It is the first time in the history of NCAA basketball that a 19-year-old player has the honor of having his jersey retired.
But at the beginning of the month, when the University of Southern California announced that it would hold a jersey retirement ceremony for Li Ao in the opening game, it was not surprising.
Although Li Ao only played for one year, he directly led the team to 33 consecutive victories and won the championship. After entering the NBA, he also performed immediately.
Anyone who pays attention to college basketball knows that USC will retire Li Ao's jersey sooner or later. There is no problem in retiring now.
The NCAA Association also sent executives to attend the ceremony. Li Ao did not return to the college arena, but the contact between the Flower Gardener brand and the NCAA was still launched. Thanks to Li Ao, NCAA basketball has gained a certain reputation among the Flower Gardeners.
Some players from the youth teams of Class A clubs even bypassed the teams and secretly contacted the NCAA. As a result, both the clubs and the players were punished by the Basketball Association.
Li Ao didn't pay attention to this matter, just read the news.
The national situation is like this. There are some things where helping is useless, and it will also cause a lot of trouble. The gains outweigh the losses, to put it mildly, there are only losses.
If there are domestic players who come to play in the United States, if the other party gives him a good feeling, he can help him, but forget about anything else.
After enjoying the cheers of the fans, Li Ao sat on the sidelines and watched the game.
Not to mention, the Trojans are much better now than they were at the beginning of last season.
Facing the Bruins, the Trojans won 86-75.
After the game, Li Ao expressed his gratitude to the fans, former coaches and former teammates.
He also said that he will always be a part of the Trojans and will go to Memorial Stadium to help the team train when he can.
The fans at the scene kept applauding and cheering, except for a certain middle-aged handsome man who rolled his eyes and rolled his eyes...
…
After two days of rest, on November 16th, the Clippers' ninth game day of the season arrived.
After half an hour of low-intensity tactical movement coordination in the morning, Gentry announced the end of preparations and rested to prepare for the 6 o'clock game in the evening.
Li Ao asked in confusion: "Alvin, are our preparations not sufficient?"
"This is for health reasons and to reduce the risk of injuries due to fatigue."
Li Ao imitated the big shark and bulged his biceps: "I'm not tired."
Gentry explained helplessly: "You are not tired, but your teammates will be. Our team has many young players, just like Big Q. The impact of fatigue on the state is greater than the impact of insufficient preparation training. .”
Li Ao looked at his teammates who were full of energy after just two days of rest. He thought about it and said, "Yes, when we played against the Mavericks, Quentin seemed to have been squeezed dry by 12 women the night before."
Big Q, who was watching on the sidelines, heard his boss call him "Quentin" when talking to others. He was very happy, but 12 women, and the opponent on the eve of playing the Mavericks was the Nuggets... Putting these two keywords together, he thought McDyess's face appeared and he shuddered.
On Li Ao's side, he understood what Gentry meant - cultivating newcomers this season is the main goal. Only by ensuring the health of young players can we better train newcomers.
Looking at his teammates, Li Ao has been in the NBA for a while and knows that besides games, there are other things that affect a rookie's physical strength.
If a player comes from a slum and has just received a large amount of money, he will most likely spend it in revenge.
Buying a car, a watch, a gold chain, and then going to a nightclub to order all the nightclub girls they had drooled over when they were walking around on the street. Then they would taste the essence and taste it, and they would be intoxicated for a long time.
Some people indulge for a period of time and the fresh energy has passed. After their desires are satisfied, they know how to restrain themselves and can come out of it. Such players can generally play for a few more years.
But most people will become addicted to this and quickly become wasted. They will never regain the belief in working hard to enter the NBA, and their careers will end hastily.
Especially in a place like Los Angeles.
Among the young teammates next to him, Da Q is already pretty good, but he just likes to order takeout when he goes to away games.
Kenyon Dooling has been addicted to nightclubs recently, and he doesn't know if he can escape the temptation.
Odom is the team's nightclub king and has even taken Li Ao to the nightclub.
Li Ao is not worried about this guy. He is so talented that even Kardashian can't guard against him. He can't die no matter how he plays.
O'Neal Jr. is the teammate Li Ao is least worried about.
He has a strong body and exercises all the year round. Li Ao heard O'Neal talk about his time with the Trail Blazers. Although he didn't play in many games, he was a sparring partner with Tianzun and Sabonis. It was very hard and he had to strengthen his body.
