NBA: I am the card dealer

Chapter 157 A game you can’t afford to lose

Ended the game with the Nets.

They can then rest for four days, which is a rare respite, but in fact their life is not stable.

The atmosphere within the team has become very, very bad.

of course.

They are not the only ones having a bad life.

During January and February, the entire league was in a transaction whirlpool, with new trade rumors emerging every day.

Every role player will tremble and be in panic all day long.

because……

You don't know which team's jersey you'll be wearing tomorrow.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are also plagued by trading rumors, especially after a wave of three-game losing streak, and then a wave of two-game losing streak, the team is also undercurrents.

The next day.

Xue Liancheng came to the gym early and started playing iron in the equipment room. When he came down to the court, almost all his teammates were here.

but.

Just missing Chris Bosh.

This guy's mood is getting worse and worse, and he doesn't even come to training, which shows that he really doesn't take Spoelstra in his eyes.

This is a different way of expressing dissatisfaction to management.

Sudden.

Marcus Morris's voice sounded, "Damn it! Another team is making a trade..."

Don't think that NBA players don't gossip, except for picking up girls on social media, they basically pay attention to their own developments every day.

Marcus Morris is the best in the gossip, and he has a fight with Sean Williams.

Xue Liancheng raised his eyebrows and secretly thought, are you coming?

Ennis and others quickly gathered around and asked, "How do you say it?"

"Yahoo reporter Wo Shen just broke the news on Twitter that the Cavaliers, Knicks and Thunder have reached a three-way deal. The Thunder sent a protected first-round pick and Lance Thomas, and the Knicks sent JR Smith and Iman Shampoo. Specially, the Cavaliers sent Waiters, Kirk, Ahmedson and a 19 second-round pick."

"The result of the trade is: Thunder get Waiters, Knicks get 19th-round pick, Lance Thomas, Cork and Amundson, Cavaliers get JR-Smith, Iman Shumpert and first-round pick Protected pick."

"Reggie Jackson, who has been discussed by the Thunder before, does not appear on the trade list."

Marcus Morris told all the details of the transaction in one breath.

Xue Liancheng said inwardly that it was true.

After this transaction was completed, he knew that the pattern of the Eastern Conference was about to change.

At this moment.

Marcus Morris screamed again, "Damn it! And...the Cavaliers will press the trade button again, send out two first-round picks and a trade exception from the Grizzlies and Thunder, and get the diggers. King's big center Timofey Mozgov and a 2015 second-round pick."

Xue Liancheng was not too surprised, after all, he had known about it in advance.

Thus.

The Cavaliers' lineup framework is basically completed. This year in the Eastern Conference, they are already going sideways.

Now if the Heat play against the Cavaliers again, it will be really hard to say who will win.

After all...they have a big sinkhole now!

at this time.

Sibo's voice came, "What are you doing?"

Everyone dispersed, and Marcus Morris quickly put his phone in his bag.

Spoelstra said: "Today is still the same group training as usual. You and your new teammates need to find out each other's game characteristics and habits and work out your coordination."

Wade spoke at this time, "Well, Chris didn't come, and the phone couldn't be reached..."

Everyone subconsciously held their breath, waiting for Spo's wrath.

result.

Spoel didn't show any displeasure, but said flatly, "Marcus, you will take his place."

even.

Xue Liancheng also caught a flash of joy on Si Bo's face.

This puzzled him.

Bosh has made it clear that he is being forced into the palace, but Spoelstra is actually still happy?

And next.

The Heat still have a terrifying journey to the West.

The Trail Blazers, Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, and Kings will play five games in nine days, all on the road.

Except for the Lakers and the Millennium King, the other three teams are all tough. Maybe... they will lose seven consecutive games, or even eight consecutive losses!

after all.

According to the current situation of the Heat, anything can happen.

Once the losing streak reaches this level, Spoelstra's coaching position is likely to be in jeopardy, or even eliminated.

Ok……

How could the old mentor be happy in the face of such overwhelming pressure?

