Chapter 4: A small whirlwind in the backfield
"Are you okay?"
"No problem, Coach."
"Very well, the next few minutes will be your challenge, and the other party will make targeted adjustments to you." Hollins said earnestly.
In fact, Li Ming knew that he was buying as much time as possible for Conley, and in their eyes, he would never be the one who could decide the direction of the game.
As the whistle blew and the second quarter began, the Los Angeles Clippers replaced Randy Foye, a strong guard from Indiana University, while Paul sat on the sidelines to rest. Normally, he would play with about seven minutes left in the second quarter.
"Hey, rookie, you need to keep your eyes open." Randy Foye walked past Li Ming and gently patted his buttocks.
"Damn, such a stinky fart, it's up to you? You think you're Maddie. Li Ming looked down on these stars from the bottom of his heart.
Admittedly, his college career was brilliant, but his entry into the NBA was a mess.
No team's top brass will take the time to develop young players who are consistently unplayable or glassy.
Talent usually cannot be exchanged for equal value, which is true for ordinary people. Randy Foyer and the Bucks' Jennings are the same kind of people.
"A player with a single attribute will only eat each other with speed and body, impulsive, and unstable shooting." Li Ming's brain quickly filtered his information.
"Okay, the game has begun, Randy dribbled past half court, and it was Li Ming who was opposite him at the moment." Barkley said lightly.
At this point, the Grizzlies have players on the court with Ming Lee, Tony Allen, Randolph, Cunningham and Arthur. Marc Gasol and McConley sat down to rest. Shaq adjusted the back of his chair and lay lazily half-reclining, his hands folded in front of his waist.
On the Clippers' side, Nick Young is back in the loop, and this is the moment when he and Crawford lead the second team to score points.
These two brothers are well-known masters of chaos in the league, with two tall and long-arm forwards around them, a substitute guard to command and dispatch, and the lineup is not much better than the opposite.
After all, their coach is an NBA champion coach, a man who can wrestle his wrists with the Spurs' old man Popovich.
"Hey, Randy." Nick Young makes a catch-and-catch gesture and runs past Randy Foyer.
"A small two-on-two?" Li Ming blocked Nick Young's breakthrough route in advance, but he just pretended to catch the ball, and the ball passed to Crawford on the other side unconsciously when the two of them overlapped.
"Oh no, fooled." Li Ming secretly screamed badly.
"It seems that this tactic is often used in training, and I have been deceived." Barkley kept an eye on the situation on the field, and his interest was rising.
Crawford waved his big hand, and several people instantly pulled the side, freeing up the entire middle line, and it seemed that he was going to start speeding.
"No, Cunningham is going to suffer, although he has a pair of long arms no less than Guy, but his defense is not stable, and he is more inclined to gamble on the top of the game." Shaq could see at a glance the pros and cons on the field.
Li Ming also had a hunch that Cunningham would lose his defensive position, so he turned around and freed up the long distance on the right and shrunk the basket.
After Crawford got rid of Cunningham, he suddenly found Li Ming in front of him, and could only jump up and pass to Nick Young on the weak side.
With less than two seconds left on the offensive clock, Nick Young made a hasty shot.
"Don't go in, don't go in." If he entered Li Ming, he would definitely be scolded by the coach, and he once again gave up his defender and position.
Fortunately, the ball slammed into the front of the basket, but the rebound was still picked up by the Clippers' Bobby Simmons. Randy quickly went up and asked to get out of the three-point line and regroup.
"Damn, I'm scared to death, Nima, I can't waste my strength anymore, I have to hurry up and force Paul up, I can't waste time on such a second-rate person." Li Ming began to cheer himself up, his palms constantly slapping the floor.
"Look, do you see, that yellow-skinned boy is starting to get serious." There were people in the stands shouting.
"His name is Li Ming." I don't know who answered.
"Li Ming? That's the B
Lee's uce lee??"
"Lee, knock him over and show them your true strength."
"Go, Asian boy, fly." The FedEx Center began to heat up, and people shouted and flung the plastic rods in their hands.
The corners of Li Ming's mouth rose slightly, and he snorted coldly, and suddenly an arrow stepped close to Randy, covering his passing vision with both hands, and Randy wanted to get rid of it several times but didn't open Li Ming.
"Boy, it's okay, it's a little physical." Randy started trash talking, Li Ming didn't answer, he didn't want to be harassed by him at the moment, just waved his hand vigorously to block his passing route.
"Damn, give me the damn ball." Crawford began to get impatient, "Ah, it's okay if Chris usually presses the rhythm, you're old." He cursed fiercely in his heart.
Crawford rushed forward, almost snatched the ball from Randy's hand, and threw it into the unmarked Simmons corner without stopping. It seems that he is quite calm.
However, after all, it was too urgent, the power of the ball pass was too great, Simmons didn't catch it well, and he made a slight adjustment before he was ready to shoot the basket, and it was this fleeting effort that Arthur had already made up for it.
"Jamal is a singles player, so he shouldn't have passed the ball, that's not his forte."
"Isn't it, those who don't know think he's passing a bomb." Barkley chimed in.
"No one can catch a ball like this, it's a pity that a great opportunity was missed, and now Arthur is in the best defensive position, and it's unrealistic to shoot or make a layup, so we'll see what happens next."
