On the pedestal of the Most Improved Award, there are four lines of small print.

First row, "2011-12".

The second line, "NBA's Most Improved Player." ”

The third line, "Tom. Forest. These are also the two words with the largest font in the four lines.

Fourth line, "Memphis Grizzlies." ”

Link wasn't on the plane back to Memphis until he was still looking at the trophy in his hand. The Most Improved Player award may not be an important award in the eyes of some.

After all, when people compare a star's individual accolades, the three most mentioned honors are none other than the first team, the championship and the MVP. It's not often that someone says that because whoever wins the Most Improved Award is.

But it was Link's first regular-season win of his career, and he cherished it.

This time, Link was happy from the bottom of his heart because he won the award. The joy of this sense of accomplishment is even greater than the joy of triggering the terms of the reward.

So when Link got off the plane and found that he had another hundred thousand dollars in his account, he was in a state of flux. Now, Link is no longer in it for the money, but for his career.

After all, what player wants their career to be underwhelming? What's more, it's still Link who has the ability to be an idol.

As soon as the players stepped out of the exit hall, they found that reporters and fans had gathered in large numbers in the airport hall.

The Grizzlies returned to Memphis with a 4-0 aggregate score, and Link also took home a Most Improved Player trophy, which naturally made the local media and fans in Memphis very excited.

Link looked at the reporters and fans gathered around and had a sense of a hero's triumphant return.

"It's just the Most Improved Award, it's such a big set. You say, if I could come back one day with the MVP trophy in hand, what would Memphis look like? Sitting on the team bus, looking out the window at the enthusiastic fans, Link and Randolph chatted.

"If you can get the MVP trophy, I guess the mayor of Memphis and the governor of Tennessee will come and meet you. The whole of Memphis is estimated to be empty. Randolph replied casually, he hadn't really thought about what Link would be like with the MVP trophy anyway. Because the word MVP is too far away for the Grizzlies players.

After all, it's an MVP trophy, and only the most dominant stars are eligible for that kind of honor.

But looking at Link's changes over the past year, Randolph suddenly felt that maybe anything could happen to that kid......

Last year, he was only drafted, but this year he became the most improved player and became the core of the Grizzlies. God knows what else he can do in the future. MVP？ Maybe it really works.

When the Grizzlies bus arrived at Federal Express Arena, the players disbanded on the spot and got a rare break.

Since both the Grizzlies and Spurs swept their opponents 4-0, they both had a few more days of rest. As a result, Hollins was able to pause training for a day to give the players a breather.

The Grizzlies' series war is temporarily suspended, and of course everyone knows that this is just a brief lull before the more intense war.

Meanwhile, in San Antonio, the players' daily training is going on as usual.

Burris. Dio was dangling around the locker room with a cup of coffee, and Duncan was discussing something with Popovich, flirting from time to time.

Parker was sorting out his sneakers, and Ginobili was keeping an eye on his locker for fear that his underwear would be stolen and frozen.

This is the Spurs locker room, where a busy day for the Spurs players begins.

Among all these players, Kawai . Leonard is the most special.

He doesn't like to tell bad jokes, and he basically doesn't react to other people's jokes. After a long day of training, you may see Duncan's self-confessed smile and Popovich make the media laugh with different tricks, but chances are you don't see Leonard change his expression.

Even, there is a good chance that you will not hear a word from him.

However, this taciturn silent child has now been fully embraced by the Spurs. In the middle and late stages of the regular season, first-year Leonard was already the starting No. 3 for the Spurs. In the series in which the Spurs swept the Mavericks 4-0, Leonard also played quite well as a starter.

Everyone knows that Leonard doesn't like to talk and doesn't like to yell. But it is clear to all that there is a lot of power in this taciturn child.

During practice this afternoon, Popovich noticed that Leonard's three-point shot was very hot. During the regular season, Leonard shot 37.6% from three-point range, but given that Leonard only averaged 1.7 three-pointers per game, the sample size is small, so that doesn't prove that Leonard's three-point shooting is outstanding.

