unfinished glory

Chapter 20 Intra-team Games
After Li Chongxiao finished shooting, his teammates had already arrived at the training hall one after another.

Duncan was very satisfied with his performance, he just patted his head when he came over, and then coughed a few times pretending:
"Young people are in good spirits, and they can get up early to go to work every day. An old man like me can't wait to stick to the bed in the morning."

Li Chongxiao told him that he lived nearby.

After Devin Brown asked where he lived, he lamented that the house over there was not cheap to rent.

Even Parker was amazed when he found out that the house Li Chongxiao lived in was bought.You must know that Parker has only received three years of salary, and the total is only 240 million US dollars, which is still before tax.

Li Chongxiao shyly said that the house was given by his mother, and it was also a gift for him to enter the NBA.

The teammates were all envious and jealous, and then Horry asked curiously:
"Grandpa gave me a sports car, my mother gave me a house, so what did your father give you?"

"He told me it was a surprise," Li Chongxiao shrugged, saying that he didn't know: "I haven't seen it yet."

"Couldn't it be that he bought the Spurs?" Barry came closer and asked suddenly.

"Ah!" Li Chongxiao suddenly yelled loudly, and the others looked at him inexplicably.

"Good idea!"

Li Chongxiao sat down on the floor all of a sudden, took off his shoes, and pressed a few times on the soles.Then he put the shoes to his ear, pretended to make a phone call and said:
"Dad, don't prepare any surprises, just buy the Spurs as a gift. What? What do you buy it for? Let Manu play me as a substitute!"

After speaking, he waited for a few seconds, as if he had received some news, he threw his shoes on the ground without putting them on, and stood up.

With his hands on his hips and his chin held high, he scanned the arena as if he were looking at his new house.

Barry was also very cooperative, hurried over, picked up Li Chongxiao's shoes, pretended to take a piece of cloth from his pocket, wiped them on the upper, and said, young master, can you give me a raise in salary.

Duncan also came over, this time instead of touching his head, he squeezed his shoulders and asked if I could be included in the salary increase.

The atmosphere on the court suddenly became joyful.

However, the good times didn't last long, and soon it was time for the team to train collectively.Since there are many new players in the team, today's leadership training is mainly to cultivate tacit understanding.

Then let Li Chongxiao see Popovich's authority and temper, and he kept swearing during training.

Ginobili and Parker were scolded from beginning to end, and even Duncan would be babbled from time to time.

Seeing the indifferent look of the old players for a year, the new players are all awe-inspiring and dare not be distracted.

Relatively speaking, Li Chongxiao is quite used to it. He is a rookie himself, and it is normal to be called around. Moreover, at Duke before, the old coach K also said what he said.

During lunch, Li Chongxiao still could not escape the fate of being ravaged by the old team members. He was asked by his teammates to go to a designated store to buy pizza and drinks.

He pulled Udry up by the way, and the two ran for a while sweating profusely.

In practice in the afternoon, Popovich emphasized free throws.

With the disintegration of the biggest opponent in the league-the Los Angeles Lakers, the most important thing for the Spurs to solve is how to maintain their competitiveness.

The biggest problem facing the Spurs at present is the free throw difference. In the past three seasons, the Spurs' average free throw percentage is only 3%.

And last season, it dropped to 68.1%, the lowest in the league and the lowest level in team history.

Among them, Duncan's realization is "indispensible." His free throw percentage dropped to a career-low 59.9% last season.

This made Popovich worried: How can he win a championship with this kind of free throw percentage?
After completing a more intense confrontation training, he took out $100 as a bonus and organized a free throw contest.

According to the order, each player plays in turn, consecutive free throws, missed one will be eliminated, and 50 consecutive free throws will enter the next round.The time limit is within 10 minutes, and on average, each ball is 12 seconds.

Players who are eliminated in the first round will do push-ups according to 50 goals minus the number of free throws; players who enter the second round can be exempted from punishment.

In order to put pressure on everyone, Ginobili was the first to be designated by Popovich to play.

