novelhk Chapter 17 Against the Warriors
Chapter 17 Against the Warriors
October 11, Seattle SuperSonics, KeyArena.
This is Du Xiaoshuai's first time playing in his own home arena.
Tonight's game is the SuperSonics vs. the Golden State Warriors.
At the beginning of the century, the Warriors were an offensively dominant, almost defenseless team, a favorite for other teams to rack up points. Their most glorious moment was this summer's upset of the Mavericks, which earned the Warriors the nickname "Golden State Gang".
In the eyes of true basketball fans, the biggest contributor to the upset was Don Nelson, the "scientist" of the basketball coaching world, and one of Coach Durant's favorite coaches in his previous life.
As a former coach who had just resigned from the Mavericks, Don Nelson was very familiar with the one-on-one tactics he had personally built, and he was also very clear about their weaknesses, making them difficult to defend against when they tried to backstab them.
In fact, this wasn't the first time the veteran coach had done this. In the 03 playoffs, he also used his new disciples Nowitzki and Nash to easily target his senior Chris Webber, breaking up the Kings' Princeton system.
The saying goes, "What brings you prosperity, you will also bring you ruin." Nowitzki had a love-hate relationship with this coach, and he didn't even invite him when retiring his jersey...
During the pre-match warm-up, many media outlets applied for entry to conduct interviews.
Baron Davis, returning for the new season, exudes superstar charisma, basking in the spotlight with a beaming smile.
But the questions the script supervisor asked him didn't make him smile; they were all about their opponent Durant tonight, and whether their upset victory was over.
This was not what he had imagined.
However, Durant's impressive stats in his first preseason game were indeed frightening, and he was a little worried before the game.
Baron Davis's emotional intelligence is at least on point, which suggests he'll be able to serve as a long-term host in the future: "Kevin is indeed a remarkable rookie, and I look forward to playing against him. The preseason is mainly for fine-tuning the team roster, and we will give it our all."
There were even more media outlets around Du Xiaoshuai, some of whom were asking him to respond to questions raised during his interview with Stoudemire the day before.
Durant smiled and said, "Amar'e is right. If he had played like me on the Suns, there wouldn't have been the run-and-gun offense that caused a sensation throughout the league."
These words are malicious, and a media person with a keen sense of smell and a belly full of bad intentions can instantly find a lot of flaws in his words.
What does it mean to play like me on the Suns? Does it mean that Little Tyrant can't play that way? Is it because he's not good enough, or because his teammate Nash won't allow it? Or does it mean that Little Tyrant can only play in a run-and-gun system?
After the interview, Baron Davis dribbled the ball to the backcourt and greeted Durant in a friendly manner: "Kevin, do you know Alba?"
"Hmm—?" Du Xiaoshuai's hand trembled, and he threw a three-ball that missed. He turned around and looked at the first generation of big-bearded people who walked over with feigned confusion.
"Cash and I are best bros. He's Alba's husband, and we know each other very well. She said she saw you in Miami this summer."
"Yes, we stayed at the same hotel and chatted a few times. She's quite interested in basketball," Du Xiaoshuai said, suddenly realizing.
Recalling the happy times when he used one pink-level demystification card, three force-induced allergy cards, and five little balloon cards, Du Xiaoshuai felt a little guilty: "How is she doing lately?"
"Great, she's pregnant! And she and Cash secretly got their marriage certificate last month!" Baron Davis walked over, gave Du Xiaoshuai a hug, and whispered in his ear, "Don't tell anyone! You know, she's a big star!"
"Oh—of course, I won't tell anyone, we're all so familiar with each other..." Du Xiaoshuai felt a chill run down his spine and almost stammered.
Can it be such a coincidence? She's only been working there a few days!
Du Xiaoshuai went to the rest area and took a big gulp of water, feeling a bit dizzy.
The shocking news from Baron Davis somewhat affected Durant's mentality, causing him to miss his first three shots.
This disappointed the fans on the sidelines.
Could his performance the day before yesterday have just been a good run of form? Is this the true potential of their rookie?
0-7, Warriors lead.
