Chapter 96: The Battle of the Mavericks
After the game, a middle-aged bald white reporter stopped Chen Shu and said that he wanted to interview Chen Shu for a few minutes, and he was not in a very good mood after losing, and the other party was not a pleasing beauty, so Chen Shu naturally didn't want to be interviewed, but he couldn't bear the reporter's entanglement, so he agreed.
"Hello Chen, I'm Andrew Beale, a reporter for the Oklahoma Journal, you got 21 points and 6 assists today, are you happy with your performance today?"
"Of course not!"
"You have high requirements for yourself, so how do you feel about the strength of the thunder?"
"Wow, there's no doubt about that, the Thunder are definitely one of the strongest teams in the league right now, they have Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka and a lot of other dominant players."
"It seems that you have a high opinion of the Thunder, so do you think the Thunder can win the championship this year?"
"Well, this is too difficult for me, although I am just a rookie, but I know that no team dares to say that it will definitely win the championship, after all, there are many strong teams, such as Spurs, Heat, Bulls and so on."
"Well, that's true, today you and Westbrook are in the opposite position, do you think which of the two of you is better!" Andrew Beal has been talking about some inconsequential topics before, but this question is a little acute, after this game, when Chen Shu and Wei Shao were opposed, they were suppressed, so this local reporter in the Russian city wanted to embarrass Chen Shu.
“。。。 Kindness. You know Westbrook is already one of the best point guards in the league right now, he's got a lot of impact, he's got a lot of physical talent, he's got amazing physical, he's better than me, but I think my projection is better than him, for now, he's a star in the league, and I'm just a rookie, and this is my first season, and I think the next time we meet, I'm going to be even stronger. Chen Shu was very clever and did not answer positively.
After casually chatting a few words on a painless topic, Chen Xu sent the reporter. He'll be back in the locker room as soon as possible and travel with his team overnight to Dallas City, Texas, where tomorrow they're set to play back-to-back away games against the defending champion Mavericks.
The game between the Suns and the Thunder, which was broadcast live in the United States, has attracted a lot of media and fans' attention, and the situation and results are not very unexpected, but the media and experts who have been looking down on Chen Shu and the Suns team have not found a breakthrough to attack Chen Shu during the Suns' 4-game winning streak, and in this game, the Suns lost completely, which gave these media a chance to vent.
"Asian rookie was crushed by Wei Shao, Thunder beat Sun"
"The Thunder three young people cut 70 points, and the Thunder beat the Suns"
"Wei Shao 2 pairs, blow up China Chen"
。。。
Under the rhythm of exaggerated headlines in the media, many racists once again came up with their racist remarks in the comment section of major news:
"Sure enough, China's Chen is powerful because of the media hype, and this time he met Thunder, and finally exposed his essence"
"China's Chen Cap is also a role player in the NBA, and some people said that he can become a superstar, which is just laughing to death"
"The first war returned to its original shape, and the Suns led by China's Chen couldn't fight a tough battle at all, and it seems that the Suns' choice was wrong"
The Oklahoma newspaper also published a news article after interviewing Chen Shu:
"China Chen thinks that he and Wei Shao have their own merits, and they will become stronger when they meet again, and they will not lose Wei Shao"
Under this article, many Wei Shao fans have attacked Chen Shu:
"The Chinese guy is just lucky to have a big market behind him, and someone will pay attention to him with his strength?"
"It's good that China's Chen can be based in the NBA, and he is not ashamed to be comparable to our Wei Shao, so dream about it."
"Garbage, no self-knowledge at all, I can't find the north after being beaten by Wei Shao on the field"
"I went to see the scene, and China Chen was so frightened by Wei Shao that he didn't dare to defend...
In fact, many people know that Chen Shu's data is not much worse than Wei Shao's, and if Chen Shu hadn't chased points every time the team fell behind, maybe it would have gone into garbage time after halftime. But all this is ignored in the eyes of many American fans, who will only see the Suns lose by a big score, and that's how Kuroko sees things.
In the Chinese media, it's a different picture entirely:
"Chen Shu 21+6, the Sun lost to the Thunder"
"Chen Shu withstood the pressure, faced Wei Shao, and won 21+6"
And the comment area under the news is also one-sided in support of Chen Shu's remarks, of course, there are still a small number of fans who are still singing about Chen Shu, but there are very few such people, because Chen Shu continued to play a wonderful performance, even if he lost this game, but Chen Shu 21 points and 6 assists, close to 45% of the shooting rate, is still very powerful.
At this time, Chen Shu was actively preparing for the game, and he was watching the Mavericks' game video with his teammates to understand the Mavericks' style of play and prepare for tonight's game.
The Mavericks didn't have a lot of success since they were founded, but after selecting Dirk Nowitzki in the 1998 draft and trading for Steve Nash, the Mavericks officially became a powerhouse in the West. In the 2005-06 season, the Mavericks won the Western Conference championship for the first time and reached the NBA Finals. In the 2006-07 season, the Mavericks put up a franchise-best 67-15 record and became regular season champions. In the 2010-11 season, the Mavericks defeated the Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Thunder in the playoffs in succession, reached the Finals again, and finally took revenge on the Heat, winning the first championship in team history.
As the defending champions, the Mavericks have declined this season, and currently only have an 11-8 record, which can only be ranked seventh in the West, which can be said to be not a good result for the Mavericks. But the reason is also obvious, due to the aging of the Mavericks, as well as the premium of player contracts after winning the championship, the Mavericks gave up renewing some players, in order to ensure the competitiveness of the next team, to free up salary space to chase the free market "big fish" this summer, the team let go of Chandler, Barria, Stevenson and Butler, and the strength was greatly reduced.
Although the Mavericks have undergone plastic surgery and shrunk despite sending away starting center Chandler, guards Barria and Stevenson, and starting small forward Caron Butler, no team dares to underestimate the Mavericks this season. Because the team's cornerstone player Derk Nowitzki is still brave, he can still play an average of 20.5+7 per game this season, plus the older and more demonic point guard Jason Kidd, the all-round forward Sean Marion who has both offense and defense, the killer jet Jason Terry, and the demigod Carter and Friend Mom Killer who just joined this season. Dronte West, Lamar Odom, who averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season and just won the Sixth Man of the Year award. It can be said that the lineup is still luxurious, and the Mavericks are still a powerhouse in the West, but the shortcomings are also obvious, that is, the players are generally very old.