Zhiba NBA

Chapter 6 ([-]) Legend of the Wolf

Ten starters stood on the field.Garnett spat trash talk at Thomas: "I'm going to beat you!" Thomas, who had been chattering in the locker room before, knew that his strength could not compete with the opponent, so he simply kept his mouth shut to save effort.

With the jump ball, Dameng leaps high.Although Lian Po is old, he can still fight. Dameng's jumping ability is still better than that of the Slovenian center forward. He gave the racket to Williams.Williams quickly passed to Mobley, and Mobley pushed the ball across the half.Brandon clung to him.

"Tyrell Brandon averaged 36 minutes per game last season, contributed 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists. He also has long-range shooting ability. He is a relatively good second-tier star in the league. Unfortunately, he is already 30 years old and will not be our trading target." Yuan Fei stared at the computer screen and kept searching for information.

Mobley's nickname is Old Cat, and he really has cat-like dexterity.He broke through Brandon's defense with a jerk-fake shake. "Old man, your legs can't keep up!" Mobley yelled and rushed to the three-second zone. The experienced Olajuwon had already stuck Nesterovic behind him at this moment, making him unable to step forward to help defend, and the basket was in front of Mobley.Layup, shot.

A big hand covered the sky and slapped the basketball on the backboard, nailing the big hat!Garnett soared into the sky to shoot a block and took advantage of the situation to accept the ball.Facing the stunned Rockets players, he raised his head to the sky and screamed.

"Don't stand still and return to defense!" Olajuwon commanded his teammates.Brandon, who got the ball, slowly advanced across the half court with the ball, facing Mobley's defense.

"Damn it! I almost scored!" Mobley was upset, "Why is that thin bamboo pole so fast! This time I must prevent Brandon to save face." The experienced Brandon dribbled the ball unhurriedly, looking directly into Mobley's eyes, which seemed to see through the opponent's psychological activities.His hand moved suddenly, and his eyes looked to the left. "It's a pass! Is he going to give it to Szczerbiak?" Mobley looked to the left subconsciously, and Brandon disappeared from his vision for a moment.

Brandon dashed to the right, out of Mo's sight.He made a beautiful feint with just his eyes and a flick of his hand, completely fooling his opponent.Although Mobley is 25 years old, this is only the first game of his third season. Compared with Brandon, who has played in his tenth year, he is too young.

Thomas quickly defended, Brandon passed the three-second zone, open, Garnett dunked!
For the second time, the roar of the Wolf King resounded through the Compaq Center Stadium (Note: The Toyota Center Arena familiar to Chinese fans was opened in 2003).

***
"Kevin, you must watch the sports channel tonight. You must be among the top five goals." Sam Mitchell, who came off the bench, said happily.The veteran has played for the Wolves for 12 years and is the number one veteran in the team (he will take over as the head coach of the Timberwolves in September 2015).

Garnett looked up at the scoreboard, 71:44 Wolves led by a big score in the first half.The Rockets' defense barely supported the first half of the first quarter. After Olajuwon took a break, the inside line was completely unable to contain Garnett's rampage. "But that guy Thomas knew that the backup center was not good enough, so he just put up shots and didn't let go. He just wanted to resist me and prevent me from entering the three-second zone." Garnett thought: "This guy is not talented enough, and he still works hard defensively."

"The lads played great!" Coach Saunders cheered up the players loudly: "We scored more than 70 points in the first half, because they couldn't contain Kevin and Tyrell at all. Keep it like this. We beat them in the third quarter, and the main players in the fourth quarter went to rest. We have to prepare well for the game against the Spurs the day after tomorrow."

"Yes! Coach!" Garnett and others replied loudly.

***
"Mr. Thomas, what do you think of your defense against Garnett?" Yuan Fei asked.

"Just call me Kenny like everyone else, Jason, I think I defended poorly. Garnett scored more than 20 points, and it was only halftime."

"Garnett made 19 of 9 shots in the half, 3 of 2 free throws, and 1 turnover. He took 21 possessions and scored 20 points. Hear that? Thomas—no, Kenny, you defended a superstar in the league and made him score 21 points in 20 possessions. You're great!"

"Am I really that good?" Thomas was stunned.

Yuan Fei is very clear that the best defensive players in the team are Dameng and Thomas.But Olajuwon's advanced age destined him to play less than 30 minutes, and Rodgers, who replaced him, was poor in defense.If it weren't for the lack of offensive ability of the Timberwolves' center, the inside line would have been blasted to pieces.As for the perimeter players, except for the young Tracy McGrady, everyone else has poor defense. There is no defensive player. The team's previous defensive sharp knife, Shanton Anderson, has gone to the Raptors.

"The starters in the second half are Hakeem, Kenny, Tracy, Dell and Michael." Tang Shuai said, "Cartino, you played almost all of the first half, take a break. Tracy, you will handle the ball. Is there a problem?"

Reid was dumbfounded, he was going to play.His long-awaited NBA debut came like this.Mobley was also dumbfounded, can McGrady play point guard?

"No problem, leave it to me, coach." McGrady still looked sleepy.

