Chapter 3: A Man's Choice
There are only three people in the stadium who have official contracts, Corey Joseph is Canadian, Leonard has a quiet personality, not like a black guy, and James Anderson has unexpectedly become the core of several black brothers.
James Anderson is ambitious, he was the No. 20 pick the year before last year, Leonard was the No. 15 pick last year, he has a much better shooting ability, but the team's emphasis on both sides is too far apart.
Although he doesn't feel that Zhang Xiaotian, who has a slight conflict in position, will become a threat to him, it does not prevent him from using people to establish his authority, and he needs to establish his position as soon as possible in order to gain more initiative in the summer league.
Zhang Xiaotian finished several sets of prescribed basic cultivation, and was running baskets to warm up for the next group confrontation, but he didn't expect trouble to come to the door.
Twenty people train, and there are only four hoops in the arena, so it's normal to use them together.
The other party told him to get out of the way, which was an undisguised provocation, and Zhang Xiaotian was not a coward.
He turned around and walked up to James Anderson, his eyes looking directly at the other person, "What, grab the scene?" Then go heads-up according to the rules outside, and the loser will get out. ”
When playing streetball, this is what you do when you encounter a grudge, and everyone who plays is no stranger.
"Heads-up, yellow-skinned boy, you're going to go head-to-head with me, haha?"
James Anderson boasted that he had played in the NBA, and his expression was full of disdain, but when he saw Zhang Xiaotian's eyes had been very firm, and others also heard the movement and looked over, they realized that they had to show real skills to shake the court.
"Yellow boy, you're asking for trouble, I'll beat you up."
Zhang Xiaotian has experienced this level of provocation a lot, and he directly made a gesture of disdain, without timidity.
The two immediately confronted each other, and Jacques Vaughn's gaze swept in this direction, completely unconcerned.
James Anderson won his first strike with his guesswork, baring his teeth and striking a ferocious look.
He is positioned as a shooter for the Spurs, with the ability to catch and shoot with one hand, but he was also a core player at school, crushing an Asian kid of his size, and not comparing mathematics, he can definitely handle the opponent easily.
Seeing that Zhang Xiaotian posted it without hesitation, James Anderson was about to squeeze through with a change of direction.
It's just that James Anderson hasn't practiced for a whole month, and James Anderson has gained a few pounds of flesh and the pace of breaking through has slowed down a little.
Zhang Xiaotian squeezed forward and copied the ball from the unbalanced opponent's hand.
James Anderson immediately yelled, "Block, block, you're fucking foul." ”
Zhang Xiaotian ignored him, turned around and accelerated, and picked the basketball into the basket.
"Foul? Are you a bitch, do you want to call your mom over? ”
There was a burst of laughter around, and James Anderson lost face and immediately became angry.
He attacked with the ball, and pushed Zhang Xiaotian with an extra action in his hand, and pulled it up and threw it.
Who knew that Zhang Xiaotian was much tougher than he imagined, he was not completely pushed away at all, jumped up in time to block his shooting line and intervened, and James Anderson was forced to hit the iron.
Zhang Xiaotian took the rebound and dribbled out of the three-point line unhurriedly, and when it was his turn to attack, he suddenly accelerated, started directly with a simple change of direction, and used the impact to push people away and hit the cricket.
James Anderson's athleticism is very average, and Zhang Xiaotian's all-round skills are vividly played in the next duel, especially the ruthlessness that is careless, which is frightening.
"Maniac." James Anderson, who lost single-handedly, could only walk away with hatred.
Zhang Xiaotian smiled, "Crazy? Maybe, some people like to call me a mad dog, but I'm not the right person for the ball, and I have to go all out to win, don't I? ”
"All right, boys." Jacques Vaughn clapped his hands, "Next, according to the name I announced, divide into four groups and fight the whole court, and the time has come to show the real skills." ”
The three players under contract plus the fringe players who played for the Spurs last season make up the strongest group, with the Spurs focusing on rookies and European players.
Zhang Xiaotian felt that their group was the third or even fourth choice of players for the Spurs.
Moreover, they do not have an orthodox center in this group.
This unbalanced division of the ranks has made some people retreat.
There are 20 players, some of whom really want to enter the NBA, and some of whom have the mentality of earning subsidies.
Zhang Xiaotian and in their group, a black guy who had just followed James Anderson panicked and went over to ask James Anderson what to do.
James Anderson suddenly had a flash of inspiration, he is not in a good state now, he can't handle Zhang Xiaotian, but someone can.
He said to the little brother he just recognized: "It doesn't matter, you just play hard, I will tell the coach, you have to let that yellow-skinned boy face Kehuai, hehe, when he is killed by Kehuai, you will have a chance." ”
Jermichael Green thought it was a good idea, ran back, pointed to the strongest group and said to Zhang Xiaotian: "You will play the No. 3 position in a while, against Kawhi Leonard...... No, you're in the same position as him. ”
When Jermichael Green saw Zhang Xiaotian's sharp eyes, he suddenly felt a little weak.
The others also quickly shifted their eyes, in fact, there are three people in their group who are all swing guards, and they can all be paired with Leonard, but they know that the twenty-one-year-old is already the main force of the Spurs, and the first team of the best rookie last season is a notch higher than them, and whoever goes to the position will become a foil.
"No problem, I'll fight him, let's fight hard, the opportunity is based on fighting." Zhang Xiaotian's response was sonorous and powerful.
Marking the core players of the opponent, he has always done this, and good players should dominate both offensive and defensive ends, this is Zhang Xiaotian's motto.
If he doesn't have the confidence to play against a sophomore rookie, why should he impress the Spurs.
Jacques Vaughn asked four teams to send free throws to compete for the chance to play first, and Zhang Xiaotian withstood the pressure and stood last with Leonard.
Maybe the other two teams sent players deliberately didn't hit as many free throws so they wouldn't have to take the lead against the strongest team with plenty of energy.
Zhang Xiaotian is not afraid, he likes to fight with the strong, those guys who calculate too much can never become strong enough.
When the whistle blew for the match, French centre-forward Alexie Atkinsa jumped the ball for the opposition.
Zhang Xiaotian didn't care about the others, and immediately stuck to Leonard.
Leonard leaned on Zhang Xiaotian when he was in the position, and Zhang Xiaotian understood what an NBA-level body was, and James Anderson was too bad.
This is the challenge to professional basketball, and Zhang Xiaotian is completely excited.