"I feel like LeBron James is a complementary guy who can help me score better, and I feel like there's a connection between the two of us. Contrary to what people think, I love this kid so much, and now I'm with Paul Pierce. , which also gives me more opportunities to take open shots.”
December 17th.
Ricky Davis, who was just traded to the Celtics, responded to questions about the deal.
His attitude confused some media reporters.
They originally thought that Ricky Davis would be a little angry.
Because in previous reports about him, he was a "bad guy" who had a bad relationship with LeBron James and had a lot of ridiculous things off the court.
But now it seems that his attitude is still a little sad?
The Goodman brothers also learned about Ricky Davis' latest reply. He said to the reporter Shea Serrano who called him: "Of course you can't report it like this, man, you have to polish his words! "
Just kidding, they spent so much time paving the way for Ricky Davis to have a rift with LeBron. His presence affected the growth of LeBron James. How can the outside world doubt this?
When Shay heard this, he knew what it meant.
The next morning, his latest report appeared in an ESPN column.
"I thought he was here to help me!" ——Ricky Davis's autobiography after leaving the Cavaliers! 》
As soon as this article was published, it immediately caused huge waves.
Many media outlets stepped aside and severely criticized Ricky Davis:
"So it's really not surprising that he was traded!"
"Obviously, Ricky Davis does not understand his position. He has no idea what LeBron James means to Cleveland!"
"Now it seems that LeBron has really been delayed, but fortunately, the Cavaliers management's remedy was quite timely!"
…
Ricky Davis was stunned when he saw these comments.
Is that what I mean?
Didn't I say that the two of us worked together very happily?
He immediately contacted his agent and wanted to explain, but unfortunately his agent responded to him half an hour later: "Sorry, we don't have such a strong power of public opinion!"
In other words, you have taken the blame for this.
A certain pair of eyes in Toronto is watching all this. Vince Carter has become increasingly dissatisfied with the current situation of the Raptors since he was stepped on by Woody and ridiculed by the media during the "Player of the Week Award" campaign.
But similarly, Raptors management has become increasingly skeptical of Vince Carter continuing to be the cornerstone of the team.
But Vince Carter is the box office guarantee of "Northern Territory". If anyone trades him, there is no guarantee that he will not be liquidated later.
Need to find a reason...
The way the Cavaliers management handles Ricky Davis is worth learning from.
If Toronto fans hate Vince Carter first, then the trade will be logical!
Meanwhile, Woody and the Heat continue their regular season schedule.
After a wave of "three consecutive victories", their winning streak ended in Atlanta, but then there was another wave of "two consecutive victories".
December 23rd, the last game before Christmas.
The Heat arrived in Cleveland, and their next opponent was none other than the Cavaliers!
Woody and LeBron James, the "Akron Twins", finally met for the first time in the NBA.
The league gave the game the treatment of "live broadcast across the United States".
The major media are also making all kinds of hype.
Woody arrived in Cleveland with the Cavaliers on the 22nd. After arriving and checking into the hotel, he went back to St. Mary's and watched the last game before the "Christmas Game" of St. Mary's High School.
This was the first time he and Curry had met since the "birthday party" in May. Curry must have grown taller, but looking at his immature face, Woody was a little unsure.
When Woody showed up on the scene, there was a huge cheer!
This year's St. Mary's High School's performance in the league is hard to describe. They have only won 2 of the 9 games they have played.
Compared with last season's "Invincible Saint Mary's" team that went undefeated all season and won the state championship, there is a huge gap.
There was no way. Originally, Saint Mary's was just a team competing in the third-level Ohio League. The emergence of LeBron James made them jump to the second-level league, and then the emergence of Woody made them jump to the first-level league.
Jumping two levels in four years is unique in the entire history of the Ohio League.
But Akron only has so many students, and the quality is far from Division I standards.
After the "Akron Four" and Woody left this summer, the only main player left was Stephen Curry.
But he is only a sophomore in high school!
Although Coach Drew specially developed a "team pick-and-roll" tactic for him, he averaged 21.4 points per game and shot 41.2% from three-point range, but it was still not enough for them to become a leader in the first-level league. Strong team.
And as the league progresses, Stephen Curry's playing style is also seen through by the head coaches of other teams, and there are more targets.
You can't expect a high school sophomore to play one-on-five in a Division I high school league.
LeBron James can't do such a thing!
Recently, St. Mary's High School has experienced a "three-game losing streak."
Woody's arrival did not bring good luck to Stephen Curry.
St. Mary's High School lost again tonight, 51-65.
Stephen Curry scored 21 points, but he could only grit his teeth and lower his head.
