Xu Yong didn't pay much attention to Murray before, that is, he saw Murray's training come early in the offseason.

But DeLong said these words, which made him subconsciously pay more attention to Murray.

Then he found out that this little guy was really special.

For example, when it comes to training, the reason why he didn't pay attention to Murray after the start of the season is because he didn't see each other when he practiced in the evening, which made him think that Murray was just doing it in the offseason.

It wasn't until one time he trained late that he found Murray sweating profusely and came to the training gym, and after communicating for a while, he realized that Murray had been staying in the gym at night, doing all kinds of strength training, and then he would come to the training gym to do some shooting training.

"Why don't you advance a little earlier?" Xu Yong was a little puzzled, because it was already more than 11 o'clock in the evening.

And when he asked this sentence, Murray didn't answer at first, until he saw Xu Yong frowning, he explained, it turned out that he knew that Xu Yong was going to practice more at night, so he didn't want to bother.

Xu Yong felt very novel when he heard this, because generally speaking, newcomers would like to have the opportunity to contact the team boss alone, and there are people everywhere.

But Murray doesn't seem to want to "bother" him.

Of course, Murray didn't know Xu Yong's character, and thinking this way would show that he was different from the maturity of his peers, because he would think about others.

For example, NBA teams host community events to strengthen the connection between the team and the fans.

This time, Xu Yong went with Murray and Anderson.

Murray is usually a non-smiling person in the team, but in community activities, when he meets those community children, Xu Yong finds that he loves to laugh more than anyone else, and he is very active in instilling the idea of going on the right path with the children.

After these few experiences, Xu Yong suddenly found that he liked this guy a little.

And he also remembered a sentence that the hardships experienced in childhood may make people feel inferior, but they are also precious treasures in life.

Time has come to mid-April, after a season of competition, the 2016~2017 season regular season curtain has come to an end.

On the Western side, the Warriors had some ups and downs, but with the 27-game winning streak they achieved at the beginning of the season, and finally ended the season with 67 wins.

According to the statistics of several core players, Curry averaged 25.3 points, 4.5 boards, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, James averaged 25.1 points, 8.3 boards, 8.6 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, Thompson averaged 23.4 points, 3.7 boards and 2.1 assists per game, Iguodala averaged 10.2 points, 4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and Green averaged 7.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

The Thunder are in second place with 63 wins.

After losing Howard, the Thunder's record this season has risen instead of falling, which is impressive.

Durant averaged 30.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, shooting a career-high 53.7% from the field.

It wasn't until the end of the season that fans realized that what Durant said in the offseason was true, and he was really ready for the new season.

Harden is averaging 25.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, and if the opener wasn't convincing enough, he's now proving how much he looks like Jordan after leaving Kardashian.

The Mavericks are in third place with 53 wins.

Leonard didn't return until the end of the season due to injury and hasn't regained his form.

But unlike the Spurs at the beginning, Cuban gave Leonard full trust, and Aldridge's excellent play allowed the Mavericks to still occupy the top three.

The Jazz, Pelicans, Clippers, Grizzlies, and Trail Blazers are ranked 4~8.

In the East, the Bulls are also in first place with 67 wins.

Although not as obvious as the Warriors, the Bulls have actually encountered a lot of problems this season, such as the departure of Rose, the conflict between Jokic and Thibodeau, the conflict between Deron and Stephenson, and even the individual heroism that Butler played at some times.

But against these backdrops, the Bulls still have a better record than last season.

Moreover, this is still under the condition that Xu Yong is playing in the regular season.

Xu Yong averaged 29.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, shooting 51.9%/41.4%/90.4% from three.

Without excessive physical consumption, Xu Yong scored the [180 Club] for the first time in his career (shooting rate of 50% + three-point shooting rate of 40% + free throw shooting rate of 90+).

Butler averaged 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, including a career-high scoring record;

Adams averaged 11.2 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game;

Jokic averaged 12.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game;

Anderson averaged 7.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game;

The Raptors are second with 60 wins, the best record in franchise history.

DeRozan is still on a hot record, averaging 25.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, while Lowry also has 20.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 8.7 assists.

But what really changed the Raptors was Antetokounmpo's progress, who averaged 23.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in his fourth career, and there is already a faint tendency to compete with DeRozan for the team's top spot.

The Cavaliers are in third place with 58 wins.