Is it like a primary school student who took Bosh's lateness and went to Riley's office to complain?

That's nothing to be happy about.

He believed that Shiba couldn't do that either.

Only a fool would do that.

Because once you file a complaint, doesn't it clearly tell old gangster Riley that you have lost control of the team?

in this way……

You'll only get out of class faster.

Shake his head.

Xue Liancheng didn't bother to think about these messy questions. The only thing he could do was to go all out to take down the soft persimmon of the Lakers and let his old mentor take a breather.

of course.

Maybe the Lakers now regard the Heat as soft persimmons...

Then it depends on who pinches whom.

That night.

The results of the first round of All-Star voting are finally out.

Xue Liancheng received 814783 votes, temporarily ranking first in the total votes, a full 552967 votes more than second place LeBron James's 26.

Everyone was startled.

Simply unbelievable.

But thinking about it carefully, it seems that everything was expected.

Because behind Xue Liancheng is the vast Chinese market. I don’t know anything else. Anyway, China is definitely good at voting.

After all, there are many people...

Current starters in the East: Xue Liancheng (814783), Wall (299, 209), LeBron (552), Melo (967), Pau Gasol (265)

Western Conference starters: Curry (549), Kobe Bryant (095), Anthony Davis (521), Blake Griffin (542), Marc Gasol (524) )

Except for Xue Liancheng, there is basically not much controversy.

of course.

Even Xue Liancheng, regardless of his record or data, actually deserves to be a starter.

only.

As a rookie, he squeezed out the team's big brothers Wade and Bosh, and even made other stars have no way to survive, which still made many stubborn people quite uncomfortable.

To know.

There are not many players who were selected as All-Stars in their rookie seasons. Let’s not talk about the ancient times for the time being. Let’s count them down after 90 years!

David Robinson was selected as an All-Star substitute in the 89-90 season. In his rookie season, he scored 24.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists. He was very impressive.

O'Neill, in the 92-93 season, was an All-Star starter. His rookie season scored 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 3.5 blocks.

Grant Hill, an All-Star starter in the 94-95 season, scored 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5 assists in his rookie season. As Jordan's successor, this performance is well-deserved.

Tim Duncan, an All-Star substitute in the 97-98 season, scored 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in his rookie season. He also has unparalleled dominance.

Then there is Yao Ming. In the 02-03 season, he was an All-Star starter. In his rookie season, he scored 13.5 points, rebounded 8.2, and assisted 1.7. This is the power of the Chinese.

The last person was Griffin. In the 10-11 season, he was an All-Star substitute. In his rookie season, he scored 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists.

Even James, who is known as the pride of heaven, failed to become an All-Star in his first season as a rookie.

One can imagine how difficult it is to enjoy this honor.

And the guard is even more difficult, only Grant Hill can do it, and there is no point guard.

just now.

Xue Liancheng is expected to break this tradition.

Becoming a point guard who made the All-Star team in his first rookie season since the 1990s is a small step towards greatness.

In addition, there are some fan groups who are quite angry. They got more votes than me, King James?

Shady.

It must be shady.

I suggest the league check it out or cancel overseas voting.

I, James, didn't make the All-Star team in his first season, so you made it?

This can be considered a performance of beating LeBron from the side.

They must be upset.

Windhorst even sent out a tweet to blatantly badmouth Xue Liancheng: He scored less than 20 points in three consecutive games, and his shooting percentages were 14 of 5, 11 of 4, and 13 of 6. He made 13 turnovers in three games. His performance was simply appalling. Is he worthy of being an All-Star starter?

There are still a lot of people responding, but they are not as overwhelming as when Xue Liancheng said at the beginning, "If nothing happens, I will be an All-Star."

After all, he didn't play many games at that time, and everyone subconsciously believed that Xue Liancheng would be difficult to last.

result.

A six-game winning streak, including a Player of the Week award in the middle, completely silenced people.

During this period, although Xue Liancheng was in a slump, after the transaction, there are usually such sequelae. No matter how strict everyone is, they can't open their eyes and talk nonsense, saying that they scored 13 points, 6 assists and 17 rebounds on 6 of 5 shots, and only 2 poor performance.

