Chapter 12: Rapid progress

In the stadium of the Arizona Wildcats.
April in the United States.
The temperature is not high yet.
The two people who are fighting on the court, like two martial arts masters, have a vague white gas on their heads.
"I heard you have an old saying in China, called or old spicy."
"But I prefer this sentence, after the Yangtze waves push forward."
"Okay, you two, stop talking, 5 to 5, the last goal." Jefferson, who unexpectedly lost early in the bullfight, grumbled angrily.
"The loser shut up." Arenas laughed at Jefferson and said, "I will use this ball to avenge you."
Shentong's center of gravity sank slightly, staring attentively at Arenas holding the ball opposite.
......
It has been a week since the end of the NCAA Finals.
After accepting the invitation from Arenas and Jefferson, Shentong has been training here with several teammates.
During this week, Shentong mainly improved his defensive ability, especially the single defense.
Since learning "Basic Defense", Shentong found that his body has an additional attribute display: defense.
{
Defense: 70-80
Advantages: With slender limbs and a pair of big hands, it has the innate advantage of being an excellent defender, with good defensive awareness and strong single defense ability
Disadvantages: lack of defensive experience, the ability to assist and supplement defense needs to be improved
}
With a week of hard training, Shentong has fully integrated the "defensive factor".
[Defense: 72-80]
The lower limit of has been increased by 2 points.
Don't underestimate these two points, it gives Shentong the feeling of comprehensive improvement.
Especially just now, with a bit of luck, Shentong eliminated the invincible Jefferson for the first time in the bullfight 6-5.
Jefferson: I knew that I wouldn't let him make the first two three-pointers.
......
At this moment, today's bullfight is the ultimate showdown.
Shentong VS Arenas.
Last ball.
"Sun Tzu Art of War" has a cloud: know oneself and know the other, and one hundred battles will not be lost.
Although he has lost six consecutive days of bullfighting, Shentong has discovered the habit of Arenas.
When heads-up, Arenas likes to get in close contact with the defender, using foot movements to create a shooting space, and then ends the attack with a jump shot.
especially.
When facing the winning ball.
Sure enough, as Shentong conjectured, Arenas started the in-situ gyro.
Turned back against Shentong several times in a row, then suddenly took a step back and shot.
Shentong, who had already prepared, immediately reached out to cover it.
However.
You have Zhang Liangji.
I have had a wall ladder.
Facing Shentong's "unknown prophet" cover, Arenas sacrificed his back and shot.
Withdrawing step and adding back, even if Shentong's prediction is correct, he cannot block Arenas' shooting route.
"Yeah ~~ the winner is lost!" Someone called directly from the sidelines.
and many more...
Why did Arenas close his eyes suddenly?
"咣 当"
Shot missed!
what happened?
"Foul, he is a foul!" Arenas shouted with his hands raised to the court, "You all see it, Richard, be fair!"
Jefferson rubbed his eyes.
"The sand is scratching into my eyes ..."
Arenas looked at the bright floor: "..."
"Loren, you come." Arenas pointed to the tall Woods and said.
Woods raised his left hand silently and slowly raised his middle finger.
In the other semi-final of the internal bullfight just now, Arenas regained the ball with a controversial steal and beat Woods 6-5.
Woods protested at the time, believing that Arenas hit his left hand while stealing.
And Arenas denied.
"Well, I know you are all waiting to see my good show, thinking that I won't win? You are too young, but I'm the bullfighting king in the past six days!" Arenas said angrily.
Took the ball from Shentong and Arenas hit back hard.
"Come on, Shen, I must guard you." Arenas sank his butt, opened his big hand, and stopped in front of Shentong.
"Naive."
"Boom ... Boom ..."
Shentong started dribbling.
Continuous fake movements.
Left and right to cross the dribble.
Emergency stop jumper outside the 3-point line!
Moves very smoothly and in one go.
This set of movements seems to have been practiced countless times.
Arenas tried his best, but in the face of Shentong's three-point jumper, there was no way out.
Can only watch Shentong throw the ball gracefully in front of himself.
"brush"
Goal!
6-5, Shentong won!
This is also the first time in nearly a week that someone other than Arenas has won the bullfighting king.
"Yeah ~" Jefferson and Woods immediately stepped forward to celebrate with Shen Tong.
Arenas looked dissatisfied.
"He just blew my eyes on the ball just now. This is a foul. Isn't that a foul? It must be a foul ..."
Nagging.
Shentong, Jefferson, Woods, no one ignored Arenas.
Only Wharton.
"Hey, buddy, didn't you notice? That guy's level of progress has been so fast, it's amazing."
Recently, Lien Chan has lost in a row, and there is no Wharton at the bottom of Shentong. He looks enviously at Shentong surrounded by Jefferson and Woods.
"He really fouled the ball." Arenas is still chattering.
......
April 18, 2001, the NBA regular season closing day.
Locked in the league and the No. 1 Spurs in the West, and ended in a hurry today.
67-105, defeated by the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Spurs' main players did not play. Only Duncan walked off the court and showed no desire to attack. He scored 9 points and 4 rebounds on 4 of 8 shots.
Faced with the wild boos of away fans, Zhuge Popovich didn't change his face.
Compared to the Spurs' uninteresting game, there are still two exciting highlights today.
From the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors.
Other teams that have made the playoffs have already determined their rankings. However, the difference between the two teams is only 1 game, ranking fourth and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
In the last round of the game, neither team dared to care.
The Knicks guarded, and the Raptors attacked.
Who can take the fourth at the last moment means that they have home advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Shentong and others who completed the training of the day are now in the dormitory of Jefferson, watching the game between the Raptors and the Wizards collectively.
Vince Carter is killing all sides in this game.
Not only sent out a slam dunk in the game, but also made frequent shots outside the three-point line.
From the first quarter, the Raptors led the Wizards all the way under Carter's strong performance, without giving opponents any chance to overtake.
34 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and a 62.5% 3-pointer from 5 of 8 shots. Carter devoted all he could do today.
"Vince is a real cow, this league can't find a second person whose style is so explosive." Jefferson sighed while watching Carter on the TV screen.
"Kobe, Tracy, Vince, Allen, but now is the era of four quarterbacks." Luke Wharton said.
"When I enter the NBA, it's the top five guards." Arenas showed a very stupid expression.
Everyone: → _ → Arenas ← _ ←
The Raptors' victory made the Knicks feel the pressure.
However, under the leadership of Alan Houston and Kurt Thomas, the Knicks defeated the Pistons 94-88 at home, and the defense was successful.
......
With the end of the regular season of the NBA regular season this season, the new players participating in the draft began to submit draft applications one after another.