In the second half of the season, Davis suffered some injuries, which caused some ups and downs in their record, and they were overtaken by the Raptors, but their overall strength is still strong.

The Pacers are fourth with 54 wins.

Celtic are fifth with 53 wins.

They were the most impressive team of the season, and they have been greatly strengthened on the inside after signing Al Horford from Atalanta, where Rick Grimes started his journey as the walking dead.

And Isaiah Thomas Jr., who is like a fish in water in the system created for him by head coach Brad Stevens, averaged 28.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, entered the MVP discussion range, and became the "strongest 175 on the surface".

The Magic are in sixth place with 51 wins.

George averaged 28 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, officially entering the peak of his career.

The Wizards (49 wins) and Hawks (43 wins) occupy the final two spots.

The Heat unfortunately missed the playoffs, which was also their first absence since the 08~09 season.

In the past few seasons, the overall pattern of the east and west has been strong in the west and weak in the east, but this year the situation has changed, and the teams with the strength to compete for the championship in the west are actually the first two, while the east side has the feeling of competing for the deer.

Before the playoffs began, the league announced the first awards.

Kyle Newscaster & Newspaper Boy Anderson was the first to hold his phone and broadcast the results.

Seeing his excited look when he picked up his phone, Xu Yong couldn't help but ask, "Tom is the best coach?" ”

"It's not." Anderson shook his head.

There was a burst of heckling from the rest of the dressing room, and Anderson scored a hat-trick in his third year.

"The best coach is Stevens in Boston."

Xu Yong nodded, this result was expected, the best coach was called the fastest improvement award, and this year's Celtics' record has improved greatly compared to last year.

And last year Kerr, the year before last year Thibodeau, the two best team coaches of this season have just received, as for Brooks and Casey, the Thunder and Raptors have a good record this year, but because they were also very good last year, they don't meet the fastest improvement.

"But......" Anderson then turned around, "Nikola is the best sixth man!" ”

Jokic's smile paused, a little incredulous.

Even Xu Yong didn't expect it, because generally speaking, the best sixth man is given to people with high scoring ability, such as JR Smith, Louis Williams, and Jamal Crawford, who Crawford has won twice in the past four years.

But think about it carefully, these people, JR started in the Cavaliers, Crawford is old, and Williams's Lakers team this season has the lowest record, as for the other teams who have not been able to score points on the bench.

"Nikolai got 39 percent of the votes, while Andrea Iguodala got 36 percent."

Anderson's next words also confirmed Seo's judgment, and he was only 3 percentage points more than Iguodala, and Jokic was also lucky.

"Come, Nikolai, your acceptance speech." Anderson looked at Jokic.

Everyone else in the locker room looked at him.

It was at this moment that Xu Yong noticed that Jokic's face was not particularly happy.

It's understandable, Jokic has ambitions, and he shouldn't care about this kind of award.

However, so many people stared at him, he still spread his hands and made a short speech: "Thank you, Coach Malone, thank you, everyone." ”

It was really brief, but Xu Yong heard something.

Jokic singled out Malone because he had played a key role in his journey, but he didn't have Thibodeau.

This is also normal, no one is a saint, and it is impossible for Jokic to have no ideas in his heart because he has been suppressing playing time by Thibodeau.

The Bulls' first-round opponent was the Hawks.

The Hawks didn't keep Horford this summer, but chose to sign Howard, which looks like it makes more sense for the lineup, Howard + Millsap, which is an All-Star interior combination.

Coupled with the release of Teague and the correction of the more impactful Danny Schroder and the younger goalscorer Kent Bazemore.

But the reality is that the Eagles' basket protection has indeed improved, but their offensive ability has dropped significantly.

Without Horford's response, and both Schroder and Bazemore are still too immature, the Hawks can't play team basketball even in the regular season.

As for the playoffs, Budenholzer has never proven himself in the playoffs.

In the face of such an opponent, the Bulls cannot be said to win easily, but can only be said to be effortless, and a wave of 4-0 is easily taken away.

Howard was pinned down by Adams the whole time, which made Atlanta fans start shouting to send Howard away.

But from the first round to the second round, there was a jump in the intensity of the game.

The battle between the Celtics and the Pacers is also the most intense in the first round of this year's playoffs.

Although Bynum is not very good now, and Paul and Anthony's strength has also declined due to the weight gain of age, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse after all.

In the first two games of the series, the Pacers defeated the Celtics at home to take a 2-0 lead.

