Time flies to mid-March.
The Bulls' performance in the month after the trade deadline was average, and their record was obviously not as good as before.
This also includes a big loss to the Cavaliers.
The reason is, on the one hand, the impact of trade rumors.
Yes, frequent transactions have not had much impact on the Bulls. After all, those transactions can only be regarded as minor repairs.
However, Hinrich's trade rumors, which have become well-known within the team, have caused the Bulls "veteran" to decline.
Hinrich is a very dedicated player. He was originally the team's unbeatable outside core, but the arrival of Rose and Xu Yong made him a substitute for two consecutive seasons.
Even when Bynum joins, he has to switch to shooting guard, which is not so good at it.
But even so, he still had no complaints.
But now the team has put him on the shelf. The key is that he has not been traded in the end. Because of his personality, he will not complain publicly, but it is difficult to avoid the impact on his state.
The impact of his decline on the Bulls' backcourt is obvious, considering that he originally played the role of the team's sixth man.
However, the impact of this aspect is still controllable.
Because after Hinrich's poor condition, Denagro, who likes to use newcomers, gave a chance to Bill Walker, who performed well in training.
Walker also lived up to his expectations, shooting 42.5% from outside three-point range in limited playing time, becoming the Bulls' most stable outside point.
Of course, Walker obviously cannot replace Hinrich.
Because in addition to his offensive role, Hinrich also has organizational skills and elite defensive abilities.
Walker is just a shooter now, and he has been seriously injured many times. He has a lot of lateral movement problems, and it is difficult to perform on the defensive end.
This is also the reason why he didn't get a chance to play with the Celtics before.
On the other hand, there are insiders.
The impact of gaining weight and muscle on Noah is temporarily more harmful than good, and he needs time to adjust.
But more importantly, Kwame Brown played a somewhat embarrassing role.
In fact, both Brown and Milicic are not bad in talent. They were labeled as parallel imports largely because of their training.
But by this stage of their careers, their skills are basically set.
Take Brown as an example. It is impossible for the smooth hands he had during the Lakers period to disappear when he arrived with the Bulls. It is also impossible for the moves he made in Los Angeles not to be blown away when he arrived in Chicago.
To sum it up in one sentence: Compared to his contributions on the field, the mistakes he made hurt the team more.
There's a reason why he didn't get much playing time with the Bobcats.
Hinrich's slump gave Walker a chance, and Brown's embarrassing assignment gave Gray a chance.
The Bulls' own second-round pick filled the void left by Sangella with his tenacious defense and aggressive scrambling.
Even because of his performance, Brad Miller can move to the fourth position where he is better.
However, whether it is Walker or Gray, they just seized their opportunities and could not improve the Bulls' strength.
So although the twin stars of Xu Yong and Rose still performed stably, the Bulls' record declined.
At the end of the training session that day, Xu Yong found Brown and said he wanted to treat him to a meal.
Brown looked surprised and visibly resisted, but he agreed.
Arriving at a restaurant far away from the arena and finding a private room, Xu Yong and Brown started chatting.
At the beginning, Xu Yong was basically talking about some interesting things about himself in the NCAA and Chicago.
Then slowly, Brown relaxed and chatted with Xu Yong without a word.
Seeing Brown's ability to communicate, Xu Yong also knew there was something going on.
Naturally, he was looking for Brown to eat, not because he had nothing to do, but because Brown was very important.
According to the current situation, if they can make the playoffs, they will most likely be ranked seventh or eighth, so it will be either the Magic or the Cavaliers.
Then what they have to face is either Howard or O'Neal. Even if Noah gains muscle, it is impossible to fight against them in the whole game.
Especially with Howard at his peak, Noah can easily get into foul trouble.
It is obviously unrealistic for you to rely on Miller or Gray to top these two giants. The only one who can do it is Brown.
Although Brown has many shortcomings, his one-on-one defense in the low post is at an elite level. Otherwise, if everyone is sure that he has failed to be trained, can he still be in the NBA and still be the starter for the Lakers for so many seasons?
And after contacting him for a month, he found that Brown's character problem was bigger than his strength problem.