"Woody, I miss the days when we played together!" Stephen Curry asked for a hug.
Woody touched his head and comforted him: "It's okay, Stephen, these days will be over in two and a half years!"
"!!!" Stephen Curry, who was originally pale, was even more defeated now.
Life is not easy, Curry sighed.
"Will you come to watch the game tomorrow?" Woody prepared courtside tickets for the Cavaliers game for Stephen Curry.
He didn't ask LeBron James to get it, but Woody bought it himself.
He is not very familiar with LeBron James.
The conversation between them still lingered on the night after the draft.
"I'm looking forward to playing against Woody this time. He and I have always been good brothers. We spent very unforgettable high school years. We won the state championship trophy together. Now that I see him playing so well, I really I'm very happy... Of course, I often send text messages to him, and our friendship is as good as ever... What, do you want to see the content of our chat? This is a very private chat, I'm afraid not!"
So when Woody saw LeBron James facing the media for a pre-game interview, he looked confused.
Do you often send text messages?
So this is the path that "good brothers" took?
That works!
Brother, I understand!
"Of course, I have been looking forward to this match. In fact, we had an agreement as early as the night of the draft. In our first match, whoever wins, the other party will give him 50,000 dollars. I don't know this The bet is over, but our friendship will not change!" Woody's interview with reporters was also straightforward.
This immediately aroused the interest of the media.
It also adds another gimmick to this game.
ESPN immediately published a headline titled "Fight for $50,000."
A reporter asked LeBron James to confirm this matter.
He was stunned for a second and almost burst out:
Am I crazy?
Make this kind of bet with him?
Where do the Heat rank?
Where does our Cavaliers rank?
This sounds false!
You guys actually believe it!
Actually, this is the situation now, but when the draft just ended, LeBron James was the "Son of the Chosen", plus the Cavaliers had sufficient manpower, Ricky Davis and Big Z, two full Star-level players are always the stronger side no matter how you look at them!
So it would not be surprising if there was such a bet at that time...
The most annoying thing is that Woody also added, "I don't know if this bet is still going to work"!
In this way, if LeBron James disagrees, it is easy for people to mistakenly think that he just denied the bet because he saw the Heat and Woody's momentum and was not sure of winning the game and performing better than Woody. about!
All in all...
Damn it, this kid has tricked you again!
When the Goodman brothers knew about this, an unknown fire suddenly arose. They remembered Woody's "reviving the glory of St. Mary" before the state finals. With this sentence, they let them operate and become him. The "wedding dress".
This time they were afraid of making the same mistake again and didn't dare to find a gimmick in Woody.
Besides, they just got rid of Ricky Davis, so they should keep a lower profile...
I didn’t expect that!
They didn't miss Woody, but Woody and "Magic" Johnson missed them.
What a ruthless "magician"...
To put it bluntly, they were not surprised at all when they found out that Johnson was Woody's manager, because only such a manager could come up with such a "vicious" plan.
Now……
The same formula and the same problem verified their conjecture.
The "master" behind Woody was Johnson!
LeBron, LeBron, what kind of high school friendship are you recalling? You have a Jill friendship with him!
"We must deny this matter and say that he fabricated it out of thin air!" Aaron Goodman believes that he absolutely cannot agree.
If you agree to this, it will be an opportunity for Woody to "step on his head"!
Um……
They all believe that the current Cavaliers will definitely not be able to beat the Heat, and it is unlikely that LeBron will break out of the Heat's encirclement.
LeBron James has something to say...
It seemed like I was the one who made the first move this time.
"I haven't sent any text messages to him during this time..."
If we say that he "made it up out of thin air", then this guy will probably take out his cell phone and say that the text messages he and I exchanged were made up out of thin air...
The Goodman brothers call them "good guys". Are you willing to wait here?
The public opinion war is too deep and they really can’t control it!
"Listen to my advice and stop doing this with Woody in the future. You really can't beat him. Play with peace of mind, be good!"
This coaxing tone made LeBron very unhappy, but he also knew that he had done something wrong this time.
"What about this time?"
"What else can we do this time! Just do as they say!"
LeBron James confirmed this in a subsequent interview: "This is one of the reasons that motivates us to work hard to improve after entering the league!"
Upon hearing LeBron acknowledge this commitment.
The media collectively climaxed!
Johnson also called Woody: "Man, the second war is coming!"
In the opening game, the three major sneaker brands all released "debut promotional videos", and Woody had the last laugh.
His subsequent performance also vaguely suppressed the other two "geniuses".
Now this "$50,000 agreement" is like the "Sarajevo incident", and the battle between the "three geniuses" has begun again. Before it was the "Three Kingdoms Melee", and now it is a head-to-head competition between Woody and LeBron James.
