The genius of the basketball madman is on the left

On March 2009, 3, this is a memorable day, because on this day, Zuo Li, who was only 23 years old, only 20 centimeters tall, and weighed only 160 kilograms, officially landed in the CBA, becoming the shortest player in CBA history players!

It is conceivable that when Zuo Li's name and all his physical data were put in front of the national media, what a huge wave it caused at that time. It can be said that the shock caused by this in the domestic basketball world at that time may be second only to Yu Dayao has landed in the NBA.

This is not an exaggeration. The GD men's basketball team at that time was no longer the Wuxia Ameng at the end of the last century. They were already the overlord of the CBA, and the number of championships was steadily increasing. Domestic top-notch, Ah Lian, Zhu Ba, Wang Qi, Du Feng, and Chen Jianghua have just followed the national team to play the most successful Olympic Games in the history of men's basketball. Such a team can be said to have almost no shortcomings, and their The youth training is also well-known throughout the country. Under such circumstances, many people would never have thought that they would promote a person of Zuo Li's height and weight to the first team, and even entered the 12-man squad in the first game, which shocked them. a whole year.

What's more, Zuo Li's height is really too exaggerated, 160 cm is considered short among ordinary people, let alone in the CBA where there are many people, especially when there are buses, Dazhi, Dayao, Ah It is basically the consensus of the people across the country that basketball is a sport for tall people. Even sports schools and various youth training camps now choose height as the first criterion. The taller the better has become the standard, so left Li turned out to be born, simply beyond people's cognition.

At that time, some reporters stood up and questioned, thinking that GD’s move was a senseless act of sensationalism, and even thought it was their disrespect for other CBA opponents. After all, GD’s dominance in the league is very exaggerated, and it will not be because of a certain person. And how much impact it will have.

Even a certain southern media stated with certainty: "I bet, Zuo Li won't appear on the court for a minute."

However, the reality slapped them in the face, Zuo Li not only played, but also performed well!

In the 12 minutes of playing time in the first game, Zuo Li efficiently hit two three-pointers, scored 6 points, sent 4 assists, and completed 2 steals. Obtaining such data has exceeded people's expectations for him by a lot.

Countless people expressed such emotion after watching this game; "It turns out that 160 centimeters can also play professionally!"

After the game, what Zuo Li said in an interview blew up his popularity even more: "I am indeed too short. It is not easy to break through in a high-level professional basketball game, but I believe that basketball is not It's not for tall guys, it's for guys with basketball talent."

This sentence immediately became a hit at the time, and many people fell in love with Zuo Li for it. Although the voice of doubt remained, more and more people began to pay attention to this humble little man, and even attracted attention from the Chinese basketball team. In history, the shortest person selected for the national team, that is, the attention of Gong Luming, he publicly expressed his appreciation for Zuo Li in a subsequent interview.

"Zuo Li is right. If you are short, you have to give yourself credit. Your real talent will not be buried because of your height. I support him to go to the next level."

More importantly, Zuo Li said so and did the same. In the subsequent games of this season, Zuo Li gradually became a stable backup point guard. In less than 15 minutes per game, he can take With the data of 5.4 points, 6.5 assists, 1.2 rebounds and 2.7 steals, he even won the steals leader of the season with an average of 2.7 steals per game. He is also the youngest and shortest steals leader in CBA history.

In the first round of the subsequent playoffs, Zuo Li still gained the trust of the coach. Although his playing time was reduced to only 10 minutes, Zuo Li became more efficient. In 4 games, he averaged 4 points, 3 assists and 3 steals per game. In the next round, he got more playing time, and Zuo Li also repaid the coach's trust with a better performance.

In the subsequent semi-finals and even the finals, Zuo Li played well and finally won the CBA championship with the team. He also averaged 16.8 minutes per game in the first playoffs, leaving 6.5 points, 5.2 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 steal data.

After this season, Zuo Lishi really became famous. Many people called him a domestic Boggs and praised him as a new role model on the court, but no one knew that this was just the beginning.

In the summer of 2010, Zuo Li trained even more crazily. He was obviously not satisfied with just being a second or even third substitute. His ambition was far more than simply based on the CBA. I come, I see, I conquer, and Zuo Li has a bigger goal in his heart. ideal.

