"What? Asian center? Mickey, are you serious?" Kobe Bryant asked loudly while standing in the general manager's office.
"Well, Bonnie said he is very good, and he is the most suitable inside player for our Lakers team in the NBDL." Naturally, Mitch Kupchak would not tell anyone about the fact that he was put together by Bonnie Laughlin.
, after all, the signature on the signing contract was his own handwriting.
"What? Are you kidding me? This is the reinforcement you told me??? Find an Asian to reinforce???" Kobe also deeply felt that he was getting older, so he was desperate to win the championship again.
, there is not much time left.
"Kobe, NBDL is not an NBA draft after all, and it is normal for players to have limited skills. However, this person's NBDL data is very good. So far, he has been the NBDL leader in rebounds and blocks." Mitch Kupchak said.
"The rebounding and shot-blocking leader of the NBDL?" Kobe snorted and said, "Don't tell me these useless things. I'm not a newbie in the NBA. Such lies can't fool me! Get his player information.
Show me, I need to know how much of what you say is true!"
After receiving the player information sheet from Mitch Kupchak, Kobe was stunned and thought to himself: Why is it him?
…
"Hey, boy, what number are you going to wear tomorrow?" Ci Shiping seemed to be extremely interested in Tang Qian, so he ran over to talk to Tang Qian.
"Well, I don't know, I might choose No. 14." Tang Qian said.
"No. 14? That's a pity, because this number has been occupied by someone else this year. The person using it is Troy Murphy. Of course, he was injured two weeks ago, so you can't see him today." Ci Shi
Ping "popularized" Tao to Tang Qian.
"Has it been used? Then, let's take No. 29?" Tang Qian thought for a while and said.
"No. 29? Does it have any special meaning?" Ci Shiping asked curiously, because in the NBA, many people are particular about choosing the number they carry.
"No, because tomorrow is my first NBA game, so it's the 29th." Tang Qian replied.
"Ah? Just because tomorrow is February 9th?" Ci Shiping said with a disappointed look on his face: "You are too casual."
"What? Mr. Pease, does it have to have some meaning?" Tang Qian asked.
"That's not true, it's just that it usually has some meaning, such as wearing a larger number since childhood, such as paying tribute to one's idol, such as... In short, this is the first time I have met someone who chooses to carry a number like you,
Is this Eastern thinking?" Ci Shiping asked.
"Maybe."
Just as the two were chatting, the door to the training facility was pushed open again, and this time the person who walked in was the undisputed boss of the Purple and Gold Army, the Black Mamba, and Kobe Bryant.
Kobe walked in, glanced at Tang Qian, and then said loudly: "I think you all know tomorrow's opponent. I can tolerate losing to the 76ers on the 6th, but Boston... must win!"
After a whole day of training, Tang Qian felt that the man was a little indifferent to him. Just when he didn't know why, Ci Shiping ran over and said, "You have been looking at Kobe today, you think he is very strict, right?"
"Mr. Pease, I don't mind being stricter, but why do I feel that he seems a little cold to me? It's completely different from the last time we met. Did I offend him somewhere?" Tang Qian saw that it was Ci Shi.
Ping immediately asked the question in his mind, because in the entire Lakers team, except for him, no one took the initiative to talk to him.
"Hey~ What did I think it was? It turned out to be this? Haha, what, Chinese perm, it feels weird, right?"
"Well, can you ask Mr. Pease to help me clarify my doubts?"
"Clear doubts? Haha, okay, I, Ci Shiping, like to be a teacher the most and help people solve their doubts." Ci Shiping smiled happily when he heard this and said, "China Hot, in fact, he doesn't have any hostility towards you."
"Then why..."
"That's because you weren't a member of the Lakers before, so he naturally didn't have any requirements for you. It's okay to be nice and smile. But it's different now. Once you put on the Lakers jersey, your identity will be
He became a member of the Lakers, and he has always had this attitude towards the Lakers players."
"But I see him and you..."
"I'm different from you. I won a championship with him, and I've already gained his approval."
After hearing this, Tang Qian seemed to understand and said, "Mr. Pease, that means he doesn't agree with me now, right?"
"I don't agree with your identity as a Lakers player." Ci Shiping thought for a moment and said, "Do you know Smush Parker?"
Tang Qian nodded.
"Kobe Bryant once said something famous to him. You are not qualified to talk to me at your level. You need to achieve more honors and achievements before talking to me. I didn't understand why he said that at the time. It was so hurtful.
