reached the final moment, and in the last minute of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans still fell behind 1:95.

Paul held the ball in singles, hit a three-pointer, and a mid-range single was blocked by Wade who came back to defend.

This much-anticipated opponent in the finals of last season ended in failure of the Pelicans.

98: 102.

After the game, all the media reporters and guest commentators were complaining about Li Lai's substitution mistakes and coaching mistakes.

Barkley has not been angry with Lee for a long time, and cursed: "The Pelicans' substitution strategy is like a pile of shit."

"Li Lai let Antetokounmpo play for 30 minutes?"

“在这30分钟里，詹姆斯14投10中，罚球4中3，打出了24分3篮板3助攻的表现。”

"In the whole game, James only had 33 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists."

"Under Antetokounmpo's defense, James played an extremely efficient offensive efficiency."

"As for Antetokounmpo, he made 12 of 3 shots and missed free throws. He scored 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers."

"Why let such a piece of shit like Antetokounmpo play such a long time on the court, just because he was your No. [-] pick?"

Barkley's words were very sharp, and even led the fans to follow his train of thought. The implication was that Li Lai gave Antetokounmpo a long playing time in order to cover up his draft mistakes.

As a result, Antetokounmpo behaved like an unsupported Adou.

In fact, even without tonight's game, Antetokounmpo's average playing time is 26 minutes per game, which is not much different from 30 minutes.

Kenny Smith, who has always been a fan of Li, also stood up for Barkley at this time and said: "Why don't you give Diaw more playing time, even Lewis is better than Antetokounmpo."

"Coach Li Lai has to bear a lot of responsibility for the loss of the Pelicans in this game."

After the game with the Heat, the Pelicans returned to New Orleans and ushered in a rare 3-day non-game day.

Li Lai specially gave the players two days off, and did not call everyone for training until the day before the game.

During the two days off, the Pelicans' training camp has been staying with three players.

Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Antetokounmpo.

Jimmy Butler is a training idiot. He will naturally bring his good brother Leonard during training. Originally, Jimmy also invited Anthony Davis to train together. After all, they are the youngest in the Pelicans players.

But Anthony Davis turned it down, saying he wanted to play games.

Jimmy Butler is so angry!

"What game are you playing? WOW, runescape, or DDO?"

"Basketball is a man's game!"

But to Jimmy Butler's surprise, when he and Leonard rushed to the court, the two found Antetokounmpo, who had been in the training hall for a long time.

The opponent's sweat had already wet his shirt, where he alone imitated James' breakthrough and turning layup movements, while also controlling the ball with both hands.

Antetokounmpo was very sensible and didn't disturb the rest of coaching veteran Paul on his rest day. He has always been so sensible that it makes people feel distressed.

But Jimmy Butler likes such hard-working players, he put his arms around Antetokounmpo's neck and said: "I will cover you from now on, who dares to bully you, watch me fight and retreat Butler!"

Then the three who trained together met Li Lai who came out of the office.

It turned out that more than three people worked hard on the team.

Antetokounmpo remembered the criticism and ridicule on the Barkley Show recently. He knew that the coach deliberately let him play more time so that he could learn more from James.

"Coach, I'm sorry, I messed up everything."

Li Lai looked at such a sensible Antetokounmpo and didn't know what to say.

Jimmy Butler put his arm around Antetokounmpo's shoulder and laughed: "The coach doesn't need your apology. Do you think Barkley's bad mouth can make the coach frown?"

"He's thinking about shit!"

"All of us are waiting for you to score 20+10, and then watch that Barkley guy do a handstand."

"Before, he kissed the ass of a donkey because he was betting against Yao Ming, but it's much more exciting to eat shit."

Li Lai nodded and patted Antetokounmpo on the shoulder and said, "I'm also waiting for this day."

"It's time for Barkley's stinky mouth to be taught a lesson."

"And I think you're perfectly capable of doing that."

December 12 Christmas War.

The Pelicans play away against the Warriors.

Barkley laughed: "The current record of the Pelicans is 23 wins and 4 losses, and the record of the Warriors is also 23 wins and 4 losses."

"The two teams are tied for the league's No. [-] record."

"The outcome of tonight's game will directly determine the number one position in the regular season record, and it will directly widen the difference between two victories."

Kenny Smith was completely impressed by the Warriors this season. He didn't expect that just one more Iguodala and Zha Pachulia would complete a qualitative evolution of this Warriors team.

Of course, the Warriors' newly joined chief assistant Mike Brown contributed a lot.

His arrival directly made the Warriors jump from the last defense in the league last season to the eighth in the league.

This is why the Warriors were able to become the league's super team this season.

The head coach of the Warriors, Cole, chewed his gum and looked expectantly at Li Lai.

The Warriors have already beaten the Heat in previous games, and he is ready to beat the Pelicans in this game tonight.

In this way, the Warriors defeated the two teams in the finals of last season at the same time, which is enough to prove their strength.

"Guys, don't underestimate this Warriors team, play them like the Heat."

"Be careful of Curry's off-ball moves, and their passing and cutting tactics."

"Remember, our focus is on the inside!"

Li Lai is also very concerned about tonight's game, because the Pelicans' players have been in excellent condition since the start of the game. First, Leonard broke out with an average of 30+ per game, followed by Jimmy Butler's 3+ performance in three games.

The two strikers of the Pelicans have already played so that the entire league began to tremble.

In tonight's game, facing the weak inside Warriors, it's time for Anthony Davis to play.

Nong Mei noticed the coach's eyes and knew what he meant by playing inside.

Who is the best big man for the Pelicans?Who was the key figure for the bloody Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals last season.

Of course it's Anthony Davis with his thick eyebrows!
The regular starting lineup for the Pelicans.

Warriors starting lineup: point guard Stephen Curry, shooting guard Klay Thompson, small forward Andre Iguodala, power forward Draymond Green and center Pachulia.

Game start.

Midfield jump ball.

Without any surprise, Jordan jumped off the ball from Pachulia.

The opponent's take-off even looked like it didn't jump in Jordan's eyes.

Paul controlled the ball and raised his hand to indicate a tactic.

Jordan immediately stepped up to play a high pick-and-roll, and Pachulia, the Warriors' insider, was taken out.

It was still the classic matchup of last season, Anthony Davis singled Draymond Green in the paint.

Paul passed the ball high and did not give Draymond Green a chance to go around and steal. The details of this pass are extremely important, and the thick eyebrows can always receive comfortable passes from Paul inside.

Thick eyebrows turned back with the ball and glanced at the opponent's defensive position.

(End of this chapter)