Legend of Tomorrow

On May 5, the Lakers faced the Mavericks at home.

After the players came on the field, Guo Xu took the initiative to greet Wang Zhizhi and had a cordial conversation in Mandarin.

Dazhi, please leave a phone number. If you need consultation or help in the United States, please contact me and I can help you avoid detours.

Wang Zhizhi was flattered and quickly gave his phone number.

Guo Xu wrote down the number in a small book and said he would call him after the game, and then encouraged: You have to practice your English well so that you can integrate into the team faster. You have a good offense and you need to strengthen your defense. Practice more defense. Pick and roll, otherwise you won't be able to gain a foothold in the NBA. If you need to call me, I'll leave you my number, so you're welcome.

Okay, thank you. Wang Zhizhi smiled a little cautiously.

As China's first pioneer to join the NBA, how Wang Zhizhi adapts to American culture, how to balance various relationships, and how to adapt to the rhythm of the game are far more difficult than those of later generations.

It’s not just basketball. The first person to come out of China in every event, such as the Dakar Rally and UFC Unlimited Fighting, has not adapted well because they have no resources to use and no friends to help, so they can only explore on their own. Keep moving forward.

Now, Guo Xu, who had only met him once, expressed his willingness to help him. Wang Zhizhi felt like he was in a dream, and his heart felt warm.

He was a star in China. After joining the NBA and playing for the Mavericks, he found that his ability was nothing special here.

Who is Guo Xu? Although he was not selected for the All-Star Game this year, he is already recognized as a point guard star and has locked up the Rookie of the Year award this season. Guo Xu had no airs when talking to him and was willing to take the initiative to make friends with him. This boosted his self-confidence and made him feel like it was not so scary to venture into the NBA alone.

Guo Xu knew that some people's fate could be easily changed, and Wang Zhizhi was one of them. He only needs to help Wang Zhizhi to indirectly help the Chinese national team. If Wang Zhizhi participates in the Olympic Games in 2004, the Chinese team will definitely be stronger.

Guo Xu is willing to do this kind of easy deeds, and he can win the favor of Chinese fans.

In Guo Xu's previous life, Wang Zhizhi did not represent the Chinese men's basketball team in the Asian Games in 2002. The Chinese team was reversed by South Korea in the men's basketball final and lost the championship. Wang Zhizhi was unlucky after that.

The relevant leaders angrily blocked Wang Zhizhi completely. During that time, fans could not know any news about Wang Zhizhi in the national media. What is even more exaggerated is that whenever Wang Zhizhi's games are broadcast, as long as he appears on the bench, the TV station will use A reasonable face covers the entire TV screen,

No matter what size your TV is...

And Wang Zhizhi caused so much trouble just to compete in the summer league. What is there to play in a game of that level? Guo Xu will definitely have to give him a little mention then.

After the game started, Wang Zhizhi, who was a spectator on the sidelines, quickly figured out why Guo Xu advised him to practice pick-and-roll defense. If big players cannot switch to guarding defenders, they will become a colander on the defensive end.

Big Bamboo Pole Bradley started for 3 minutes and then made two fouls before leaving the game. The Lakers used a pick-and-roll in the middle, and Guo Xu took the ball and rushed him without any discussion. Guo Xu passed through the crotch, changed direction and accelerated, Bradley was easily shaken off, and when he turned around, Guo Xu had already made a layup.

Bradley, who is 229cm tall, plays the starting center because the Mavericks have no one available and he has long been unable to keep up with the rhythm of the game.

The Mavericks are eager to sign Wang Zhizhi in the last six games of the regular season in order to strengthen their interior depth, especially their defense. Unfortunately, Wang Zhizhi is a player who is strong in offense and weak in defense. He can only serve as a substitute for Nowitzki in the team. He cannot hold up others as a center and is easily beaten by his opponent in singles.

After Bradley came off the court, the Mavericks' two inside players were Nowitzki and Juwan Howard. They were just trying to defend O'Neal on their own.