Sweat, hard work, and diligence are the most useful medals on the court. The efforts of an offseason have allowed Zuo Li to further evolve. Although his height remains the same, Zuo Li's statistics have improved. It looks simple, but imagining that a person with only 160 cm can complete a dunk in actual combat is already exaggerated enough. Therefore, in the 2010 season, Zuo Li ushered in his season!

In the opening game, the starting defender Chen Jianghua felt bad, Zuo Li was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and Zuo Li also seized this opportunity.

With 20 points, 10 assists and 6 steals, Zuo Li hit the first double-double of his career, and set a new record for single-game steals with 6 steals in a single game.

This is just the beginning. In only 10 games, Zuo Li actually squeezed Chen Jianghua to the bench. In the subsequent games, Zuo Li became more and more brave. He averaged 16 points, 8.8 assists and 3.5 steals per game in the season. It exploded everyone's attention, and his role was not only reflected by the data.

Facing opponents who are generally [-] centimeters taller than him, Zuo Li showed the biggest reason why he can gain a foothold on the court, that is, his super high-level golf quotient and textbook-like technical ability!

There has always been a saying on the basketball court that people do not have absolute advantages if they are not physically fit enough to use skills. The so-called advantage is the condition to be fully utilized. In fact, this kind of advantage cannot be called an advantage.

On the contrary, some people have the defects that ordinary people call disadvantages, but they can face it correctly, hone it hard, and make full use of it, which turns out to be an advantage.

Zuo Li undoubtedly took this to the extreme.

Not tall enough, but Zuo Li made full use of his advantages. It is normal to run tirelessly on the court, and using his sense of rhythm and perfect technique, Zuo Li can often perform consecutive outstanding performances. The precise grasp of the situation on the court has made Zuo Li the brain and commander on the court. GD coach Chun Jiang described Zuo Li as the one with the highest golf quotient he has ever seen.

"He knows what to do when he is on the field, he never hesitates to play the ball, he is never soft on the shot, he shoots very accurately, his technique is perfect, there is almost nothing he can't do, and there are almost no mistakes on the field, although the defense is limited. Not fit, but very positive."

"And, he trains really, really, really hard!"

To make Coach Chunjiang, who has always been stingy with his boastful words, say three "very" in a row, it shows how hard Zuo Li has worked.

Sometimes you don't need to use words, just rely on imagination to know what kind of effort Zuo Li has put in to make up for the lack of height.

Fortunately, the hard work has paid off. This season, Zuo Li, who is firmly in the starting lineup, followed the team to defend the championship again. More importantly, in the playoffs, Zuo Li became the team's scoring leader with an average of 19.6 points per game. Staged the shocking blocking of the opponent's No. 19.6 power forward. In the end, Zuo Li averaged 10.1 points, 3 assists and [-] steals per game, which made everyone unexpectedly win the title of Most Valuable Player in the finals.

After the finals, Zuo Li was called up by the national team. He also replaced Gong Luming and became the shortest player in the history of the national team.

In his two-year debut, he won the championship in a row and won the most valuable player in the finals in history. He was also selected for the national team. His deeds can be called the inspirational history of basketball.

This is not over. In the following three years, Zuo Li continued to improve steadily. In the past five years, he was one of the guards with the most outstanding performance and the fewest turnovers in the CBA. He is also fearless in dribbling for layups. With his superhuman basketball ability, he broke into the sky in the CBA.

Three championships in five years, two finals MVPs, one regular season MVP, five consecutive seasons of steals, and one local scoring champion, 67 consecutive double-doubles, Zuo Li became the strongest guard in the country, not even one of them. Let him become the starting point guard of the national team, and carry the banner in important competitions such as the Asian Games.

Those former sports school teammates who fell to the ground laughing when they heard that he was going to enter the professional field often say braggingly, "I played with Zuo Li when I was young."

And the self-introduction that Zuo Li said most often, "I am Zuo Li, left and right, and standing upright" has also become a hit among fans. Zuo Li's popularity has soared all the way. Almost no one is unaware of his existence.

His story even spread to the United States and earned him the title of Asian Boggs, and even Boggs personally posted on social networks, acknowledging and encouraging Zuo Li to go further.

And Zuo Li also made the most daring decision in his life!

He wants to hit the NBA!

