I really can't handle the ball

Chapter 164 Did Li Xuan Encounter the Rookie Wall?
On December 12, after the Mavericks beat the Spurs back-to-back, they got two days of rest, and then they will face the devil schedule of six days and five games.

After returning to Dallas, Nelson specially called Li Xuan to the office for a detailed discussion.

"Li, you have performed very well during this period of time. I am very pleased that you have made progress in all aspects." Old Nelson praised.

"Coach, you have praised me. I still have a lot of room for improvement in all aspects. I still need to train harder to improve my strength." Li Xuan responded humbly.

After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, they began to discuss the topic.

"Li, through more than 20 games, the team has used scientific methods to record all aspects of your physical data in detail. Your physical strength is much better than that of ordinary rookies. This is why I did not limit your playing time. But the upcoming schedule is very unfriendly, I hope you can be mentally prepared." Nelson said the purpose of this conversation.

"The coach means to limit my playing time?" Li Xuan understood the old Nelson's words.

"Li, don't think too much, it's all for your sake. If you waste your energy, you may play very badly in the next few intensive games. This is also a hurdle that most rookies must pass through. If you pass the rookie wall, you will gain new life." Old Nelson patiently explained.

"Coach, I will follow the arrangements made by the coaching staff, but if the team is in danger of losing and I have no physical problems, please let me play." Li Xuan said his request.

"I agree to your request. Alright, let's go out for training. Remember not to train as crazy as before, but to maintain sufficient physical strength. After all, there is no time to recover in the upcoming games." Old Nelson patted Li Xuan on the shoulder and instructed road.

Li Xuan nodded, said goodbye to old Nelson, and left the office to continue his daily training.

……

……

On December 12, the Mavericks played at home against the visiting Houston Rockets.

Although the game was not broadcast live across the United States, the sports channel obtained the rights to broadcast the China Derby for domestic fans, and the popularity is still very high.

This is also the wishful thinking that David Stern has made for a long time.

In order to open up the Chinese market, as long as it is about the games between the Rockets and the Mavericks, the broadcasting rights are basically granted to the sports channel for free, which can be said to be very expensive.

After the start of the game, both teams allowed their respective offensive strengths to attack.

For the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki took the lead in tackling tough challenges. Facing Maurice Taylor, who was only 206 cm tall, the "driver" played like a duck to water.

If Taylor doesn't step forward to defend, the "driver" jumps up and shoots; if Taylor steps forward to defend, Nowitzki has a lot of offensive skills to display.

In a word, Taylor can't defend Nowitzki, who has been in excellent form recently.

For the Rockets, Francis and Dayao will work together internally and externally to take on the tough task.

The Mavericks lineup looks luxurious, but their one and five positions are defensive weak points.

The Rockets seized these two weak points for targeted attacks.

Faced with such a situation, the Mavericks also took countermeasures, allowing a master defense expert like Li Xuan to make up for the loopholes in the outside defense. As for the inside, it can only be handed over to other players of the Mavericks.

The Rockets' outside attack is limited, making their offense mainly focus on the inside.

Dayao showed strong dominance in the interior. Facing Nesterovic's defense, he used his height advantage to play very easily and scored consecutively.

When encountering double-teaming, Dayao can use his height advantage to pass the ball out and assist his teammates to score.

Nowitzki does not have an excellent defensive ability, and he can't go back after double-teaming, giving the Rockets an easy shot.

On the Mavericks' bench, Old Nelson saw the situation and didn't make any adjustments.

Although the game was fierce and anxious, the rhythm of the game was still firmly in the hands of the Mavericks. As long as the Rockets' big man's physical strength seriously declined in the second half, the Rockets would be defeated.

In this game, the old Nelson strictly controlled the playing time of each player and increased the time of the substitute players. This caused the point difference opened by the starters to be wiped out by the substitute players, and the game was played abnormally. anxious.

"The head coach of the Mavericks, Old Nelson, deserves to be a legendary coach. He distributes the physical fitness of the players reasonably, and the Mavericks will definitely have a certain advantage at the decisive moment." Director Zhang analyzed in detail.