Combined with his overall performance, many people feel that Xue Liancheng does deserve to be an All-Star.

Because compared to other guards in the Eastern Conference, such as Irving, Lowry, DeRozan, Rose, Butler, etc., Xue Liancheng's statistics are much better than them, and his record is not bad.

and so.

There are still people who criticize Xue Liancheng for not being an All-Star, but there are far fewer.

of course.

Xue Liancheng didn't know all this.

He was fast asleep in the apartment.

His teammates didn't tell him until he came to the arena the next day.

But he didn't show much joy. Although he was actually quite excited, he didn't show it.

His teammates had no intention of congratulating him.

Mud...

The team has lost three games in a row, the atmosphere within the team is extremely heavy, and morale is low.

At this time, you laughed, said that you are an All-Star, and even had a party to celebrate, is this appropriate?

Obviously inappropriate.

……

……

Time passed quickly, four days flew by.

Moda Center.

before the game.

Visiting team locker room.

Spoelstra talked about some tactical points, poured some more chicken soup, and finally said, "Today's game, Marcus will start instead of Chris."

The words fell.

The entire locker room fell silent instantly.

Everyone was breathing heavily, not even daring to take a breath.

Bosh.

Was given the starting job?

Simply incredible.

One of the team's three giants, the core of a billion-dollar contract, is not the starting lineup. This is a very explosive thing for any team.

what does this mean?

We broke up with each other!

Xue Liancheng sneaked a glance at Bosh, only to see that this bastard blushed and clenched his teeth, like a volcano about to erupt.

He was secretly worried about his old mentor.

Now he finally understood why Spoelstra was not only not angry but even secretly happy when he learned that Bosh was late that day.

Isn't this the handle to the door?

That's right!

The purpose is to use Bosh's lateness to make a big fuss and demote Bosh to a substitute.

If Bosh wants to cause trouble, then Spoelstra can bring up the fact that Bosh is late: This is your punishment for being late, don't you accept it? Then you go find Riley.

Bosh has a disadvantage first, and it is estimated that it is impossible to find Riley.

and so.

Bosh will definitely suffer this dumb loss.

At this time.

Wade spoke at the side, "Sir..."

But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Si Bo, "Since I have no objection, it's decided like this."

Done.

Leave.

Tuliu Bosh stood there, clenching his fists and trembling, wanting to defeat Si Bo, but he didn't expect to be defeated.

And he could only swallow the bad breath abruptly.

Xue Liancheng secretly sighed, the old mentor is really courageous! Dare to relegate the team's top-paid core to a substitute. I have to say that this boldness is truly earth-shattering.

but.

It’s not enough if you don’t have courage.

My coaching position is no longer guaranteed, so naturally I have to take action and change it immediately. Only by letting the team win can I explain to the fans and the team management.

The entrance ceremony has changed again.

Wade played first, and Xue Liancheng was the finale.

But the difference is that Bosh is gone, so he can only stand outside with those role teams and play the role of queuing up to welcome them.

During warm-up shooting.

Sean Williams came over to greet his former teammates one by one.

Finally came to Xue Liancheng.

The two looked at each other for a moment and smiled.

Xue Liancheng was the first to speak, "Are you still used to it?"

Sean Williams was full of bitterness, "The days of waiting for the ball are long, and there are no such good shooting opportunities... Hey!"

Talking and talking.

Sighed heavily.

Xue Liancheng smiled and encouraged, "Don't be discouraged. Get used to it slowly. Don't always go out to have fun. It's time to think about how to defend yourself."

Seeing Sean Williams sighing, for a moment, he felt inexplicably guilty.

He always elevates the teammates around him to a level that does not belong to them, such as Vonleh, Luol Deng, and Sean Williams. After they performed by his side, people had high hopes for them. .

As a result, as soon as they left him, everyone fell.

Feng Lai was already about to go to the water fountain to guard the water source.