This guy is too introverted and unsure of himself.
This also explains why he was such a talented person in high school.
Because he is an introvert, he can do nothing but hold it in when Jordan sprays him.
Imagine that you have to be scolded by the same person every day, and that person is also a very picky person, and you can only endure it all the time. How does that feel?
Even if you are confident at the beginning, there is a high probability that your confidence will be completely wiped out in the end.
A similar example is Bynum, who was also a high school rookie. Bynum did not become Brown, probably because Kobe was not as exaggerated as Jordan.
Look at Bynum's performance after leaving the Lakers, he is like a rebellious teenager.
What's more, Brown met Kobe shortly after leaving Jordan, and then he came out of the tiger's den and entered the wolf's den again. He was such an unlucky boy.
Moreover, Brown's character is not even as good as Bynum's. Look at him now, even though he clearly doesn't want to, he still subconsciously accepts Xu Yong's invitation. This is a reflection of his character.
After chatting for a while, Xu Yong transitioned from the stadium to his own life.
He has always believed that sincerity is the eternal must-win, and sincerity can be exchanged for sincerity.
It turned out that he was right to do so, because as these topics opened up, Brown completely let down his guard and talked about his life with Xu Yong.
"I have eight brothers and sisters. When I was little, I didn't dare to tell my mother if I wanted a basketball. I knew that if I asked, they would all ask for it too. It was hard enough for my mother to raise us by herself."
"But you still got the basketball?" Xu Yong asked.
"Yes, my mother saw what I was thinking, and he bought me a basketball." Brown replied with a smile, but after he finished laughing, he felt a little emotional, "As a price, he even went to clean people on Christmas Eve."
Xu Yong couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.
From Harden to Cooksix to Brown, the environment in the United States and the consistent behavior of black people make it difficult for black people to enter the NBA.
But the fact that Brown still remembers this shows that there is still a difference between him and Bynum.
After realizing this, Xu Yong then looked at Brown. After Brown noticed his gaze and stared at him doubtfully, he said seriously: "Kwame, we need you."
Brown was stunned for a moment, no, more accurately, he should be stunned.
"We need you, because only you can protect our penalty area and defend Dwight, Shaq and the others. You are irreplaceable now." Xu Yong also spoke louder.
It took Brown a long time to come to his senses, and then he smiled uncertainly and said, "Are you kidding me?"
But he soon discovered that Xu Yong did not laugh along with him, and still had that serious expression. He couldn't help but ask again: "Are you serious?"
After seeing Xu Yong nodded, Brown suddenly lost control of his emotions for a moment, his eyes turned red for a moment, and then he took a deep breath.
He really had almost forgotten how long it had been since no one had said this to him!
The last time was during draft workouts?
Or, still in high school?
Since entering the NBA, he has only been surrounded by criticism, whether it is the guy who made him fall into a nightmare, the management, or even the fans.
He always wondered why they brought him to that place if they disliked him so much.
Then I went to Memphis, to Los Angeles, to Detroit, and almost everyone was like that.
Parallel imports, parallel imports, fucking parallel imports!
Just because he was attracted by Jordan back then, he could only live in the shadow of these two words for the rest of his life.
This was the first time in a long time that he heard someone say that he was needed and that he was irreplaceable.
Although the opponent is just a rookie and a teammate, these words are really important to him.
Watching Brown's reaction, Xu Yong knew he had done the right thing and that it would be important to the Bulls.
"What should I do?" After calming down, Brown looked at Xu Yong and said.
Although he is introverted, he is not stupid.
He is not playing well in the Bulls now. Xu Yong will talk to him alone, and he must be trying to give him some advice.
"Do what you are good at and don't do what you are not good at." Xu Yong said it simply.
Brown mused, but still didn't quite understand.
"Kwame, this is not Washington. No one will force you to do what you can't do. You defend in the low post, fight for rebounds, and smash the ball into the basket when the opportunity is good. I will do the rest. And Derrick, Joakim, Luol, the rest of the team is going to do it.”
