There are two sides to everything, Xie Chen and Anthony, the two main forces are unable to play, making it difficult for the Knicks to win and a crisis in their record, but the good thing is that Porzingis can grow rapidly during this time, without the constraints of the team boss, this rookie kid can have more playing time and more opportunities to touch the ball, and now Porzingis' performance has exceeded everyone's expectations, if he is given enough opportunities and ball possession, he may be able to become even better!

Phil Jackson heard what Xie Chen meant, touched his chin and said: "Let Porzingis be the core and give him more opportunities and responsibilities to perform, which will definitely make him grow a lot, but after all, he is not you, the growth rate will not be so fast, and the team's record during this period may not be too ideal." ”

Xie Chen smiled: "Isn't it not ideal now?" Rather than go on a losing streak and get something when you lose, Porzingis is your choice and you should know his worth better than I do. ”

Phil Jackson smiled after hearing this, when Porzingis was selected in the draft, there were many New York Knicks fans who didn't understand why Phil did this, and people generally looked down on Porzingis' future, until now, Porzingis played very well, and everyone began to make all kinds of afterthoughts, saying why did the Lakers have to choose Russell, Okafor or Porzingis which is not better than him? Some people even call "Zen masters" "divine operators".

Phil Jackson laughed: "I'm not a 'god operator', I did know at the time that he was seriously underrated, but I made up my mind to choose him because his style matches you very well, and he is very suitable to be your helper." ”

Xie Chen said: "So that's why I want him to grow up quickly, and I hope he can help me in the playoffs." Just like Hassan did last season. However, Porzingis' self-confidence is a little worse than that of Whiteside, and he should be a little more confident. ”

Phil Jackson nodded, "Okay, I see, I'll talk to Fisher, I hope this kid won't let us down." ”

……

The next game for the Knicks. It was a home game against the Chicago Bulls, and the Bulls' Rose was also absent, but it did not affect their overall strength, and it was very difficult for the Knicks to win this game.

Moreover, the whole team has reached a consensus that it is no longer important to win or lose, the important thing is to help Porzingis grow.

Porzingis and Lopez started together, and Lopez was unhappy. But this is something that will happen sooner or later, and it is not up to him.

Of course, Ci Shiping was also very unhappy, he thought that this group of main forces was gone, and he could be the boss, but he didn't expect the team to start focusing on cultivating that tall rookie.

The Bulls are currently in third place in the East, and if nothing else, at the end of the regular season. It should also be the ranking of this position, and Ross has rested a few games. And Jimmy Butler has become the team's scoring champion, not only is the offensive end more fierce than last season, but the defense has also become more domineering, a bit of Leonard's feeling, the last game with the Pacers until the last minute, it was Jimmy Butler who blocked Paul George's last shot.

Facing the Knicks without Xie Chen and Anthony. Butler won't even look at him directly, he's going to give the Knicks a massacre!

Jimmy Butler really wanted to play against Xie Chen, but he didn't have the opportunity to play against him this time, and he felt that it was a pity, so he walked to the Knicks' bench before the game. asked Xie Chen, who was wearing a suit, "You won't be banned until the end of the season, right?" It's really boring to play a team without you. ”

"Stinky boy, you say it again!" When Ci Shiping heard this, he was upset on the spot.

Xie Chen smiled: "Don't worry, you will definitely run into me in the playoffs, if you are sure that you can break into the Eastern Conference Finals, if you can't wait, we can play together in the All-Star Game next month, you, be my substitute." ”

"You ......" Jimmy Butler was deflated, and the results of the second round of All-Star voting are coming out soon, Xie Chen once again boasted about his dunking ability and three-point ability, and the number of votes must have soared, Butler is indeed not as good as Xie Chen at this point.

Jimmy Butler also let go of the cruel words: "You really shouldn't come to watch the game, because you won't be able to watch it later!" ”

Before leaving, Butler left Xie Chen with a weird smile, Xie Chen knew that Jimmy Butler's kid would hit this leaderless team hard, Xie Chen only hated that he couldn't go on the court to teach him a lesson, so Xie Chen set his eyes on Porzingis.