Billups dribbled steadily across half-court, slowed the pace, and gave a tactical signal. Durant cut out from the weak side with the help of Kurt Thomas' screen and received the pass outside the three-point line on the right wing.
He was guarded by Warriors forward Michael Pietrus, while Jackson was benched by Don Nelson today due to injury recovery.
This 1.98-meter-tall Frenchman, Michael, has excellent individual defensive skills, as well as a decent but not outstanding driving and shooting ability and passing ability.
The upset victory has made him a valuable asset, and like Baron, he has a contract that runs for several years, so he is very focused on stats and defensive performance.
Pietrus was excited by the first three successful defensive plays, muttering to himself, "Hey—Come on! Basketball monster, say thank you and I'll go easy on you!"
Du Xiaoshuai ignored him, dribbled twice, bent down and made a large-scale change of direction, faked out his opponent twice, and took a big step like a green lightning bolt to rush into the paint and slammed the ball in.
2-7.
A cheer immediately erupted from the sidelines.
Dunking is indeed the most reliable offensive method in terms of shooting accuracy, and it can also boost morale.
"Aren't you scared to throw it, little monster?" Michael Pietrus ran over and started chattering.
Du Xiaoshuai was preoccupied with his own thoughts and ignored Pietrus's trash talk. With a tense face like the snake in Los Angeles, he activated Mamba mode, taking the ball and going from one-on-one to one-on-three.
After scoring his first goal, Du Xiaoshuai seemed to find his rhythm, breaking through and scoring five goals in a row, forcing Frenchman Jordan to commit tactical fouls. Du Xiaoshuai only breathed a sigh of relief when he was substituted off the field.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Du Xiaoshuai ignored Pietrus's trash talk.
首节9投6中，罚球2中2，三分3中1，杜小帅带着15分后半段一直待在场下休息。
At the start of the second quarter, Pietrus, having caught his breath, dared not utter any trash talk, but his defensive actions became even more aggressive.
Du Xiaoshuai went up at the start of the quarter, took the ball and continued to swing. Pietrus's face turned pale as he was out of position by Du Xiaoshuai's feints and drives into the paint to dunk again.
The score is tied at 28:28.
As one of the league's worst teams in terms of points, the Warriors' interior defense is somewhat lacking. Power forward Al Harrington averaged 17 points and 6.4 rebounds last season; his stats clearly show he's an average, undersized center. Center Brandon Wright is 2.08 meters tall, skinny, lacks physicality, and prefers to float his shot. This lineup is even worse than the rebuilding SuperSonics.
Despite a poor shooting performance in the first quarter, Durant exploited his opponent's weaknesses, driving to the basket five times in a row. With his height, wingspan, soft touch, superior court vision, and enhanced explosiveness and jumping ability, Durant's finishing ability around the rim is comparable to, or even surpasses, that of the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo from his previous life!
This is also the terrifying aspect of Durant's talent in this life. When his shooting touch is off, he can switch to a template that he succeeded with in his previous life, rendering the opponent's pre-match defensive strategy completely useless.
In terms of physique, Durant can switch between several templates. The Giannis Antetokounmpo template is the one that relies most on physical talent, but it is also the one that has the highest compatibility on the offensive end.
In a past life, someone took a screenshot of a body data table from an unknown period, and the two people's height, weight, and armbands were almost exactly the same.
With a fan template, Durant imitated Giannis Antetokounmpo's playing style with ease, and continued to attack the basket in the second quarter.
Don Nelson on the Warriors' bench, however, seemed to have spotted a treasure. His eyes were fixed on Kevin Durant's breakthrough on the court, as if he had seen a new tea master, completely ignoring the fact that his own team's interior defense was being torn to shreds.
9 minutes and 24 seconds into the third quarter.
Beyond the three-point line, Pietrus stared nervously at Durant's dribbling hands and shoulders, with Monta Ellis providing help defense from a distance. He was getting traumatized; if he kept going like this, his value would drop again.
