Chapter 8: Hot Supernova

At 17:30 on the evening of July 14, a white girl wearing a suit pants and shirt and obviously professional attire ran into the basketball arena in Las Vegas out of breath.

"Scarlett, the game has 30 minutes to go, don't run, I'm tired of this old man." Behind the girl, a gray-haired old black man complained breathlessly.

"Jason, it's full 30 minutes before the game starts, it's just a summer league game, it's amazing!" The girl known as Scarlett said as she looked at the audience in the basketball arena with an attendance rate of more than 90%.

"Because, there are superstars in this game who are in the spotlight." The old black man who caught up said, "Are you familiar with the two teams that are about to start the game?" ”

"New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets?"

Scarlett replied, then flipped through the notes and said, "The New Orleans Hornets have relied on three rookies from last year in the summer league: center Hilton Armstrong, power forward Cedric Simmons, and small forward Marcus Vinnesis. However, these three are also the tallest of the bunch, and it is difficult to enter the team's main rotation in the regular season. ”

"And the Houston Rockets have the most amazing little man in this summer league, Brooks, a player who is recognized by the outside world as surpassing the level of the summer league! After scoring 32 points and 8 assists in the first game of the summer league, Brooks scored 35 points and 7 assists in this game against the Mavericks, and in the third and fourth games, he saw 26 points, 10 assists and 31 points and 7 assists in front of the Wizards and Kings respectively, and completely detonated Las Vegas with his hot performance of 31+8 per game in these four games! Now, everyone who follows NBA Summer League is discussing: Is Brooks the rookie of the best defender in this class? ”

"yes." The old black man looked at Brooks, who was warming up on the court and wearing the No. 4 jersey in the country, and sighed: "Although it is only the 26th pick rookie this year, Brooks's performance in the game really surprised me, an old guy who has worked in "Slam_Studios_Sports" for more than ten years!" Unmatched speed, mastery of fundamentals, quasi-All-Star level on-court control, and if it weren't for the slightly inferior projection and physical confrontation, I would have seen Iverson as a young man. ”

"No, he's even faster than the AI!"

The two who spoke were none other than Jason Walker, a special issue reporter for The Slam_Studios_Sports, and Scarlett Duff, an intern journalist who is about to graduate from college.

"What about Chris Paul, the Hornets' ace?" Scarlett was surprised by Jason Walker's high opinion of Brooks and asked in a low voice.

"Overall, Brooks and Paul are not players of the same level, but in terms of offense alone, maybe Brooks is not too far away from Paul." Veteran reporter Jason Walker watched as the field was empty - the two teams that had already finished their warm-up were making final preparations.

"It's really cool to be the manager, but it's a pity that there is only one last game left."

Because the NBA teams will return to head coaching in the preseason, this is David's last game as head coach.

He didn't boost morale as usual, because he believed that the group of disciples had grown up after winning four consecutive victories, so he just called on his disciples to put their hands together, chanted the slogan "We will win" and watched the starting five come on.

With the referee's whistle, the Rockets' final Summer League game of the 2007-08 season begins!

Jumping ball, still a little overweight, Mark Gasol undoubtedly failed again, but as usual, Brooks still snatched the ball back in an instant.

Brooks, who had no match in speed, made a quick layup and scored two points in the first place even though the opposing players immediately returned to the defense and the three recovered to the three-second zone but were not fully positioned.

The Hornets started playing positional battles as soon as they came up due to their height advantage, and all four players except point guard Adam Haruska pulled into the three-second zone, and the Hornets' Hilton Armstrong made an easy shot after feintting to shake Landry off the three-second zone line at a 30-degree angle.

Looking at Landry, who had taken another feint, the corners of David's mouth grinned slightly, and he said secretly: "It seems that the 'distribution system' should still be given to Carl in the selection of big forwards." ”

After Brooks bound Ryota Miyagi, David has been thinking about who should be bound to the other four positions of the "distribution system"?

Center, small forward and shooting guard don't need to think about it, Yao Ming, Battier and Maddy in the three positions of the Rockets are definitely the best candidates, because the other players in the three positions of the Rockets will be difficult to steal the main position from the three Yao Maiba even if they are bound to a star in the "distribution system".

