O'Neal Jr. roared excitedly after landing. He had just been dunked and returned it immediately, which attracted bursts of boos from the fans at the scene.
Little O'Neal knew that Li Ao fed the ball well this time, and he was just eating the cake.
After he finished yelling, he turned around and looked for Li Ao to give him a high-five to express his gratitude... He didn't find anyone. When he turned around again, he saw that Li Ao had already run out of the three-point line and retreated.
彡(-_-;)彡
It's really... a positive defensive attitude.
When the Nuggets attacked, they were dunked. McDyess went directly into the paint. O'Neal also took the initiative to switch defenses with Odom and guarded McDyess.
McDyess was in the 95th class and O'Neal was in the 96th class, players who entered the NBA at the same time.
Although the two have played against each other in the past four seasons, the total number of rounds combined is less than two hands.
The two were not players at the same level before. In the 1998-99 season, McDyess had already averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game. That year, O'Neal was still thinking about the end of his rookie contract. , the sea is vast and the sky is open for birds to fly...
But now that O'Neal is starting, he really wants to challenge this top insider who entered the NBA at the same time.
McDyess, on the other hand, has strong hostility towards high school players and was very unhappy after he had just been deducted.
McDyess relied on O'Neal Jr. to ask for the ball on the left sideline of the three-second zone. Van Exel lobbed the ball over. When McDyess received the ball, he turned and took a step outside, separated the space, and raised his hand.
Little O'Neal quickly pressed forward and was fooled! As soon as he turned around and landed on the ground, McDyess immediately started to break through, and O'Neal was passed cleanly.
McDyess entered the basket and was about to take off for a dunk when he suddenly stopped his feet.
Li Ao took it back from the right baseline to the basket!
Shrink defense, 'siege level 2' is triggered, speed +3, amazingly fast!
If McDyess had just taken off and dunked, Li Ao would have been able to block it with a high probability.
McDyess, who stopped, was shocked in his heart at how fast Li Ao was, but his body movements did not stop. He spotted O'Neal being passed and immediately turned around to catch up.
McDyess chose to hit high and high!
With a height of 206 centimeters and a wingspan of 228 centimeters, McDyess, who was in excellent physical condition, stood up on tiptoes to throw... "Pa"... Li Ao jumped on the spot and slapped McDyess hard on the face. Go on the ball!
Big hat on the front!
The fans at the bottom line let out a burst of exclamations, and McDyess was also shocked when he looked at Li Ao's long arms.
On the other side, after the ball was blocked by Li Ao, it hit the free throw line. Odom grabbed the ball and counterattacked.
Odom, who is taller than McDyess, dribbled behind his back like a small guard to avoid Van Exel's tackle, and accelerated to rush forward.
Odom entered the opposite three-second zone, Woshan Leonard and James Posey retreated to the basket, James Posey took the initiative to press, Odom jumped to avoid it.
Arriving one step ahead of the reasonable collision area, Odom ignored Voshan Leonard who took off, stretched out his long arm, and hit the basket!
The fans at the scene burst into violent boos.
The fans' attention was drawn away by Odom's outrageous counterattack.
McDyess's attention was focused on Li Ao.
This rookie’s arms are almost as long as his!
This wingspan, you tell me, is only 215 centimeters?
As a defensive expert, he has carefully studied the scouting reports of each opponent, even in the preseason.
He clearly remembered that this guy was 203 centimeters tall and had a wingspan of 215 centimeters!
Also, what about average athletic ability?
The speed at which this guy's baseline shrank just now, other than Van Exel, McDyess couldn't think of anyone else on the field who could move at such a fast speed!
Li Ao was very excited.
Front block on McDyess!
Although this is due to the opponent's carelessness, if the opponent is more cautious and takes the initiative to challenge and hit high, if he does not jump up, he will not be able to block McDyess, a man with better physical fitness than him in terms of height and wingspan.
However, the wingspan of 227 cm is really good!
Before participating in the draft, Li Ao's wingspan was already 217 centimeters. The biggest highlight of his physical fitness during college was that his static physical condition was excellent, and he was very effective in chasing without the ball and defending forward.
Before the summer league, 'I want it to be longer' had begun to take effect. The wingspan increased by 1 centimeter to 218 centimeters, which gave the Clippers players the feeling that their wingspan was very long.
