play for it

Chapter 143
Early the next morning, Yang Ke and Leonard got up early, packed their luggage, left the apartment, and went to the arena to meet the team.

In the next four days, the Spurs will face the Kings, Trail Blazers and 76ers respectively. The most important three games are still away games, that is, the three consecutive away games that any team hates very much.

Considering the very tight schedule of this season and the difficult three-game streak, after the team assembled, Popovich made a decision to rest in rotation and kept Duncan on the grounds of a hip injury.

Afterwards, Popovich took the team to the airport, and this time, Borrego did not accompany the team for the three consecutive trips, but stayed in San Antonio with Duncan. free agent.

On February 2, the Spurs beat the Kings 11:106 in an away game and won four consecutive victories. Among them, Yang Ke, who came off the bench, scored 88 points and sent 22 assists in 12 minutes.

On February 2, the Spurs were physically and mentally exhausted due to consecutive away games, and the hand feeling was even bad. Fortunately, at the last minute, relying on Ginobili's quasi-lore, the Spurs narrowly beat the Blazers 12:113 in the away game, gaining five consecutive victories!
On February 2th, after a day's rest, the Spurs recovered. Facing the 15ers who wanted to play badly, the Spurs won by a big score of 76:127!In this game, Yang Ke scored the first double-double of his career with 97 points and 18 assists!
While the Spurs completed their six-game winning streak, on the other hand, the Thunder lost the chain at the closing moment and swallowed a two-game losing streak bitterly.In this way, the Spurs instantly secured the No. [-] position in the league with the advantage of three wins!
Relying on his stable performance in these three games, Yang Ke once again overwhelmed Rubio, averaging 14.6 points, 5.1 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game, and won the Western Conference Rookie of the Week for three consecutive weeks!

But even so, the entire league and the world, during this period of time, the eyes of the media, fans, and melon-eating audiences have never stayed on the Spurs, because Lin Crazy has already covered the world!
While the Spurs won six consecutive victories, the Knicks had a record of 7 wins and 0 losses. Jeremy Lin won all 6 games in his first start, leading the Knicks to return to 50% winning percentage and return to the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

At the same time, relying on his outstanding performance, Jeremy Lin became the first player in NBA history to average at least 5 points and send 20 assists in his first 7 starting games.

On February 2, after Jeremy Lin beat the Raptors with a three-pointer, Linsanity reached a super peak!A well-known Hollywood director even plans to organize a crew to make a documentary for Jeremy Lin!

And many media—including "USA Today", "Los Angeles Times" and "CBS Sports Network" have declared Jeremy Lin more than once in newspapers, official websites and interviews that he should participate in the Rookie Challenge of the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend. .

Due to various considerations, the NBA officially announced through its official website on the morning of February 2 that Jeremy Lin will be added to the NBA rookie challenge list as a second-year rookie.

When Yang Ke got the news, he was preparing to board the plane with the team, and because of time constraints, he could only send Jeremy Lin a congratulatory text message, and then turned off the phone.

Jeremy Lin's success made Yang Ke envious, but at the same time puzzled, with complicated emotions.Yang Ke changed seats with an assistant coach, sat next to Popovich, and asked him what he thought of Jeremy Lin.

"Oh, you mean Jeremy Lin!"

Hearing Yang Ke's inquiry, Popovich put down the entertainment newspaper in his hand, turned his head, and said in a flat tone, "His offensive level is on the average line of the league, and his defense is relatively inferior. He is a system player." point guard."

"System point guard?"

Yang Ke was stunned and blinked. He didn't expect Popovich to give Jeremy Lin such an evaluation.

"Yes, Jeremy Lin has a set of pick-and-roll system. As long as he is the core, he can play the average level of the league's starting point guard."

Popovich nodded. He and Borrego had only had a deep understanding of Jeremy Lin's information, so he didn't have to think about it, and said directly, "However, in future games, Jeremy Lin should not say that he will continue his current performance, even if he plays average. The level is also difficult."

I don't know why Popovich was so sure, Yang Ke looked very puzzled, and couldn't help asking: "Why?"

"First, the reason why Jeremy Lin has performed so well recently is that his opponents are not familiar with him. Once they are familiar with him, it will be difficult to play well."

Popovich raised two fingers. He had his own understanding of the origin and process of Linsanity. He paused, and then said, "Second, the Knicks are Anthony's team. It is impossible for Jeremy Lin to With the ball in hand, it is even less likely to become the core of tactics, so the prerequisites for playing well do not exist.”

Frowning tightly, Yang Ke fell into thinking, because he found that Popovich seemed to be very correct. In this way, Jeremy Lin's crazy performance can't last for a few games. Professionals in the league are not covered ah.

Thinking of the current team's main lineup, which mainly uses pick-and-roll tactics, and Jeremy Lin is also a pick-and-roll player, Yang Ke couldn't help touching his chin, and asked curiously: "Coach, if possible, would you put Jeremy Lin traded over?"

"Although Jeremy Lin is a pick-and-roll point guard, his defense is terrible and he has no outstanding characteristics. What do I want him for?"

At first, Popovich gave Yang Ke a blank look, and said dumbfoundingly, "Besides, I already have you with greater potential than him. Is it possible to trade him over to compress your insufficient performance?" Chance? Just kidding, I'm not stupid."

It was rare to be boasted by Popovich. Yang Ke smiled and touched his nose. He also knew that the team's back line was full now, and it was useless to ask Jeremy Lin to come over, so he just mentioned it casually.

Thinking of the information collected last night, Popovich took advantage of this time to announce to Yang Ke that he would take a rest for the next game: "By the way, Yang, you don't have to play next time you play against the Raptors at home. rest for a day."

"Ok."

Yang Ke nodded and did not refuse. Because of the three consecutive away games, his body and muscles are already very tired. In order not to get injured in the future games, it is really time to take a good rest.

Thinking of Yang Ke’s boredom when he was resting not long ago, Popovich said: "I will also suspend the usual training. If you are really bored, you can go to Borrego to see the new players the team just signed. .”

"Oh? Who is it?"

Hearing what Popovich said, Yang Ke's eyes lit up, and he immediately became interested. He was very curious about who this reinforcement player would be.

Smiling, he parted his mouth and raised his eyebrows. Popovich didn't say his name, but just summed it up roughly: "A nimble fat man!"

(End of this chapter)