Last season, Ginobili's free throw percentage was 80.2%, ranking third in the team, second only to Malik Rose and Devin Brown.Sure enough, Ginobili hit 50 consecutive free throws and advanced to the next round.

Then Popovich tapped Nesterovic, the worst free throw last season, only 47.4%.At this moment, he got all the way to the 17th penalty, and then missed the penalty, so he obediently moved to the side and started doing push-ups.

Then there is Parker, whose 70.2% shooting last season allowed him to stick to the 38th.Then came Bowen, Horry and other free throws, but they failed to survive the first round.

Then Rose, who was the most accurate free throw last season, missed the free throw at the 45th, which caused a burst of regret at the scene.

Then came Brown, who also overturned at the 41st.Then Udrih actually scored one more than Brown.

Only Ginobili entered the second round, and only three players are still playing, Duncan, Barry and Li Chongxiao.

Barry, who made 82% of his free throws in his career, made all 50 free throws decisively.

Duncan was expressionless, but Popovich knew he was a little excited, and then sent Li Chongxiao to buffer it.

Li Chongxiao understands that he may be a step up, but this is also an opportunity for himself to perform: wouldn't it be better to excite Duncan.

He raised the knife and dropped the ball, and he didn't make too many movements when catching the ball. He just adjusted and shot, hitting 50 shots in a row.

Popovich put down his hands clasped in front of his chest, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, feeling that this rookie is a bit interesting.He yelled at Duncan: "Tim, watch your performance next."

Duncan pretended to be relaxed, and walked up and down to the free throw line. After receiving the ball, he adjusted his posture, held the ball down with both hands, stayed for a second, then raised the ball and threw it.

With a "boom", it popped out of the box!

When Duncan finished 50 push-ups amidst the ridicule of the crowd, the second round began. Ginobili made the first move and hit 50 free throws again.

And Barry, who laughed the loudest just now, didn't know if his abs hurt from laughing, and he was out at the 39th place.

Li Chongxiao's expression was relaxed, and he hit all the balls at the same pace as before.

Everyone looked at Li Chongxiao with a little more admiration in his eyes. In training, he made more than 100 free throws out of 50 free throws. Many people can do it. However, under the time limit, it is still difficult to score [-] goals twice in a row. of.

Anyone who understands knows that this requires very hard training and a strong psychological quality.Although Li Chongxiao is just a rookie, he can still make people look at him high.

Then in the third round, Popovich asked Li Chongxiao to take the first penalty.He was as consistent as ever, making all 50 shots.

When it was Ginobili's turn, it might have been a little stressful, and he missed the free throw with 26 goals.

Amidst the booing of everyone, Li Chongxiao accepted Popovich's $100 bonus.

Before Barry could say what he wanted to treat, Duncan came over and grabbed the banknotes.Then he took Li Chongxiao's right hand, slapped another $100 on it, and said viciously:
"Donuts of the month, brought to me every morning!"

Regarding Li Chongxiao's free throw ability, Popovich felt that he could observe it again. If it is still so accurate in the game, then the Spurs' tactics will be enriched.

The subsequent training was uneventful, and after the end, Barry was unwilling to blackmail Li Chongxiao, and pulled him to compare three-pointers. The bet was a dinner.

Duncan booed accordingly, and those who saw it had a share.Popovich and several other players also watched the excitement from the sidelines.

The rules of the game are five points, two bottom corners, two 40-degree shots and 10 shots from the top of the arc. Whoever scores more will save the game.

In the left corner, Li Chongxiao made ten out of ten shots, and Barry made nine out of ten shots; at 45 degrees on the left, Barry took the lead, and Li Chongxiao made eight out of ten shots, nine out of ten.

In the next three positions, Barry made a total of 26 shots, while Li Chongxiao made all of them.

Barry lost, so he brought Duncan and a few teammates together, found a relatively famous restaurant in San Antonio, and enjoyed a big meal.

(End of this chapter)