Xu Yong then used a metaphor: "We are like a machine. As long as we perform our duties, we can do anything."
Brown understood something now, and Xu Yong's words convinced him from the root.
After so many years, it is impossible for him to become the No. 1 pick that people expected him to be, but he still has a chance to get rid of the label of parallel import.
"I know you and Qiao Jin will have extra training in the evening, can I join in?" Brown looked at Xu Yong and asked.
Noah no longer got up for training at around four in the morning like Xu Yong, but he still followed for extra training at night.
"Of course." Xu Yong smiled when he heard this.
Brown said that in the past, he didn't dare to tell his mother that he wanted a basketball, but now he takes the initiative to ask Xu Yong for extra practice.
This is the most direct change.
That night, Brown followed Xu Yong and Noah for additional training.
There is only one thing Brown mainly practices, dunking.
This may sound absurd, because Brown has such a height and wingspan that he still needs to practice this thing.
But in fact, he really wanted it.
Because in addition to parallel imports, Brown also has a label that cannot be taken off: butter hands.
This is not a technical problem, but that his hands are too small.
In terms of basketball talent, hand size is an aspect that is easily overlooked, but has a great impact.
For example, the reason why Leonard can possess the skill [Death Coil] is because he has a pair of extremely large hands that are rare in history.
The difference between Kobe and Jordan is that the hand is also a very critical part. Otherwise why you can hardly see Kobe holding the ball with one hand is because he has small hands.
Xu Yong's palms are not as exaggerated as Jordan's and Leonard's, but they are still considered normal size at the NBA level.
But Brown is really too small.
This makes it easy for him to drop the ball when making low-post attacks, and even technical moves such as hooks are difficult to succeed.
If you start to strengthen training for this point in the early stages of your career, you may be able to make up for it with technology just like Kobe.
But now it seems unrealistic.
So the simple and crude way is to dunk.
Dunks under the basket, one-step dunks, alley-oop dunks, in short, it is a simple but efficient way to smash the ball into the basket.
As for if you encounter a defense, that's what Xu Yong said, don't do anything you're not good at, just pass the ball out again.
The Bulls now have Nate Robinson, and there is no shortage of people who can dilute the ball. There is no need for Brown to attack in the low post.
And during training, Xu Yong also played offensive and defensive games with Brown.
He found that Brown's defensive judgment when he was misplaced was very good, and he was not the kind of jumping man who likes to block shots, but the type that uses his body to find confrontation.
Because he had few playing opportunities before, Xu Yong did not notice this.
But looking at it this way, Brown may be able to do more than expected.
…
Time flies, and it’s the end of March in a blink of an eye.
At this time, there is less than half a month left before the end of the regular season.
Before the Bulls' morning training session started that day, Hinrich came in and closed the door to the locker room.
The team members all looked at him.
Although he is in poor condition, Hinrich is the oldest person on the team after all, and his status is not much lower than Deng.
"I need to apologize to everyone."
Hinrich's words stunned everyone.
Even Xu Yong didn't expect it.
"I apologize for my performance in the past period. I should not have brought my personal emotions to the team. No matter what the future holds, at least I am still on the team and we can do something this season."
Hinrich's words are sincere, perhaps because of his loyalty to the team, knowing that this is his seventh year in Chicago; or perhaps because of the atmosphere of the team, it is inappropriate for him to do so as a veteran.
"Kirk, welcome back to the team." Deng stood up to greet Hinrich and gave him a hug.
Xu Yong and others also stepped forward one after another and put their hands on Xinrich's shoulders.
Not much was said, but this was the moment the Bulls truly emerged from their struggles over the past January.
Just like Hinrich said, they are now ready and really ready to do something this season.
Maybe, something bold.
The regular season will be over in the next chapter. In addition, the single chapter has been adjusted to 4k+ per chapter, which is equivalent to the amount of 2 updates in the public period. I will keep this basic update in the future, 8K+ per day. In addition, I am still ranked second in this year's men's basketball team. , if you win, remember to come back and click me~ Finally, I will be cute every day, please vote and subscribe~~
(End of chapter)