Porzingis felt Xie Chen's expectant eyes, he was also very nervous now, the team suddenly increased his responsibilities and let him take on the victory and defeat of this team, which is undoubtedly huge for a rookie, at this time, he also admired Xie Chen even more, Xie Chen was also a rookie last season, and he also took on the responsibility of the team, how could he be so calm and lead the team to win consecutive victories?

"I can't let Xie and Anthony down!" Porzingis clenched his fists.

The Bulls' Jimmy Butler, who was full of firepower at the beginning, frequently attacked the Knicks' basket and took the lead in the score, while the Knicks were unhurried and tried to put the ball in the hands of Porzingis, who started to feel good and hit consecutive mid-range shots.

Gradually, the Bulls suddenly felt that the Knicks had changed, and they seemed to be particularly dependent on Porzingis, but Porzingis' performance was not particularly good, and that could only be one reason.

Taking advantage of the timeout, coach Hojberg told his players: "Our opponent tonight is not worth mentioning, it is easy to solve, I don't think you have any reason to lose this game." However, I believe you can also see that the Knicks don't care about winning or losing, they want to retrain that rookie, he has already got 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks on your head, do you want him to get 30+10+10 for the whole game? After Xie and Cameron return, the Knicks are still a playoff powerhouse that threatens us, and we must not let that rookie grow up and seal him for me! You can't let him dribble a single ball! ”

Prior to this, Porzingis often got the ball in the high post and then dribbled to the basket himself, but after that, Porzingis would not have such an opportunity, as long as the dribble would be rushed up and broken by Jimmy Butler.

As the Bulls strengthened their defense against Porzingis. The constant pressure on him caused Porzingis to make frequent mistakes, and soon his mistakes reached a new personal high.

"Boy, do you want two pairs? You do it very quickly, and you're going to have ten mistakes in no time. Jimmy Butler smiled at Porzingis.

There is no Xie Chen's Knicks. It's so easy to fight, except for Ci Shiping, Jimmy Butler dares to bully anyone with two trash words.

Porzingis himself knows that he has many mistakes, which directly caused the Bulls to score and let the score be pulled away early, so Porzingis is in a very bad mood right now, he feels guilty and ashamed of his teammates. Ashamed of Xie Chen and the coach's trust in him.

As a result, Porzingis, who was already not confident, became even less confident.

Anthony, who was sitting in the players' box, whispered to Xie Chen: "Porzingis seems to be a little afraid to play, and the increase in mistakes makes him hesitate to shoot." ”

Xie Chen nodded: "This is his biggest problem now, confidence is always based on the premise of playing well, once you don't play well, you won't be able to play a little role." ”

So, this time. It is necessary for Xie Chen to stand up and help this junior.

The Knicks called a timeout, and Xie Chen pulled Porzingis aside. It came up with a slashing reprimand: "What about your shot?" Where's your card slot? Where's your rush? Why are you now becoming like wood on the field? Forget your mistakes, forget the number of times you hit the iron, you just have to remember that the team needs you and you can't back down at any time! ”

Xie Chen's voice was very heavy, and it was rare for the Knicks players to see Xie Chen speak so hard. Even the fans in the audience were dumbfounded.

Porzingis lowered his head and didn't say a word, and when he returned to the field, murderous aura appeared in his eyes, quickly. Everyone saw the familiar Porzingis again!

The Knicks missed a long shot, Jimmy Butler jumped under the basket to grab the rebound, who expected Porzingis to suddenly rush from the free throw line, grab the basketball with one hand and dunk the ball into the basket through Butler!

Once again, it's a violent buckle!

Jimmy Butler felt humiliated, his face turned red with anger, and he happened to see the Knicks player next to him cheering, especially the ridicule from Xie Chen, and became even more angry.

When Jimmy Butler walked back, Xie Chen didn't forget to stimulate the other party: "Fortunately, Anthony and I didn't play, otherwise, you were ridden three times by three people in a game, how could you still have the face to continue playing?" ”

Jimmy Butler doesn't stop, and he secretly vows to pay one back.