The relationship with my teammates, but after I won the NBA championship with him, I suddenly understood that he is such a person. Once he steps on the basketball court, he will be desperate, even a little
I don’t recognize my relatives.”
"Mr. Pease, can you understand him?" Tang Qian naturally knew about this matter. After all, "Reaper" Parker also came to CBA to hunt for gold.
"Of course you couldn't understand it before, but the moment you put on the championship ring, you will immediately realize that this is how this man leads the team forward. The reason why he is very harsh on you is because he wants you to be more
Strong, I hope the Lakers will be stronger, I hope they can win more Larry O’Brien Cups, that’s all.” After Ci Shiping finished speaking, he slightly mocked Smush Parker: “So in the end you
I also saw that Smush Parker had nothing and couldn’t even play in the NBA, but I got a championship ring.”
"Well, that's it. I understand. Thank you Mr. Pease for your patient answer." After getting the answer, Tang Qian felt much relieved instantly.
"So, China Hot, if you want to gain Kobe's approval, then practice hard. He hates people who are lazy in training." Ci Shiping said.
"Yes, I will, Mr. Peace." Tang Qian replied.
On February 9th, US time, the Los Angeles Lakers played against the Boston Celtics at home.
There is no need to say more about the grievances between these two teams. Everyone in the United States and China knows that the "yellow-green war" gimmick can be said to be one of the famous grievances in the NBA. In recent years,
The fierce battles between the Purple and Gold Army and the Green Jersey Army were almost universally acclaimed and very interesting to watch. Unlike Tang Qian's 2015, in 2012, all the "Big Three" of the Green Jersey Army were in the team, even if they weren't
If Miami's "new Big Three" block the Eastern Conference Finals, the 2012 championship will most likely be won by the Celtics. Judging from the current situation, the Lakers are different from the two consecutive championships, and their overall strength is different.
The decline has been severe, but the Celtics are still "old but strong." After the introduction of former All-Star power forward Jermaine O'Neal, the strength of the bench has once again increased, and the depth of the bench is extremely terrifying.
However, the Celtics have an old problem, which is that the regular season is "slow to warm up" and it takes a long time to gradually enter the state.
No, despite the fact that the 2012 Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals and had a fierce battle with Miami that ended in the tiebreaker, their record on February 9 was not much better than that of the Lakers. The Lakers were 14 wins and 11 losses.
The Celtics are 14 wins and 10 losses, only one game ahead.
However, the main players of the two teams are all old acquaintances. It can be said that "enemies are extremely jealous when they meet", so as soon as the two sides stepped onto the court, the entire atmosphere became tense.
"Kobe, your team seems to be in very average shape right now!" Kevin Garnett joked as soon as he met him.
"Kevin, I don't think you're much better. If you start so slowly, you won't even make it to the playoffs!" Kobe Bryant also spoke back. Although the relationship between the two of them is quite good off the court, after a while,
When he came on stage, he instantly became "incompatible with each other" and "at odds with each other".
"You don't have to worry about this, because if we destroy your Lakers team tonight, we can use this to improve our state!" Kevin Garnett said.
"Really? I mean the same thing. Is there anything more exhilarating than stepping over the Celtics' corpses?" Kobe is also an old man, so when it comes to lip-syncing, there is nothing wrong with it.
Weak potential.
However, all of the above has nothing to do with Tang Qian. He is now just a "water fountain guardian" at the bottom of the bench. He can only watch when the big bosses above are fighting.
Is this the real NBA game scene?
The atmosphere, the number of people, the lights...it doesn't even look like playing basketball!
At the beginning of the game, the two teams started to fight, and no one scored for nearly two minutes. However, in the end, the Celtics broke the deadlock first, relying on Ray Allen's 2+1 to score their first three-pointer. The Lakers scored
Upon seeing this, head coach Mike Brown immediately adjusted his style of play and switched to attacking inside. This method immediately had an effect. Under the joint attack of Gasol and Bynum, the Celtics' inside line gradually showed signs of fatigue.
, began to lose consecutively. In this situation, Boston's MVP could not sit still. Pierce stepped up and scored five points in a row to help the Celtics stabilize their lead.
The score was 12-17, and the Lakers were 5 points behind.
"The remaining two minutes, Bryant, it's up to you to attack. Their defense on the inside has become tighter now, and we need fire support from the outside." Mike Brown called a short stop.
"I know." Kobe replied simply as always.
