Zhou Xuan told Mozgov some of Duncan's experience without reservation, and how much he can understand depends on his understanding. Interior players need to work on strength and muscle. Mozgov is too skinny and doesn't shoot well, so it's impossible to move up the level all at once.

The next day, Christmas arrived, and Zhou Xuan didn't make any preparations for Christmas, so it was rare to be free.

It was troublesome enough to get the Christmas tree to the penthouse, decorate, buy gifts, etc., but Zhou Xuan was not interested. The team participating in the competition did not have a party, which saved a lot of things, so Zhou Xuan was in a good mood, all he had to do was make a few phone calls to his friends and greet him with Merry Christmas.

After staying at home all day and relaxing by playing the piano, Zhou Xuan's mental and physical strength reached its best, and he went to the stadium to participate in the Christmas war.

When he played, the arena erupted in thunderous applause. There were many people who chose to watch the game for Christmas, especially the Chinese fans, who cheered as usual.

The game was broadcast live across the United States. Barkley and Smith commentate on the spot. China's CCTV5 certainly won't miss it. At the same time, there was also the Heat VS Lakers, and they also chose to broadcast Zhou Xuan's game live. It was booked before the start of the new season, and it was a good bet. The Knicks are very popular these days.

Barkley said: "The performance of the Bulls and Knicks this season has surprised countless people, but it's a pity that Noah is absent in this game, and the Bulls are not the strongest team. It's been a long time since the Knicks showed their faces in the Christmas War. Hopefully they can give the fans a classic game. ”

"The Knicks haven't had any serious injuries since the start of the season, and only Mason and Pekovic have been on the injury list for a few days, and that's their biggest strength," Smith said. The matchup between Zhou Xuan and Rose is a highlight, and Rose is currently ranked 7th in the MVP rankings. The two of them were the top rookies in the class of 2008. In the past week, Zhou Xuan has entered a low ebb, and his shooting percentage has declined. And Rose is on an upward trend, and this game has to play. ”

"2008 was a year in which a bunch of quality rookies emerged that have become starters in their respective teams," Barkley said. Westbrook, Love, Gordon, López, Beasley are all outstanding. It's just that Mayo's stats have dropped badly, and he has been reduced to a bench in the Grizzlies. ”

After the warm-up, the game began.

The Knicks opened the game with Mozgov at the starting center. Even if Zhou Xuan doesn't say it, the coaching staff will do it, Mullin and others have already made a decision, and they will finalize the deal after the star game at the latest. They need Mozgov to play at a high level.

The other four are Zhou Xuan, Matthews, Gallinari, and Stadamyre. In this way, the second team Pekovic and Anderson can complement each other, and unfortunately it is Evans, who has no chance to play.

There have also been changes to the Bulls' starters. Rose, Bogans, Lore Deng, Boozer, Thomas. Thibodeau chose to rely on Maas' experience after Noah's injury.

Mozgov jumped to beat Thomas, and the Knicks went first. Rose followed Zhou Xuan, and as soon as Zhou Xuan came up, he played a block with Stadamier and broke through to the right. The middle of the Stoadamier road is fixed, and there is no air cut. D'Antoni arranged for Mozgov to force the attack in the low post.

After Mozgov and Zhou Xuan talked, there was one word clearly in their minds - tough! He can only pose a threat to the opposition if he gets to the basket. At the World Championships, he was beaten hard by Odom. Now Thomas weighs only 104 kilograms, which is not as good as Odom.

Mozgov squeezed inside on the right side and stretched out his long arms for the ball. Thomas is experienced and knows that Mozgov can't defend against the top, so he takes the route of going around the front and blocking the pass.

Zhou Xuan observed the situation, dribbled the ball at 45 degrees in his crotch, and took a step towards the bottom line. As soon as Boozer, who changed defenses, followed, Zhou Xuan then pulled the ball with his right hand and turned around to the middle. Boozer followed up, but it wasn't him who Zhou Xuan wanted to pass, but Thomas, who jumped up and quickly sent the ball to the basket.

Mozgov was a full size bigger than Thomas, and it would be difficult for Thomas to go around and go back. Mozgov received the ball in the middle, half-turned around and put the ball in the basket with both hands. 2 to 0.

Su Qun smiled: "Who Mozgov and Pekovic use is a happy worry for the Knicks coaching staff. Mozgov is tall and has obvious advantages, but unfortunately he can't jump shots, otherwise he might be able to be the axis like Yao Ming. ”

Yang Jian said: "Inside players are happy to have a guard partner like Zhou Xuan, his ball passing seems simple, but it is actually very clever. ”

Bulls attack. Rose and Boozer played pick-and-rolls and broke through to the right for a pull-up jumper. Stoudamire was slow to change the defense and the ball went in. 2 to 2.

In the next round, the Bulls started to defend and compress the defense. Zhou Xuan distributed the ball to Matthews on the periphery, and the Bulls switched positions to interfere. Matthews ignored Lore Deng on the side and forced his shot, and the ball was deflected. Boozer got the rebound, the Bulls fought back, and Rose gave the ball to Bogans, who shook off Mozgov for a fast-break basketball. 2 to 4.