"Nick Young is coming from the other side, Randy stands up early, a simple double screen, the ball is in the hands of Nick Young near the free throw line, wow, he's strong, he's strong, I'm going to shoot, he's going to shoot, I saw him jump high, perfect shot."
"Wait a minute, what's going on, when did that Huaxia kid get to that position?" Barkley exclaimed, "Wow, the No. 7 guard from Huaxia slapped Nick Young's ball down in the air, and this amazing bounce really makes people suspect that this little yellow-skinned man has a black soul living in his body." โ
Before the ball went out of bounds, the two sides fought fiercely for the floor ball, Arthur gave the ball to the No. 7 Chinese defender who came to meet in the ground, and the No. 7 flicked his wrist and hit the ground across the half...... Wow......"
"Shaq, let me tell you, this ball can't be passed without twenty years of skill, such a long distance, this point card...... There are no more than five people in the entire league who can make such a move. Barkley coughed as he spoke, yes, he had just choked on a mouthful of water.
"Yes, I feel the same way, I've worked with top passing masters like Steve in my career, so I know the gold content of this ball, and it's not an exaggeration to say that tonight's defender from China has overshadowed Chris, at least for now!"
Shaq O'Neill held the microphone high and danced in the studio. It's clear that ESPN needs this topic too much to boost ratings, especially in a small city like Memphis.
Speaking of the game, just now, between the lightning and flint, Li Ming's non-stop pass crossed the frame throughout the entire half accurately found the fast Randolph to complete a wonderful empty blue layup, then again, for a 230-pound big man, Randolph is simply a round lightning.
19-22, only three points away, Li Ming stared at the scoreboard and smiled slightly.
Randy Foye quickly passed through the midfield, and a series of passes of the ball fell to the unguarded Bobby Simmons again.
At this time, everyone found out that this was a strategy of Coach Hollins against Coach Rivers's substitution, he deliberately laid a trap to induce the players on the court to pass the ball to the unmarked Simmons, so that Simmons's shortcomings without projection ability would be infinitely magnified.
"Yes, Lionel Hollins is still a little expected, and in an instant, Rivers' targeted substitution advantage turned into a disadvantage, and he penetrated Bobby's shortcomings without a basket early on." Barkley's review hit the nail on the head.
"Yes, Bobby originally came up to deal with Rudy Guy, who was tall and long-armed, but he didn't expect Hollis to press Guy to the bench, and instead replaced him with Arthur, who was younger and faster in his movements.
The most important thing is to seize this point in defense, and the Clippers' mistake just now also started from Bobby's point. "Shaq was already on his feet, he couldn't sit still at all.
In this way, the Grizzlies playing at home can safely shrink the basket and prevent the Clippers from breaking through. Let's see if the Clippers make any targeted adjustments. โ
Bobby hesitated for a moment to get the ball back into the hands of Nick Young on the outside, and Nick Young threw a difficult drifting three-pointer against Arthur's defense with little time left.
Unfortunately, the box was not touched, and the 24-second violation, the home team Grizzlies had the ball.
"Oh yes...... the home team cheered, and the earwax of the shock could come out, "I can't imagine that the enthusiasm of the FedEx Center Arena can match that of Salt Lake City, Utah." โ
Li Ming pushed forward quickly, and at the moment when his eyes first made contact with Randy Foye, he made a beautiful turn, leaving him behind, and strode into the paint area.
Buckley and O'Neal, who were so fast on the spot, didn't react.
"Come on." Simmons, who was teased one after another, stood still on the inside, "Yellow boy, brother, I was a dominant NCAA existence back then, let's teach you a lesson, let you know what hot pot is." โ
Simmons said something in his mouth, and after Li Ming jumped up, he also raised his arms and jumped hard, and the feeling of oppression that covered the sky and the sun came to his face, and Randy Fuye behind him jumped almost at the same time, and Li Ming was caught in the middle.
I saw Li Ming with a cat waist, hunched over to change the ball to his left hand, and pressed the ball into the basket in a falling glide.
"RED's No. 4 hitter fouls and adds a free throw." When the whistle blows, the referee makes a penalty gesture to the podium.
"Wow...... See, that Asian kid ......" FedEx Center was detonated again, wave after wave.
Li Ming opened his arms, walked near the middle line and closed his eyes deeply, "Cheers, please be more enthusiastic, I want more cheers, more praise, come on......"
His lowly appearance does not have the inherent image of a Chinese player who is low-key and introverted (refer to the Houston Rockets' YAO)
"Damn, this is pretending." There was a wave of disdain on the Clippers' bench, a stark contrast to the bench on the other side.
Coach Hollins crossed his arms to his chest, his face was expressionless, but the assistant coach next to him clenched his right fist, roaring and screaming, venting his emotions wantonly, perhaps because he had been rubbed for a long time.
Rivers didn't call a timeout, and it seems that he wants to give Paul and Griffin more time to rest, or maybe he didn't have the small man in mind.
Also, there has never been a shortage of ace point guards in his hands, from the Celtics' Rajon Rondo to today's Chris Paul, which one is not the top existence?
"Shaq, did you see that? His head was already level with the frame. โ
"Yes, I saw it, and what's even more terrifying is that the speed at which he travels with the ball reminds me of a man."
"Who?"
โJoh
Wall๏ผ๏ผ Shaq replied in the affirmative, his eyes never left the No. 7 Chinese player on the field, the man with the speed of the wind.
Yes, the name "John Wall" says it all, there is no need to go into details.