However, the reason why Li Ao is not worried about O'Neal is not because of this, but because this teammate is a person with a lustful heart but no courage. He would not even eat the tofu served by the bartender when he went to the nightclub.
Odom and O'Neal have known each other for a long time. They met in 1995 when they participated in the All-American High School All-Star Game for the first time.
Odom once drank too much and broke the news to his teammates about an embarrassing incident when O'Neal was first drafted by the NBA - O'Neal went to the adult merchandise show in Portland in the summer of 1996 and took advantage of the riots. He dared to secretly touch the buttocks of an adult actress and was caught by others. In the end, because he was only 17 years old, he was kicked out of the venue by the organizer and was laughed at by geniuses of the same age for a long time.
Other young teammates under the age of 25, such as Maggette, Brian Skinner, Boykins and others are very self-disciplined, but they are all functional players at present. They have not yet become useful and can only play in certain situations. Always play to their strengths.
Li Ao sighed helplessly: "What's wrong with today's young players? They are all so delicate. Since they are not physically strong, they should play in college for two more years!"
Teammates: ()
What should I do? I want to rebel again!
…
There are especially many fans gathered inside and outside the Staples Center today because there are two games today. The Clippers will face the Knicks at 5:30 and the Lakers will face the Celtics at 9:00.
At 5:10 in the evening, the Knicks players entered the court first.
When entering the stadium, the Knicks players were very unhappy looking at Li Ao's photos and data posted on the big screen.
What a shame to show off!
He averaged 24 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3.9 blocks per game, and averaged 1.1 three-pointers per game.
The 43.3% field goal percentage and 31% three-point shooting percentage were not posted at the request of a certain player No. 0 who did not want to be named.
When the Clippers players entered the stadium and Li Ao was the first to run out of the tunnel, nearly 20,000 people at the scene shouted "Spider-Man" in unison.
"Spider-Man is from New York!" Madman muttered unhappily.
After the Clippers players finished playing, the madman was even more unhappy when he saw fans on the sidelines holding slogans saying, "The Clippers are about to be great."
He said to his teammates: "These people think that picking one player will turn them into a strong team? A bad ship will always be a bad ship!"
Several teammates agreed with the madman's statement, echoing the comments and mocking the fans' whimsical slogans.
There are three highlight stages in the history of the Knicks. The first stage was at the beginning of the establishment of the NBA, when the Knicks reached the Finals for three consecutive years; the second stage was around 1970, when Willis Reed won the NBA title. Two championships; the last one is now.
The current Knicks are not the graveyard or nursing home of future stars. They have reached the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons, setting a new record in team history, and have reached the Finals twice in the past seven seasons.
From the perspective of the Knicks players, they are at the peak of team history. They are a team competing for the championship, while the Clippers are just a broken ship.
But the reason for their displeasure is not because Clippers fans look like nouveau riche who have made a lot of money.
But there is a rumor in the basketball circles in New York - last week, the Knicks management used multiple players as bargaining chips to apply to the Clippers to trade Li Ao.
It is said that the Knicks only retained Alan Houston and Camby, who was born in the 1996 class, and the other players were left to the Clippers to choose.
The key is that the Knicks' offer was rejected by the Clippers!
Li Ao and Odom went to the technical stage to apply magnesium powder after the lights came on.
Odom was complaining: "Didn't you say that the new boss is very rich? Why hasn't the cheerleading team changed yet? When I was selected, I was very excited about how beautiful the cheerleaders in Los Angeles were, but it turned out that the beautiful ones were all in the Lakers, Vaco."
Li Ao rolled his eyes and responded: "I think they are pretty good. At least they dance very professionally, and it doesn't matter how beautiful they are. They are cheerleaders. According to the regulations, you cannot pick up cheerleaders."
"We can't be fooled. When we play games, we have beautiful cheerleaders watching, and we are more motivated!"
"That's true. You have time to mention this to the general manager."
"I knew Leo had a way, thank you for your hard work...wait! You asked me to go?"
"What if? It's not like I want the team to change the cheerleaders."
"I dare to go and ask you for help? I envy you. The people you date are either celebrities or famous ladies... By the way! You even dated the Huskies cheerleaders!"
"Well... don't be so jealous, I believe you will also hook up with the famous lady you like."
"Me? As poor as I am, how can anyone think highly of me?"