Once the Bulls counterattack, Mozgov's advantage becomes a disadvantage, and he is too tall to defend back.

The Knicks attacked, Zhou Xuan and Studamayre blocked and dismantled, Boozer switched defenses, and Lore Deng released Gallinari from behind to form a co-defense.

Lore Deng was not named to the All-Defensive Team because there was too much defensive talent at the small forward position. He has good strength, and Zhou Xuan's space for dribbling is compressed from the side, and he passes to Gallinari, he is not too far away, and he can also save to interfere.

Zhou Xuan hoisted the ball to the middle to Stoudeyer, Xiao Si squeezed Rose and turned around, Thomas let go of Mozgov to complete the change, and Xiao Si forced a shot. It's better to pass the ball to Mozgov under the basket, Stadamire has the height and the vision to do it, but he didn't expect this, this is the sadness of the man who averages 2 assists per game at his peak.

Boozer returned to the basket and grabbed the rebound by blocking Mozgov with his body. This time the Knicks and the rest of the defense quickly came back to defense, and the Bulls fell into a positional battle.

Boozer and Rose block pick-and-roll. Rose relied on his speed to get rid of Stoudeyer, got the ball to the baseline and stepped back to shoot the ball. 2 to 6.

The Knicks attacked, Zhou Xuan blocked again, passed back to the middle, and Stadameyer dropped the ball to Mozgov. The man who defended the basket became Boozer, who was more powerful than Thomas, squeezing Mozgov away from the basket and turning to hook his hands into the net. Lore Deng went inside and grabbed the rebound.

Mozgov didn't feel good, the Bulls lost Noah, and the defense wasn't as vulnerable as the Knicks thought. In the opening game, the two sides did not have a high shooting percentage, and it turned into a hard defense. After Thibodeau became the coach of the Bulls, the most improved place for the team was defense, and they were not afraid of positional warfare. Mozgov was on the floor, and the Knicks' counterattack couldn't play again. In order to protect the rebounding ball in the backcourt, forward Gallinari also had to shrink.

Rose scored eight points halfway through the first quarter, shooting 4-of-5 from the field, all of which were mid-range shots. With the Knicks trailing 10-17, D'Antoni called a timeout and replaced Mozgov.

The Russians are still too tender, not only the offensive performance is average, but also drags down the offensive rhythm of the whole team.

"Ross has improved again this season, he looks like a superstar, he has fewer assists than Zhou Xuan, but he's the most points among point guards," Barkley said. ”

"After the Bulls failed to chase James, Rose was also eager to shoulder the burden of leading the team forward," Smith said. This sense of responsibility makes him fight very hard. ”

Every NBA superstar wants to improve in one area of their ability over the summer, and Rose has improved in many ways, averaging 3 more three-pointers per game than last season. 2, two more free throws per game, and he also became the Bulls' player who has shot the most shots per game since Jordan, with 8. 9 times. He has great hopes of helping the long-dormant Bull dynasty awaken.

How did Ross make such progress?

In the gymnasium of Santa Monica High School in Los Angeles, Rose spent more than two months of the summer. During this time, under the guidance of his trainer Rob, he continued to train twice a day, six days a week, and focused on jump shots. Rob told Rose, "When you get to 40 percent three-point shooting, at a level where defenders have to take you seriously, our training is over." ”

Rob asked Rose to raise his shot and set the goal of "can't throw short shots". At the same time, Rose was given the assignment to practice 1,000 three-pointers a day without the ball or with the ball, cutting in after the pick-and-roll, and cutting out after the screen. It was this demonic training that allowed him to make great progress.

Rose is constantly learning, he's ready for the game, he's putting his heart and soul into it, he's never complacent. He's always striving to get better.

Since joining the Bulls as the top pick, the voices surrounding Rose have not stopped. Some people said that Rose couldn't shoot, and he turned out to be 47. 5% hit rate.

Last season, there were also people who said that Rose couldn't defend, and this kind of doubt began to emerge last season, and this season has reached ****. But Brandon? Jennings missed 10 shots and four turnovers against Rose against the Bulls.

Another question is that Rose won't shoot threes. Rose has hit almost four times as many three-pointers this season as he did in the previous two seasons, and his shooting percentage has gone from 26. 7% to 33. 2%。

The latest suspicion is that Rose takes too many shots per game, with some saying he's more of an Iverson than a pure point guard. But looking at the stats, he's averaging a career-high 7 per game. 9 assists, and he is the only player in the NBA league this season to rank in the top 10 in both scoring and assists statistics.

As the game continued, the Knicks replaced Mozgov with Anderson, adding an outside shooting spot, and the offense picked up slightly. But with Rose leading, the Bulls ended the first quarter with an eight-point lead over the Knicks.

The score was 24-32. Rose scored 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a single quarter, overpowering Zhou Xuan's 6 points and 4 assists.

Feeling Rose's momentum and seeing his hard work of rushing to the basket again and again even though he could shoot, Zhou Xuan also felt that this was a respectable opponent.