***
As soon as he played, McGrady got rid of the state of not waking up.So after Reed and Mobley, another jaw-dropping person appeared.

"Hey, I really can't prevent his pull-up jumper." Brandon's weakness was exposed. He was only 180cm tall, and he seemed helpless when facing the 203cm McGrady's jumper.

"You go to guard Curry, and the ball handler is handed over to me!" Szczerbiak shouted.

McGrady successfully broke through Szczerbiak's one-man defense, and Garnett quickly assisted in the defense.Without hesitation, McGrady threw the ball to his teammates who were ambushing in the corner. The 193cm old Curry shot the basket over Brandon's head, and the goal was scored! 49:73!

Billups couldn't stand it anymore. "Tyrell, give Curry to me. That rookie is good at breaking through and handling the ball. His three-pointers are not good!"

As expected of Billups, the smart general, he has done his homework well.What a pity, hehe!Yuan Fei on the sidelines sneered inwardly.Michael Reid is famous in history for his three-pointer as his main skill, but he has not yet shown this talent in college.

Garnett missed the mid-range shot, Olajuwon protected the rebound, passed it to Reed and advanced through halftime, and Reed passed it to McGrady.Thomas came up to do the pick-and-roll, McGrady broke through the defender and faced Garnett's defense again, and he passed the ball again!
After passing the ball, Reid ran half a circle and then ran back, and just received the ball at the same position where Curry shot.He leaps high and shoots.

At this moment, a voice sounded in Reed's mind.

"Rookie, I'm the team's chief data analyst, and I'm the one who suggested the team choose you."

"The management has positioned you as a 3D (3point+Defensive, three-pointer+defensive) player. I know that your defense in college was terrible, and your three-pointers are not good, but I think your shooting hand is very good, and you can practice very good three-pointers. As for defense, it depends on your attitude."

"As long as you work hard, you will definitely become one of the core members of our team in the future."

***
"I've been practicing three-pointers for several months after listening to him. It's all for this moment, all my efforts are for this moment!" At this moment, Reid's heart was extremely determined, and the ball he shot drew a beautiful arc in the air.

Go in!

When the whistle sounded, Reid's height of 198cm made it difficult for Brandon to reach, and also caused Brandon's defensive foul, which resulted in an extra free throw.

Reed made an extra penalty, 53:73!The point difference returned to 20 points.

Only 1 minutes into the second half, the Rockets recovered 7 points.Sanders was forced to call a timeout.

"Tracey, I want to give you a more difficult task. Let me see where your upper limit is." Tang Shuai smiled and arranged tactics.

Back from the timeout, Michel replaced the undersized Brandon and Billups took over the ball.The Rockets replaced Thomas with Williams.

Garnett couldn't help being stunned when he saw Thomas resting, and then saw McGrady in front of him again. "Is there any mistake? This kid is a point guard on the offensive end and a power forward on the defensive end? Do you think he is a magician (legendary superstar Magic Johnson)?" He was not impulsive because of this, and steadily leaned on McGrady with his weight advantage, stretching out his long arms for the ball.

The old demon is on the move!Curry intercepted the pass beautifully and quickly advanced to the frontcourt, but the Wolves also retreated quickly and set up a defensive formation.Then McGrady found Williams who was open, but unfortunately missed a three-pointer.

Garnett almost fainted. There were four players who could shoot three-pointers on the opposite side. He had to defend to a more outside position, which made him very uncomfortable.He hasn't adjusted well yet, and he hits the ball again.

Williams pulled Garnett away from the three-second zone, McGrady broke through, and Nesterovic defended, but he didn't have Garnett's ability, and he couldn't stop the accelerating McGrady.McGrady dunks and caused a foul - scored 2+1! 56:73!

***
With Reed missing a three-pointer, the game ended. At 110:105 (NBA customary home team behind), the Rockets lost the season opener at home.The players walked toward the player tunnel with their heads down.

But the fans gave the Rockets players warm applause and cheers.The beautiful second half of the game deserves applause, and the hard-working players deserve cheers.After all, the Rockets recovered 22 points in the second half, and the fans enjoyed watching it very much.

里德满身大汗地坐在了长椅上。他8投4中的三分球，是下半场火箭追分的重要武器。15分2篮板1助攻1失误，是里德生涯首战交出的漂亮答卷。

“打得漂亮，菜鸟！”麦迪和他击掌。麦迪18投10中得到了25分7篮板7助攻，还成功遏制了加内特。应该说这场球麦迪输了比赛但赢了个人数据。

***
In the visiting team's locker room, the atmosphere was so dull that it didn't look like they had won the game.

"We underestimated the Rockets." Garnett looked unhappy.He scored 32 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, but it took a full 30 shots.

"I underestimated Houston. I didn't expect them to be more like a wolf than us in the second half." Coach Sanders said sincerely: "You played very beautifully. The second half was terrible, and the responsibility is on me. But cheer up, the real powerful Spurs who will play against Texas the day after tomorrow, show me a better state!"

"Yes, coach!"

　There are inconsistencies in some places, which may be caused by my overhaul.Book friends please bear with me - July 16, 7

　　
　
(End of this chapter)