At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, everyone from the Wizards took the team bus to the American Airlines Arena, the home of the Miami Heat. The name of American Airlines is somewhat similar to the American Airlines Center, the home of the Dallas Mavericks. The biggest difference is that the Heat's The two words American Airlines are connected, while the two words Mavericks and American Airlines are separate.
The location of the American Airlines Arena is very advantageous. The back of the arena is the sea, with blue sky and white clouds, beach waves, and of course the indispensable hot beauties in bikinis.
The climate in Miami is also the same as those bikini beauties on the beach. Although it is already close to December and the temperature in the northern hemisphere is supposed to start to cool down, as soon as you step outside, you can still feel the heat wave and the vicious solar energy. It's dazzling, so if you take a closer look on the streets of Miami, you will find that almost everyone has a pair of sunglasses.
The American Airlines Arena as a whole presents a cylindrical shape, with a huge triangular eaves protruding above the main entrance. In front of the main entrance are several huge lawns and flower beds with unknown pink flowers planted on them. Of course, as a tropical seaside city, In Miami, tall coconut trees lining both sides of the road are indispensable.
Riding the team bus, Li Kaiming took a curious look at the Heat's home court through the window. It was not because of how luxurious the American Airlines Arena was built, but because Li Kaiming wanted to know what attracted James to it. He risked the disapproval of the world and went south to form the Big Three with Wade Bosh.
The team bus drove directly into the American Airlines Arena and parked in the underground parking lot of the arena.
All members of the Wizards got off the car and gathered in the locker room. After a little repair, they collectively went to the field inside the arena to start training.
What surprised Li Kaiming was that the entire Heat team came to the court early. Judging from the sweat on these guys, it seemed that they had been here for a while.
It seems that although the Heat have formed an invincible Big Three lineup, the team's training has not relaxed at all. Generally speaking, the home team has more energy to prepare for pre-game training, so they are all competing Before training in the morning, there will be a period of rest in the afternoon until the warm-up session before the game.
It looks like all members of the Heat have been training here for a day. Pat Riley is really a devil!
The arrival of the Wizards players naturally attracted the attention of the Heat players. James, Wade, Bosh and others all looked over here, their eyes full of doubts. Maybe they also wanted to know why the Wizards looked like this. A trashy lineup can reach second place in the Eastern Conference.
Li Kaiming first performed jogging and stretching before training, in order to warm up the body and lubricate the joints.
When he started to sweat a little, Li Kaiming took off his outer training jacket and trousers, and started training directly in shorts and a training vest.
The current training content of the Wizards mainly revolves around offense, because after Lewis joined, he has not been fully integrated into the Wizards' offensive system until now. According to Sanders's expectation, as the season progresses, Lewis' offensive performance will be improved. The role he plays will become more and more important. The moment he is fully integrated into the team system, it will be the moment Lewis enters the starting lineup.
As for the defensive end, Sanders still puts less emphasis on it, but currently the Wizards' defense is mainly based on zone defense. This is not to say that Sanders has no other defensive tactics, but that the Wizards' personal defense is really weak. Too bad!
A good woman can't make a cake without rice. Among the team's starters, only Thornton and Blatche have a positive impact on the defensive end. The remaining three are all average in the league, let alone the substitutes. They are either rookies or poor defenders. A weak link, it’s good if you don’t get chased and beaten by others.
Tonight's opponents, two of the Big Three of the Heat, are the type to break through and attack the basket, so there is no problem in using a zone defense. If they were to defend alone, Nick Young and Al Thornton would probably be eaten alive!
After two hours of pre-match training, Li Kaiming put on the long sleeves and pants he had taken off before and was about to go back to the locker room to rest for a while. At this moment, a voice came from not far away.
"Lee! Hey!"
Li Kaiming stopped and looked back. A few steps away, LeBron James had walked to the Wizards' half court and greeted him while dribbling the ball.
"Hello LeBron!" Li Kaiming walked over and shook hands with James.
James originally wanted to do a fancy high-five with Li Kaiming, but Li Kaiming directly held his hand. A look of embarrassment flashed across his face, and then he immediately spoke to divert his attention.
"Li, your performance is really amazing. I have never seen a player like you!" James raised his eyebrows twice and smiled at Li Kaiming.
Although Li Kaiming's team member James came to him specifically just to say this, he felt a little speechless, but after all, he stretched out his hand to avoid hitting the smiling person. If someone comes specifically to praise you, you can't show off to others!
So he also smiled and said humbly, "Thank you, my performance is not good enough, I have to continue to improve and learn from you!"
