The Heat continue with their next schedule.
On December 10th and December 11th, they ushered in the second round of "back-to-back" games this season.
Stan Van Gundy still adopts the old plan, striving to win the weaker opponents and give up the stronger opponents.
The Heat face the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards in back-to-back games in this round.
According to the rankings of these two teams, the Kings are currently third in the Western Conference, and the Washington Wizards are currently twelfth in the Eastern Conference. It can be said at a glance which team should be abandoned.
So Van Gundy decisively gave up the game against the Kings and rested three main players, including Woody. Let Dwyane Wade lead the team alone against the Gorgeous Kings. In the end, the Kings won by 15 points. Wade, who led the team alone for the first time, lost himself in front of the veteran Kings generals. He made 5 of 17 shots and shot less than 33%.
So I’m still so far behind?
The first time the game ended, Wade thought of Pat Riley's disappointed look, and he suddenly felt a sense of urgency.
After returning to Miami that night, I only slept for 5 hours, and then I consciously went to the Miami Arena to practice extra!
After spending this time with Pat Riley, he realized that he could be sorry to anyone but not Pat Riley!
It's just that I just finished a game with the Kings and practiced extra alone without much rest. This already insufficient physical fitness is even more insufficient.
In the game against the Wizards that night, Wade played poorly against Arenas.
It's not just him, all members of the Heat team were in a sluggish mood this night.
It's just that he was the worst among the starters.
In the end, this round of "back-to-back" Heat ended with two consecutive losses.
Coupled with the loss to the Spurs, the Heat experienced a "three-game losing streak" for the first time this season!
Although there are "back-to-back" factors, coupled with the factors of encountering strong enemies, the Heat have just gained such a "three-game losing streak", but...
The media doesn't care what your reasons are!
A large number of media began to believe that the Heat's routines have been studied, and this team full of newcomers will gradually begin to "reveal its true colors"!
Most of the media believe that Woody has hit the "rookie wall"!
Because in this "three-game losing streak", although he only played two games, his performance was not very good. In the game against the Spurs, he only scored 11 plus 10, and the game against the Wizards was affected by his busy schedule. , his offensive status has still not been adjusted, and he only scored 13 points and 12 rebounds. Compared with his previous excellent and comprehensive statistics, it is far from it!
When "Magic" Johnson heard these doubts, he quickly called Woody.
Woody's entire basketball career has been relatively smooth. From the moment he decided to play basketball, it can be said that it has been smooth sailing. Even "super rookies" like LeBron James have been robbed of the limelight by him.
He has never experienced such doubts before.
Johnson is worried about his mentality.
Just the result...
Woody was much calmer than he thought and didn't take these doubts seriously at all.
Johnson was a little curious about how he did it.
No matter what, he is just an 18-year-old child. Is his ability to withstand pressure really so strong?
Woody said: "It's very simple, I didn't read the reports about me at all!"
To be precise, after playing the Spurs game, Woody unilaterally cut off the habit of reading newspapers.
Originally, it seemed that the media bragging about himself was Woody's daily arrangement to satisfy his "star disease."
But after playing against the Spurs, Woody, who was dissatisfied with his performance, was keenly aware that the media was likely to give him a "suppression package."
He knows very well the urinal nature of this media!
He still vividly remembers their "repeated jumps" in their attitude toward Yao Ming back then.
Because you understand, you “defend” as early as possible.
His popularity is so high that he won the "Player of the Month Award" in the first month of his rookie season. With such a limelight, he is not allowed to have any downturn, otherwise these media reporters who are sharpening their skills will definitely The group immediately attacked.
However, with his current ability, he cannot achieve the exaggerated and comprehensive statistics in every game.
So he can only choose...
dont see!
As long as I don’t read it, it means these reports have not been reported!
A real man never fights against the wind!
Johnson also had to sigh that he had signed an amazing newcomer.
To Woody's surprise, Scarlett called him. She seemed to have seen the news and wanted to comfort him: "This is actually just like us actors acting. You can't act perfectly in every play." Okay, and when you act in a bad movie, these gossip reporters are like flies that have discovered a rotten egg. They will immediately rush to buzz you, but as long as you act in a good movie next The flies will disappear immediately, over and over again, it’s really no big deal!”