"Just now I was watching the stars at night, and I saw purple air coming from the east, dragons flying in the sky, and phoenixes returning to their nests. As the saying goes, it's like a spring breeze coming overnight, and the flowers blooming in spring... Spring is the time when love breeds. Although it's only winter now, yours Spring will always come."
"Really? Although I don't know what you are talking about, it seems to be very powerful. Is it the divination technique of the legendary mysterious Eastern country... Wait! It's not dark yet, where did you see the stars?"
While the two were chatting, several Knicks players came next to them. The two stopped talking and looked at the group of people.
In this scene, Big Q, O'Neal Jr., Maggette, Boykins, Kenyon Dulin, Chris Mihm...and other teammates immediately came to the technical stage after seeing this, standing behind Li Ao and Odom. .
The longer they get along, the better their teammates understand Li Ao Qianbian's attributes.
After understanding Li Ao's character, they also understood that Li Ao was not a person who beat others randomly, so they were not so afraid of being beaten by Li Ao.
Moreover, they found that Li Ao was actually quite nice. He had an outgoing personality, was generous and enthusiastic, and could joke around. He would just retaliate when they insulted him. As long as he didn't do anything insulting like Sugar Man, Li Ao never made a move. His temper Big but principled... He is also a God of Wealth, and several teammates got endorsement contracts from him.
Other than that mouth, everything else is fine.
A group of people from the other side came to Li Ao, their expressions were not friendly at all, and his teammates stood decisively behind him.
However, several Knicks players did not make a move or even speak to them.
"With 5 wins and 3 losses, we actually have the same record as us. It's really good luck."
"No matter how good the luck is, it will come to an end. We will let them know what a truly strong team is."
"A group of new recruits who don't know what it means to be truly powerful. I'm going to kick their balls out."
"..."
"..."
Madman, Big Mom, Charlie Ward, Kurt Thomas and others started chatting among themselves.
The Clippers players were confused and came to chat with them fiercely?
It wasn't until the madman said, "A bad ship will always be a bad ship" that the Clippers players reacted.
Z/Fake, it turns out that the other party’s weird words were talking about them!
Just when Li Ao was about to retaliate, a group of people on the opposite side shouted loudly in his face and left directly.
So angry!
The New York gangsters definitely didn't run away in fear after taunting them. They obviously looked down on them and didn't even bother to listen to their responses.
Thinking of this, Li Ao became even more angry!
"I want to win! I want to kick them out!"
When a teammate spoke, Li Ao turned around and was surprised. The one with the most unhappy expression was Zuo Mo, who didn't seem to care about anything!
O'Neal Jr. echoed: "Me too, I've never wanted to win so much."
The other teammates also looked like they shared the same hatred.
Li Ao was surprised. When did they have such cohesion?
Just got it? Or was it accumulated slowly over the past period?
This is not important anymore, maybe now is the time for the whole team to be cohesive!
With this thought and his dissatisfaction with the Knicks, Li Ao yelled: "Kick their butts!"
Teammates shouted, "Kick their asses!"
At this time, the center of cohesion among the Clippers players naturally converged on Li Ao. All teammates can feel that the most competitive person in their team is Li Ao.
At this time, Li Ao received the task prompt!
“Punching a nursing home:
Goal 1: The number of blocks blocked by the host in this game must be higher than the season average. (The host averages 3.9 blocks per game this season)
Goal 2: The host needs to score higher than Latrell Sprewell in this game.
Goal 3: Beat the Knicks.
Each time you complete a goal, you will be rewarded with 3,000 achievement points. If you complete all goals, you will be rewarded with an exclusive skill: punching the nursing home. "
The maximum number of achievement points in a game is 9,000, and this is the regular season! The rewards are very generous, and there is also a skill!
With this skill, there is no need to guess. Just by looking at the name, Li Ao knows which team the target is.
want to!
However, of these three goals, goal 1 is okay, and goal 3 is what he wants to do now, very much.
Target 2...
The best defensive team this season is not the Heat, nor the 76ers, Hornets, or Magic.
It is the Knicks team led by Jeff Van Gundy that averages 89 points per game and concedes 85.1 points per game!
This game is a bit too difficult to score.
Eh? Li Ao changed his mind - just defend the madman so that the score is lower than him!
…
At 5:28, the starting lineups of the two teams came to the court.