This game, which was already full of spectacle, has reached a height that it does not belong to because of this "50,000-dollar agreement"!
Everyone is talking about this game.
Johnson was confident that Woody would win the game.
But he felt Woody needed to win a little more beautifully.
The prettier the better!
LeBron James: Uncle Johnson, you have changed. You are no longer my Uncle Magic!
Woody thought so too.
Not only does he think so, the system...
I think so too!
"Ding, the St. Mary's internal fighting mission has been released, please check it yourself!"
Woody followed the prompts, opened the system panel, and looked for the two tasks that had just been released.
The first task is to win this game. The reward is not many achievement points, only 3,000 points.
This task is indeed not difficult...
The description of the second task is a bit complicated. It probably means that the better Woody's performance is and the worse he limits LeBron James' personal data, the more achievement points he will get.
Big deal!
This game must be played well!
On the other side, the Goodman brothers also noticed the rising popularity. While LeBron James was still in the locker room, they gave him another call, asking him to perform well tonight no matter what.
LeBron James nodded grimly.
At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a little more nervous.
Game time then arrives.
Woody and LeBron James meet on the court.
Wearing different jerseys.
As an opponent...
Reporters on the sidelines raised their cameras to record the scene.
Woody and LeBron James walked towards each other, glanced at the camera on the sidelines almost at the same time, then showed a more obvious smile, and walked towards each other, like old friends they had not seen for a long time.
"Man, you miss me so much!"
"That's what I want to say, Woody, you're great!"
"You are better, I hope you can perform well tonight!"
"Same to you, man!"
Under the cordial greetings, the psychological activities turned out to be the same:
This bitch can really pretend!
Turning around and walking back to their team's bench, the two people's expressions suddenly became serious.
This game begins for both of them, where they can only succeed but not fail.
The big screen at the scene gave the starting lineups of the two teams at this time:
"Heat team: No. 1 Wade, No. 2 Jones, No. 3 Gerald Wallace, No. 4 Woody, No. 5 Brandt;
Cavaliers: No. 1 LeBron James, No. 2 Jeff McGinnis, No. 3 Eric Williams, No. 4 Boozer, No. 5 Big Z;”
Stephen Curry also appeared in the audience at this time. The media reporters at the scene immediately held up their cameras and gave him a close-up.
The big screen at the scene also showed this "elementary school student" who was also born in Akron in time.
Because his father had briefly played for this team, there was quite a cheer.
When Woody came up to say hello, Stephen Curry smiled happily.
LeBron James noticed this scene and quickly stood up and walked towards Stephen Curry. He was very surprised and said: "My bro, you actually came to watch this game?"
"It was Woody who gave me the ticket." Stephen Curry said bluntly.
This made LeBron James stunned for a moment. He glanced at the reporter's camera from the sidelines and realized belatedly that he had said the wrong thing.
He quickly made amends: "I know, I know, Woody told me about this!"
This sentence made him sweat profusely. He didn't dare to say anything more and hurriedly returned to the Cavaliers' bench.
Almost exposed again...
Why is this "good brother" character so difficult to portray!
He has no connection with Stephen Curry. The reason is very simple. He doesn't think Curry can play in the NBA. Even if he plays in the NBA, he may not be a very good player. The most important thing... Stephen Curry is a Woody type. of……
So he doesn't pay attention to Stephen Curry at all.
But he didn't expect that this "elementary school student" would almost become his "catastrophe" tonight!
The game finally officially started.
Woody and Big Z jump ball!
Since Woody beat Dampier in the last game against the Warriors, the heavy responsibility of jumping the ball has fallen on him.
However, playing the fourth position tonight was intentionally arranged by Stan Van Gundy...
Big Z is 2.21 meters tall and is currently the third tallest player in the league.
Like Dampier, as his height has increased, his athletic ability has decreased visibly to the naked eye.
It was only after seeing the scouting reports of Dampier and Big Z that Woody discovered that Yao Ming's talent went far beyond his height of 2.26 meters.
His mobility and softness of touch are also rare among players over 2.20 meters tall. Generally, inside players who are 2.11 meters tall cannot compare to him in terms of flexibility.
With his quick jumping and reflexes, Woody proved that jumping balls has nothing to do with height.
These "big guys" including Yao Ming don't have a very high success rate with the opening jump ball.
The first goal was a pick-and-roll match between Woody and Wade.
LeBron James didn't have a strong sense of pick-and-roll defense, but Woody collided with him and felt like he was pushed against a wall.
After entering the league, this guy got stronger!