Woody was very moved, but he had a question: "I understand the truth, but why am I a rotten egg?"
"..."
The angle was so novel that Scarlett immediately hung up the phone.
She didn't realize at this moment that Woody wasn't affected at all, so she was worrying for nothing!
"Smelly man!"
She cursed softly at Woody's mobile phone number.
Just at this moment, her phone vibrated, and a text message was sent, from Woody:
--Thanks!
December 13th.
The "back-to-back" schedule is over, the Heat's next game is still at their home court, and their next opponent is the Golden State Warriors!
Lu Xun once said: "A drowned dog even a lame man wants to come up and kick him"!
Woody is currently in such a situation.
Although he doesn't think he is a "lost dog", he just didn't play well in two games. Things like this happen every day in this league, let alone him as a rookie.
However, the media's overwhelming questioning has made some people feel that he is a "dog in the water".
For example, tonight's opponent, Golden State Warriors center Eric Dampier, was interviewed before the game. A reporter asked: "Woody is currently ranked second in rebounds per game, second only to Kevin Ving Garnett, and you are ranked two spots lower than him, who do you think is better in terms of rebounding ability compared to Woody?"
When Dampier heard such a question, he immediately said confidently: "What else is there to say? He has just entered the league, and everyone is unfamiliar with him, which gives him some advantages, but the new season has already begun. It has been a long time, and now we have more information about his game. Just look at his performance in the last two games and you will know that he has been thoroughly studied! I believe that in this game, his rebounds will never reach double figures! I will get the highest number of rebounds in a single game of my career!"
At the end of the speech, only two words were left:
Take advantage!
It was as if he didn't take Woody seriously at all.
At the same time, a system notification suddenly popped up in Woody's mind, a mission was coming!
"Task 1: Grab more rebounds than Dampier in this game and be rewarded with 7,000 achievement points;
Task 2: Break the highest rebounding record in a single game of your career and be rewarded with 10,000 achievement points;
Task 3: Break Eric Dampier's career single-game rebounding record, and be rewarded with 50,000 achievement points! "
! ! !
50,000 achievement points!
When Woody saw mission three, he took a deep breath.
this……
How about being so wild?
Woody couldn't help but think that it would be too big to take the 35,000 achievement points in the system panel!
However, he looked at his offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding abilities, and they both reached 85 points. But to reach this level, and to improve further, 1 point will require 10,000 achievement points. His 35,000 achievement points are just enough. 3 times.
From 85 points to 88 points, this improvement is not huge no matter how you look at it!
Moreover, he still doesn’t know what the highest rebound record in Dampier’s career is in a single game...
Eddie Jones happened to come in at this time, and Woody asked casually. When Jones heard this, he immediately reacted: "It seems that you already know about Dampier's provocation!"
Woody nodded. Even if he didn't know exactly what Dampier said, he could probably guess it based on the mission requirements.
Jones said: "This guy is really difficult to deal with..."
He gave Woody his scouting report on Dampier.
Because the Warriors are currently only ranked 13th in the Western Conference, Woody did not study this team specifically.
Not only did he not study it, but Stan Van Gundy also did not emphasize it too much.
Although the Heat are currently on a "three-game losing streak", there are reasons for everything and the whole atmosphere is quite relaxed.
Of course, Woody had another reason...
Alonzo Mourning was in Miami these two days, and Woody invited him to have a meal, and then took him to the arena to ask some questions about blocking shots.
Before the start of the new season, under Mourning's words and deeds, Woody's blocking ability improved very quickly, and soon reached more than 60 points. After the start of the new season, more and more games were played, and Woody's experience became richer. His shot-blocking ability also directly exceeded 75 points, and even reached 80 points in December.
The potential value is high, and the speed of improvement is fast!
But this is also because there is not much skill in blocking shots.
It all depends on physical talent and consciousness!
Especially awareness!