Then, as his height increased by 2 centimeters, his arm span naturally increased by 3 centimeters. The changes in body height were indiscernible.
Later, the remaining 7 cm growth effect of "I want to be longer" gradually increased his arm span over more than two months, adding 3 cm to his shoulder width, and his two arms were each a little more than 1 cm longer. The fingers are each a little over 0.5 centimeters longer.
The overall growth is based on the additional effect of not affecting the appearance of the body shape, plus muscle gain, giving people the feeling that the 19-year-old has 'grown up' this summer.
His upper body is thicker than his previous slender body. After gaining muscle, his chest has become much stronger, making him look more sunny and positive.
Not to mention others, even the hospital assistant aunt who knew him best didn't notice anything wrong with his exaggerated wingspan of 227 centimeters. The hospital assistant aunt felt that her Leo was more handsome and had a better figure.
This is the strongest effect of 'I want it to last longer'!
The Clippers lead 4-2 and the Nuggets continue to attack.
McDyess no longer focused on O'Neal. To put it bluntly, O'Neal took a cake that time.
He stared at Li Ao who blocked him from the front!
However, as the game progressed, McDyess found that he had nothing to do with Li Ao!
He and Li Ao were out of position, and he found that Li Ao seemed to only be able to move without the ball on the offensive end.
Li Ao received the ball and when he actively made up for it, Li Ao immediately passed the ball.
Not to mention that his cover-up defense did not play any substantial role, the Nuggets' originally good team defense also became full of loopholes because of his overly active cover-up defense.
This made him feel unbelievable. Is it okay for a prodigy to not hold the ball and throw it around in the preseason?
Not to mention McDyess as his opponent, even his teammates who were ready for Li Ao to shoot were surprised by Li Ao's choice of play today.
They thought Li Ao would throw more than 20 times a game like he did in the summer league.
However, when Li Ao fought like this, they were naturally happy and fought more actively.
Because if they have a shooting opportunity when Li Ao catches the ball, they will really get a shooting opportunity!
This rookie has an excellent view! The accuracy of the pass and the comfort of feeding the ball are also first-class!
In addition to the defensive end, McDyess is also looking for ways to target Li Ao on the offensive end. He frequently asks for the ball to attack the frame in isolation, trying to attract Li Ao to cover up the defense, and then dunk him.
However, Li Ao's shrinking block was not aimed at McDyess. He was not targeting anyone on the Nuggets. He treated him indiscriminately and exercised his ability to supplement and assist defense.
McDyess's deliberate play not only failed to achieve his goal, but also gave O'Neal the opportunity to interfere in place.
Seeing that the score reached 6-14, almost a double-digit difference, McDyess had no choice but to give up "retaliation" and prepare to play hard to catch up with the score.
Even if it's a preseason game, a game is a game, and who wants to lose?
Even if winning or losing in the preseason doesn't matter, it can't be that he loses when he is on the court.
However, the strength of the Nuggets is mediocre. McDyess played randomly in the beginning, and the rhythm of the Nuggets' offense and defense was directly disrupted. The season has just begun, and the preseason is only the first game. The Nuggets want to play well again immediately. It's impossible.
McDyess was very upset and regretted the blind fight just now.
But something happened that made him want to curse!
After he stopped covering the defense, Li Ao started running to catch the ball and shoot!
Of course, when Li Ao starts to catch the ball and shoot, it is also a good opportunity to take action. If his teammates can directly take advantage of the pie and have an open shooting opportunity, and he happens to catch the ball again, he will still choose to support it.
Without McDyess' early movement to cover up, Li Ao faced James Posey's pursuit with ease, passing and shooting at his fingertips.
James Posey's best defense against off-ball shooters is that his 203-centimeter-tall, 219-centimeter wingspan interferes with the opponent's shot.
But as long as Li Ao runs, receives the ball and makes a shooting move, James Posey can't interfere.
With the same height, Li Ao's wingspan is even better than James Posey!
At 9 minutes and 36 seconds in the first quarter, Li Ao made an emergency stop on the left side of the free throw line to receive a pass from O'Neal Jr., turned around and jumped towards James Posey, who was catching up, and took a mid-range shot...
