bookrandom Chapter 55 When Wang Xiucheng has the ability to compete for the title of star player, who dares to
Chapter 55 When Wang Xiucheng has the ability to compete for the title of star player, who dares to
The first quarter ended quickly.
The Suns lead 27-23 by 4 points.
Thanks to Wang Xiucheng's buzzer-beating floater at the last moment, the Rockets' bench players narrowed the gap to three points.
During the break, Monty didn't arrange any tactics. This team has been playing together for a long time and is already familiar with the tactics they need to practice. Plus, with Paul on the court, it's practically like having a coach on the court.
Monty didn't say anything to Booker either.
Booker is already very mature, and he even won an Olympic gold medal for the US men's basketball team this year, so even if he has some mental issues, he can recover quickly as long as he calms down.
By then, Booker will still be that assassin.
On the other hand, on the Rockets' bench, Silas was drawing something on a whiteboard.
Monti really wanted to know, "Did you draw a spell to make the players lose every day?"
The timeout has ended, and the second quarter has begun.
The Rockets' Jalen Green was substituted out for rest, while most of the Suns' starters were also substituted out.
The two sides began to compete on the strength of their pure substitutes.
It turns out that the Rockets' bench, with Wang Xiucheng on the roster, performed better than the Suns' bench.
When the second quarter went into a timeout after six minutes, the Rockets and Suns were tied at 37-37.
Monti was satisfied with the performance of the team's substitutes.
He was indeed very satisfied with how well he had performed against the substitutes led by Wang Xiucheng.
Even the Suns' key players couldn't get away with it against Wang Xiucheng, so it's already quite an achievement for the substitutes to perform like this.
The Suns are going through a turbulent period. From starters to substitutes, from coaches to team doctors, everyone is feeling insecure and their future is uncertain.
Some media outlets even suggested that the Suns might be taken over by Phoenix's official agencies, a scenario Monty couldn't imagine.
After the cheerleading performance ended, the game quickly resumed, with both sides fielding their strongest lineups.
At halftime, the Suns led 51-44 by 7 points.
This point difference is exactly the same as the point difference before Wang Xiucheng came on after the timeout in the first quarter.
Monti only stood up from his chair after all the players had entered the player tunnel.
He discovered a habit of Wang Xiucheng.
That is, Wang Xiucheng always liked to be the last one.
Whether entering or leaving, Wang Xiucheng always liked to walk at the very back.
Even many of the rocket staff would walk ahead of Wang Xiucheng.
Is this related to his personality?
Or is it because of the position he plays?
Some point guards in the league do have this habit, seemingly because it allows them to monitor the positions of their teammates in their field of vision at any time.
This is something that can't be taught by word of mouth or by example.
It must be that Wang Xiucheng himself likes to do this.
He was indeed observing his teammates and opponents at all times.
Monty then noticed that Wang Xiucheng was walking slowly while looking up at Paul and Booker, who were talking ahead, seemingly unintentionally.
It seemed as if one could discern something from the way the two walked and the frequency of their movements.
Monty was very curious, so he took two quick steps and came to Wang Xiucheng's side.
"What did you find?" Monty asked in a low voice, as if talking to an old friend.
Wang Xiucheng was startled. When he saw it was Monty, he immediately greeted him respectfully, "Coach Monty."
Monty is highly respected in the league. He served as an assistant coach for the US national team from 13 to 16, helping the US team win gold medals at both the World Cup and the Olympics.
This resume alone is already better than many coaches'.
"What did you discover?" Wang Xiucheng asked, puzzled.
“You’ve been staring at them the whole time, you can’t possibly have a crush on them, right?” Monty pointed to Paul and Booker in front of them.
Wang Xiucheng chuckled helplessly twice.
Wang Xiucheng did notice something was wrong, but he wasn't sure.
"Is Paul injured in the arm? His left arm?" Wang Xiucheng asked in a low voice.
Monty's eyes lit up upon hearing this, showing neither embarrassment nor anger at having his secret discovered; in fact, he was unaware of it either.
"Why do you say that?" Monty asked curiously.
"Paul is a two-handed player, but he rarely shot with his left hand in the first half. When he did dribble with his left hand, he would quickly switch to his right hand."