Under the guidance of Spoelstra, Woody's consciousness improved rapidly, not to mention his physical fitness. Before entering the NBA, he was already in the middle of the NBA, and after entering the NBA, he quickly reached the upper reaches of the NBA.
Coupled with the badge of "Monster Bullet Speed"...
It's normal for shot-blocking ability to increase quickly, but it's abnormal for it to increase slowly!
Woody also wants to continue to improve his blocking ability and make his advantages more obvious...
So far in the new season, Woody has a very clear understanding of himself, focusing on rebounding and blocking shots.
Improving in other aspects will be a matter of the future, and if he wants to compete for the "Best Rookie" award, he must do his homework in these two aspects.
This can also make up for his lack of scoring average against the other "two geniuses"...
With his ability, it will be very difficult to average 20 points per game in the new season!
But if his rebounds per game and blocks per game are among the best, then is it still a problem if his points per game are slightly lower?
But now after reading Dampier's career rebound record in a single game, he also understood the reason why the system gave 50,000 achievement points...
Dampier's career rebound record in a single game is as high as 31!
And Woody's current highest number of rebounds in a single game is only 21...
The gap of 10 is not that easy to bridge!
What's more, Dampier is in the best shape of his career, because the 31 rebounds in a single game were just set by him not long ago, in November!
With such an outstanding state, it's no wonder that he dares to mock him as a rookie who has hit the "rookie wall".
Of course, Woody knew very well that if he wasn't so enthusiastic, Dampier wouldn't necessarily ridicule him.
To put it bluntly, it is still "shooting the first bird"!
Dampier's rebounds average this season is also a career-high 12.
Almost twice as high as he was last season...
Faced with such an opponent, Woody decisively gave up thinking about "Mission Three".
This task is different from the previous task against Artest when playing the Pacers. There is no loophole to exploit. It clearly says "Break Dampier's career single-game rebounding record."
It is more realistic to work hard to complete "Task One" and "Task Two"!
The total points are quite a lot, a total of 18,000 points!
Among them, "Task 2" is not so easy to complete.
20 rebounds in a single game, how can you say that you can just grab it?
However, compared with "Mission Three", the difficulty of this task is obviously much lower.
Reporters squatted over Woody before the game and wanted him to respond to Dampier's taunt. Woody said: "There is nothing to say. As soon as I debuted, I have already reached a height that he has not been able to reach in his seven-year career, so he I really don’t care what you say!”
What is "explosion"?
This is called "explosive killing"!
Dampier was the 10th overall pick in the first round of 1996. This is the eighth season of his career.
Before this season, his highest rebounds per game season was only 8.7!
Even this season, his average rebounds per game is only 12, which is very close to Woody's average rebounds per game, but it is only close. The 0.3 gap is still real.
Lies won't hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife!
Woody's knife hit Dampier's lung tube directly.
When he heard Woody's response, his whole face turned red with shame, but he hesitated for a long time and couldn't say anything to refute it.
I can only curse harshly: "When the game starts, this rookie will know how far he is from the top rebounders in the NBA!"
The American Airlines Arena tonight is not as full as it was some time ago.
The Heat's "three-game winning streak" has dampened the enthusiasm of some fans.
Woody noticed this when he appeared and frowned slightly.
He knows that changing a city is not that easy!
But this bunch of Miamians give in too easily, right?
Wait, sooner or later I will let you kneel down and sing "Conquer"!
There was a vacancy in the spot, which greatly stimulated Woody's "star disease". The more he thought about it, the angrier he became and he wanted to go on stage to vent his anger immediately.
He wants to restore the American Airlines Arena to "full stadium" status as quickly as possible!
Not one week, not two weeks, three weeks...
Before the game started, the big screen at the scene also showed the starting lineups of both sides:
"Heat team: No. 1 Wade, No. 2 Eddie Jones, No. 3 Woody, No. 4 Odom, No. 5 Grant;
Warriors: No. 1 Speedy Claxton, No. 2 Jason Richardson, No. 3 Mike Dunleavy, No. 4 Clifford Robinson, No. 5 Dampier. "
It can be seen from the Warriors' starting lineup that it is not unfair at all for them to be ranked last in the Western Conference.