James Posey jumped to defend with all his strength, but the interference was ineffective. Li Ao didn't care whether he would be blocked or not, he shot steadily and hit the target!
26 to 11, the Clippers' lead reached 15 points!
The Nuggets called timeout again!
Seeing James Posey's annoyed look, Li Ao comforted him: "Is your defense like this? I'm looking forward to playing against you. It's a pity that you didn't play me in the summer league. It's really disappointing."
James Posey, who was already on guard, looked at Li Ao angrily, only to see a serious and handsome face.
This makes James Posey even more crazy.
You have the ability to play singles with the ball! See if I don’t guard you to death!
James Posey still didn't say this.
Although he is from the class of 1999 and is just a sophomore, he is already 23 years old after entering the NBA after graduating from college. He has already shown mature defensive skills in his rookie season. Coupled with his positive attitude and top-notch defensive awareness, he has become a highly regarded player. An eye-catching one-on-one defense genius.
However, his defensive talent is all focused on single defense, and his off-ball defense is average.
He is not good at guarding without the ball, but he is ashamed to think about letting someone who is not good at holding the ball beat him in isolation.
However, looking at Li Ao's back as he turned to leave, James Posey was really angry when he thought about how seriously this fellow just talked about his talent!
…
Li Ao returned to the bench and saw that his teammates were very excited. He was also very happy. He led by 15 points before the first quarter was over. Although it was a preseason game, a win is a win!
Just like Lu, Lu, Lu, just because you want to win in ranked matches doesn’t mean you don’t want to win in matching matches.
However, he didn't have any proud thoughts. The opponent's Nuggets team was not stronger than theirs. The opponent's star player was messy at the beginning, so it was normal for them to take the lead.
Seeing Li Ao come back after provoking the opposing defensive genius, Big Q immediately approached him and asked in a very puzzled tone: "Boss, why do you take so few shots? It feels like..."
"Blue collar?"
"right!"
“In the preseason, rookies who are good at breakthroughs choose to make crazy breakthroughs and get blocked; rookies who are good at shooting and playing in isolation, choose to take a lot of shots, which are both correct choices.
I'm good at running, catching and shooting, supporting, and defending. Of course, I have to choose the style of play I'm good at and adapt to NBA games. "
This made the teammates watching want to give him a thumbs up.
However, you are right, but why does it sound so awkward?
Whose connotation is it!
The teammates looked at each other—did you get slapped with a blood cap for your mindless play in the preseason during your rookie year? I don't! Are you banging the iron? Anyway, I didn’t!
Even if you don't admit it, you can find the evidence if you can.
The veterans did not admit that they had such a bad past. Kenyon Dulin, who had been replaced after being blocked twice after playing two minutes just now, felt ashamed and angry.
O'Neal Jr. and Big Q seem to have realized something.
The coaching staff was all very surprised!
They all thought that Li Ao was the most inconspicuous person in the team, but they were sure.
But on the court, how to describe it.
It’s very impressive!
Although the opponent's defense was in chaos at the beginning and they had good offensive opportunities, Li Ao's ability to seize the opportunity to connect the entire team's offense was his ability!
No wonder the Trojans, who were originally only on the edge of being a crazy three, suddenly became a strong team that won all the games!
In the next three quarters of the game, Gentry gave Li Ao a long playing time, allowing Li Ao to appear in different lineups.
Gentry returned to thanking Sterling for his legacy.
The NBA has regulations that if a team has less than 14 officially contracted players at training camp, it must fill the training camp to 20 players and make the roster to 14 before the end of the summer league.
But training camp players need money for food and accommodation, and training camp contracts require money for preseason games. Although it's not much, it's still money.
Since there are 14 players in the end, Sterling chose to sign all the players in the summer, so that there is no need to spend extra money during the training camp.
So when the summer league ended, their 15-man roster was already full.
Now Gentry doesn't need to think about training camp contract players and jumps directly to the progress of selecting 12 main players.
When choosing the main force, you must choose people based on Li Ao's playing style.
Li Ao did not play blindly in the preseason, quickly got into the state, and the progress was advanced again.
In the following time, Li Ao did not disappoint Gentry.
He sticks to his style of play. If his teammates play well, he won't get too excited. If his teammates perform well, he won't complain.