It is worth mentioning that two days before the official start of the playoffs, Thomas Jr., the core of the Celtics, suffered bad news, and his sister died in a car accident in the early hours of the morning, which had a great impact on his state.

But back in Boston, the Celtics began to show their home advantage, and they levelled the score with two straight games.

And as the series deepened, the Pacers' fitness began to have some problems, and the Celtics seized the opportunity, and Thomas Jr. found his form in G5 and G6, scoring 30+ in two consecutive games to help the Celtics win 4-2 against the Pacers.

And after the good comeback from 0-2 down, the Celtics are now full of morale and are in hot form.

In the first game of the semifinals, the Bulls sat at home to wait for work.

But it was the first game between the two teams, and the Celtics, an old rival, gave the Bulls a little shock.

The Celtics' style of play is actually not unfamiliar, especially if you have seen Iverson's digital team back then, it will feel very familiar, the classic four to one.

On the offensive end, four people frantically created chances for Thomas Jr., while on the defensive end, four people frantically wiped Thomas Jr.'s ass.

It was this style of play that Iverson relied on this style of play to lead the team to the finals by himself.

Thomas Jr. is certainly not as capable as Iverson, but he is indeed too flexible and is like a loach on the court, and even Beverley can't do anything about him.

And there's one thing he's better than Iverson in that it's his willingness to pass, and he's essentially a point guard rather than a point guard.

So when the Bulls dispatch defensive resources, he can always get the ball to his teammates in the gaps.

This teammate, the most important thing is Horford.

Horford has a very chic nickname: the Ball Blind Examiner.

He's the kind of statistic that isn't flashy (he never averaged 20 points per game in an All-Star season), and if you just look at the stats, he's really not worthy of his name, but if you watch the game, then you'll see that his influence on the game is reflected in every way.

For example, in this game, Horford will always fall to a position within the three-point line after blocking Thomas Jr., and if Thomas Jr. does not score directly or pass the ball to an open teammate, then the ball will inevitably be sent to him, and he is the team's second playmaker.

When he feels like he has an opportunity, he either shoots or follows up on the basket, and when he encounters a help defense, he can immediately pass the ball to a teammate with a better chance.

Does this sound familiar?

Yes, he has a very similar technical style to Pau Gasol, but the difference is that he has better hardness, which makes him more capable on the defensive end, which is why he can play the number four position at the top of the number five position all year round.

And his versatility has been further demonstrated since the arrival of the small-ball era, where he developed a three-point shot last season.

Counting this season, he has taken more than 3.5 three-point shots in two consecutive seasons and can shoot more than 35% from the field, which is a space interior with production.

The Bulls can't limit Thomas Jr., which means they can't limit Thomas Horford Jr.'s offensive system.

And Thomas Jr. also has the ability to play the key ball, and his game-winning three-pointer before the end of the game helped the Celtics successfully drag the game into overtime.

And then, no more.

Overtime became Xu Yong's show, he cut all 11 points of the Bulls, and once in the restricted area and once at the three-point line, blocked Thomas Jr.'s shots twice in a row, and directly took away the game in a wave.

"Isaiah fought like an Assassin tonight, but unfortunately, he met the gods of this age, and how could humans compete with them?" Ross Barkley's commentary at the end of the game became a classic.

(The Pistons' Isaiah Thomas is nicknamed the Smiling Assassin, the two have the same name, and they play somewhat similarly)

The Celtics' G1 performance has been impressive, but if nothing else, they will struggle to threaten the Bulls.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Thibodeau adjusted his defensive strategy in G2, no longer trying to shrink the defense, but focusing on cutting off the connection between Thomas Jr. and Horford and other teammates.

There was nothing wrong with that adjustment, as Thomas Jr. had 33 points and nine assists in his last game, while Horford had a near-triple-double of 21 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.

The Bulls are also not afraid of Thomas Jr. scoring 30+ points, because that is not enough to kill the Bulls.

Then, Thomas Jr. used a performance of 18-of-33 shooting, 53 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to tell everyone that Thibodeau's choice was wrong.

With his god-like performance, Celtic forced to pull one back on the road.

Thomas Jr. also shocked everyone in the league with his performance in this game.

You know, Iverson's playoff high is only 55 points, and he is 8 centimeters shorter than Iverson (in theory).

