Chapter 5 Counterpoint to Wells
Led by Andrew, everyone left the home team locker room and stood on the floor at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
For the first time, Chi Liang began to look at the arena.
Maybe it's because the Nuggets' record is too poor, or maybe the summer league is not very attractive, and there are very few fans who come to see this game, and they are scattered in the arena of Nuoda.
It's just that there are few fans, but they are still very 'quiet', and there is not much cheering after the Nuggets play.
The home fans are the most important part of the arena atmosphere, but the Nuggets' record last season was so poor that they almost nailed it to the shame post, and the lack of stars on the team made the fans too lazy to cheer.
The enthusiasm of the fans is not high, Chi Liang can understand, but what he is most worried about is being discriminated against, he is the second yellow player to enter the NBA, and he is easily racist.
Maybe it's the relationship between the home games, even if some fans are unhappy with Chi Liang, there is no discrimination.
Of course, no one cheered him on.
There were no surprises, with Ji Liang and Lafrenz in the starting lineup.
In addition to them, there are three people on the fringes of the team, commonly known as the water cooler keepers, who can't play on the team and want to make a show through the summer league.
The same goes for the Trail Blazers, except for Bunch Wells, the others are all fringe players, and even Ji Liang has never even heard of their names.
In the warm-up stage, Ji Liang took the initiative to understand the strengths of the other three players, especially the scoring area they are best at.
They knew Chi Liang's ability, and Chi Liang was designated as the organizer by the assistant coach, so they naturally didn't dare to offend easily, and hurriedly explained the scoring areas they were good at.
After the warm-up, Chi Liang got to know them a little more, which helped him with the organization behind him.
Soon, under the organization of the referee, the two sides began to enter the jump ball session, which was carried out by Lafrenz and the opposing center.
The next moment, the referee tossed the orange basketball high, and when the basketball began to fall, the two centers jumped up one after another.
With better bounce, Lafrenz got his hands on the basketball and flapped it aside.
Wells wanted to compete for basketball, but unfortunately he was firmly stuck behind by Ji Liang and had no chance.
Chi Liang skillfully controlled the ball, his eyes were a little dilated, and he seemed to be paying attention to the running of his teammates all the time, causing Wells to subconsciously think that Chi Liang wanted to pass the ball and was inevitably distracted when defending.
At the moment when he was distracted, Chi Liang jumped straight up outside the three-point line, and at this time Wells wanted to block, but it was obviously too late.
Brush~
The basketball hollow went into the net to open the scoring for the Nuggets.
Seeing the basketball fall into the basket, Chi Liang let out a low sigh, his face showed excitement, and he began to turn around and return to defense.
After the Trail Blazers kicked off, the point guard just dribbled past half court, and Wells leaned on Ji Liang at the waist position and beckoned to the point guard for the ball.
The point guard did not refuse, Wells was their biggest card on the court, so naturally they didn't dare to offend easily, and hurriedly threw the ball to Wells.
Wells grabbed the ball with both hands and started playing low singles.
Although he is less than two meters tall, his tonnage is heavier, but compared to Ji Liang, it is more or less inferior.
Of course, that's not the point. The focus is still on Wells' big pis, and he has a similar style of play to Barkley, with a good ability to play in the low post.
Wells leaned his back against Chi Liang, and his pi strands began to exert force, Chi Liang felt a little uncomfortable, but he still exerted his body strength, and he didn't take half a step back.
In this case, Wells changed his strategy and his shoulders began to shake, giving the impression of turning around at any moment.
"Left or right?"
For Wells, Chi Liang knows a little, after all, the other party is also one of the NCAA figures.
He didn't think Wells would choose to shoot because the guy's shooting was stiff and his shooting percentage was inconsistent.
Sure enough, after shaking a few times, Wells began to turn to the right, and Chi Liang hurriedly moved his footsteps to block the direction of Wells's movement.
However, at this moment, Wells stopped his movements and turned to the other side.
In the blink of an eye, Wells wiped past Chi Liang and rushed towards the penalty area with the ball.
When Wells attacked the penalty area, Ji Liang followed closely behind, and his speed was no slower than Wells, who was holding the ball.
Lafrentz wanted to help defend, but was entangled by the opponent's center forward and lost the best opportunity.
In this case, Wells jumped high and wanted to dunk the ball into the basket.
At this moment, a big yellow hand slapped from the side, and finally slapped the basketball on the rebound.
Lafrentz reacted quickly, grabbed the rebound immediately, and then passed the ball to his own point guard.
After dribbling past half court, the point guard hurriedly passed the ball to Ji Liang, and then began to run hard to get rid of the defender.
At this time, Chi Liang made a gesture, and Lafrentz hurriedly left the penalty area and took the initiative to block and dismantle for Chi Liang.
Before the start of the summer league, the two communicated and secretly reached an 'agreement'.
With the help of Lafrentz's blocking, Ji Liang successfully avoided Wells and rushed to the opponent's penalty area with the ball.
The center of the Trail Blazers was shocked and hurriedly stepped forward to block, but at this moment, Ji Liang hoisted the ball aside and was caught by Lafrentz.
Lafrentz stood at the edge of the penalty area, and it was Wells who defended him, and compared to Lafrentz, there was a clear difference in height between the two sides.
It was a misalignment, and Lafrentz didn't let go of the opportunity, jumping up unreasonably, almost ignoring Wells' defense, and throwing the basketball in his hand.
Regardless of height, reach or strength, Wells fell to the bottom and didn't put much pressure on Lafrentz.
Brush~
Lafrenz seized his chance and easily threw the ball into the basket.
After completing the score, Lafrenz and Ji Liang clapped their palms and complimented each other.
After the transition between offense and defense, it was not long before the Trail Blazers players passed the half.
Wells benefited a lot from his four-year college career, and after feeling the defensive intensity of Ji Liang, he did not take it personally, but took the initiative to start running, waiting for opportunities to find opportunities.
However, his teammates don't think so, they are all on the fringes of the team, they all have a desire to perform, and they want to be favored by the coach.
So, the point guard forcibly chose to shoot.
Bang dang~
Unfortunately, the basketball didn't hit, but bounced high.
At that moment, Wells burst into the box and then jumped high and pressed the basketball into the hoop with both hands.
Although the shooting is terrible, Wells' rebounding is quite good, coupled with a strong sense of scrambling, he can often grab offensive rebounds, which is what Wells is best at.