NBA: Start with a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar template card

Chapter 4 Training Match

Early the next morning, Chen Xiao was woken up by the persistent sound of the alarm clock. He did not sleep well last night because of his excitement. He was half asleep and half awake until 2 or 3 in the morning. Fortunately, he set the alarm clock in advance, otherwise he would be late on the first day.

After washing up, Chen Xiao found that Lan Mo's dormitory had another great advantage. The mirror on the sink was placed in a very suitable position, which allowed him to look at his face effortlessly.

The long and thin face would look awkward on someone who is not tall enough, but it would look small on a "giant" like Chen Xiao who is far beyond ordinary people.The proportions of the three courtyards and five eyes are well-proportioned and balanced, the facial bones are strong, the facial lines are smooth, the nose is straight, and the eyes are clear.

Chen Xiao couldn't help rubbing his chin narcissistically, yes, he was almost as handsome as before.

While Chen Xiao was still admiring himself, there was a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw that it was Seth Curry who had made an appointment yesterday.

"Good morning, Seth, where are we going now?" Chen Xiao asked.

"First, let's go to the team restaurant. Since you don't have an exclusive recipe for your new team, you can follow mine first, but the breakfast recipe itself is relatively simple. Just pay attention to the intake of protein and dietary fiber."

After the two had dinner in the team restaurant, Seth brought Chen Xiao to the academic center.

Every day from 10:[-] am to noon, it is the cultural class time for the Blue Devils players. In the academic center, there are dedicated academic instructors to teach the players some general education courses, study skills, time management, etc.

There is also a small whiteboard with the DUKE logo on the wall of the study room, which reads:

Effective reading strategies:
1. Preview the text to know what to expect;

2. Read the introduction and conclusion;

3. Read through the text with the goal in mind;

4. Take short notes in the margins as you read.

At 1:[-] noon, Chen Xiao finished today's study. Today's content is very interesting. It is to teach the players first aid knowledge. After a week, the players will be organized to obtain the Red Cross ambulance certificate.Of course, even for some "big and rough" players who have been educated by sports since childhood, the difficulty of these courses is not high.

Then came the part that Chen Xiao was looking forward to the most, the team training.

After arriving at the team's locker room, even though Chen Xiao had seen the locker rooms of some professional teams on the Internet before, when he arrived at Duke's locker room, he still had a different feeling when he was there.

Follow Seth to find his wardrobe, dark solid wood exterior, with a nameplate engraved with the jersey number and player's name - "#13 CHEN"

At this time, the assistant coach Chris, the middle-aged white man who handed Chen Xiao the sports equipment yesterday, was mainly responsible for the affairs off the training field.He told Chen Xiao that before Yao Ming entered the NBA, they might misspell the names of Orientals, but now with the popularity of the NBA in the Chinese market, these small mistakes are no longer possible.

Chen Xiao was thoughtful, "Maybe I was in Kunshan before, and the old K asked me to try out because of this, but my own hardware is here, and there is a precedent of Yao Ming, so it will not hurt to try out."

According to the player information that Chen Xiao filled out yesterday, Chris brought Chen Xiao a large box of Nike sneakers. Because the Duke Blue Devils are sponsored by Nike, all players can only choose Nike shoes. Of course, the obligation also brings the right to wear them for free.

At this time point in 2011, if Chen Xiao had to choose, he would choose to wear Kobe's ZK5, but as a heavy insider, Kobe's shoes are not suitable for him, so he chose a pair of LBJ8 to make do with it first.

While changing equipment, yesterday's opponent, Mason Plumlee, also came to the locker room. It may be because both of them are big men, so their wardrobes are arranged very close.

Originally, Chen Xiao thought that Mason might be dissatisfied with him because of yesterday's defeat, but it would be a little embarrassing if he bumped into him today.Unexpectedly, Mason was quite friendly and took the initiative to bump fists with Chen Xiao.

After changing the equipment, the players entered the field one after another. After half an hour of warming up, the old coach K signaled everyone to line up in two rows.

The old K coach had a lot of prestige in the hearts of the players, and the players quickly lined up, and Chen Xiao, who was the tallest, also stood at the back of the line with everyone.

"Our regular opponents this season are North Carolina and Maryland. I don't need to say more about the strength of the two. In the new season, we don't have starters or substitutes. I need all of you to do your best in training. I will determine the starting lineup before the game based on your performance." After finishing speaking, Old K clapped his hands and signaled everyone to start training.

The training match was divided into blue and white teams. Although Chen Xiao had just arrived, he still put on the blue team's jersey and played as a center forward.

According to the grouping, we can see the coach's intention. Chen Xiao of the blue team will act as the center partner Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins on the outside. Neither of them has excellent scoring ability, and they are more of a passer and shooter.

The outside line of the white team is dominated by Jr. Rivers. Although he is only a freshman, his title as the No. [-] high school student and his scoring statistics during high school prove that he has a strong ability to attack independently.The Plumlee brothers - Mason and Miles - were piled up on the inside, and the two jointly restricted Chen Xiao.

Mysle Plumlee is Mason's older brother. He entered Duke University a year earlier than Mason, and he is 6 feet 11 inches tall like his younger brother.Last season, he averaged 5+5 points and rebounds per game, and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Second Team.

At the beginning of the training, Chen Xiao asked for the ball from the low position on the right side of the basket for the first ball of the blue team. Seth, who was in control of the ball, immediately dropped the ball into Chen Xiao's hands.

This time Chen Xiao didn't immediately use a turnaround hook to end the attack. He felt that Mason behind him was almost completely on his body. Although Mason's absolute strength was far inferior to his, the weight of a hundred kilograms still had its value.

Since the defender's center of gravity was so forward, Chen Xiao grabbed the ball with his right hand behind his back, stood on tiptoe, and tried to turn over and hook his hand. Mason jumped up subconsciously.

It was indeed a two-handed dunk. Chen Xiao's dunk was not light. The rim was lowered by a few centimeters visibly to the naked eye. However, Chen Xiao was supposed to jump down after the dunk. He forgot that he was not the 2-meter-long swingman that he saw in the collection.

Letting go of the basket and running back to his own half, Seth rushed over to give Chen Xiao a high-five, "Chen, you should be gentle, the basket is about to be pulled down by you." Seth joked.

"I will pay attention, next time I will treat it gently, maybe next time I should put the basket on tiptoe with both hands?" Chen Xiao responded with a smile.

(End of this chapter)