Sure enough, when it came time to win the fourth quarter, the Mavericks immediately accelerated their offensive rhythm and caught the Rockets by surprise.

On the Rockets side, under coach Van Gundy's deadly manipulation, the Rockets' starting players were seriously exhausted.

Especially Dayao, he was the most affected, and his offensive and defensive efficiency dropped sharply.

The Mavericks speeded up their defense and counterattack. Taking advantage of the Rockets' players' lack of defense, they seized the opportunity to score consecutively and established the victory in one fell swoop.

In this way, the Mavericks defeated the Rockets 98 to 90 by relying on the explosion in the second half of the fourth quarter, winning four consecutive victories.

数据方面，李轩上场32分钟，投篮12投7中，其中三分球4投2中，罚球两罚全中，拿到18分9篮板3助攻2抢断3盖帽的全面数据。

In this game, the task assigned by the coaching staff to Li Xuan is to focus on defense, and there are not many opportunities to get shots, so the statistics are mediocre.

诺维斯基投篮20投12中，其中三分球2投1中，罚球4罚4中，砍下29分7篮板2助攻的数据。

Nash had a double-double of 11 points and 14 assists.

火箭方面，大姚上场42分钟，投篮21投13中，罚球5罚全中，砍下31分12篮板3助攻2盖帽的两双数据。

Although Dayao's stats are better than Li Xuan's, I still feel very sorry for not being able to win.

After the game, Li Xuan exchanged a few words with Dayao, and after saying goodbye to each other, they went to the player tunnel and went back to the locker room.

Originally, Li Xuan wanted to treat Dayao, who came from afar, as a landlord, but due to the tight schedule, he had to give up this idea and could only wait for the next time.

After returning to the dressing room, Li Xuan took out his clothes from the locker and went to wash and shower.

……

……

After the game with the Rockets, all members of the Mavericks boarded the flight non-stop and rushed to Washington.

December 12, Verizon Center Arena.

Tonight, the Mavericks will play back-to-back against the Washington Wizards.

At this stage, the Wizards have a record of 8 wins and 16 losses, ranking second to last in the Eastern Conference.

During the offseason, the Wizards' personnel has undergone a sea change.

In the summer, Michael Jordan announced his retirement, leaving the Wizards without a leader, and the team's lineup suddenly became dim.

The Wizards management immediately made remedial measures, forcibly poaching Arenas from the Warriors and training them as core players.

This season, Arenas averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, possessing the strength of an All-Star.

But only relying on Arenas can't make the Wizards rise. After all, Jordan didn't do it either. Therefore, the Wizards still need to wait a little time to rise.

Although the Wizards had a poor record, they still fought against the exhausted Mavericks.

After the start of the game, the Wizards entered the state very quickly, constantly hitting the basket of the Mavericks, causing damage.

In less than 2 minutes, Nesterovic received two fouls and had to replace Bradley.

But Bradley moved too slowly to make up the defense in time, allowing the Wizards to score consecutively in the penalty area.

On the Mavericks side, Nowitzki tried a few shots, but the effect was not very good, and he felt cold.

Immediately, the Mavericks changed their offensive method, allowing Li Xuan to run without the ball and try a three-pointer from the outside.

But the Wizards were obviously well prepared. They would switch defenses when they encountered a screen. Anyone who was close to Li Xuan would go to defend closely. Anyway, they would not give Li Xuan an easy chance to shoot.

After encountering strict defense, Li Xuan quickly changed his offensive method and ran to the low post to ask for the ball in singles.

The Wizards also took corresponding measures, directly double-teaming and forcing Li Xuan to pass the ball.

The players of the Mavericks were affected by physical strength, their condition was not very good, they felt cold, and they failed to convert the ball passed by Li Xuan into a score.

Seeing such a situation, Li Xuan sighed helplessly. He felt McGrady's mood before, and at the same time cursed inwardly.

"The head coach of the Wizards is really enough. I am just a role player. Is it worth your time to study and formulate specific tactics?"

Tucao belongs to Tucao, but it is worth being happy to be valued by other head coaches.

The Mavericks' offense was paralyzed, and the Wizards' offense was playing in style.

Arenas has a quirk. He likes to explode when he is playing against a strong team.