In fact, Leonard's three-point shot is really inconsistent. His role at the Spurs was more of a defense than an offense.

But today, Leonard's three-point shooting percentage in practice caught Popovich's eye.

The guy's palm was too big to pluck the ball comfortably.

So the ball that Leonard throws is very low and flat. Ordinary people want to shoot in this arc, and the three-point shooting rate is estimated to be 20%.

But Leonard today, no, the entire playoff period, was pretty good.

Leonard shot as much as 40% in the playoffs while averaging nearly 3 three-pointers per game!

Truth be told, it was a surprise that Popovich did not expect.

The old man suddenly felt that maybe he could let this kid, who averaged less than 8 points per game, take on a more difficult offensive task to contain Link.

So, Popovich picked up the tactical board and began to write and draw.

If you want to deal with Link, you can't just rely on resolute defense, you have to have an attack to match.

Popovich smirked as he seemed to have found an important point of attack in the number three position.

※※※

On May 15, 2012, the second round of the NBA playoffs officially began. The Grizzlies will go to a place they know all too well – the ATT Center in San Antonio.

For this game, everyone from the players to the fans has been looking forward to it for a long time. But the process and outcome of this game were unexpected.

In the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies trailed the Spurs by 12 points! The San Antonio people are on fire today, completely devoid of the weakness they had against the Grizzlies last season.

It's the Spurs' offensive round, and Leonard silently runs to the three-point line. Duncan has already gotten the position and basketball on the inside.

Lao Deng Tou's performance today is very good, and he has scored 26 points so far, with a shooting rate of 60%. It can be said that after being beaten by Randolph last season, Duncan has completed his revenge this year, torturing Randolph, who has a bad knee, to death.

Seeing this, Link had to wrap himself up. Duncan is too strong today, if Randolph alone defends, it is estimated that "Stone Buddha" will have to score in this round.

Wrap Duncan, which is also Lionel. Hollings meaning.

However, as soon as Link caught it, Duncan very tacitly handed the ball to Leonard, who was ambushed outside the three-point line.

Link chased after him as fast as he could, trying to interfere. Leonard's three-point accuracy is a well-known problem. Link believes that as long as the interference is in place, Leonard's three-point shooting will not be able to continue to hit!

However, Leonard's long arms allowed him to easily avoid Link's block and take it in stride. As soon as Link landed, he heard the sound of the Nets tumbling behind him.

"How is that possible!?" Link scolded, then looked up at the data on the big screen.

"Three points again! This is already kawaii. Leonard made his third three-pointer of the day! 3 of 3 three-point shots, 100% shooting! God, I don't think even Popovich expected Leonard to be so accurate today! "Steve on the commentary stage. Cole helped Link tell Leonard's stats, and Leonard was full of confidence today!

After this goal, Leonard has already scored 16 points tonight! As a player who averaged just 7.9 points per game in the regular season, Leonard can be said to have exceeded the task!

Of course, this also means that Link is seriously derelict in defense today!

After this three-point shot, the difference between the two teams also became 15 points! At this time, there are only 5 minutes left before the end of the game, and the grizzlies are more than lucky!

Link gritted his teeth, it was too easy to beat the Nuggets in the first round. Unexpectedly, as soon as the Western Conference semifinals came up, the Spurs gave themselves a dismissal.

Leonard put a lot of pressure on Link on both ends of the floor.

Looking at Link's incredulous appearance, Popovich smirked.

Leonard's three-point shooting percentage didn't surprise him, as he had deliberately increased the number of times Leonard shot from beyond the three-point line.

He already knew that that No. 2 would not let him down!

Link looked at the taciturn No. 2 in front of him, and felt very uncomfortable. Playing against this kind of "can't speak" player can really suffocate people.

The revenge of the people of San Antonio is very fierce!