After Luol Deng arrived in the Suns, he suddenly lost his All-Star style and was extremely inefficient. In the three games he played, he scored 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 19 points on 5-of-13 shooting, and 12 points on 2-of-8 shooting. He averaged 12 points per game, and his overall shooting percentage was a terrible 26%. He made 11 of 1 three-pointers, and his shooting percentage was an atrocious 9%.

It may also be related to the fact that we were faced with heavy defense and high-intensity confrontation all at once.

But the most important thing is that Luol Deng was originally at a level of more than ten points. If he pulled him to or points, wouldn't this bring him back to his original shape?

Sean Williams also lost the brilliance of his sharp shooting. After coming to the Blazers, he made 15 of 4 three-pointers in total, and his shooting percentage was only 26%, which is far from 41%.

Apart from three-pointers, Sean Williams has no other reliable means of scoring. The most he can do is make a cut.

But if you don't play next to him, how can you have so many air-cutting opportunities!

In addition, the defense is extremely bad, the defense cannot withstand people inside, the defense cannot keep up with the speed outside, and there is no defensive awareness and skills, it is a disaster.

When he was with the Heat, he had three-pointers to protect his body and the team kept winning, so others would naturally not find fault.

it's good now.

It directly turned into a general problem.

of course.

He believes that defense can be practiced. As long as you watch more game videos, analyze more and accumulate more, have a positive attitude on the court, concentrate, and do whatever it takes to help defend and supplement defense, the defensive effect will not be bad, and so will your teammates. Accept you slowly.

Sean Williams, on the other hand, obviously didn't break free from his reputation as a marksman.

Sean Williams waved his hand: "Okay, I will, don't talk, I'll go first."

Done.

gone.

Xue Liancheng opened his mouth, but in the end no sound came out.

Don't listen to advice!

Even if he wanted to make a fortune, there was nothing he could do.

of course.

His current situation is also very difficult, not even much better than Sean Williams. Bosh has been in a mood, which not only bothers the team, but also bothers him.

The position of the boss, he is sitting on pins and needles!

Especially when the team cannot win, it makes him very irritated.

He is the boss of the team and he is responsible!

Shake his head.

Banish these negative thoughts.

He turned around and picked up the ball, wanting to throw two to see how it felt.

But he couldn't see Si Bo waving to him not far away.

Xue Liancheng's heart moved, and he probably knew what the old teacher wanted to say, so he ran over quickly, "Sir..."

Sipo: "Xue, this game is extremely important. No matter what, you must do your best to win the game."

Xue Liancheng nodded repeatedly: "I understand."

How could he not understand?

What is his relationship with Spoelstra?

Being bound to the same boat, it might be a bit exaggerated to say that he was able to be where he is today because of the relationship given by Spoelstra, but to say that he was created by him would be completely accurate.

Without Spoti, he would be the starter, without Spoelstra to increase his role, and without Spoelstra to determine his tactical status.

Can he survive today?

idiot's dream...

And all of this stems from Spoelstra's trust in him.

Without this trust, to put it bluntly, he would have to struggle on the bench for a long time before he could assume the starting position based on his strength.

Then he has to prove himself in the starting position for a long time before he is qualified to dominate the ball.

Then he has to prove himself in dominating the ball before he can gain tactical status.

In this way, if all goes well, he will have to play a full season to become one of the core players of a team.

Just one.

If you meet an academic, stubborn and old-fashioned coach, then he is now a role player who shoots three-pointers and receives the ball.

Even because of defensive issues, he may not play much.

and so.

There is absolutely no problem in saying that Spoelstra is his old mentor.

Now that Spoelstra and Bosh have officially broken up and are at odds with each other, it has reached the point where you go and I stay, so he must stand by his old mentor!

And this game is an opportunity to prove it.

Prove that Spoelstra's coaching philosophy is correct.

Prove that he can serve as the first core.

It proves that they can still beat the top teams in the playoffs without Bosh.

and so.

No matter what, this game cannot be lost.

Spoelstra couldn't afford to lose, and neither could he.