The whole lineup itself is filled with this feeling:
We are just rushing to the lottery area to work hard. If you want to win, come quickly!
Amidst the cheers from the scene, the game officially started.
Woody saw Dampier walking up to the center circle of the court and gestured towards Grant, "I'm coming."
Grant didn't hesitate at all. He immediately stopped walking forward and allowed Woody to step forward.
He also heard about Woody and Dampier's beef. He also knows Woody's character very well.
In addition to being tough, it’s still tough!
Barkley's name "Hard in Hard" was no joke.
The cheers that had slowly subsided suddenly became louder again at this moment, as if the flames that were gradually extinguishing met the alcohol, and a "bang" sound immediately erupted.
Woody's reaction stimulated their adrenaline hormones, and they liked this kind of man who never backed down and just raised his hand to do it!
The big screen at the scene was given to Dampier.
A hint of surprise clearly flashed in the latter's eyes.
Woody's toughness gradually became famous in this league, but he didn't expect this guy to be so tough!
but……
Are you here to make a fool of yourself?
Dampier is 2.11 meters tall, a standard center height, coupled with an excellent wingspan. Woody stands in front of him, obviously shorter than him. He does not think that he will lose to Woody in the jump ball!
The "slap in the face" that comes to your door is not for nothing.
He had a strong feeling that tonight was going to be a very enjoyable night!
only……
"beep!"
The referee blew the whistle, and he threw the ball into the air. As the ball flew to the highest point, a hand approached at an extremely fast speed. In a few tenths of a second, there was almost no gap. When the ball slowly fell, that The ball hit the ball.
There was another huge cheer immediately.
The first person to touch the ball was Woody!
When Dampier heard the whistle and was about to bend his knees and jump up, he saw the man opposite him grow taller on the spot, and he flew straight into the air like a rocket.
This instant power!
Dampier was dumbfounded.
He was already slow, and with this moment of delay, he almost stood still and watched Woody seize the initiative.
"Did you buy a standing ticket at the stadium? How much did it cost and where did you buy it?" Woody met his dazed gaze and spoke without hesitation, trash talk.
Dampier replied angrily: "You just jumped to the ball. What are you so proud of? Are you afraid that you won't have a chance?"
Woody raised his eyebrows slightly.
He dares to respond with trash talk after suffering a loss, he seems...
Met a tough-talking "dead duck".
Okay, then let's see how hard your mouth is!
There was one thing he already had the answer to from the opening jump ball:
Due to a knee injury, Dampier's athletic ability is not as good as before. He now relies more on his height and wingspan, as well as his excellent position under the basket and his anticipation of rebounds to compete for rebounds.
On the first possession, Wade faced Speedy Claxton with the ball.
Speedy is only 1.80 meters tall and weighs only 75kg.
You know, against a defender like that, Wade never misses.
In the first step of what has gradually become a signature move, he successfully left Claxton behind. Wade ran into Clifford Robinson, who came out of defense. As a veteran who entered the league in 1989, Robinson is well-documented. The earliest "headband gang", the Blazers had a hairband for everyone, which is inseparable from his influence.
Now he's bringing the headband trend to the Warriors.
At the age of 37 this season, he has continued to get new contracts in the league simply by relying on his passionate drive.
This defense can show his motivation.
Just like this, Odom was completely missed.
The ball came to his hands, and Mike Dunleavy on the wing rushed to cover the defense. But when he got closer to Odom, he realized that this guy seemed to be waiting for him to step forward to defend.
Odom: I'm not interested in scoring!
What interests me is...
"Whoosh!"
A decisive cross-handed push, the ball flew directly towards the basket like a cannonball.
Dampier was about to step up to intercept, when he caught sight of the Heat's red jersey from the corner of his eye, and the alarm sounded instantly in his head, causing him to subconsciously avoid the baseline.
"Bang!"
The next second he dodged, there was a loud bang on the basket.
Woody flew high, caught the ball in the air, and smashed it straight into the basket.
Completed a beautiful "alley-oop cooperation" with Odom!