The rest of the first quarter turned into Kobe's offensive performance. He first hit a mid-range shot, and then took a shot outside the three-point line and was violated by Ray Allen. He made all three free throws. This was not over yet, and then another
It was a breakthrough layup, and he scored 7 points by himself. In the last 3 seconds, it was Kobe who assisted Steve Blake in the corner. Steve Blake fulfilled his mission and beat the buzzer three times.
Score hits.
At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers were temporarily trailing the Celtics by 4 points, 22-26.
Throughout the first quarter, Tang Qian did not get half a second of opportunity to play.
This is normal. In the battle between yellow and green, under normal circumstances, these "ten-day short-term workers" would not be able to play.
Unless garbage time comes earlier, that's not much of a problem.
But looking at today's situation, it should be impossible to enter garbage time.
Tang Qian is not in a hurry. He has watched a lot of NBA games. Players like him usually have no chance to play in the first half. And sitting down, Tang Qian can just observe the way NBA games are played and
Rhythm.
The level of fighting was really intense. It was incomparable to NBDL. One was in the sky and the other was on the ground.
Under this level of confrontation, what level can you perform?
Tang Qian was a little worried.
In the second quarter, the Lakers launched a "surprise player" from the beginning, and he was Matt Barnes. When the Celtics' defense was slightly underestimated, he made 4 of 4 shots and scored 8 points.
This caught the Celtics off guard. Fortunately, someone else among the "Big Three" of the Celtics stepped up. He was Ray Allen. He made two three-pointers, and he also won two free throws.
Unfortunately, there was a chance that "Junzi Lei" used too much force on one of the balls, and the basketball crashed out of the basket.
Seeing that the Celtics were tightening their perimeter blocking, Pau Gasol took the opportunity to attack in isolation under the basket. He hit 3 goals in 4 shots and scored 6 points. He once again "punched" his opponent hard. Seeing the matchup
The players shined, but Kevin Garnett was unwilling. He made consecutive back-up mid-range shots. Although a few missed the basket, he still scored 6 points, equaling Pau Gasol's offensive points.
One minute before halftime, Kobe stepped forward again and made 2 of 4 shots. He used two difficult mid-range shots to help the Lakers solve their "urgent need."
With Anzhu's hook hit, halftime ended, 45-47, and the Lakers were only two points away from tying the score.
Unsurprisingly, Tang Qian spent the entire first half on the bench, and Mike Brown had no intention of asking him to get up.
In the Lakers locker room, head coach Mike Brown is speaking.
"We played pretty well in the first half, combining inside and outside, but there were too many loopholes on the defensive end. Bryant, Ray Allen, who was playing against you, already scored 12 points in the first half, which was more than you did.
For one more point, try to keep an eye on him in the second half."
"One more point than me?" A light flashed in Kobe's eyes and he said in a deep voice: "Coach, don't worry, I know what to do in the second half."
"Well, it's very good. Our rebound protection in the first half was okay, with 4 more rebounds than our opponents, but we were a little behind in terms of assists. I hope everyone can play more selflessly in the second half and let the basketball move."
…
At the beginning of the second half, I don’t know if Mike Brown’s character has “lost” in the locker room. The combination of internal and external performance that had been good in the first half was suddenly disconnected. Bynum lost two goals in a row, and Ci Shiping hit a three-pointer.
, even Kobe, who has always been stable, seemed to be infected. He missed all his first four shots. If Gasol hadn't been struggling to support him in the paint, the Lakers might have "spent" this quarter.
"Damn it!" Kobe cursed secretly as soon as the call paused.
To be honest, Boston didn't feel very good in this quarter, but they couldn't hold off the Lakers and only scored 5 points in the entire half. The score gap was suddenly widened.
Mike Brown does have some foundation. After all, he is a man who has won the best coach. He cannot be so useless. He carefully analyzed the game situation and off-court data and concluded: the Lakers' inside line is too weak.
This is very different from the first half.
A full half of the quarter has passed, and the entire Lakers team has only scored a measly 3 rebounds. No matter how you say it, it is a bit unjustifiable.
It may be that Andrew Bynum has already committed four fouls, so he was a little hesitant when making moves.
Then let Bynum take a rest first. After all, the fourth quarter of the decisive game has not yet arrived. If he really commits five fouls, the situation will be even more troublesome.
However, the Lakers are short of interior personnel, and Troy Murphy is absent due to injury. How can this be... hmm? By the way, didn't the team sign a 214cm big man a few days ago? Although he is Asian,
But there is always height, right?
Well, let him go on the field and give it a try.
"Hot, come here for a moment."
Mike Brown suddenly turned his head and shouted towards the end of the bench.