And Thomas Jr.'s score is directly ahead of the Celtics, the NBA's oldest team in the playoffs for second in points, behind John Havlicek's 54 points.

The First World War was a god, and it was probably the same.

Xu Yong also expressed his full approval of Thomas Jr.'s performance in the post-match press conference: "I must admit that we can't limit him, he was the best person on the field tonight. ”

"But he won't have any more nights like this." But after praising it, Xu Yong added.

Xu Yong's words are very domineering, and what he says will not be thought to be a mouthful, but this can't help but make people curious, after all, if the Bulls could limit Thomas Jr., the past two games would not have been so difficult.

And I'm afraid that even Thibodeau can't do anything with the Celtics' style of play at this time, not to mention that the next two Bulls will go to Boston, which is the Celtics' real home court.

So fans are really curious about how Xu Yong will limit Thomas Jr.'s play.

It can be said that the current situation of the series, coupled with Xu Yong's remarks, has filled the attention of G3 in this round of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

And when it came to G3, Xu Yong gave the answer that everyone wanted to know, which was very simple, but it was indeed deadly, and it could be summed up in two words: roll call.

Xu Yong and Butler took turns naming Thomas Jr.

You must know that Thomas Jr. is only 1.75 meters, and when the two of them, especially Xu Yong, are misplaced against him, if there is no defense, then Xu Yong is equivalent to no one in front of him.

And when the Celtics were forced to put a lot of effort into the defensive end, their efficiency on the offensive end was clearly declining.

Compared to thinking about how to limit Thomas Jr., this way of forcing the Celtics to invest on the defensive end is significantly more proactive.

And when the Bulls grasped the initiative to try, the offense and defense on the court also changed.

The Celtics, apparently, can't limit the Bulls' offense.

116-89, the Bulls defeated the Celtics on the road, rewriting the score to 2-1.

Xu Yong cut a triple-double of 34 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, Butler also scored 24 points and 7 assists, and Thomas Jr. was a little stunned, only 8 shots in the game, and only scored 13 points.

Then in Game 4, the Celtics' off-the-market move came as scheduled.

In G4, the Bulls had a much tighter basket than usual when they shot, which allowed them to shoot the ball and bounce it into a long rebound.

Stevens also showed his ability to adjust by using Horford as a center so that the Celtics had two small guards in the backcourt, Thomas Jr. and Bradley, which allowed them to launch a fast break after getting a long rebound.

And in the positional battle, this lineup similar to the five small also made the Bulls feel the atmosphere of playing five small with the Warriors in advance.

With such adjustments, the Celtics played evenly with the Bulls in the first half.

But in the second half, the situation changed again, as Xu Yong and Butler began to take turns attacking the Celtics' interior.

Since outside shots are easy to be countered by, it is good to put the ball in the box or create a kill.

Especially Xu Yong, Horford can give full play to his physical advantages when facing Butler, but against Xu Yong, he was knocked away twice in a row, even if he was not knocked away, he couldn't restrict Xu Yong from completing the offense when he sank his center of gravity.

Playing this kind of five-small lineup, Xu Yong can now be said to be too experienced.

Xu Yong scored 23 points in a single quarter, and the Bulls scored 36-18 in a single quarter in the third quarter, which directly knocked out the suspense of the game.

Now it was Stevens' turn to sigh after the game.

"If the Bulls don't have Xu, I believe we have a chance to win tonight's game, and if we win tonight's game, we'll be back on the same page, but unfortunately we didn't."

Stevens also led the little-known Butler University (a small school with only 4,000 students) to the NCAA finals twice, and against Duke and Connecticut respectively, he is the one who has really seen the big scene, but tonight he was really convinced by Xu Yong.

The Celtics have fallen behind 1-3 in the big score after losing this game, and it is almost impossible to complete the comeback in the hands of the Bulls.

However, in G5, they played impressively in desperate situations, and they played extremely both ends of the offensive and defensive ends in the first half, which also gave them a lead over the Bulls at halftime.

But the familiar plot was played out again in the second half, and this time Xu Yong was even more unreasonable, because Xu Yong, who only scored 16 in the first half, scored 35 points directly in the second half, and sent the Celtics home directly with the first 50+ in this year's playoffs.

Before the end of the game, Stevens looked at Xu Yong on the court and raised his hand helplessly.

His mood now is probably very similar to Riley's back then: why is there no Jordan in my team, why is Jordan on the opposite team!

(End of chapter)