The Clippers' starting lineup remains the same, and the Knicks sent out a starting lineup of Charlie Ward, Alan Houston, Sprewell, Larry Johnson, and Camby.
The Knicks players were not afraid at all when they saw the players on the opposite side looking angry.
They just want to see the other party's angry look, then defeat the other party and trample the other party under their feet!
After Li Ao came on the court, he quickly calmed down.
Houston has an 87 rating, Madman has an 88 rating, Auntie has an 84 rating, Camby has an 80 rating, and Charlie Ward has a 77 rating.
Of the five starters on the opposite side, four are very defensive, a standard 4-drag defensive combination.
Especially Camby, he is not yet a data brusher in the future. He is active in defense and has a tough defensive style. He is agile and can defend from the basket to the mid-range. He is also very good at guarding pick-and-rolls. In addition to his 211 cm + 105 kg body size, Thin, with only a strength rating of 87, he can be said to be a perfect inside and outside defensive coordinator.
Yes, only the aunt who is 198 centimeters tall but weighs 113 kilograms is the one who protects the Knicks, and Camby is the one who goes out to help defend.
The referee came to the center circle with the ball. Li Ao turned off the system screen and entered the game.
At 5:30, the referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air, and the game began!
The moment the ball reached its highest point, O'Neal bounced up quickly and overpowered Camby to push the ball backwards. The Clippers attacked first!
The moment O'Neal touched the ball, Li Ao, who was on the side of the center line, turned around and elbowed the madman who had his arm pressed against him, and rushed towards the opposite side.
The madman took a step back in pain. By the time he tried to catch up, it was already too late. The opponent had already rushed to the three-point line.
However, the Knicks had good defensive discipline. Li Ao was intercepted by Big Mom. He turned around and entered the three-point line while walking.
It was Odom who received the jump ball. He advanced quickly and saw Li Ao bypassing Big Mom and immediately hoisted the ball to the center.
Li Ao caught the ball in one step inside the free throw line. At this time, Camby had already relied on his aunt to intercept Li Ao and retreated to the basket first.
The Knicks players confidently handed Li Ao to Camby. Even if Li Ao made a mid-range shot, they believed that Camby could pounce and interfere in place. They each moved between the running opponent players and Li Ao, cutting off the communication between Li Ao and his teammates. connect.
But after receiving the ball, Li Ao turned around and took off directly towards the basket!
When the Knicks players who expanded outside saw this scene, they stopped their feet and prepared to grab the ball.
Camby was already jumping towards Li Ao, and they concentrated on looking at Camby's bloody hat! Look at the tragic situation of Spider-Man being knocked to the ground with a ball... "Bang"... "Bang"... "Ah"...
Someone was knocked over, but the one who was knocked backwards and fell to the floor with a "bang" and moaned in pain was Canby!
Li Ao knocked over Camby and smashed the ball into the basket!
The scene was instantly ignited, and all the fans shouted "Spider-Man" in disorder.
The noisy and frantic shouts of the fans failed to prevent a word from reaching the ears of the Knicks players who came up to grab the board.
"I also want to know what level the Knicks are without Ewing, and they actually have the same record as us?"
These words also reached the ears of the Clippers players who wanted to rush in and block the rebound.
Although Li Ao's brutal dunk on Camby shocked his teammates, he was still so arrogant in front of the four Knicks players surrounding him... no, it was five, and one fell to the ground...
The teammates looked at Li Ao running out of the 'encirclement' and seemed to see the evil star who pressed Olowokandi to the floor and rubbed him again.
But this time, the emotion they felt was not fear, but excitement!
With the boss covering you, fight him from the other side!
The offense and defense switched, and it became the Knicks with gritted teeth.
Of course, they are still arrogant and proud.
Seeing that it was the rookie Spider who was defending him, the madman directly asked for the ball from Charlie Ward.
They taunted the Broken Ship Fleet, and the rookie in the Broken Ship Fleet actually had the audacity to sarcastically make fun of them.
Defensive genius?
The madman wants to defeat this rookie!
The madman is the Knicks' player with the strongest singles ability. Charlie Ward passed the ball with confidence, ready to watch the show.
But after the madman received the ball, he was shocked when he saw Li Ao's open arms!
Vaco! What a huge spider!
The madman feels like the entire shooting space is covered!
The madman snorted coldly. There are many players with good physical conditions, but good skills are the last word!