In the eyes of many people, this is not a wise choice, although Zuo Li did show unexpected energy, and even won himself the title of "Smart Brain on the Stadium", which is much more domineering than Boggs' Xiao Chong , But this does not mean that he can enter the NBA.

CBA and NBA... How should I put it, I can only say that everyone understands it. Since the UAE left the NBA, no domestic player has been able to gain a foothold there, and since Dayao, no one has reached the height he used to be. , although Zuo Li performed well in the CBA, the NBA is another dimension.

But Zuo Li still did this. In 2015, Zuo Li left the GD men's basketball team and flew to the United States for trial training. As he himself said: "Climbing to the top is my eternal dream."

But this time, Zuo Li failed to continue his legendary story, he fell in front of the gate of the NBA...

After flying to the United States, Zuo Li tried out for many teams. With his excellent shooting and passing skills, Zuo Li attracted the attention of many people, but his height became the biggest obstacle. The guard has no precedent for success in the NBA, and the height of 160 cm is enough to dissuade most coaches and scouts.

But on the last day of the training camp, the twists and turns, the Knicks still have a spot in the Knicks team, and they have Nate Robinson, the current strongest 175 precedent, so they are willing to give Zuo Li a chance.

So Zuo Li went to the Knicks. After three days of trial training, the Knicks coaching staff believed that Zuo Li still had potential. Nate is too strong, the only problem is that the height of the left stand is really too low, which makes his defensive end almost useless, but the left stand defensive attitude is still worthy of recognition.

After a few days of discussion, the Knicks have almost decided to try out a short-term contract for Zuo Li. stuck on my ankle...

"OH, SHIT!" This was the last feeling Zuo Li felt before he lost consciousness due to pain.

it's all over…

"Genius and inspirational player suffered an indefinite truce with a ruptured left Achilles tendon."

The news on the second day explained everything. Zuo Li missed the NBA because of this. Not only that, Zuo Li underwent surgery after the injury, but the effect was mediocre. Years of tireless training and games overdrawn Zuo Li’s Achilles tendon. , Zuo Li is still limping when walking, let alone running and jumping, and this kind of injury is fatal to any talented person. He can make great gods like Grant Hill and Kobe fall from the altar, let alone Zuo Li up.

This almost pronounced the end of Zuo Li's career.

Sure enough, in 2016, Zuo Li announced his retirement. Since then, there has been no news, leaving only countless sighs and sighs from countless people.

Zuo Li was like a gorgeous shooting star, falling quickly when it burst into the hottest light.

When talent is limited, at this moment, Zuo Li deeply realized this.

And no one knows that this once brightest shooting star is now in this small shop in Chinatown, New York...

"Cough cough cough~!"

The memories aroused by the conversation instantly filled his brain, and Zuo Li took another sip of the white wine in front of him.

Yes, after retiring, Zuo Li was depressed for a while, but he quickly adjusted. He chose to stay in New York, and spent a year to obtain a coaching certificate. This year, he became the most famous high school in New York, Stevenson. The assistant coach of the high school basketball team, this is also the first local Chinese assistant coach, although compared with its educational level, the basketball team of Stevenson High School is not worth mentioning.

The reason for choosing not to return to China, but to stay in New York as a teaching assistant is also very simple. Zuo Li himself has affected his career because of the unscientific selection and training methods, so he is well aware of the disadvantages of grassroots training in China. He wants to use his own method Change all this to avoid more seedlings being eliminated during selection and grassroots training.

This season, Stevenson High School finally felt elated, reaching the New York State semi-finals all the way and creating the best results, so Zuo Li chose to come to this most frequented school in New York on such a snowy night. small shop.

It's just that he didn't expect that he would be recalled by the words of the two drinkers.

"Huh~!" After drinking another bottle of white wine, Zuo Li couldn't remember how much he had drunk, so he rubbed his befuddled head. Once upon a time, he thought he had put it down, but once the memory was recalled, he knew , he is still not reconciled.

"Obviously...it's right in front of me..."

Accompanied by murmurs, Zuo Li lay down on the table, and slowly closed his eyes...

The camera zoomed out, and only the boss's shout and the sound of the glass bottle breaking could be heard. At this moment, a blue light flashed outside the window and disappeared between Zuo Li's eyebrows...

This is an opportunity to make up for past regrets!