Du Xiaoshuai dribbled with a wide swing, grabbed the basketball with his big hand, and as Pietrus was gathering his strength to defend, he suddenly stepped back, jumped slightly, and leaned back for a three-pointer.
"Whoosh!"
"Wow—" The home fans waved Durant's image or letters wildly, and the stadium was like a sea of joy.
"Three—"
The commentator passionately announced Du Xiaoshuai's goal.
This is Durant's second three-pointer of the game, his 33rd point.
51:46.
The Warriors requested a timeout.
Don Nelson made some lineup adjustments, bringing on Stephen Jackson, replacing Harrington at power forward with Barnes, and Andris Biedrins at center, creating an all-defensive lineup.
The coaching mad scientist began trying to limit Durant with the team's limited defensive resources.
But what broke his nerves was that Du Xiaoshuai didn't play for the rest of the game!
It's rare to encounter a new type of talent monster. Such a good opportunity to experiment, but the other party actually refused to fight!
Isn't the league going to do something about this?!
P.J. Carlesimo doesn't care about any of that. He just doesn't want Durant to get carried away in the preseason like he did in the first game—just put up some stats in one game to prove himself, wouldn't it be better to save his energy for the regular season!
As for Durant's aggressive playing style, the coaching staff has witnessed it in the team's games these past few days, and it's even more amazing than Don Nelson's!
The coaching staff originally intended to use it as a trump card, but Du Xiaoshuai had a poor shooting night and chose to face the basket directly.
After more than two quarters, it has been proven that Durant's style of play is indeed feasible in actual combat, and that is enough. Why should we really lay it out for tactical masters to study and counter it?
That old guy on the other side is notoriously kind-faced but ruthless. Look at that German machine in Dallas, it almost got destroyed in the summer!
The game ended at 81:92.
The SuperSonics lost to the Warriors at home.
The fans left the stadium in a relaxed yet orderly fashion, still wanting more. It's a preseason game, so winning or losing isn't the most important thing. The most important thing is that rookie Kevin Durant's performance was truly explosive; his talent is undeniable! Compared to his accurate shooting in the first game, his drives to the basket today were even more exhilarating.
Seattle fans are relatively rational, which may be related to the city's industrial landscape. High-paid intellectuals and middle-class fans have no shortage of financial support, but their emotions are not easily swayed.
Last season, Ray Allen and Lewis' playing style was reasonably entertaining, but the physicality wasn't intense enough.
Today, Du Xiaoshuai rekindled the flame that had been dormant for many years.
As Du Xiaoshuai got up from the bench, he saw Old Nelson walk over first, pat Du Xiaoshuai on the shoulder, and stare at Du Xiaoshuai's physique with the eyes of someone looking at a protected animal.
"Kevin, your talent has exceeded my expectations. I hope you won't let it go to waste," Old Nelson said with a touch of admiration.
"Thank you, Tang. You're my favorite coach. Can I get your autograph?" Du Xiaoshuai asked shyly.
Having come into this world and met the coach I could only dream of in my past life, it's not unreasonable to ask for an autograph, right?
Without saying a word, Old Nelson took out his tactical marker and scribbled on Durant's jersey.
When P.J. Carlesimo saw this, his face darkened, like a couple whose girlfriend had been hit on. He walked over with a displeased look and forcefully shook hands with old Nelson.
"Kevin, you played brilliantly today. I've never seen such a talented basketball player as you." Baron Davis walked over, pointed to the coach's autograph, and said, "I was going to ask you to exchange jerseys. It seems you won't agree now."
"Next time, definitely next time." Du Xiaoshuai grinned. "You played great today too."
"Thanks."
As fellow team leaders, Baron didn't choose to match up against Durant today. As a point guard, he may have the size, but the height difference is too great, so it's not worth it.
I was worried that Du Xiaoshuai would lose his temper in the first half, but I didn't expect him to be so considerate. He rested on the bench before the third quarter was over. The team won, and his stats were off the charts, so his salary next year is guaranteed. Therefore, I find Du Xiaoshuai quite pleasing to the eye.
The two exchanged compliments before returning to their respective locker rooms to prepare for post-match media interviews.