In terms of talent in strength and confrontation, this guy is indeed historical.
Fortunately, Wade had successfully gotten rid of him.
Boozer stepped forward to help defend.
As a second-round pick in the 2003 draft, he averaged 15.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and his performance was very outstanding.
There are reports that the reason why the Cavaliers management finally agreed to send Ricky Davis away had a lot to do with his outstanding rookie season.
They want to create a "LeBron James plus Twin Towers" model.
Faced with his interception, Wade did not hesitate to hit the ball from his side to his back.
After the pick-and-roll, Woody went straight down the line, caught the ball, and shot directly from the frame.
LeBron James followed closely, but Woody was very experienced in using his off-ball hand to hold him up, and then used a longer wingspan than LeBron James to complete the layup.
LeBron James' height has reached 2.02 meters since entering the league.
But Woody's height is almost 2.06 meters.
If compared to wingspan, the gap would be even greater!
2-0!
As soon as the Heat came up, "Wood" connected.
During this period, this was their main offensive tactic.
Stan Van Gundy nodded slightly.
Although Wade had the problem of being too slow to "recognize" as he thought, the running-in speed between him and Woody was faster than he expected.
He is satisfied with this.
The next second after Woody scored, Stephen Curry jumped up and was so excited.
But this is the home court of the Cavaliers, and his appearance is particularly abrupt.
But considering that he was born in Akron and played for St. Mary's High School, they decided to forgive Curry this time.
In fact, they also couldn't boo Woody. If they dare to boo Woody too fiercely in this game. I'm afraid the Akron District will have to send them a "lawyer letter" the next day.
Akron's relationship with Cleveland isn't exactly harmonious.
They can become friendly because of LeBron James, or they can become hostile because of Woody...
Woody's "Saint Mary, this is for you" has become an Akron classic.
Cleveland may not have much affection for Woody, but Woody is a very important name to Akron.
LeBron James got the ball in the backcourt. He didn't become anxious because Woody came up and scored a goal, or he was anxious, but there was a voice in his head telling him:
Don't worry yet!
He patiently directed his teammates to get into position, and after playing a high pick-and-roll with Boozer, he passed a pass from his waist to Boozer's hands.
Boozer took the ball and made a shooting fake first, trying to deceive Woody away.
Woody was "deceived" in a very dignified way.
But when Boozer was about to take action again, he jumped back.
Boozer's shooting action was interrupted again...
After a few hesitations, his shooting rhythm was completely messed up. He barely jumped up and missed the mid-range shot.
As he shot, Woody quickly rushed toward the basket.
Big Z moved quickly and intercepted him outside, but Grant was completely open and could easily protect the rebound.
It can be seen that the Cavaliers have formulated a series of plans to deal with Woody's rebounding.
It's just that this plan is a bit rough.
The Heat transition from offense to defense very quickly.
Grant threw the ball to Woody, who turned and gave the ball to Wade.
When Wade gets the ball, he plays quickly and decisively.
The speed of five people...
Simply!
The disadvantage of Big Z's slow foot speed is completely magnified.
The Heat easily got a "5-on-4" opportunity in the frontcourt.
The moment Wade drove past the basket, forcing the Cavaliers to double-team him, he took advantage of the opportunity and smashed the ball against the backboard.
Woody rushed over, took the rebounded ball in his hands, and slid with it...
"Bang!"
Dunk into the frame!
Woody scores another 2 points!
Scored 4 points in a row at the start.
LeBron James is obviously a little more impatient this time.
Although I am still saying in my mind:
Don't worry, don't worry!
But in his heart he already said:
Don't be impatient?
Don't be in a hurry!
He played the last ball very reasonably, and he believed that this time, he could deceive Wade.
This "big cheek" looks honest and honest at first glance, with a face that says "Come here to lie, it's easy to lie!"
After a slight pause in front of the three-point line, LeBron James forced a breakthrough straight to Wade's right side.
But Wade looked stupid, but he wasn't really stupid, especially when LeBron's pause was so big. He immediately moved sideways quickly in an attempt to stop LeBron in front of the free throw line. It's just that with the help of Woody's pick-and-roll, he didn't have a head-on confrontation with LeBron.
At this moment...
It's his first time.
"Bang!"
There was a dull sound and a muffled groan.
Wade's expression was full of surprise.
So damn 18?
They don't look alike in appearance, and they don't look alike in general. Now that they are in contact with LeBron, he feels even more dissimilar!
Fortunately, his physique was not weak. Even though LeBron's confrontation was beyond his imagination, he still resisted and did not let LeBron completely squeeze through.
Woody immediately stepped forward and formed a double-team with Wade.
