"Lao Zhang, you have been away from basketball for many years, and your current job has no future. Have you never thought about returning to basketball?"
On the plane, she chatted with Zhang Lili.
Zhang Lili smiled bitterly and said: "Liu Chu, we are also old friends. I won't hide it from you. I would like to, but I have been away for too long and there is no chance!"
Liu Yumin thought for a while and said: "I have thought about it. I hope I can bring the national team to the United States to play some games in the future and become familiar with foreign basketball styles, such as the 1994 World Championships in Canada and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I plan to Come to America in advance to warm up.
As you know, I have also talked with the NBA and the Pistons management to participate in their preseason games.
Lao Zhang, you have a good relationship with Xiao Zhou. You also understand English and are familiar with the NBA. Why don't you do some communication here? "
"No problem, Chu Liu, just leave this matter to me." Zhang Lili said in high spirits.
It has been too long since he left the domestic basketball world, and he has always been looking forward to returning to the basketball world. This is something he has always looked forward to.
Liu Yumin added: "I will contact CCTV when I return to China to see if they need to interview NBA reporters. Maybe they will broadcast NBA games in the future. You can also go back to your old job."
"Okay, Chu Liu, thank you very much!"
Zhang Lili laughed. When he was the head coach of the Capital Youth Team, he often guest-starred as a basketball commentator on CCTV, partnering with Sun Zhenping, and he took care of the commentary.
Zhou Quan, on his side, had already set off with the team to fly to Philadelphia.
Sitting on the plane, turned on the system.
There have been no games in the past few days, and he has not been lazy. He has been training on step-back jump shots. He specializes in this training. He completed two rounds in a month. Now he has reached level 92. Like emergency stop jump shots, he should be among the first-class and medium-level. level.
The first-class shots now include level 94 layups, level 93 pull-up jumpers, level 92 floaters and step-back jumpers. His arsenal of weapons has gradually been enriched.
In addition, with the completion of the training tasks of layup, step-back jump shot, and floater, he also met a reward requirement of the system. He completed three shooting training tasks and was rewarded with +1 basic shooting skills and +1 offense. Now his shooting Reached level 95, and the offense reached level 90.
The basic shooting skills at level 95 should reach the top level, including level 90 for three-pointers, level 96 for two-pointers, and level 99 for free throws.
It is precisely because of the improvement of his basic shooting skills that his shooting finishing skills can be improved one after another. This is a mutually reinforcing result.
In addition, the offense has reached level 90, indicating that his offensive ability has entered the first-class level.
But if you want to continue to improve your offensive strength, you must complete at least three shooting training tasks, reward offense +2, and enrich your finishing skills.
If the offense wants to reach the top level, it must complete all shooting training tasks, be proficient in all shooting techniques like Jordan, and pick up various finishing techniques at will. impossible.
And even if he completes all the shooting training tasks, there is a high chance that he will not be able to possess Jordan's unstoppable offensive strength, because he is not tall enough and his physical fitness is not as good as Jordan's, and he is a point guard, not a shooting guard.
Now he realizes that in terms of technology, this system generally will not increase his strength for nothing, but through continuous training. But in fact, his strength has been improved through training, and the so-called rewards of the system are basically the result of his own efforts. .
The only difference is that with only three thousand qualified trainings, one can steadily advance to one level.
Of course, in terms of physical fitness, which is more difficult to improve, the occasional reward of +1 bounce, +1 speed, and full-level panoramic vision and full-level spatial imagination are the real rewards. Real heaven-defying methods can raise his ceiling. .
"Just give me another full-level reward sometime."
In this delusion, he fell asleep and began to daydream.
The Philadelphia Digital team chose to rebuild, trading superstar core Charles Barkley to the Suns, and packaged its three main players from the Suns, namely main shooting guard Jeff Hornacek, center Andrew Long, and power forward Ty M Perry.
Now these three people have become the main force of the team, but with 3 wins and 9 losses in the previous 12 games, their arrival did not bring the expected improvement to Philadelphia. Basically, it can be concluded that this reconstruction and this transaction will not be good for Philadelphia. , is a failed operation.
The Pistons first defeated Philadelphia on the road, then rushed back to home overnight and defeated Philadelphia again back-to-back. After five consecutive wins and four consecutive losses, with the main lineup intact, they once again recorded a five-game winning streak.
Previously on the 28th, the Bulls lost to the Knicks on the road, and then lost to the Green Team on the road. Two consecutive away defeats caused the Bulls' record to decline.
The Pistons have 10 wins and 4 losses, with a winning rate of 71.4%, which has surpassed the Bulls by half a game and ranks second in the Eastern Conference in the regular season.