The sound of the basket hitting made Dampier feel his scalp numb.
After all, if he had walked a second later, the dunk would have been made through others.
How could you not be afraid?
2-0!
Woody landed and glanced at Dampier's position: "It turns out that I bought a courtside ticket! To be honest, you are moving much faster than I thought!"
Dampier didn't react immediately to Woody's compliment.
When he looked up at the replay of Woody's dunk and saw Woody grabbing the ball in the air and sliding close to the basket, he hurriedly dodged his back, and he immediately reacted.
Ashamed and annoyed, he was about to reply, but Woody had already turned around, not waiting for his reply at all.
Damn guy!
Wait!
I'll be back soon!
I cursed secretly in my heart, but it didn't relieve my anger at all.
The cheers at the scene continued. Woody's goal made the entire Heat bench stand up. Everyone was so excited that Haslem had to look at them, fearing that they would accidentally cross the sideline and be eaten. A technical foul would be bad.
They were all so excited, not to mention the Miamians who were there.
Woody started with a dunk, which brought them to the climax!
They are already waiting for the "live party" after the game!
The Warriors fought back.
The ball is given to Jason Richardson, the absolute core of the current team.
As the "Slam Dunk King" of the NBA All-Star "Slam Dunk Contest" in the 2002-03 season, Jason Richardson is famous for his explosive physical fitness.
It's just that his offensive ability with the ball is not very good.
What he is better at is taking direct jump shots.
For example, in this round, Claxton gave the ball to him. He dribbled forward and entered outside the three-point line. He jumped up and shot, and he shot a mid- to long-range jumper.
The arc of the ball was pretty good, but unfortunately it hit the inside of the basket and bounced out again.
Dampier squeezed Grant behind him at the same time as he shot, and charged up his legs, preparing to grab the board.
The whole process was very easy, so easy that he felt...
Isn't this too easy?
There is always an illusion that the opponent deliberately let him get stuck successfully.
It wasn't until the ball bounced out of the basket and he was about to take off to grab the rebound that he realized that this was not an illusion.
The opponent deliberately let him get stuck.
Then when the ball was about to jump out, he suddenly increased the intensity of the confrontation. This happened suddenly. Dampier failed to push away Grant when he jumped up with all his strength. As a result, he watched Woody protect the rebound in front of him. down.
This is……
Coordination, right?
It turns out to be such a routine!
Dampier thought he wouldn't be fooled next time.
But Woody, who grabbed the rebound, quickly launched a counterattack with the ball.
The five Heat players on the field were stunned and ran like a galloping horse, which clearly shows the ferocity of the Heat's offensive and defensive transitions.
The Warriors also showed their basic qualities as the 13th seed in the Western Conference:
Can't keep up with the Heat's counterattack at all!
The Heat scored another goal.
It was the Warriors' turn to attack again, and Dampier was still decisive this time. Jason Richardson's shot was delayed by Jones. He did not force the shot, but gave the ball to Dunleavy on the wing.
The Duke pitcher averaged 11.7 points per game this season. As the third overall pick in the first round last season, he is known for his accurate shooting.
But as soon as he got the ball, Woody got in front of him, stretched out his hand to interfere, and didn't give him any space to shoot. He dribbled the ball and transferred it, and the ball came into Richardson's hands again.
The "Slam Dunk King" cut to the basket and shot for a layup.
The angle is great!
There was a "bang" sound.
Grant repeated his old tricks, but this time Dampier was on guard, using his butt force fiercely, and successfully pushed away Grant behind him.
With...
Bar?
Dampier looked up the moment he pushed Grant away and looked at the basketball above his head. He was very confident. Until he caught a glimpse of Woody rushing over from the corner of his eye, he felt a little guilty again.
"Snapped!"
He immediately increased the speed of exerting force and hugged the ball.
But just as he was about to touch the ball, another hand beat it to the backboard first.
This rookie’s mobility!
Dampier was a little stunned.
Woody was defending Dunleavy!
It is equivalent to saying that he came back from the three-point line.
Even for a small forward, this speed is too exaggerated, right?