James originally wanted to chat with Li Kaiming, but the latter suddenly glanced at the player tunnel, and then said apologetically, "Sorry, LeBron, I have to go back to the locker room quickly. Let's talk next time when I have time." !”
After finishing speaking, before James could reply, he dived directly into the player tunnel, and then quickly disappeared at the end of the tunnel...
James squinted his eyes and stared at Li Kaiming's retreating back. After slapping the basketball twice with his hand, he suddenly turned around and rushed to the basket for a powerful one-handed dunk. After landing, he still felt uncomfortable, so he was working Before the staff came to pick up the ball, he made a big flying kick!
boom!
The basketball flew directly to the stadium auditorium under the huge force...
Looking at the basketball that fell into the audience, the ball boy standing under the basketball hoop looked helpless. You guys took the wrong medicine. Others would just score one goal and leave after training, but you are better off because you still have to take a big fly. Foot shot, right?
At 6:30 pm, the pre-match press conference for both sides was held on time.
The Big Three of the Heat faced off against the dark horse Wizards of the Eastern Conference. This game was also very interesting to watch.
Prior to this, Li Kaiming, the new top pick and scoring champion, led this Wizards team, which looked no different than a weakling, to beat the Orlando Magic 2-0, the Atlanta Hawks 2-0, and the Chicago Bulls 1-0. A sure kill.
Except for the Boston Celtics, who are slightly ahead of the Wizards in terms of record, the other powerful players in the Eastern Conference are all beaten by the Wizards.
And today, this Wizards meets the team with the highest odds of winning the championship. What kind of sparks will spark between the two sides?
At the press conference, a reporter from Fox Sports asked Li Kaiming, "What do you think of the Heat's formation of the Big Three during the offseason?"
Of course Li Kaiming was very disdainful, but he couldn't say this in front of so many people, "Pat Riley did a great job. He built the strongest lineup at the lowest cost!"
Naturally, the beautiful reporter who asked the question didn't buy it.
I want to ask you how to evaluate those three players. Who asked you to evaluate the Heat general manager?
So the reporter immediately opened his mouth and continued to ask, "Then what do you think of LeBron James' decision?"
"In my basketball career, I have always only focused on myself and not on my opponents. My job is to play. Whether LeBron's decision is right or wrong, it has nothing to do with me. Next question!" Li Kaiming is true! He was a little annoyed. Every question these reporters asked was trying to get some big news, which made him have the urge to just drop his pick and leave.
The questions that followed were not easy. Every reporter wanted to provoke a conflict between him and the Heat's Big Three. After all, one of the two sides in this game was the most popular rookie, and the other was the most popular combination. A little friction would be enough. Let these media eat and drink.
As for the Heat, reporters will naturally not let it go. A reporter from ESPN asked LeBron James, "What do you think of Li Kaiming's performance in his rookie season?"
There was no emotion on James' face, "His performance impressed me deeply. He has extremely high talent and unlimited potential. His basketball skills are very well polished. He is good at various offensive methods and has excellent court vision. In my opinion, , the sky is his limit!”
James behaved very naturally in front of the media, as if he was not the same person who was so angry on the training ground before.
James has been very skilled in this mature and smooth way of handling things since he was in high school. Because he is a proud man, a lot of media paid attention to him in high school.
Of course, learning this way of dealing with the media has also brought many benefits to James. He is highly rated by the media and is very popular.
In addition to seemingly illusory things like media evaluation, maintaining a good relationship with the media also has real benefits. Let’s take the simplest example.
James played 79 games in his rookie season, averaging 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. He led the team to 33 wins and 46 losses and did not make the playoffs.
His competitor Carmelo Anthony played 82 games throughout the season, averaging 21 points, 6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He brought the Nuggets, which won 17 games last season, to a record of 43 wins and 39 losses, eighth in the Western Conference. Combined with the Western Conference at the time, In a league with a strong east and a weak one, if there is fair competition, the best rookie will most likely go to Anthony.
But the final voting result was that James received 78 of the 118 first-place votes and won the Rookie of the Year with a total score of 508 to 403.
Can you unconscionably say that Anthony performed worse than James in his rookie season? cannot!
And this is the advantage of maintaining a good relationship with the media. Of course, maybe the league is happy to see James win the Rookie of the Year. After all, if you look at it from the perspective of honor, the two are indeed not players of the same level.
In subsequent interviews, the Heat's other two giants, Wade and Bosh, also praised Li Kaiming's performance and said that they must strive for victory in this game.
Wade and Bosh must have never imagined that James, who was sitting next to them with a calm face, had already had a "confrontation" with Li Kaiming before the game, and the final result was James angrily slashing a big flying kick...