He had already understood one thing in college - there are always strong and weak teammates, but no matter how strong or weak, every teammate is important. If you enjoy the help of strong teammates, you must accept the help of weak teammates. thing.
But there are also teammates who are truly dissatisfied. Two teammates who scored too much - Kenyon Dulin and Jeff McGinnis.
Although Boykins is alone, his breakthrough sharp efficiency is still reasonable, and he is only good at this.
Kenyon Dulin and McGinnis obviously have good physical conditions and can do more things that are beneficial to tactics, but they just played blindly and just wanted to express themselves. Li Ao was decisive.
When Gentry saw Li Ao getting angry at the two of them, he was also very angry with them and decisively replaced them. Later, when Li Ao came on the court, neither of them was replaced.
Of course, he also gave him a chance. When Li Ao was resting, he asked the two of them to take turns to watch their performance.
The situation of the game, as the Clippers entered the rotation, their advantage became smaller. When they played poorly, the opponent had a stage to quickly chase points. But fortunately, they led by 15 points at the beginning, and the Clippers also had offensive highlights in the next three quarters. stage, halfway through the fourth quarter, when Li Ao was replaced, he still led the Nuggets by 11 points.
In the end, the Clippers defeated the Nuggets 104-94.
Li Ao won the first game of his NBA career...preseason victory!
When the final whistle sounded, the system prompt came.
"Congratulations to the host for winning the game. Game type: NBA preseason. Host's game statistics: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks. Congratulations to the host for winning 540 achievement points. Note: NBA preseason and regular season, When you win, you will be awarded 10 achievement points for every point or board you score, 20 achievement points for every assist you get, and 40 achievement points for every steal or block you get; if you lose the game, you will get a consolation reward of 100 achievement points."
Compared to the NCAA competition, it has doubled!
The consolation prize was also doubled, so he took the opportunity to give it a sip - he hadn't tasted the feeling of a consolation prize yet...
His biggest feeling in this game - his teammates are much better than they were in college!
If you don't take into account that the opponent is much stronger, and only look at the individual's comprehensive ability, he really feels that the weakest player on the team is stronger than the strongest teammate in college.
Getting assists is easier than in college!
But this was just a preseason game, and the opponent was not a strong team yet. Although he had a double-double in the first game, he didn't do it.
He also discovered his current flaw - physical strength!
He played 9 minutes in the first quarter and scored 6 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists and 1 block.
Played 8 minutes in the second quarter and scored 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
Played 9 minutes in the third quarter and scored 2 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists.
Played 6 minutes in the fourth quarter and scored 2 points, 2 assists and 1 block.
He only played 33 minutes in the game. It’s not that he didn’t want to play longer, it’s that he couldn’t!
The first quarter was okay, I had enough energy, and I didn’t feel much after playing for 9 consecutive minutes.
But starting from the second quarter, a break is needed.
A wider range of running, stronger confrontation, the opponent's better ability to defend and assist, and the opponent pays more attention to him as the scout, making him consume more in the game!
Of course, it is also related to his active playing style. He is very focused on both offense and defense, especially defense. He regards it as the foundation of his career. If he has the opportunity, he will try to defend. He will not say that he has his hands on his hips to save energy for the offensive end.
After a summer of hard training, his physical strength has actually improved a lot compared to when he was in college, and he can maintain an efficient performance for about 30 minutes in NBA-level confrontations.
About 30 minutes of high-efficiency physical strength is enough in college. A college game is only 40 minutes, but an NBA game is 48 minutes!
Seeing that Li Ao was happy for a while and then frowned, Gentry came next to him.
He had just been excitedly hugging his assistants and management to celebrate Li Ao's performance tonight. He was happy that Li Ao could adapt well to the NBA game, and was excited for Li Ao's talent. However, he frowned when he saw their talented and violent handsome guy. ?
"Leo, what are you thinking about? Are you still dissatisfied with your performance?"
Li Ao shook his head: "That's not it. I know I performed very well. I was thinking about how to improve my physical strength. I have only played for more than 30 minutes and I am already so exhausted."
Gentry: ()
(▼ヘ▼#)
(σ-`д)
"You are only 19 years old! Why are you bothering with this!"
(End of chapter)
