The audience suddenly fell silent, and the fans were extremely aggrieved by Sun Yi's shot-catching and chasing three-pointers.
The home team finally managed to hit a climax, which gave them a sense of excitement, but then it was gone in the blink of an eye, which would be uncomfortable for everyone.
At the same time, a senior scout among the fans was writing furiously on his notebook.
"He has good physical fitness, excellent defensive awareness, and has three-point shooting ability. Other aspects need to be investigated."
After the scout finished writing the scout report, he thought about it and felt that his boss would be interested in this player. In this way, he completed his task and continued to watch the game in a happy mood.
On the court, Griffin was filled with anger. He did not expect that he would be defeated continuously by this little-known Chinese boy.
This is his home court, his stage!
It can be said that this preseason game was specially prepared for Griffin, otherwise the attention would not be so great.
The original script was for Griffin to play epic statistics in front of many scouts, agents and media reporters, defeat the Wildcats led by Stephen Curry, the scoring champion of the Southern District, and consolidate his status as the top pick in the draft.
But what Griffin didn't expect was that neither he nor Curry were the protagonists. Instead, they became stepping stones, making Sun Yi the focus of the audience.
"Fake! That guy is just so lucky!"
Griffin vowed to smash the Wildcats' basket and regain the spotlight.
On the other side, Curry and Sun Yi high-fived and exchanged a few words with each other.
"Cool! That shot just now was too exaggerated, and my passing was pretty good, so I knew you could make the shot." Curry said excitedly, shaking his head.
"It's really good. The passing is very smooth. You have the talent to play point guard." Sun Yi praised.
"Of course, I'm a talented player."
Sun Yi looked at the extremely stinky Curry and didn't want to continue the topic, so he turned around and went back to defense.
Curry followed closely and said in a joking tone: "Sun, you speak so nicely, so just say a few more words!"
Sun Yi ignored it and returned to his defensive area, waiting for the Speedy team to attack.
On the Wildcats bench, assistant coach Smith recalled the previous offense and defense and couldn't help but feel emotional.
"It's incredible. This is his debut. His ability to adapt to the game is amazing!"
Although it was only a pre-season game, both sides were very energetic and worked hard, so the intensity of the game was not low.
This is also the root cause of Assistant Smith’s emotion.
McClop glanced at the "uninformed" Jennings and expressed his opinion.
"This child has very strong learning ability and adaptability, as we have seen in the past few months, it is not worth making a fuss about.
The only thing worthy of praise is that this little guy has developed three-pointers, which is very important to us and can enrich our tactics. "
Assistant Smith nodded after hearing this, feeling that the reason why he could not be the head coach was that he could not fully analyze the essence of the matter.
"Let Mike flank Griffin, free Sun, and better utilize his defensive capabilities." McClop continued.
After hearing this, assistant coach Smith immediately came to the sidelines to convey instructions to the players.
The game continued, the Speedy team sent a baseline kick, and Bilson quickly advanced towards the frontcourt after receiving the ball.
Just after halftime, he passed the ball out, and Griffin, the core of the team, launched the attack.
As soon as Griffin received the basketball in the high post area, he was double-teamed by the Wildcats and was unable to force a breakthrough, preparing to pass the ball out.
Due to his obstructed vision, he vaguely saw his teammate running towards the basket and immediately passed the ball over.
At this moment, Sun Yi came out of nowhere, intercepted the basketball in the air, and dribbled toward the frontcourt.
"Damn it!" Griffin cursed secretly and retreated quickly.
Sun Yi dribbled the ball across half the court, while observing the position of his teammates, and quickly passed the ball out.
Curry received the pass, dribbled to the outside of the three-point line, made a fake move to sway the defender, sprinted towards the basket, and scored an easy layup.
Griffin was a little annoyed and signaled his teammates to pass the ball to him more.
Bilson did not go against Griffin's wishes and passed the ball inside with a lob pass.
White Monster received the pass and was immediately flanked by two Wildcats.
This time Griffin did not give in. He was holding back a lot of energy and urgently needed to prove his strength.
So, Griffin used his shoulder to push away Mike Cullen, released the ball and started to break into the penalty area.
Whiteside immediately followed up and defended closely while raising his arms to interfere.
Griffin didn't fight hard, turned left and shook the big white edge, then immediately switched the dribbler and turned right to the basket, making an easy layup.
The audience once again burst into warm applause and cheers, believing that the familiar "White Monster" was back.
Scouts on the scene also praised the offensive style.
If Griffin only had strong physical fitness, he would not be the favorite for the No. 1 pick. His excellent inside skills are also a plus for him.
Back on the field, the Wildcats attack.
After Curry picked and rolled with Da Baibian, he broke into the three-point line.
When Griffin saw his teammate being blocked, he immediately switched defense to block Curry's breakthrough route.
"The core players of the two teams are facing off again. I don't know if Stephen will play singles this time. Let's wait and see!" Brin said expectantly.
But what happened next dashed Brin's expectations.