Two waves of five consecutive victories have attracted a lot of attention to the Pistons, and many media have placed them among the first-tier teams again.
However, many teams believe that in the recent five-game winning streak, except for the Knicks, they have not encountered a strong team, so this wave of five-game winning streak is not valuable enough, and they do not agree that the Pistons have the first-tier strength.
…
The Pistons had no games in the next few days, and on the 8th, Detroit welcomed the Magic.
In the afternoon, Zhou Quan asked for the Magic general manager's phone number from the management, then got O'Neal's mobile phone number from him and contacted him.
"Hey, Shaquille O'Neal is talking to you."
The call was connected, and O'Neal's confident voice sounded on the other side, especially the word "big shark" with a specially emphasized tone.
"Hello, Shark, I'm Zhou Quan." He smiled.
"oh?"
Oakley exclaimed, exaggeratedly: "Who is calling me? The Detroit Killer King? It's over, it's over, are you going to kill me? Oh, haha, Mr. Killer King, I prefer to call you this Nickname, can you give it to me?"
"Okay, you can call me whatever you want."
He was helpless, and the nickname Oakley gave him stuck to him.
O'Neal said with a smile: "King of Killers, please call me Shark from now on. I like this nickname, not Shark."
"big shark?"
He has black and red lines on his head. Is there any difference? People like what they don’t have. Are you very young?
"Yeah, Shark, okay? If you say no, I'm going to hang up right away. I'm not threatening you, but this is an ultimatum."
O'Neill asked seriously.
"OK, big shark, this is very powerful." He could only agree.
O'Neal immediately seemed very happy and shouted: "King of Killers, I want to play against you tomorrow, I want to play point guard, and I want to compete with you."
"What?"
His mind was confused. Are you sick?
"Have you forgotten, I am a point guard." O'Neal said proudly.
"Of course I haven't forgotten. Well, I'd rather you come out and challenge me." He smiled.
"Come on, I won't be fooled by you. I will stay under the basket and wait for you to come in, and then I will shoot you. Killer King, I am officially warning you now, don't try to dunk me, I am not King Kong." O'Neal immediately He regretted it and said so seriously.
"Okay, Shaq, don't worry about this problem. I won't humiliate my friends. Then I'll treat you to dinner tonight. I'll pick you up at the hotel at five o'clock. You can make preparations."
He got to the point. After the violence in the locker room last year, O'Neal's public statement helped him.
"Great! Killer King, I accept your dinner invitation."
Onik praised and suddenly asked: "But Iron Fist, you haven't answered my question just now. Can you transfer the nickname of Killer King to me? I like the nickname Orlando Killer King, it's so tough! "
He was speechless and said angrily: "Why don't you change your name to a serious criminal? He is the kind of dangerous person who the police will pull out their guns and shoot when they see you."
"Wow, this is an exciting suggestion. From today on, I will be called a big criminal." O'Neal said excitedly.
"..."
Zhou Quan was completely speechless. Are you afraid that you want to take a bullet?
At five minutes to five in the afternoon, at the agreed time, he drove his pickup truck to the hotel and saw O'Neal waiting in the lobby.
"Shaq, how much do you weigh now?"
The two knew each other from the NCAA. After greeting each other, he looked at the slender and flexible O'Neal and asked.
"I weigh 280 pounds now. I ate a few more burgers during this period. I like hamburgers with Coke, and I gained 3 pounds." O'Neal said with a smile.
"127 kilograms. Come on, let's go."
Zhou Quan immediately figured out the calculation, motioned for O'Neal to get in the car, and said, "Shaq, are you still planning to gain weight?"
The pickup truck had pretty good space, and O'Neal squeezed into the passenger seat of the pickup truck with some dexterity. He adjusted the seat first, and then said while fastening his seat belt: "There are no plans to gain weight at the moment."
"If you like hamburgers and Coke, you will gain weight, I promise." Zhou Quan reminded in a teasing tone.
"Without burgers and Coke, I can't feel the feeling of happiness. They are the source of my happiness." O'Neal shrugged, with a sad look on his face.
Zhou Quan laughed loudly, stepped on the accelerator and left the hotel.
On the night of the 9th, the Palace of Auburn Hills.
At 7:30, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Magic: O'Neal, Jeff Turner, Denis Scott, Nick Anderson, Scott Skiles
Pistons: Ronny Seikaly, Dennis Rodman, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumars, Zhou Quan
There was no national live broadcast of the game, only a regional live broadcast on Detroit TV. In the live commentary box, the bearded John Lowes said:
"Tonight, No. 1 pick Shaquille O'Neal comes to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the first time. This big man's current statistics are very good. He can be said to be at the peak of his debut. Although his current low-post skills are a bit rough, he is full of talent. I hope our inside line can handle him. .”
