You are the pearl, Mo Mengchen

Chapter 23 Just a Little Bit
Throughout the group stage, the Pistons won all seven games, with an average margin of 18 points per game.

During this period, Mo Mengchen averaged 9.4 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals per game. He played an astonishing performance. More and more people are paying attention to this fledgling but little-known young guard.

"Mo, Minnesota has Kevin Garnett on the roster and he's been dominant in summer league. Are you going to keep him on guard?"

More and more reporters came to interview Mo Mengchen.

Facing the media, he showed the unfamiliar side of his teammates. He smiled kindly: "The Timberwolves are a very talented team. We will do our best and hope to bring a good game."

The game tonight was not intense.

As a newcomer to the league, the Timberwolves have only one main player, Garnett, and the others are temporary stragglers.

At this time, Garnett was not the most versatile power forward in history. As we saw, he was thin and versatile at the beginning, so his coach didn't know how to use him.

He plays the [-]rd on the offensive end and the [-]th on the defensive end.

The Pistons quickly took control of the game. Although they didn't have Garnett's absolute talent, they were united. Even those players who wanted to seek NBA contracts obeyed Mo Mengchen's command.

"While players on other teams are showing individual talent and telling the world how good they are, I see a team in Detroit."

"In other games, I just see individual talented players, but here, I see a team."

"The cowhide is cooked, the noodles are fried, and the egg yolk pie is ready to eat. My friends, this game is over!"

"Detroit took Minnesota!"

"Don't get a triple-double!"

With 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Mo Mengchen led the team past the Timberwolves and reached the semifinals with such a triple-double.

locker room
"We made some mistakes tonight that we shouldn't have made. This game could have been easier, and you guys could have shown a better side in front of the league, but you screwed up."

Mo Mengchen said.

"Mo, is it just a mistake?" Rhett asked.

"Yes, it was just a mistake." Mo Mengchen said.

It's not that Rhett and Mo Mengchen are having a nagging question.

Mo Mengchen has strict guidelines for mistakes, and he rarely praises others.

Wrong, very wrong, seriously wrong, not even wrong.

The above four standards are increasing in severity. Tonight he only said mistakes without any prefixes, which shows that everyone has made progress. After all, every game before was at least "very wrong".

After a while, Joe Lynch came. He praised the team's resilience and spoke highly of Mo Mengchen.

After the breakup, the team returned to the hotel.

Mo Mengchen asked for a report from the team assistant. It was the report of tomorrow's opponent, the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls just came off a failed season.

Jordan came back, but they were eliminated by the young and frivolous Magic in the semifinals. After that, the whole world was saying that Jordan was old and the Bulls dynasty no longer existed.

Of course, the Bulls in this summer league will not see Jordan. Although the trapeze wants to prove that he can still kill any opponent, he will not commit himself to participate in this kind of game.

The team that can reach the semifinals is undoubtedly the top summer league team, and the Bulls don't have many lottery picks. They rely on some rookies and a few experienced veterans to reach this point.

A team like this that does not rely on the top is the most difficult team to deal with in the summer league.

Mo Mengchen went through the list in his mind, and quickly took note of their shooting percentages in each area.

The next day
They practice at a practice facility arranged by the Rocky Mountain Summer League Association.

The game day is tomorrow, and Lynch asked the players to have a 20-minute confrontation match after warming up.

In this confrontation match, the main team and the substitute team.

But the substitute played well, leading the main force by 11 points for a while.

The biggest problem comes from Ratliff. He has completely lost his usual ability to run in the penalty area, giving the impression that he is like Love standing in the penalty area.

Mo Mengchen remembered that every time he watched a Cavaliers game in his previous life, once Love, a piece of trash, stood in the penalty area, the points would basically be lost.

An insider who can't defend is no different from a waste.

Except Nowitzki.

Ratliff is not Love's kind of cripple who can't defend well even if he is serious about defending. He has previously proved that he is a high-level defender even in the NBA.

But the problem he showed today was something he had never seen before.

The feet are weak, the movement is slow, the help defense is not in place, and even if the help defense is in place, he does not take off with all his strength.

"what happened?"

Mo Mengchen asked.

"I had a cramp in my right foot," Ratliff said.

Mo Mengchen called to stop the game and told him to sit down.

Then, Mo Mengchen gently pinched a part of his thigh.

"It hurts like hell!" Ratliff yelled.

Mo Mengchen got up slowly, and said to the inside line of the substitute team: "Clive, you will replace Theo."

