"Which of these goals for the new season do you find the most difficult to achieve?" Meritis and Yang sit together on the riverbank of Houston City Park, where a platform juts out into the water, paved with antiseptic wooden strips. Meritis sat at the very edge of the platform, her feet on the outside, a pair of flip-flops tucked between her feet, swaying freely in the air, air flowing through the tips of her toes, the tips of her hair, and the horizontal plane. The moonlight illuminates the water surface of the river, and the Toyota Center in the distance has been lit up with a circle of red lights, which is the most dazzling cityscape in the field of vision.

A pelican skimmed across the water, then flew straight into the reeds on the other side of the riverbank, causing a shuttle sound, and then disappeared.

"I think it's still the goal of being the best sixth player and the most improved player, and it's the hardest to achieve. Hardly possible. Yang Yiming replied while looking at the Toyota Center in the distance in a daze.

"Why these two goals? I think the Sixth Man of the Year, according to the role that Coach D'Antoni has given you, you will be very promising. ”

Yang Yiming shook his head and replied to Meritis with a wry smile: "This goal is probably the personal wish of Boss Fertita. ”

"Yiming, how could you say that?"

Yang Yiming turned a wry smile into a smile, lowered his head and put his head on Meritis's forehead: "Don't be nervous, I'm not questioning your boss." Mr. Fertitta is a nice guy and I admire his capable, straight to the point style. It's a bit like an athlete fighting on the field, where every blow has to go straight to the opponent's vital point. But I say that the goal of the best sixth man may be out of his personal desire, but he may not know the 'rules of the game' in the basketball world well enough. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Can't you see the clue in it?"

Meritis shook her head suspiciously, her eyes wandering, probably expecting Yang Yiming to continue to explain.

"Manager Morey and Coach Mike D'Antoni are NBA veterans, and Manager Morey is a doctor of statistics, I believe they must have thought twice, combined all aspects of the team's factors, and put forward a very reliable personnel arrangement proposal to Fertitta Boss: Our team brought in Carmelo Anthony in the summer, whether it is for the team's box office, maximizing the attack power of the starting lineup, and taking care of the mood of the new signings as much as possible, it is a very appropriate arrangement for him to serve as a starter and I serve as a substitute. This approach is an effective continuation of the tactics set out in the latter part of last season, and it was something I had anticipated before the conversation. ”

"You expected that you might be on the bench?!" Meritis was a little indignant. Yang Yiming almost forgot that she was a typical American girl with a brilliant personality and an optimistic outlook on everything. "I've watched your performance in the Asian Games, you should start this season!"

"I'm still far from it. The coach and manager Morey kept me on the bench and it was a protection for me. Yang Yiming said sincerely, "They clearly told me that they wanted to build me into an instant combat force in the rotation lineup, a 3-D player, which coincided with my thoughts." ”

This time Meritis did not refute again. She had heard Yu Xiaochun and Yang Yiming discuss 3D players many times the year before, and she knew a little bit about it.

3D players, that is, the requirements of a type of forward in modern basketball, can be pulled to the outside to provide stable three-point shot (3) output when attacking, and can deense (D) limit the opponent's forward players when defending, and have both of the above abilities, that is, 3D. Players who can be tagged in 3D are highly sought-after core building members of teams throughout the league. With the departures of Trevor Ariza and Luke Bamot in the summer, the only 3-and-D roles on the Rockets are PJ Tucker and Yang Yiming, who often play the No. 4 position — but the NBA's forward knives are getting more and more powerful, and the physical rigidity of the outside guard is getting higher and higher. After all, Tucker is limited by height and arm length, and in contrast, Yang Yiming is simply the opposite of the former, with perfect 3D player physical attributes.

"Even if the coach sets the on-court role for you as a 3D player, does that have an impact on the goal of the best sixth man, or the most improved player?" Meritis is still somewhat ignorant.

"Didn't you?"

"Is there one?"

"Didn't you..."

"Say it soon!" Meritis's small pink fist landed on Yang Yiming's broad arm. "I hate it, what a relationship to sell!"

"Actually, where is the sale! It's simply the easiest thing to focus on! Yang Yiming pretended to be aggrieved and patiently explained: "Since it is called 3D, which one do you say is the focus of his work on the field?" Offensive three-point shooting, or wholehearted defense. Surely both need to be taken into account. But in the case of our Rockets, my defensive task is definitely not going to be easy. Then I'm a defensive player who occasionally scores to open up the game, and definitely not the type who indulges in three-pointers and adds the icing on the cake to defense. Coupled with the fact that the team assigned me to lead the rotation lineup, my chances and ball possession were not as good as those of the 3D players who started on other teams. ”

Meritis thinks of Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and Kawhi Leonard, who switched to Canada from his Texas neighbor for the new season.

As if hearing Meritis's heart, Yang Yiming took over and said: "As a substitute, I have fewer opportunities, and if I focus most of my energy on the defensive part, I am afraid that my scoring work will really not be too good." ”

Meritis seemed to understand something.

"If I'm doing average offensive scoring, there's little hope of winning the Sixth Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards."

"Because the most important thing in the selection is the scoring data of the players."

"That's right, so smart!" Yang Yiming pulled Meritis together and put his hand on her shoulder on the other side, allowing the latter to lean on his chest. Listening to the powerful and heavy beating of her boyfriend Yang Yiming's heart in his chest, he saw a huge red player poster outside the Toyota Center Arena in the distance, and the third player on the left could still see the appearance of the Asian Yang Yiming if he could distinguish it himself. And now that she was on his chest, Meritis thought to herself, there was a hint of unreality, the flip-flops on her feet stopped shaking, and her face suddenly became hot and red. Fortunately, in the night, Yang Yiming beside her couldn't notice it.

"It's because if the scoring stats aren't convincing enough, it's absolutely not convincing to win the Sixth Man of the Year or the Most Improved Player award based on the defense of a 3D player alone. This is also where I think Mr. Fertitta may not be properly considered, the conflict between competitive and commercial value... Of course, he hopes that our team will have one more player who can cut NBA-level awards, and if it were me, plus the Chinese market behind it, of course it would be the most perfect..."

"Shhhh

"Huh?" Yang Yiming looked down, but only caught a glimpse of Meritis's beautiful blonde hair from the corner of his eye.

"A chirp."

"Hmm."

"At this moment, I lean on your arms, everything is enough, and I feel at ease."