As LeBron's high school teammate, Woody knew very well that LeBron's breakthrough was mainly the first step.
If he pushes away and continues to exert force, he can roar past like a train.
Good thing someone can stop him.
But if he withstands the first blow and does not allow him to completely break through, his rough breakthrough steps will be obvious.
Like now!
He was about to hit him, but he couldn't squeeze away from Wade. LeBron held the ball with both hands and jumped to pass the ball behind Woody.
Just in this way, his passing action is too obvious.
"Snapped!"
Woody's greatly increased stealing ability allowed him to accurately predict LeBron's pass and intercept the ball with his hand.
Another fast break opportunity!
LeBron James gritted his teeth and quickly returned to defense.
His explosive physical fitness is undoubtedly on display.
But when he stood under his own basket, he suddenly discovered an embarrassing situation:
There were two people attacking from the opposite side, one was Woody with the ball, and the other was Wade who was following the ball without the ball.
As for the Cavaliers, he was the only one who returned to defense in time.
"2 versus 1" in the frontcourt!
Watching the ball passing between the two people's hands, they were getting closer and closer to him. LeBron gritted his teeth and rushed towards Wade when he got the ball. Wade immediately passed the ball back to Woody at this time.
Woody cuts to the basket and dunks again!
Score 6 points in a row!
"beep!"
The referee on the sidelines blew the whistle.
Cavaliers head coach Paul Silas requested a timeout.
LeBron James walked down the court with his head down.
He had to admit that he was cowardly just now.
But he couldn't help it. The current situation was...
If he doesn't react, he is very likely to be dunked by Wade or Woody.
These two situations, no matter which happens, are things he will not allow!
So he could only "try his best" to pounce on Wade.
Silas shook his head helplessly.
The opponent attacked three times in a row.
The method is the same, quick move after successful defense.
This is the most obvious style of the Heat this season.
He emphasized this before the game started.
But judging from the results, the effect is not ideal.
The reason is also very simple. Big Z's pace is too slow.
Once there is such a rapid transition between offense and defense, Big Z, who is under the basket, will not have time to follow the team and return to defense in time.
This problem is actually not just about this game.
Big Z's style of play actually doesn't match that of LeBron James.
LeBron also needs the entire team to run in order to utilize his passing ability.
Um……
He actually has no organizational skills.
Silas had already discovered this, but he didn't dare to say it.
Because LeBron's template is "Magic" Johnson.
Without organizational skills, he was unable to organize his teammates to help Big Z open up space and gain singles opportunities.
And this is Big Z’s only strong point.
If this strong point cannot be brought into full play, all the rest will be problems that hold us back.
In the past, whenever LeBron James performed well, it was all games where Silas put Big Z off the court.
Compared to Ricky Davis, Big Z is actually the player who should be traded.
It's a pity that he has no say in the decision-making of the transaction.
Now he can only bite the bullet and use Big Z, which is the only star player of this team.
But in the first three rounds of this game, Big Z really couldn't stay on the court anymore.
He put Darius Miles on the court.
As the third overall pick in the first round of 2000, Myers is also a representative of high school students participating in the draft. He is called the "second generation KG". His strong physical fitness is his characteristic and he likes to work in the air.
Speaking of which, he and Woody still have some conflicts.
In the film "Perfect" that Woody took on this summer, he originally played the role of an athlete. However, the film was never scheduled to be released and the director chose to reshoot the part about the athletes. He The characters were all replaced by Woody.
This made him full of energy at this moment.
LeBron's eyes also lit up and he found someone who had the same goals as him.
"I'll pass the ball to you later!"
He patted Miles.
The game starts again.
The first thing is the cooperation between LeBron and Miles.
It's just that the quality of Myers' pick-and-roll was too poor. As soon as LeBron James started, he quickly moved down the line, causing LeBron to plunge into the "encirclement" of Woody and Wade.
Where are you from?
The frantic LeBron James passed the ball and flew straight off the court.
The ball belongs to the Heat.
LeBron couldn't help but spread his hands towards Miles.
After failing to score in another round, he was really anxious!
Silas also took some shots at Woody.
In this round, Woody did not have the opportunity to directly catch the ball and score. He simply pulled to the outside, opening up the entire space on his side. Gerald Wallace took his place and made a second air cut.
The ball has arrived and the people have arrived!
"Bang!"
Another dunk.
Although the players have been changed, the Heat's offense still looks so smooth.
Kenny Smith looked at the Heat, who had completely taken the initiative, and couldn't help but said: "8-0! The Heat's momentum tonight is really good. Looking at the Cavaliers, I don't know when they can score against them tonight. The first goal!”
(End of chapter)