“I had some doubts at the time, so I’ve taken a closer look now, you see.”
Wang Xiucheng pointed at Paul, "The range of motion of his left arm is different from that of his right arm. It should be a joint problem. In the words of Chinese medicine, it is joint restriction, or arthritis."
Monty listened in a daze. Since it involved the mysterious Chinese medicine, he couldn't help but believe it to some extent.
Penguin Live Room.
Yang Yi was joking with Wang Shipeng.
"Take a shot and you're paid 10,000 dollars, which is equivalent to 50,000 to 60,000 Chinese yuan. That's a lot of money," Yang Yi said jokingly.
Not only in the United States, but even in China now knows about the bet between O'Neal and Barkley.
As the saying goes, "a great reward will surely bring forth brave men." In the first half, Wang Xiucheng had his ball intercepted at least a dozen times by different players during his limited time as a substitute.
But the result was either that Wang Xiucheng broke through with his speed and feints, or that he was called for a foul by the referee.
The closest they came was when Bridges' large hand had already slapped the basketball, but the ball bounced off Wang Xiucheng, then touched Bridges' leg, and went out of bounds.
This terrified Yang Yi and his companions, who immediately blurted out the word "grass."
Xiaoqi let out a sweet cry, instantly sending the live stream chat into a frenzy.
"My mom asked me what I was watching. How should I answer?"
"Is this something I can hear?"
"My girlfriend asked me why I was blushing, and I said the Rockets were going to win. She slapped me and said I was just bragging."
Of course, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley in the United States were also frightened.
O'Neal even posted a picture of himself sweating profusely on social media.
The second half of the game started quickly.
The Rockets and Suns are still using their original starting lineups.
Monty sat in his seat, his arms crossed, deep in thought.
He did ask Paul during halftime.
Paul said his arm was indeed a little uncomfortable, but he firmly denied that he was injured.
Looking up at Wang Xiucheng, who was blocked by other players on the Rockets' bench, Monty's determination to get Wang Xiucheng became even stronger.
The second half of the game almost became a one-man show for Booker.
Booker scored 9 points in the first 6 minutes of the third quarter with a combination of drives and shots.
The Rockets were constantly led by the nose by the Suns, and their score remained consistently behind.
Even with Wang Xiucheng coming on as a substitute, the score remained deadlocked.
Monty seemed to intentionally separate Booker and Wang Xiucheng, so the two never played together again.
The match ended smoothly.
The reason it's described as "smooth sailing" is that the Suns continued their winning streak.
The Rockets also managed to collect a fragment of the number one draft pick.
Everyone takes what they need.
After shaking hands with Silas, Monty suddenly patted Wang Xiucheng on the head, who had come over to shake hands with him, as if they were very familiar.
Monty now looks at Wang Xiucheng as if he were his own grandson.
Paul is not the future of the Suns. The Suns need a younger and stronger point guard.
Wang Xiucheng's scoring ability may not be as good as Paul's, but his playmaking and game reading abilities are at least no weaker than Paul's.
Moreover, Wang Xiucheng's age is his biggest advantage.
As long as Wang Xiucheng doesn't suffer any fatal injuries, he is almost certainly one of the best point guards in the league's future.
In Monty's view, Wang Xiucheng's opponents are not players like James, Curry, Durant, or Harden.
Their time in the league is numbered.
After these players retire, the league will need to promote new faces.
Perhaps Adam Silver is already preparing for this job.
Wang Xiucheng's opponents are players like Doncic and Jokic.
But compared to these people, Wang Xiucheng has a huge natural advantage.
That is Wang Xiucheng's identity as a Chinese.
Although the Chinese market share of the NBA is not large now, never underestimate the strength of the Chinese people.
Once Wang Xiucheng has the ability to compete with Doncic and others for the title of the league's star, then look at the Chinese people; their money could absolutely overwhelm the NBA.
Money can influence even the US presidential election, let alone the NBA, an "entertainment company".
At that time, given that Adam Silver has always prioritized making money, who do you think he would prefer to be the face of the league?
Don't ever think that money can't influence the NBA.
Why do the media say that the NBA is suppressing non-Nike players?
Isn't that the reason?
But when you want to suppress a Chinese player who has a huge market of over a billion people behind him.
May I ask, who has this capability?