Lynch noticed the change here.

"Mo, what's wrong with me?" Ratliff asked.

"Let's rest for the next game." Mo Mengchen said, "Your thigh is strained."

"Strain? No, I'm just... I just have cramps. I've had a strain. That's not what a strain is!"

Ratliff stood up.

Lynch asked, "What happened?"

"Coach, I've got a cramp in my right thigh," Ratliff said loudly.

"That's it."

Lynch called a halt to the match.

It was foreseeable that Ratliff would not listen to the advice, and Mo Mengchen would not jump up and down like those other people who had already sensed the danger but didn't listen to the advice when they were about to be in danger.

He walked aside with the ball.

He's a doctor and he has to get the team to accept that.

How to accept this?
Naturally, it is the ability to foresee injuries and illnesses.

He brought up the problem today, but Ratliff didn't listen. With his current injury, as long as he takes care of him for three or four days, he will be fine. But if he insists on playing and plays in a high-intensity confrontation After a long time, there is a 100% chance that the injury will worsen.

Injuries that could be healed in three or four days may take weeks or even months to recover.

This is the price.

Mo Mengchen didn't intend to tell him this.

Tomorrow, he will still remind Ratliff, and before the game, he will remind again, and he will remind in front of the whole team.

"Is Theo's injury serious?"

At the end of the training, Luo Er pestered Mo Mengchen and asked.

"Nothing serious."

The cash is indeed not serious, but if you beat him with injuries tomorrow, it will be very serious.

It's a pity that there is no future concept of rest at present.

The frequent rotations that will appear in the future, some are to protect the veterans, and some are really because of some minor problems. The team is worried that it will cause bigger problems, so the players are allowed to take rotations.

From the perspective of preserving strength, Mo Mengchen is a supporter of the theory of rotation.

This theory is not friendly to fans, because some fans may go to the scene to watch the game once, but they don't see the players they want to see.

next night
Ratliff played 36 minutes.

He is very strong and can endure, Mo Mengchen seems to be able to feel that his thigh is conveying an unimaginable sense of tearing to him every second.

The Bulls' offense is fierce, especially for the sprint to the restricted area.

Ratliff completely dropped his legs and guarded the penalty area like an unyielding fighter.

Mo Mengchen's perimeter defense is not good, especially in the face of the opponent's breakthrough. At present, he has few options, and Ratliff's defense is very important.

It was Ratliff's presence that prevented Mo Mengchen's defense from being magnified infinitely.

From this point of view, Ratliff insisted on playing, and the person who directly benefited was Mo Mengchen.

In the end, they beat the Bulls by 1 point.

The best player of the night was Don Reed, who blew through the Bulls' line defense with ghostly cuts.

This Bulls is good in everything, but the defensive focus on off-ball players is not high.

Ratliff was phenomenal tonight, with 15 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

At the end of the game, severe pain invaded his body.

He couldn't hold on any longer and was sent to the hospital for an examination.

"Mo, is Theo going to have a big problem?" Lol asked.

"Is it a big problem to take a few months off?"

Mo Mengchen exaggerated a bit, that was the most serious situation.

"Theo is too reckless, how could he refuse the doctor's advice?" Rhett muttered on the side.

The others also agreed, and Mo Mengchen warned Ratliff three times, and they were all present.

"Theo made only one mistake tonight, a serious one, and he didn't listen to my advice."

Mo Mengchen said, "However, without him, tonight's game will come to an end, and we will not reach the final."

For this point, everyone has no objection.

"So, tomorrow's game, we will fight for him!"

"Yep!"

That night, Ratliff's inspection report came out.

Severely strained thigh.

He's going to take a month's rest for his own whim.

In the summer league finals, the Pistons' opponent was the Golden State Warriors led by Joe Smith, the No. 95 pick in the [-] class.

It is worth mentioning that the Warriors have many lottery picks, and the Pistons have the highest pick, Mo Mengchen, with the 18th pick in the first round.

This is a game with a disparity in talent.

Because of Mo Mengchen's recent whirlwind in the basketball world, many people are looking forward to this game. They want to see if this magical Chinese-Australian guard can lead this talented Pistons team to the end.

This night, the center who replaced Ratliff was named Clive Solder.

The undrafted pick from North Carolina, although he only has a net height of 210 cm, he is afraid of confrontation and played the fourth position in college.

An insider who is afraid of confrontation, do you expect him to defend?
At this time, Mo Mengchen missed Ratliff a little bit.

Just a little bit.

(End of this chapter)