But the next second, another scene that left Dampier speechless happened...
Woody came from behind and touched the ball first.
This guy landed at about the same time as him. He had just gathered strength in his feet and before he even bent his knees, he was already in the air and running towards the backboard.
I reported that someone was wearing "elastic shoes"!
no……
Is there really someone whose "second takeoff" can be so fast?
Dampier also fought against Rodman, but it was an old Rodman after all, which gave Dampier the feeling that this "flower bug" was too dirty and made all kinds of small moves.
Woody is different.
In this round, he was completely crushed by his abnormal physical fitness!
After successfully protecting the second rebound, Woody followed the same pattern as the previous attack, taking the rebound and going on a fast break.
Fortunately, Warriors head coach Eric Musselman reacted quickly enough. After seeing Woody take off faster than Dampier in the second takeoff and confirming that the offensive rebound could not be grabbed, he immediately urged the Warriors This group of people quickly returned to defense.
But Dampier still jumped up without giving up, trying to grab it.
As a result, as soon as he jumped up, Woody was already on the ground, and it was a fast break to get the ball.
The Heat's most familiar rhythm.
The Warriors returned to defense very quickly under the urging of their head coach.
But they only defended 4 people.
The Heat played 5-on-4 in the frontcourt, moving the ball smoothly and disintegrating the Warriors' defensive formation with three strikes, five additions, and two. Wade received a pass from Woody and succeeded in attacking the frame.
At this time, Dampier returned to the basket...
But Woody felt that he came back just in time to serve!
"This should be what you're best at, right?"
Woody lovingly tossed him the ball.
Dampier lost his temper and threw the ball back to Woody.
I don't want your balls!
When Woody saw that Dampier was angry, he passed the ball back.
Dampier got the ball and threw it back to Woody.
Woody's stubborn temper also rose, and he threw the ball towards Dampier again...
Clayton, who was preparing to catch the ball next to him, looked confused.
Dampier was about to throw the ball towards Woody again, but fortunately the referee next to him stopped him in time.
He is not very capable and his temper is not small.
The Miamians at the scene were not used to him, and the huge boos filled Dampier's eardrums, making him even more upset.
This kind of start was something he didn't expect.
No, I have to respond quickly!
With this in mind, Dampier's movement on the offensive end was also very different from the previous two rounds.
In the first two rounds, when he got to the basket, he concentrated on grabbing rebounds, but in this round, he clearly had the desire to catch the ball.
Not only the Warriors players saw this, but the Heat also saw it. They glanced at each other without leaving any trace, and the entire defensive formation quietly shrank a bit.
As long as the Warriors dare to give the ball to Dampier, they will definitely form a double team under the basket.
Warriors…
How dare you give it!
Mainly in the first two rounds, the Warriors failed to score from the outside. Now it is really time to use someone else to try their hand.
Dampier is not the core of the Warriors' offense, but he averages 12.3 points per game and is the Warriors' third leading scorer.
What he is best at is resisting defensive players, taking two long steps to the front of the basket, and using his height and wingspan to force a layup.
Tonight, facing Grant, who is only 2.06 meters tall, the success rate of this move should be very high.
Passed!
The next second after the ball got stuck under Dampier's basket, it was in his hands.
Dampier was unambiguous when taking the ball. He actually noticed that the Heat's entire formation was slowly shrinking, so he had to attack the frame as soon as possible, otherwise he would really have no chance.
He took the ball and quickly pushed Grant closer to the basket, then quickly turned around, but when he raised his hand to put the basket, he suddenly stopped.
But he saw Woody flying over his head.
really!
I knew it!
Dampier, who was wary of Woody's ability to help defend, made a mental note when he was about to attack the ball, and he would make a fake move when he took action later.
You must have been shaken by me!
Damn rookie!
This time it's really...
"Snapped!"
Dampier took action firmly, already organizing in his mind the trash talk that would humiliate Woody later.
But the ball hasn't flown from his hands yet.
Woody, who was knocked away by him, appeared in front of him again and slapped the ball directly out of the three-point line...
What is this...
What a monster!
(End of chapter)
