basketball kingdom

Chapter 14
July 7th, for most people, is an ordinary day that can no longer be ordinary.But this day is of special significance to Xu Tian. He will start his first summer league game today.

There are three summer leagues still being held, Utah, Orlando and Las Vegas, among which Las Vegas Summer League is officially recognized.The Las Vegas Summer League is the Las Vegas Summer League. Among the three summer leagues, there are the most participating teams and the longest duration. It is a relatively regular game.

The biggest purpose of the summer league is to let rookies, sophomores, and free agents show themselves, and neither big-name stars nor the main players of the team will participate.

Xialian is an advanced method with a relatively low success rate, but there are still countless people who want to participate in this competition.

On July 7th, Li Lang helped Xu Tian get a 9+2 (four-year contract, the Rockets have team options for the next two years), a four-year contract with a total of 2 million US dollars. This year's annual salary is $795 million.The reason for not signing 137+3 is because the rookie contract is too cheap and I don't want to sign for three years.

Why is it cheap?The rookie contract is priced according to the pick, and has nothing to do with strength.Xu Tian is the 18th pick, so he can only sign a contract at this price.

Closer to home, the Rockets' opponent today is the underdog Toronto Raptors in the Summer League.

The one who led the Rockets Summer League was assistant coach J. Bickerstaff. Xu Tian met him earlier today, and he notified Xu Tian to make his debut today.

……

The jersey number Xu Tian chose is No. 10, which is his number in the national team and the club. If there are no special circumstances, he will not change the jersey number.

After greeting the opponent's players on the field, Xu Tian's official appearance on the American field began.

The Rockets are responsible for the jump ball is No. 15 Clint Capela, who was selected by the Rockets with the 25th overall pick in the first round last year and is now a sophomore.

When the whistle sounded, Capela quickly took off, and the basketball came into Xu Tian's hands smoothly, and the Rockets got the ball in the first round.

Xu Tian dribbled the ball across the half and began to organize the first attack.

Tencent won the five-year NBA online broadcast rights this summer, and is currently broadcasting the summer league live. Wang Meng is responsible for the commentary, and the guest commentator is Su Qun.

"Strike!" Wang Meng saw Xu Tian and Capela's lob cooperation, and couldn't help shouting, "This lob cooperation is really good, and the opponent didn't react at all."

After watching the slow-motion, Teacher Su Qun said: "On the ball, Xu Tian broke through to the free throw line, and the defender of Capela came up to help defend, causing Capela to be completely emptied at the basket. It is a very beautiful one. Break through the ball."

Looking back, Capela blocked the opponent's big man's shot, and Xu Tian, ​​who predicted the position of the ball, copied the free-falling ball into his hands.

Just glanced at the red figure in front of the court, Xu Tian flicked it casually, and the spinning basketball was precisely guided into the hands of the next fast-break player two seconds later.

A fast break player in the frontcourt ends the offensive round with a dunk.

In the opening minute and a half, Xu Tian scored two assists and the Rockets 1-4 the Raptors.

J. Bickerstaff stood on the sidelines with an inscrutable expression on his face, as if he didn't know that his team was leading by four points.

Raptors guard Delon Wright is also very tall. He is the No. 20 pick this year, and the pick is similar to Xu Tian.Facing Xu Tian head-on at this time, Wright dribbled the ball under his crotch and changed direction, trying to pass through Xu Tian's right side.

The idea is good, but the reality is often cruel.

As soon as Wright started, he felt a gust of wind in front of him. After the strong confrontation subsided, the basketball he was dribbling in his hand had disappeared.

Bickerstaff followed Xu Tian's figure and turned his head in a daze. Seeing Xu Tian soaring into the air in the opponent's half, his expression changed a little.If it weren't for this expression, he could easily be recognized as a wax figure.

With his fast speed, stretched figure, and slightly wobbly basket, this dunk is Xu Tian's first point in an official game. Of course, this will not be recorded in his career score.

Looking at Xu Tian who was pointing to the sky when he retreated to his own half, Alice's eyes turned into heart shapes, and she screamed excitedly to cheer for Xu Tian.

The atmosphere at the scene was also ignited by Xu Tian. What they saw just now was a 360-degree windmill. Although the beauty was not as good as Vince Carter's dunk that made people go home in the 2000 dunk contest, they saw it in actual combat. This kind of goal is still enough to amaze the whole stadium.

There was a hint of anger in Wright's gaze. Xu Tian was only the 18th pick, not much higher than him. He didn't think he would be worse than Xu Tian.

After dribbling to the top of the arc, Wright faced Xu Tian again, lowered his center of gravity, and began to speed up the frequency of dribbling.

Xu Tian felt the change in Wright's dribbling rhythm, and immediately guessed Wright's next move—he was about to break through.

Wright, who is not rich in defensive experience, is much easier than defending Kobe.