"Xie and Anthony are not here, this bad team is the object of my slaughter!" Jimmy Butler can't wait to get to the ball.

Xie Chen still knows Jimmy Butler a little, this person has a very similar place to himself, that is, he wants to return it immediately after being insulted, he has just been ridden by Porzingis, and then, with Jimmy Butler's ability, he is likely to rush in and detain Porzingis!

"Oops, Porzingis seems to be still immersed in the joy of dunking and not aware of the crisis." Xie Chen was a little anxious for Porzingis, if Butler rode him one more, this rookie kid didn't know what he would be hit.

For Porzingis, confidence is very important.

Xie Chen kept waving to Porzingis on the sidelines, and Porzingis finally saw that he found that Xie Chen made a finger shaking motion at Porzingis.

"Finger wagging? Is that my dunk wasn't fierce enough? Porzingis was in a fog, but he quickly figured it out: "By the way, finger shaking is Mutombo's signature move, he often shakes his finger after blocking his opponent, Xie means...... Let me get ready for the cap! ”

In the meantime, Jimmy Butler has gotten off the ground and is heading straight to the basket!

Porzingis tensed his nerves, hurriedly caught up, stretched out his long arm to block, although Jimmy Butler rushed fiercely, but after all, the height is too different from Porzingis, and he was rewarded with a hat by Porzingis, and he was directly fanned out of bounds!

Porzingis then shook his finger at Jimmy Butler.

The scene immediately boiled, and the Knicks bench was also cheering.

"Hahaha, Porzingis is shaking his finger at Jimmy Butler! He even learned to provoke his opponents! ”

"It's hard not to play on a Knicks team."

Xie Chen also smiled, just now he did this gesture of shaking his finger to Porzingis, just to remind him to pay attention to the block, and did not let him provoke the opponent, but he didn't expect Porzingis to really dare to do this, he was one step closer to the murderous inside.

Of course Butler was unhappy, he was just insulted by this rookie kid, but he didn't expect to be blocked by him next, and even if he was covered, he even learned from Mutombo to shake his fingers, what kind of thing dare you be so presumptuous in front of me?

Rose was not there, Butler was the demeanor of a big brother, and he pointed at Porzingis, babbling something in his mouth, but Xie Chen was not worried about the conflict, because Ci Shiping was on it.

Sure enough, Ci Shiping stood between the two and soon got along.

In the end, the Knicks still lost to the Bulls and lost the game, while Porzingis got an alternate quadruple-double of 30+10+10+10 in this game, 10 of which were turnovers.

In fact, Porzingis' performance in this game cannot be described well, because given the same amount of time and shots to Downs and Okafor, they can do the same, and even do better, with fewer mistakes. One can only hope that Porzingis is getting better and better one game at a time.

After the game, when the stadium was empty in the evening, Porzingis secretly came out to practice again, and it happened that Xie Chen also wanted to practice his training here, and the two met by coincidence.

Porzingis still feels guilty in the face of Xie Chen, he has a lot of dreams, such as championships, such as the best rookie, but now he has only one biggest dream, to let the team win one game, so that Xie Chen and Anthony can not be so disappointed. However, this victory is so difficult.

"I'm sorry, I made too many mistakes tonight, otherwise, I might have a chance to win against the Bulls." Porzingis said with a guilty face.

Xie Chen didn't say anything, took the ball in his hand, and said: "When I was a rookie, I made a lot of mistakes, so at that time, I didn't dribble the ball that shouldn't be dribbled, and the ball that shouldn't be passed was not passed, so as to reduce mistakes, but you can't learn from me, otherwise, you can't grow anywhere, the team can't win the ball at any time, you were broken many times today, then I'll train with you, and I'll try to break your ball." ”

"You're going to steal me?" Porzingis was nervous on the spot, Xie Chen is currently ranked first in the league's steal list! (To be continued......)

PS: The Warriors' winning streak was ended by our protagonist in the book, so in the real league, which team do you think can finish the Warriors?