in2ebook Chapter 124 Curry and Wang Xiucheng, whose rookie season was stronger?
Chapter 124 Curry and Wang Xiucheng, whose rookie season was stronger?
Before he knew it, Cole had become somewhat lost in thought.
That scene was so beautiful!
So much so that the assistant coach patted Cole on the shoulder only after all the players had entered the player tunnel.
Cole quickly regained his composure and went back to the locker room with the assistant coach.
Wang Xiucheng, who was walking at the back, was talking to Alex, the Rockets' chief team doctor.
Cole, feeling mischievous, quietly approached Wang Xiucheng from behind, stuck his head out, and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"Could you take a look at my arm later? I think I might have hurt my arm when I fell during the first half."
Wang Xiucheng stretched out his arms and moved them around.
The time he pinned Yang Ying down in the first half was to protect her. He miscalculated and grabbed the wrong spot with one arm, but his other arm reached behind Yang Ying. While protecting her, he was also pinned down by Yang Ying.
This can't be blamed on Wang Xiucheng; his initial calculations showed that his arm could reach behind her.
But to everyone's surprise, it was bigger than Wang Xiucheng had expected, and it completely blocked Wang Xiucheng's arm.
“Okay, don’t worry, I’ll take a look in a bit,” Alex said.
Upon hearing this, Cole behind him suddenly shouted angrily, "Injured? Why are you still fighting if you're injured?"
Not reporting an injury is disrespectful to the team and coach.
It's not uncommon in the league for players who could have rested for a few games to recover to end up missing several months of rest due to concealment of their absence.
Wang Xiucheng was startled by the voice. He turned around and saw Cole staring at him with anger on his face.
That's as if Wang Xiucheng were his player.
"Coach Kerr, I didn't say I was injured, I just said I felt a little uncomfortable," Wang Xiucheng quickly said.
Cole seemed to realize that this was inappropriate, so he patted Wang Xiucheng awkwardly and then passed him.
Silas, who was about to enter the locker room, inadvertently witnessed this scene, and his expression immediately soured.
Another one?
First it was Popovich, now it's Kerr.
Do you Spurs coaches really like not carrying people on your backs?
Cole saw Silas, smiled, and went back to his locker room.
Silas scratched his head, seemingly finding it increasingly difficult to keep Wang Xiucheng around.
There were many activities scheduled during halftime at Chase Center today.
Li Chen and Deng Ziqi went to the back and sat down to chat with the other kids.
Yang Ying sat here alone, looking somewhat lonely.
Several foreigners who considered themselves to be of some status wanted to get to know Yang Ying, but she refused them all.
She just wanted to be alone for a while.
This morning, she received a phone call.
"Let's get a divorce."
Only this one sentence made Yang Ying realize that everything was over.
It's pointless to argue about who's right and who's wrong now.
She was in a bad mood and didn't want to participate in today's program recording, but in order not to overthink it, she came with the others anyway.
The moment Wang Xiucheng pulled her to the ground, she knew he was protecting her from behind with his hands.
At that moment, she was touched and remembered many things from the past.
When Wang Xiucheng's handsome face inadvertently pressed against hers, she subconsciously mistook him for him and bit down hard in a fit of rage.
Thinking about this, Yang Ying buried her head in her hands, realizing that she had gone too far.
"What are you thinking about?"
A few minutes later, Li Chen and Deng Ziqi returned.
"It's nothing," Yang Ying said with a smile, shaking her head.
Just then, the players returned from the player tunnel, and the second half of the game was about to begin.
Both Deng Ziqi and Yang Ying focused their attention on the boy holding the banana.
The Rockets started with the same five players.
Kerr, however, fielded a small-ball lineup.
Curry, Wiggins, Payton, Bjelica, and Otto Porter Jr.
All five of them can shoot three-pointers.
The Warriors got off to a winning start.
Payton and Wiggins scored in quick succession, while the Rockets committed two turnovers, allowing the Warriors to close the gap to 5 points.
Especially Payton Jr., who was injured while defending Wang Xiu during their last encounter and had to rest for a long time.
In today's game, Wang Xiucheng started in the starting lineup, and he didn't have much time to match up against Payton.
Unexpectedly, the two players had a chance at the very beginning of the second half.
Payton Jr. personally guarded Wang Xiucheng, wanting to prove he could stop him.
Swish!
Wang Xiucheng feigned a shot, but Payton remained unmoved, so Wang Xiucheng passed the ball directly.
Green got open to receive the ball and immediately hit a three-pointer.
Playing with a small lineup, even the Rockets can do it!
Shen Jing, who plays center, will occasionally attempt a three-pointer.
According to an ESPN statistic, when Wang Xiucheng and Shen Jing were both on the court, Shen Jing's three-point shooting percentage was as high as 49.7%.
However, without Wang Xiucheng, Shen Jing's three-point shooting percentage was a pitiful 22%.