When his teammates pulled away, the madman immediately began to break through.
The madman leaned down and beat the ball quickly. After pulling horizontally to move Li Ao, he suddenly accelerated and rushed forward. The first step was very quick, and he successfully occupied the breakthrough position and continued to sprint into the inside line.
However, after entering the inside, the madman who planned to make a jump shot failed to get rid of Li Ao!
Li Ao followed closely behind the left side of the madman, continuing to cover the madman's shooting space!
The madman rushed to the sideline of the three-second zone before getting rid of Li Ao, and saw O'Neal moving up.
The madman, who had already charged up, felt that the atmosphere was up, and took off towards O'Neal. He wanted to dunk... "Pa"... O'Neal's bullet speed was even faster than the madman. He took off a beat slower, but came first. Give the madman a big slap!
Li Ao, who followed up, grabbed the ball that bounced on the floor, happily collected the defensive rebound, and immediately passed it to Greg Anthony, who quickly passed it down again.
But the Knicks were very disciplined in retreating, and the madman who fell on his butt after being blocked quickly got up and ran back.
Li Ao slowed down to save energy and ran to the frontcourt with his teammates.
Little O'Neal came to the low post and wanted to get in position and hit high, but... he couldn't stand up to the aunt guarding next to him!
Although O'Neal Jr. has a slight weight advantage, Big Mom's tonnage of 198+113 is too solid.
O'Neal Jr. chose to give up and came to the wing to cover his teammates.
Seeing that O'Neal was out of position, Greg Anthony signaled his teammates to use tactics.
After starting to run, the Clippers players knew why the Knicks were the team with the strongest defense in the league and the lowest score limit for their opponents.
Crazy confrontation, extremely active defense changes.
With Camby, an inside gatekeeper with top-level defensive awareness, solid defensive basics, and mobility comparable to that of a small forward, even Li Ao was unable to get an open opportunity.
Little O'Neal returned to the inside, relied on his height advantage to catch the ball, and hit it high... His lower limbs were not strong enough due to the aunt's support, and his throwing was also affected. It's iron!
Camby came in and protected the defensive rebound!
After switching offense and defense, the madman no longer continued to play Li Ao alone. Although his brain was not bright, he had a high intelligence, otherwise he would not have been able to lead the team to the finals.
It's true that he was conceited, but he understood in the first round that the two young players, Li Ao and O'Neal Jr., were better than he thought.
Li Ao regretted that the opponent did not continue to play. After the preparations in the morning, he and O'Neal discussed how to prevent the madman from playing in singles, but it turned out that the opponent was not a strong player.
As a teammate, Charlie Ward was not surprised at all by Madman's choice. Just looking at his performance on the court, Madman is definitely a top basketball player.
Charlie Ward started a pick-and-roll attack with Big Mom.
Through interspersed movements, Alan Houston received the ball, turned around, and hit a textbook mid-range shot!
The total shooting percentage was 44%, the three-point shooting percentage was 41%, and the basket shooting percentage was 40%...but the mid-range shooting percentage was 50%. This is the king of mid-range shooting!
The Clippers started the game with one offense and one defense, which got the whole place excited, but after a few more rounds, the cheers from the fans became less and less, and the boos became louder and louder.
After the Knicks passed the first offensive and defensive round, they began to press the Clippers!
After playing for more than 4 minutes, Li Ao signaled Odom, who as captain called a timeout!
The score is 7-3, and the Knicks lead the Clippers by 4 points.
Except for Li Ao's dunk at the beginning, the Clippers only relied on Odom's 1 of 2 free throws to score 1 point.
Gentry thought it was a good time to call a timeout, but the reason why he didn't call a timeout was the Knicks' terrible defense. He hadn't thought of a way to adjust the offense, so he planned to let the players play a few more rounds to see. It's also a way to deal with offensive dilemmas.
But the team members called a timeout at this time...
Fortunately, someone saved him from the embarrassment.
"The confrontation on the other side is really fierce. In this case, we will also fight against each other! Coach, when it comes to Corey and Quentin, isn't it a confrontation? Who is afraid of whom?
What expression are you looking at? Are you afraid of losing?
There is nothing to be afraid of. We are a team composed of rookies, sophomores, and homeless people. If we lose, we can just play again next time. They should be the ones who are afraid of losing! "
(End of chapter)