Wright rushed past Xu Tian's intentional left side. After Wright started up, Xu Tian followed Wright's side to press his position, leaving him no space to shoot.

Basketball defense is not one-on-one. When Wright came to the paint, Capela had already helped defend him.Xu Tian and Capela had never trained together, and this assistance defense relied entirely on Capela's keen sense of defense.

Wright saw the big man who was empty under the basket and wanted to pass the ball to the inside like Xu Tian did.

This is exactly the defensive trap set by Xu Tian. The moment Wright hit the ball, Xu Tian stretched out his left hand and accurately blocked the pass.

Capela started to run forward at the first time, and Xu Tian praised in his heart. This big man not only has excellent athletic ability, but also has a good attitude on the field.

Although the Raptors were a little confused at the beginning, they quickly made adjustments. Knowing that Xu Tian is good at offensive organization, they strengthened their defensive strength against defenders.

Capela came to the top of the arc and built a wall on Wright's left side. Although it was the summer league performance of each, since Xu Tian made the ball for him, he still had to return it.

After bypassing Capela's screen, Xu Tian suddenly found that there were no defensive players on the way to the inside—the Raptors' defensive communication had a problem.

This is what a team without tacit understanding shows, and it is a problem that temporary mercenaries cannot solve.

After the dribble started, the Raptors' defense noticed Xu Tian, ​​but the only ones who could make up for it were the big men in the paint.In desperation, he could only rush out of the paint again.

Xu Tian was not in a hurry to make a shot, and looked at Capela's position behind him from the corner of his eye. He dribbled the ball with his left hand and accelerated, leading the defensive big man to the baseline.

The Raptors' big player is not very athletic, and his 7-foot height just makes him look cumbersome, and there is no defensive deterrence at all.

In the NBA where physical fitness is paramount, lack of speed and agility is fatal, even if you are a seven-footer.

Wright followed Capela's side. After noticing Xu Tian's pass-first style, he put more defensive attention on Capela who was running down.

Xu Tian made an emergency stop on the inside, grabbed the ball with his right hand and stretched back, easily deceiving the big man's defensive attention, turned around and wiped the board and hit a layup, helping the Rockets score another two points.

Capela was also deceived, and he flew into the air. In order to relieve his strength, he slapped the rebound with his right hand.He didn't have a tacit understanding with Xu Tian yet, so he didn't know that the ball was a fake fax shot.

After the ball was delivered, the Raptors coach called a timeout and was beaten 8-0 by the Rockets in the opening game. They needed to make tactical adjustments.

"This goal is a bit like Rondo." When Wang Meng watched the replay of Xu Tian's goal, he naturally thought of Rondo.

Su Qun said: "This is the speed that he has not adapted to the NBA. When he played in the CBA, he could easily use the speed to create offensive space. Now in the NBA, he finds that the speed of the people here is similar to his, so he is also adapting. The rhythm of the field."

J. Bickerstaff held the tactical board and said a lot, but Xu Tian couldn't understand it, so he sat quietly by the side.

"Let me emphasize one more point at the end, give the ball to Xu." Bickerstaff said the essence of tactics at the end of the timeout.

After playing again, the Raptors replaced the big man inside with a shorter but faster insider.Capela's low-post offense was not good. After being followed, he lost the spirituality he had before.

Because the Raptors used the classic two-three defense, Xu Tian focused his organization on the outside offense and activated KJ McDaniels in the team.

On the offensive end, the Raptors strengthened the coordination of pick-and-roll and running positions, and finally broke their team's scoring shortage.When Xu Tian was resting, the Raptors chased the score to 15-26, and the Rockets temporarily led by 11 points.

After Xu Tianxia was on the field, the attack that was originally well-organized on the field suddenly became chaotic. KJ McDaniels scored two consecutive goals, an emergency stop jumper hit the iron, and a strong inside walk.

On the Raptors' side, Wright seized the opportunity of Xu Tian's absence, made sudden shots, scored five points alone, and rewritten the score to 20-26.

Xu Tian looked at the situation on the court. As a point guard, he needed to observe the opponent's defensive tendencies and their offensive habits, so that when he came on the court for a while, he could better restrict the opponent's players.

The fans on the sidelines of the court watched the chaotic offense and defense on the court, and whoever started shouting "Xu" started, and soon more fans shouted, they wanted to see Xu Tian play.

"More cooperation, not singles!" Bickerstaff stood on the sidelines, shouted into the court, over the voices of the audience.

The players on the field did not receive Bickerstaff's signal. After McDaniels grabbed the rebound, he dribbled the ball to the frontcourt alone and shot a non-stick three-pointer.

Seeing the chaotic offense on the field, Bickerstaff came to Xu Tian decisively, and said slowly: "Xu, you are ready to play!"

At this time, Xu Tian had just taken two sips of Gatorade.

(End of this chapter)