Although Shen Jing didn't submit many applications, the sample size was still too small.
Moreover, compared to the Warriors' small-ball lineup, Shen Jing's mobility issues were more exposed.
Left with no other option, Silas replaced Shen Jing with Martin.
The pace of the game suddenly quickened for both sides.
So much so that fans who returned a little late during halftime found that the score had risen so quickly.
Soon, six minutes into the game, Silas frowned and thought for a moment before deciding to substitute Wang Xiucheng.
He knew that if he substituted Wang Xiucheng at this point, the Rockets might soon see the Warriors close the gap, or even take the lead.
But protecting Wang Xiucheng from injury is the team's top priority.
And so what if we lose this game? The team is tanking anyway, so losing is fine.
During a dead ball situation, Silas substituted Wang Xiucheng and put Porter Jr. on the field.
Porter Jr., who plays point guard, immediately displayed a style completely different from Wang Xiucheng's when he came on the court.
With a loud thud, the basketball slammed into the rim.
Then the Warriors countered and hit a three-pointer.
With a thud, the basketball hit the backboard, was picked up by the Warriors, and they launched a counterattack.
Snapped!
Porter Jr.'s ball was stolen by Curry, and he tried to dunk, but found that he couldn't jump high enough, so he could only use his traditional layup.
Cole crossed his arms and glanced at Wang Xiucheng, who had already sat down in the distance.
I was right. As soon as Wang Xiucheng left the court, the Rockets' offense became completely disorganized.
Furthermore, both Green and Gordon's shooting percentages have dropped significantly.
Shen Jing even refused to shoot when there were wide-open shots.
That's really mysterious!
In Kerr's view, Porter Jr. wasn't incapable of passing, he just wasn't good at it.
But does that really make the gap between Porter Jr. and Wang Xiucheng so big?
Wang Xiucheng passed the ball to Green, and he scored 3 out of 5 goals.
As for Porter Jr.'s passes to Green, we'd be lucky if even one out of five shots went in.
Moreover, most of the passes Wang Xiucheng made to Green were three-pointers.
Most of the passes Porter Jr. made were two-pointers.
Wang Xiucheng is clearly better at finding three-point opportunities for his teammates.
This is probably why no team is willing to trade one first-round pick for Porter Jr., but is willing to trade three or even four first-round picks for Wang Xiucheng.
It's ridiculous, really. The Nuggets have already offered the Rockets four first-round picks, but the Rockets have absolutely no intention of trading for Wang Xiucheng.
Of course, the Nuggets' first-round pick was indeed worthless, almost like garbage.
The third quarter ended with Kerr lost in thought.
Thanks to a surge in the second half of the quarter, the Warriors scored 33 points, while the Rockets only managed 22.
Most of those 22 points were scored when Wang Xiucheng was on the court.
With a 11-point lead in a single quarter, the Warriors finally tied the Rockets at 76-76.
"Whether we can win or not depends on the fourth quarter."
In other words, whether they can win or not depends on the first half of the fourth quarter.
Cole knew the most crucial moment had arrived.
After briefly explaining the opening tactics, Kerr left some time for the players to communicate amongst themselves.
He stood in the middle of the field, looking at Wang Xiucheng, who was sitting on the bench not far away, talking to Green about something.
I'm getting hungry!
Kerr rarely covets a player from another team.
Especially after Curry became capable of carrying the team on his own and even became the face of the league.
Other teams can only envy the Warriors.
But today, Cole found himself having that feeling too.
The pause ended quickly.
Kerr did not put Curry back on the court at the start of the fourth quarter in this game.
He's not Sibodu.
Without Wang Xiucheng and Curry, the game seemed rather uninteresting.
But actually, it's quite the opposite.
The two sides fought back and forth, exchanging blows and leaping through the air.
Both Jalen Green and Cuminga are players with exceptionally outstanding physical attributes.
Both of them are from the Ignite team.
Jalen Green considers Cunningham, the number one draft pick, as someone he wants to surpass.
Kuminga also sees Green as a target.
Why are you second place?
They're targeting the runner-up!
Kuminga scored two points with a powerful dunk.
When he returned, Green drove straight to the basket and scored two points with a tomahawk shot.
The advantage of not having a leader in the team is that everyone is the leader.
Before anyone knew it, with Green and Kuminga putting on a show, there were less than 8 minutes left in the game, and Silas luxuriously called a timeout.
Jalen Green sat on the bench, panting heavily, not even bothering to drink water.
Kuminga over there wasn't much better off; his chest heaved like a blower.
Neither coach brought the two players back on.
Wang Xiucheng, Shen Jing, Martin, Gordon, and Tate returned to the court.
The Warriors also brought in Curry and Looney.
The small-ball lineup isn't always usable; if you use it too often, the opponent will get used to it.