Curry didn't use small to hit big, but threw the ball to the center.
Dabaibian, who cut inside, received the pass, carried Bilson to the penalty area, and threw the ball.
Bang!
The basketball bounced out of the frame and missed!
At this moment, Sun Yi, wearing jersey No. 10, quickly rushed to the basket, jumped into the air, grabbed the basketball in the air with both hands and dunked it into the basket.
When Griffin saw this scene, he angrily accused his teammates of not getting into position and missing the backcourt rebound.
Valdez was also helpless and could only silently bear the blame.
During the matchup, Valdes found that the Wildcats' No. 10 knew his style of play very well.
This guy is able to cleverly use his bad defensive habits to get rid of the defense, making him difficult to defend.
Regarding this point, Valdez would not believe his teammates even if he said it. The most important thing is that he wants to save face and refuses to admit that he cannot guard a newcomer.
The Speedy team attacked, and Griffin reached for the ball in the high post area on the right with his back to Whiteside.
Upon seeing this, Bilson immediately passed the ball.
The moment Griffin caught the ball, Sun Yi also ran over, forming a pincer attack with Da Bai Bian.
"Fake! Why did this guy come here again? It's so disgusting!"
Griffin was so depressed that he could only raise the ball with both hands and wait for his teammates to respond.
Sun Yi didn't want to give the Speedy team a chance to respond, so he immediately pressed Whiteside and poked the ball away with quick eyes and hands.
After the basketball was knocked away, Sun Yi immediately rushed forward, picked up the basketball on the floor, and quickly ran towards the front court.
Griffin was filled with anger and turned around to quickly pursue him, trying to save face.
The two of them were chasing each other one after another.
The fans in the audience were extremely excited, they liked to see this kind of scene the most.
When Griffin saw Sun Yi rushing to the basket and raising the ball for a layup, he immediately jumped up and stretched his arms to block the shot.
"Come on! I'm going to use a nailboard to avenge the time I was caught." Griffin kept roaring in his heart.
Sun Yi knew that Griffin was chasing behind him and wanted to pass the ball, but found that his teammates failed to follow up in time, so he had to end the fast break by himself.
"I don't want to be the backdrop!"
Sun Yi, who was flying in the air, took the ball back and waited for the opportunity to take action while it was falling.
"Griffin's defense was very good. Player No. 10 either violated the rules or was blocked. I can't think of other results." Brin analyzed.
When Sun Yi was about to land, his waist suddenly exerted force and threw the ball towards the backboard.
Griffin had already landed on the ground at this time, and he could not interfere with Sun Yi even if he stretched out his hand.
After the basketball hits the board, it rebounds into the basket!
There’s something really good about this drawbar!
The fans in the audience let out a burst of exclamation in unison.
"Oh my god, this lever is so extreme and exciting!"
"This is incredible. Griffin's defense is completely airtight, but he can actually make such an extreme pull!"
"I thought he was a rookie, but I didn't expect he was a king!"
…
At the same time, in the live commentary box, Brin frankly admitted his mistake after being slapped in the face.
"Good shot! A very extreme draw. Player No. 10 not only has strong core strength, but also has excellent airborne ability. I take back my previous words."
"It is indeed very exciting. We all underestimated this young man. He is really terrible." Miller agreed.
Under the basket, Griffin was unwilling to give up. He felt that this guy was lucky and allowed him to score another goal.
"I won't have such luck next time!"
After adjusting his mentality, Griffin ran forward to participate in the attack.
Using the pick-and-roll, he cut into the basket and dunked, saving some face.
In the subsequent games, the two sides were still inseparable.
The Wildcats relied on passing and cutting to score frequently and firmly control the rhythm of the game.
The Speedy team relied on Griffin's singles and assists other teammates to score after encountering double teams, without widening the point difference.
Just like that, the first half ended with the Wildcats leading the Speedy by 5 points, 45-40.
During the halftime break, the head coaches of the two teams raced against time to devise tactics.
"Blake, in the second half, reduce singles and use more pick-and-roll cooperation to save your energy. We need you to lead the team to victory at critical moments."
Jeff Kapur does not want his disciples to be affected by their opponents' offensive rhythm and excessively consume their energy.
Griffin nodded, understanding.
Although he wanted to compete with Sun Yi, winning the game was more important.
On the other side, Wildcats head coach McClop is also arranging tactics.
"We were very successful in defending Griffin in the first half and continued to double-team him in the second half. The Speed's role players will not be as accurate as they were in the first half. Once they lose their accuracy, we will have the opportunity to widen the point difference. "
Although role players can occasionally play the role of surprise players, they have a fatal flaw, that is, their performance is very unstable and they are easy to fall off at critical moments.
After McClop laid out the defensive tactics, he continued to lay out the offensive tactics.
"In the second half of the game, we should cooperate more, run more, pass more, and break out our passing and cutting."
The Wildcats players nodded their heads to show their understanding, and then took the time to rest and regain their strength.
Not long after, the short 15-minute intermission ended and the second half began.