Moreover, David has already picked the most suitable binding basketball star for defensive expert Battier.

In the selection of power forwards, David is a little hesitant, after these 4 games, Luis Scola is undoubtedly better than Karl Landry, although Landry is more energetic and better defensively, but as an older rookie and La Liga MVP, Scola is too demonic, and his personal offense and passing make David almost become his fan.

According to David's logic of making the strong stronger in the past, he should not hesitate to strengthen Scola.

But what he hesitates is that after the Rockets already have two absolute strong points in the starting lineup of Yao and Mai, and there is "Iverson Jr." Brooks in the bench lineup, what does the Rockets need is an offensive strong point Scola? Or a better defensively Landri?

Basketball is a team sport after all, and it is not the strongest lineup composed of the five strongest players that is the strongest lineup, but also a chemical reaction.

Just as David was thinking, the Rockets made a simple pick-and-roll outside shot after Brooks possessed the ball across the halfcourt, and Novak hit a three-pointer to take the lead again, and Brooks also got an assist.

"It's easy." Scarlett Duff said.

"That's right." The old reporter continued: "The main thing is that Brooks' offensive power is too strong, and the Hornets value him very much, if it is one-on-one, the entire Las Vegas Summer League has not been able to suppress Brooks' outside players, and can only send people to help defend, so the decisive point of the Rockets in this game is the performance of the Rockets' players in addition to Brooks." ”

The Hornets, who were once again behind, continued to play unhurriedly, and after Hilton Armstrong diluted the attention of Marc Gasol and Landry, power forward Cedric Simmons hit a dunk shot against Novak's defense.

Brooks watched Novak stumble under the basket after being hit by Cedric Simmons, and sighed: "Novak was also born at the wrong time, if it were ten years later, with this long-range shooting ability, it would not be so miserable." ”

Immediately, David stood up, clapped his hands, beckoned the team to come over, and made a gesture to the gun, signaling the team to speed up.

After receiving the ball, Brooks understood what David meant, and a behind-the-back dribble, suddenly, instantaneously activated, broke through the Hornets guard and approached the basket, jumping in the direction of Cedric Simmons in the direction of the basket in high speed.

Cedric Simmons jumped up and threw his hands up at the basketball. But Brooks just handed the ball to his left hand for a layup, but Cedric Simmons' hands were already on Brooks' right hand that was holding the ball.

I saw Brooks exert his strength in the waist and abdomen, and he stood up in the air and threw the basketball into the hoop.

"Tick!"

"Two points and one free throw! Hornets foul once at No. 5! ”

"What a great two plus one!" Scarlett Duff was quite excited.

"Well, it is. But Brooks' two-plus-one is estimated to be difficult to see after the regular season, after all, his strength is still not enough, and those old fritters in the NBA will not give him such an easy opportunity. Jason commented, "What Brooks needs to do this summer is try to increase his upper body strength without compromising his speed and shooting feel. ”

Jason's words are similar to David's explanation to Brooks, and increasing strength is Brooks' top priority for more than two months before the start of the preseason.

However, David has added Brooks' core strength, just like the future unanimous NVP Curry, although he still looks very thin, but his core strength is at the forefront of the NBA, so he is not afraid of confrontation whether it is outside the three-point line or in the three-second zone.

With Brooks' free throws, the Houston Rockets' fangs gradually showed in front of the Hornets, regardless of the speed of passing, running and air cutting, the speed of passing, running and air cutting was greatly accelerated, and the 24-second attack time was often only half of it, and Brooks's ability to move the ball was even more obvious, and there was no mistake at all in such a fast offensive and defensive speed.

The basketball crowd was even more enthusiastic — the Houston Rockets, who abandoned defense and focused on offense, looked like the Suns a season ago.

Brooks was like Nash, completely detonating the Houston Rockets' offensive firepower, and the Rockets' shots before the end of the first half were as high as 48, with an average of 2.4 shots a minute, making the scene extremely beautiful, and the audience was even more addicted!

With 12 seconds left in the first half, Brooks dribbled in the first half and waited for the final attack.

(End of chapter)