Cole will only use it in the most critical moments.
The game resumed again.
Upon returning to the court, Wang Xiucheng didn't receive the first ball, but instead slowly led Curry forward.
Gordon dribbled the ball past half-court and then bounced it to Shen Jing in the paint.
Wang Xiucheng saw the ball in Shen Jing's hands, so he faked a run to leave Curry half a body length behind, and Shen Jing's behind-the-back pass arrived just in time.
Wang Xiucheng received the ball and jumped.
Curry quickly reached out and covered Wang Xiucheng's face.
But Wang Xiucheng took a step back after receiving the ball.
Step up and down!
And with his front foot just inside the three-point line, Wang Xiucheng jumped up and threw the ball.
Swish!
Two-pointer, go in.
Curry frowned as he looked at Wang Xiucheng, who hadn't yet withdrawn his hand.
If it were him, he definitely wouldn't have made that shot.
Wang Xiucheng just stepped into the three-point line with one foot, so this shot counts as a two-pointer.
Either shoot a three-pointer or score two points with a layup.
The area between the basket and the three-point line is a two-point shot; naturally, the closer to the basket, the higher the chance of success, and the farther away from the basket, the lower the chance of success.
In Curry's view, this kind of two-point shot made while stepping on the three-point line is the least cost-effective way to score.
Curry finds it hard to imagine that anyone would make this choice in this small-ball era.
Although the ball went in.
With possession changing hands and the Warriors on offense, Curry directly demonstrated to Wang Xiucheng what cost-effectiveness truly meant.
Swish!
Three points in.
Curry took a three-pointer from just centimeters from the three-point line.
The best value for money is that I can get in whenever I want, no matter where it is!
Both teams were influencing the game in their own ways.
It has to be said that the absence of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green has had a significant impact on the Warriors.
When both Wang Xiucheng and Curry are on the court, it's almost impossible for either team to defend the other.
"Kid, you still have a long way to go."
As Wang Xiucheng passed by, Green shouted at the top of his lungs.
Wang Xiucheng glanced at this guy. Did you need to say that?
Klay Thompson, who was standing next to Draymond Green, suddenly lowered his voice and asked Green, "What do you think of Wang Xiucheng's performance? As a rookie, what do you think?"
Draymond Green was slightly taken aback, wondering why Klay would ask such a question.
But he still covered his mouth with his collar and whispered, "I think this Chinese kid might be the best rookie this year."
This is already a very high evaluation, considering that 2021 was hailed as a banner year for talent shows.
It's not just about homegrown players like Cunningham and Jalen Green who have won every award, big or small.
There are also very talented international players like Shen Jing, Wagner, and Kuminga.
Some draft experts even believe that in three or four years, there could be more than six max-contract players among this draft class.
But Draymond Green believes that Wang Xiucheng is the best rookie this year.
However, this answer did not elicit a significant response from Clay.
Klay simply continued, "If we compare him to Curry in his first year, who do you think is stronger?"
Green was taken aback again.
Draymond Green looks big and clumsy but not very bright, and seems much older than Curry, who is still in elementary school.
In fact, Draymond Green is two years younger than Stephen Curry and entered the league three years later.
So Curry's first year, Draymond Green, and even Klay Thompson weren't involved, but that doesn't mean they were unaware of it.
"They are completely different types of players. Curry was able to average 17 points per game in his first year, but this kid clearly prefers to pass the ball. He's definitely going to average 10 assists per game this season, but his scoring will probably be much lower than Curry's."
At the beginning, Zhui Meng spoke with some emotion, and it seemed that Wang Xiucheng and Curry made Zhui Meng very unhappy.
But the more Green spoke, the softer his voice became, as if he himself lacked confidence.
He didn't know how many points Wang Xiucheng scored throughout his rookie season, but today, Wang Xiucheng was already close to scoring 20 points.
Putting aside the others, fellow rookies this year, Jalen Green, Shen Jing, and the Warriors' Kuminga, were all overshadowed by Wang Xiucheng.
Without Wang Xiucheng, the Warriors would have won this game long ago.
Even Draymond Green only realized something at this point.
Throughout the game, he treated Wang Xiucheng with the same respect he would show Curry!
In reality, Wang Xiucheng is just a 19-year-old rookie.
Draymond Green stopped talking, instead bending down and lying on his lap, staring intently at the rookie who was guarding Curry and scoring points on both sides.
And so, the game went down to the final minute.
Kerr called a timeout.
The score was now 100 to 100, with both sides achieving a perfect score.
The final minute is the decisive battle.
Kerr benched Looney at this point, which meant that Kerr was using a small-ball lineup again.
Silas, seemingly sensing something, substituted Shen Jing with a five-man small lineup.
The most effective way to deal with a small-ball lineup is to use a small-ball lineup itself.
With a final whistle, the referee blew the final battle whistle.