The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 44 Another Young Core

"FU...CK!" Back at the hotel and seeing Heizi's message, Zhang Xiaotian couldn't help cursing.

He's also boring. It's hard to say if Heizi is a fan. He shouldn't have joined both accounts. If you just browse the website, you won't see so much slander.

He felt that the task was completed for the Pacers. Isn't it enough to half-restrict Paul George?

Those bastards just know how to make a fuss about statistics. Well, he only scored 9 points. Can you blame him for not having enough possessions? Not to mention the core, as long as he is the second player of the team, he can add 9 in front of 1.

He copied Heizi's words about him to the fan club, and despised him with a group of fans for a while, his wounded heart was finally comforted.

However, some fans praised him and made him a little embarrassed. He is already at the same level as Paul George. The Spurs should focus on training him and let Leonard be his younger brother, but they must not let his teammates find out that he pays attention to these.

Suddenly a somewhat familiar avatar popped up to agree, Zhang Xiaotian hurriedly sent a message to Yang Feiyu, and someone who was too busy to win was caught by him.

On November 11, the Spurs flew to Toronto to play against the Raptors.

The Raptors got Kyle Lowry this summer, and the back line has become younger, but the record still hasn't improved much.

Their starting lineup has an advantage in height except for the No. [-] position, but Dominic McGuire at the No. [-] position is just a false starter, a blue-collar forward.

So Zhang Xiaotian enjoyed every opponent's treatment, being chased and confronted physically.

He doesn't mind, and the protagonist of the Spurs' first quarter is not him.

First, Duncan succeeded in a jumper inside, and then Parker scored a layup, but the opponent Kyle Lowry felt good and hit two consecutive three-pointers.

Zhang Xiaotian also hit an open three-pointer after getting rid of the opponent once.

The Raptors' inside line also took advantage of their height and strength, and the scores of the two sides rose alternately.

Soon, the Raptors replaced Jose Calderon and began to play dual point guards. Zhang Xiaotian's opponent immediately became the core DeMar DeRozan cultivated by the Raptors themselves.

As the new core of the Raptors, it is also an anecdote that DeRozan can hardly shoot three-pointers.

But after defending, I realized that the opponent is much more difficult to defend than Zhang Xiaotian imagined.

Too flexible, no wonder some people say he is like Kobe, Zhang Xiaotian's defensive methods are a bit useless.

When he just switched defenses, he had a simple idea. Since he doesn't care about the opponent's three-pointer, he should switch to blocking two points. Anyway, if he is broken, there will be Duncan behind him.

Unexpectedly, DeRozan pulled up and leaned back when he was turning around the baseline. Like Paul George before, it was difficult to interfere when shooting.

Zhang Xiaotian was not discouraged. What was he afraid of? The opponent was a famous person. It was normal for his performance to be inferior to DeRozan. If he could restrict his opponent a little more, he would make money.

No matter what you do, you must be ambitious, but you must have a good attitude.

Having been in the NBA for almost a month, Zhang Xiaotian has also mastered a lot of essentials for defensive moves, so it's fine if you don't get too aggressive in the confrontation.

DeRozan beat him twice and scored only one, Zhang Xiaotian was still able to accept it.

The Spurs trailed by 24 point at 25:1 in the first quarter. Then the team completely entered the rotation period. The substitutes on both sides performed well on the inside. Dior did feel better after playing as a substitute, and he can often bully the opponent's rotation players.

But in terms of rebounds, Dior didn't protect so well. The Raptors' Ed Davis grabbed offensive rebounds several times to score, and they immediately took the lead.

But after the starter came back, the Spurs had the advantage again. Duncan and Parker scored consecutively, and this kind of scoring was simply difficult to defend.

If it weren't for Ginobili's bad touch, the Spurs would have thrown off their opponents long ago.

It’s just that if there is no if, Ginobili is indeed declining compared to the previous two seasons. When he is old, even if his skills and awareness are still there, there will always be times when he is unable to do what he wants.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't do much on the offensive end, mainly taking turns with Danny Green to limit DeRozan.

The Raptors' other scorer, Bargnani, was handed over to Diaw. Although he was so much taller, it was no problem to shoot against Diao, but Diao made people uncomfortable, and Bargnani's hand feeling was not good.

The two sides drew at halftime, and the Spurs' current problem is still the problem of the third scoring point.

Without Leonard, Zhang Xiaotian still couldn't completely replace his role in the first three quarters.

There are deficiencies to admit, but Zhang Xiaotian also has advantages over Leonard, and it is a smart person's approach to give full play to his own advantages.

In the third quarter, DeRozan began to play with the ball a lot, and Danny Green could only block in front. Whether he can defend it depends on the sky.

The Spurs quickly let Zhang Xiaotian play again. Zhang Xiaotian was still the same old way, exhausting himself without the ball. After the opponent received the ball, he could only block in front like Danny Green to create some pressure for the opponent.

Now the key is not defense. The Spurs began to misfire on offense. Coach Popovich quickly adjusted and replaced Ginobili. Zhang Xiaotian went down to rest early.

On the offensive end, Ginobili has more means and confidence.

Yaodao is Yaodao, even if the front is in a mess, when the team needs him, he stands up and hits consecutively to stabilize the situation, and the score between the two sides becomes entangled again.

In the last quarter, Zhang Xiaotian couldn't sit still anymore.

When I have the ability to help the team and I am not on the court, my heart is really burning.

Popovich looked back at him, resting his chin on his hand thoughtfully.

After playing a few starts, Popovich still can't fully understand Zhang Xiaotian. This player is still a little different from the big-hearted players he has coached before. His performance in the final quarter is not just about confidence.

During this period of training, Leonard was not there, and Popovich also incorporated Zhang Xiaotian into the main team to observe carefully. He felt that he was really average. He can only say that Zhang Xiaotian is an actual player.

There are also quite a few actual players, and there are more players who can't actually fight. Zhang Xiaotian is a bit metaphysical. Popovich doesn't mind using metaphysics to win, but he is unwilling to let the team rely on metaphysics.

Therefore, his positioning for Zhang Xiaotian is only a substitute surprise soldier who can disrupt the opponent's plan.

At the critical moment, the Raptors still choose a lineup of two point guards. In fact, this is not a big threat to the Spurs. The main reason is the height of DeRozan and the opponent's inside.

Popovich looked at the time, "Zhang Xiaotian, get ready to play."

Zhang Xiaotian smiled immediately, because he didn't have the core of man-marking the opponent, so there is no problem with his physical strength today.

When he came on, it happened that DeRozan made a foul and made a free throw.

Enduring this guy for a long time, hitting him on the back again and again, Zhang Xiaotian rushed towards DeRozan aggressively when he got the chance to attack, then turned around and sat inside, then turned around and pushed him inside, and jumped into a standard center distance.

(End of this chapter)