Mavericks coach Nelson has always looked down on meat-shield blue-collar centers. He likes big men who can shoot. But without outstanding blue-collar players, a team cannot win no matter how good the offense is.

Nelson is known as the mad scientist. He is a bit unworldly and has even forgotten some common sense.

O'Neal singled out Nowitzki twice easily. The German Tank has not yet been selected as an All-Star. He is recognized as a softie by the league. He did not commit the foul hard enough and was knocked to the ground by the dunk. The second time he finally The foul sent O'Neal to the free throw line.

During the dead ball period, Nelson decided to replace O'Neal with Edondo Najera. This is a forward who is 203cm tall and weighs 109kg. He was the ninth pick in the second round in 2000. This season, he averaged 10.8 minutes and 3.3 points per game. 2.4 rebounds.

Old Nelson said seriously: Kid, I see you have amazing bones and are a unique defensive wizard. The defensive center O'Neal depends on you.

The English is broad and profound. This is not Nelson's original words, but that's pretty much what Najera heard.

What kind of experience is it for a 203cm rookie forward to defend the 216cm Austrian forward? The scene was hard to describe. Najera was knocked to the ground 6 times in the next 4 minutes, and soon he was off the court for two fouls.

Nelson had to replace Najera and Howard, and replaced Wang Zhizhi and Buckner, adding two scoring points.

He then said to Wang Zhizhi: Defensive center O'Neal depends on you.

Wang Zhizhi wanted to say: I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you said. In our country, a creature of O'Neal's size is not called a center, but a wild black bear. Can I guard against this?

Fortunately, Guo Xu took good care of the Chinese fellow. He took the ball to the frontcourt to signal O'Neal and started looking for a screen. After Nash was blocked by O'Neal, it was difficult to get around. Guo Xu moved sideways and started to shoot three-pointers. One or two hit the target.

Wang Zhizhi knew that this was Guo Xu setting an example to demonstrate to him the importance of inside players guarding the pick-and-roll. He started to switch defenses and was passed once, twice, and three times.

What's even worse is that Nash can't cover the shot and is a step behind the screen to pursue the defense. Even if he kept up, Guo Xu dribbled the ball to the baseline, waited for his teammates to make an air cut, and then lightly passed to the middle. Ao Pang took off after receiving the ball.

The Lakers led 37-11 in the first quarter. If O'Neal hadn't made 2 of 8 free throws, the Lakers would have scored more than 40 points in a single quarter. The Mavericks' offense also lost its rhythm and took turns taking turns. Nash was 0 for 2, Finley was 1 for 7, Nowitzki was 1 for 4, and Howard was 1 for 2.

If Wang Zhizhi hadn't hit a mid-range shot against Guo Xu after playing the pick-and-roll, the Mavericks would have been unable to score in double figures in a single quarter.

CCTV5 broadcast the game live, and the two commentators could hardly stand it anymore.

Da Zhi entered the second round with the team in the playoffs for the first time in his career. Before the game, Chinese fans were very happy and looked forward to the confrontation between him and Guo Xu. As a result, this scene... was it cruel or not? To torture or not? Are you talking about torture or not? Oh my god! It’s so cruel!

In the second quarter, Fisher and Kobe teamed up to lead the bench. Facing the two-guard combination of Tyronn Lue and Howard Ellis, they had obvious advantages.

Fisher plays very confidently. When he was training with the Lakers, he won the appreciation of the coaching staff by beating Tyronn Lue.

Poor Lu Yuanwai, because of the butterfly effect, he failed to leave the legend of preventing Iverson from death in the NBA. He could only leave the legend of single substitution for Jason Guo and being beaten by Fisher in the playoffs. What a joke.

In the second half, Kobe took a rest, O'Neal and Guo Xu came back to lead the team, and the mixed doubles that combined internal and external began again.

After O'Neal received a pass from Guo Xu and dunked with both hands in the middle, Zhang Lili sighed: The quality of NBA rebounds is really good now. If it were before 1996, O'Neal would have broken the dunk long ago.

m.Old man, please remember this for a second) Reading Network