Lens, a man with glasses, said: "Pay attention to the Magic's small forward Denis Scott. He averaged 19.9 points per game last season, which was also his second season. He has good scoring ability, but his shooting rate is only 40%, but His shot is more consistent this season.”
John Rowes nodded and said: "Ulrich's defense has always been a headache for the team. We really need to pay attention to this point."
After a few minutes, the starting lineup came on.
"Good luck, Shark."
O'Neal was the first to appear. When he appeared, Zhou Quan said to him with a smile on his face.
"What's the meaning?"
A second later, O'Neal immediately understood. As soon as he walked out of the tunnel, he was greeted with earth-shattering boos. Only then did he realize that this was one of the most terrifying home stadiums in the league.
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
O'Neal's jump ball easily beat Seikali, and the Magic attacked.
Zhou Quan’s opponent is Scott Skiles, a point guard who is close to 29 years old and still in his prime. The No. 22 pick in the first round of 1986 is 3 centimeters shorter than him, weighs 82 kilograms, and is still strong. Yes, last season's 14 points, 7 assists and 1 steal were considered a blue-collar point guard.
After passing the center line, he immediately blocked the passing angle from the front, and at the same time carried out a frontal press, and immediately entered into a confrontation when he had the opportunity.
Skiles is experienced. When he saw his teammate Nick Anderson coming to meet him from the left wing, he immediately turned around and broke through. He used his teammate's pick and roll to get rid of Zhou Quan in time and went to the left wing.
Zhou Quan quickly followed up with Skiles, who transferred the ball in time to Nick Anderson at the top of the key.
Anderson caught the ball, ignored rookie O'Neal's request for the ball at the basket, faked a sudden shot, and shot a pull-up three-pointer over Joe Dumars.
With super shooting guard Michael Jordan as the core, the Bulls completed two consecutive championships. This is the first time the league has ever won a championship with a shooting guard as the core.
Previously, the Pistons used point guards as their core to complete two consecutive championships, plus the Bulls' two championships. In other words, in the current era of traditional centers as the core, in the past four years, two teams with guards as the core have won the championship. No team with a center as its core has won the championship.
The team with three super centers is even worse. They can't even make it to the Eastern and Western Conference finals, and they have no chance to get involved in the finals.
If the Pistons' two consecutive championships were due to the addition of the Bad Boys and lack of gold content, then the Bulls' two consecutive championships really show that with the shooting guard as the core, they have a chance to win the championship.
Therefore, in this case, each team obviously pays more attention to the shooting guard position, and the status of capable shooting guards in the team has obviously increased.
And Nick Anderson is a capable shooting guard. He was the No. 11 lottery pick in the first round of 1989. Although he is not an All-Star, he has averaged 19.9 points per game this season and shot 45% from the field, which is very good. His potential is valued by the Magic's top brass. This is also an important reason why he ignored the No. 1 pick O'Neal's request for the ball under the basket and dared to take action.
"Clang!"
It was short, and the basketball bounced off the basket.
"boom!"
O'Neal, who was one step in front of the basket, jumped into the air, held down the rebound ball with one hand, and smashed it downwards, instantly detonating the Pistons basket.
"damn it!"
Rodman missed the backcourt rebound and muttered in frustration.
On the sidelines, Chuck Daly was very dissatisfied with Seikaly's weakness, because it was him who faced O'Neal, but O'Neal easily entered the basket and encountered almost no resistance. As long as he could push it, with Rodman's Rebounding skills, this backcourt rebound may not be lost.
But he didn't arrange for Rodman to guard O'Neal. This was just the regular season. The Magic did not have the strength of a playoff team and were not a competitor of the Pistons.
Zhou Quan came to the frontcourt with the ball, observing the situation while pushing toward the top of the key.
With two steps left, when his opponent was not close to him, he suddenly exerted force on his feet and made a breakthrough with a level 90 one-handed feint. He directly passed Scales, reached the left elbow area in a few steps, and then faced him. Against O'Neal who came up from the basket, he calmly made a pull-up jumper.
"brush!"
With the crisp sound of brushing the basket, he opened the scoring for the Pistons.
"Beautiful! With the breakthrough speed faster, Iron Fist's mid-range pull-up jump shot has become more and more stable." Bearded John Lowes praised.
The bespectacled man Longger Lance said: "It stands to reason that the faster the speed, the greater the impact, and the lower the hit rate of the emergency stop jump shot. So in the case of Iron Fist, it can only be said that the technology has improved a lot, and the timing of the shot The mastery is better too.”
"Yes, for outsiders, the choice of shot timing is a key factor in improving the hit rate." Bearded John Lowes agreed.
(End of chapter)