Li Xuan once suspected that this guy has a superstar sniper system that specializes in hunting down powerful players. After all, being able to become an All-Star player from a second-round pick is also inspirational enough.

Arenas felt very hot in this game, hitting difficult three-pointers from the outside many times.

This guy will go up when he is high, no matter who is facing the defense, he will shoot against the defense.

Li Xuan would not spoil him, and rewarded him with two big hot pots.

After being blocked in a row, Arenas came back to his senses, knowing that the defense against the Mavericks' No. 10 player should not mess around.

In the following games, the players of the Mavericks were in a sluggish state, while Li Xuan was strictly defended, with limited opportunities to get shots, and the passed ball could not be converted into points, making it very difficult to chase points.

After the Wizards took the lead, they gradually grasped the rhythm of the field, stopped attacking indiscriminately, and made no more mistakes. This made the Mavericks have no chance to play a defensive counterattack, and the chance of a complete reversal to win is slim.

In the end, the Mavericks lost to the Wizards 91-99, ending their four-game winning streak.

数据方面，李轩上场36分钟，投篮13投7中，其中三分球5投2中，罚球3罚3中，拿到19分11篮板7助攻2抢断4盖帽的全面数据。

If it weren't for his teammates' lack of strength, Li Xuan could get a triple-double again. After all, getting a triple-double in his rookie period would definitely make headlines.

诺维斯基投篮19投7中，其中三分球4投1中，罚球7罚6中，砍下21分5篮板2助攻的数据。

Nash scored 8 points and 7 assists. This is the worst game he has played in recent games. Not only did he fail to reach double figures in assists, he also made 5 turnovers, and his state was extremely sluggish.

奇才队方面，阿里纳斯投篮28投15中，其中三分球7投3中，罚球8罚6中，砍下39分3篮板3助攻2抢断的全面数据。

After the game, all the Mavericks players did not accept interviews from media reporters. As the loser, they did not want to be whipped to death by media reporters.

After playing the Wizards, the Mavericks got a day off, and then they will return to home to start back-to-back Devils schedule.

When all members of the Mavericks took the flight back to Dallas, the results of the game were rapidly fermenting outside.

In the final part of a basketball talk show, the host specifically discussed the upset game.

"Li Xuan, the hottest new star in the league today, what do you think of his performance in this game?"

"I personally think that Lee's performance in this game is not up to standard. Through the analysis of the game, he did a good job on the defensive end, but he failed to play the performance of the previous few games on the offensive end.

Through the video of the game, we can see that he took very few shots. I guess it may be that after being targeted for defense, he dared not shoot. At the same time, we found that the Wizards did not give him an open shot. The drop in scoring is an inevitable result . "

"Thank you for the detailed analysis of the experts. This is the end of the program. See you next time."

After the show was broadcast, it quickly gained the approval of some people. Before Li Xuan performed exceptionally well and there were no doubts, but now it is not as good as before, and different voices began to appear.

He failed to score 20+ points in the two games. According to some experts, Li Xuan may have hit the rookie wall.

For the sake of sales, some small newspapers also started to gossip, publishing some negative news reports about Li Xuan.

"The fall of a new star, is it a flash in the pan?!"

"The performance of the 13th overall rookie continues to slump, has he hit the rookie wall?!"

"Li Xuan's performance continues to be sluggish, and James is expected to overtake and return to the top of the rookie list!"

When Li Xuan returned to the apartment where he lived and saw these reports, he didn't take it seriously. He was very aware of his situation.

He doesn't have any problems in physical fitness, and it is impossible for him to hit the rookie wall. After all, he has the [functional drink] produced by the system, so there are other reasons for this illusion.

First of all, the coaching staff limited his playing time, and assigned him the task of focusing on defense, so that he would have fewer shots and his scoring would naturally drop.

Secondly, each team began to defend him in a targeted manner, which did not pay attention to him before the start of the season, so that he could not easily get open shots as before.

"It seems that the next game should be played well, otherwise after the first round of All-Star voting is released, it will definitely be questioned."

After Li Xuan made up his mind, he seriously prepared for the next match.

(End of this chapter)