Xu Yong's understanding of Harden was relatively limited before his rebirth, but he still knew something about Rose.
Not because of anything else, just because Rose was really popular back then.
Don’t ask, just ask about the sales of sneakers that best represent popularity. Rose sold over 40 million pairs in a year;
The question is to lead the team to suppress the Heat's Big Three for two consecutive years. He has a gorgeous style of play and is the youngest MVP.
Windy City Rose is very popular with fans both on and off the court.
Therefore, Xu Yong also heard some rumors about this situation.
The most well-known ones are naturally Ross and his brothers.
Rose was born in a gangster city like Chicago, and his childhood experience was even worse than Harden's.
Harden can still practice on the court, but Rose risks eating peanuts in order to practice on the court.
Later, he showed his athletic talent, and his brothers all chose to join the gang in order to provide him with a safe training environment.
While these two things may not sound like they are necessarily related, when you're in a city where gangs outnumber cops 10 to 1, it just might work.
Facts quickly proved that Xu Yong's judgment was correct.
Because the very next day, the police who helped him investigate for a week but made no progress called him.
His case was solved.
The thief who broke into his house turned himself in at the police station and returned everything he had stolen, including the watch.
"No more thieves will come to your house." Moreover, the police gave him a guarantee.
Just highlight one [outrageous].
However, after experiencing such an incident, Xu Yong was basically certain that the things he heard from hearsay were true.
And in a city like Chicago, getting to know some gangsters is just like getting to know some friends in the system in China. They can solve many problems that cannot be solved through normal channels.
Of course, this is just a small episode in Xu Yong's life.
As the season progresses, for him, or for the Bulls, they are now more concerned about the team's current situation.
Because after experiencing three consecutive victories at the beginning of the game, they successively lost to the Magic, Celtics and Nuggets, and suffered a wave of three consecutive losses.
This has a certain relationship with the schedule. The Magic and Celtics are both championship-level teams.
But in addition, there are also problems with their status.
It's not that there is a problem with the rookies. Johnson and Gibson's performances are remarkable. Xu Yong has continued his "not new" rookie characteristics and is the Bulls' most stable player during this period.
The problem was Rose.
Last season, with Ben Gordon and Salmons on the team, Rose averaged 14.9 shots per game and contributed 16.8 points and 6.3 assists.
Gordon left the team as a free agent this season, Salmons was also sent away in the Xu Yong trade, and Rose's shots increased to 18 per game.
But his scoring was lower than last season, averaging only 15 points per game, and his shooting percentage dropped below 40%.
It can be said that except for the opening game where he played pretty well, his performance in the following games was very poor regardless of whether he won or lost.
Not because of ability, but because of his recurring ankle injury.
Rose is a player who relies heavily on breakthroughs, and ankles and knees have the greatest impact on breakthrough players.
As Breen said during the opening game commentary, recovery from ankle injuries requires a long process, and Rose's comeback still seems hasty.
Such performance naturally attracted many voices of doubt from the outside world.
On November 10th, the Bulls faced the Heat at home. The game was very intense.
Xu Yong performed very well. He made 10 of 21 shots in the game and contributed a team-high and career-high 26 points. However, the Bulls still lost to the Heat 87-95.
Deng contributed 17 points, and Noah also had 10 points and 7 rebounds. However, Rose made 4 of 15 shots from the field, without a single free throw, and only scored 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
After the game, doubts about Rose finally began to erupt.
At the post-game press conference, the local Chicago media couldn't help but raise questions because Rose was not present.
"Rose should give up more shots to Xu and continue to take shots when he is in poor condition. Is this a selfish performance?"
"When will Rose develop a stable shot? When your opponent only needs to prevent you from breaking through, it's too bad that you can't hit the shot!"
"If Rose's ankle injury has not healed, shouldn't the team consider letting him rest? Playing with an injury like this will not only not help the team, but will also hurt the team!"
…
These questions were thrown to DeNagro.
Faced with these questions, Denagro couldn't answer them well for a while.
Because these questions are legitimate questions.
Especially when asked about whether Rose should rest, he was speechless.
At this time, Xu Yong, who had been silent before, picked up the microphone at the table.
"I don't think Derek's truce will help our record. He gave his best on the court. The data does not reflect what he did. And the loss is not the responsibility of one player, but the responsibility of the whole team. .”
Xu Yong didn't say much, but every sentence was on point.
It is true that Rose has been affected by injuries and is in poor condition, but can they beat these opponents without Rose?
The answer is obviously no.
No matter how bad Rose's condition is, his effect is better than Hinrich's.
Because when he is on the court, opponents have to be wary of his breakthroughs. This is the containment effect on the offensive end.
If Rose doesn't play, the defensive pressure on Xu Yong will only be greater.
Of course, it’s right to be questioned by the media if you play poorly. Just like Yao Ming said, maybe you shouldn’t be criticized for playing poorly?
But the reason why Xu Yong said this tonight is because the people questioning it are the local media in Chicago, which is equivalent to one of his own people.
It's okay for others to question it. If your own people are just making noise here, it won't have any real effect except to improve the team's mentality.
Xu Yong opened his mouth, and the reporter shut up knowingly.
Because Xu Yong was the one who worked the hardest and performed best in the team tonight.
"I believe Derek can get back to form, just like I believe we will win the game again soon." Xu Yong finally added.
After the press conference, Xu Yong went to the training hall to practice more.
Although he is the last person to blame for the team's loss tonight, a loss is a loss.
No matter how beautiful the losing data is, it is just the pearl in Puyi's crown. It looks good but has no practical significance.
All he can do is continue to improve himself, and then do what he said and help the team win the next game.
Their opponent in the next game is the Lakers.
The defending champion is not having a good time now. They lost to the Rockets in the opening game. There is no timetable for Gasol's comeback. So far, they have only 4 wins and 3 losses.
The outside world now has a lot of doubts about them, with comments such as "Kobe is old" and "Last season's championship was just a matter of good luck and the Magic. If they played against the Celtics or Cavaliers, they would definitely lose."
So it's not easy to win this game, but they may not have no chance.
And if they can win the defending championship, just like they did against the Cavaliers in the opening game, it will also greatly improve their morale.
The next morning, Xu Yong came to the arena as usual.
The team has one more day of training today and won't fly to Los Angeles until tomorrow.
He arrived in the locker room and was changing clothes, when Rose came.
After he changed into his training clothes, Rose stood up and walked towards him, then stretched out his hand to him, just like before, he raised his hand to shake it, and then bumped his shoulder.
There were no words in this process, but Xu Yong could feel that Rose was thanking him for those words of defense he said last night.
He could even feel that the progress of his [No Slowing Down in Disguise] strategy had increased by at least 30% at this moment.
Rose's injury actually happened at the beginning of the 2009-2010 season. He was in a very sluggish state due to injuries at the beginning of the season. He averaged only 13.5 points in the first 7 games. It was not until December that his condition began to gradually improve.
(End of chapter)
