pertwk Chapter 23: Home Team Gains Fans, Steve's Stubbornness Gets Him Scolded!
Chapter 23: Home Team Gains Fans, Steve's Stubbornness Gets Him Scolded!
The pivotal Game 5 between the Jazz and the Warriors garnered immense attention both online and offline, especially in China.
On the one hand, other series in the first round have a certain degree of predictability, but it seems difficult to say who is stronger in this group; on the other hand, the Golden State Warriors, with Curry, are already a team with a lot of viewers, not to mention that they now have a compatriot like Li Xingchen on the team, so naturally countless people are paying attention.
"The betting has started! The betting has started! Pre-match warm-ups have already begun!"
"I bet five cents that the Warriors will easily win at home!"
"Hey bro, are you watching the game? Look how badly the Warriors were beaten after Mitchell came back last game. There's still a big gap in strength between the two sides. It's basically impossible for them to pull off an upset. It would be great if they could hold on for one more game and get swept 2-4."
"Calm down. Who told you I was betting on whether to win or lose at the opening? What I want you all to guess is whether Ah Chen will start today!"
"I think it's very likely. Didn't you guys notice that Kerr was experimenting with different lineups in the second half of the last game? And he was trying out different teammates with Lee to see how it went. I feel like he's going to promote him to the starting lineup."
"Guys, I hope the Warriors lose today! If they lose just one more game, Kerr will have a reason to make drastic lineup changes, and then our Star will have a chance to start! Let's all wish the Warriors a loss today!"
……
Warm-up time before the game.
Li Xingchen also personally experienced just how popular Curry really is.
Although he has played for the Warriors for most of the season, he has only played in the regular season, and the enthusiasm and frenzy of the fans cannot compare to that of the playoffs.
Since Curry entered the arena, the cheers from the fans have never stopped, not to mention every time he scored a goal during warm-up.
Every time he passes through the player tunnel, he is surrounded by fans who want him to sign their jerseys or shoes.
To Li Xingchen's great surprise, after returning to his home stadium from two away games, some fans even brought his No. 31 jersey to him for autographs.
The reason I chose number 31 as my jersey number wasn't really anything special; I just wanted a number related to my birthday.
他是1998年1月12日出生的，所以最开始想选12号，结果勇士队的12号球衣已被首发球员凯利·乌布雷占据。
Then he thought of adding the month and date together to get the 13th, only to find that the 13th was the retired jersey of Warriors legend Wilt Chamberlain.
Furthermore, the year is obviously not acceptable either, as it's over 100; the NBA doesn't allow player numbers with three digits.
In the end, he could only break down all the digits of his birth date and add them up to get number 31, which was barely related to his birthday, as his player number. It's unclear how many people could see this connection.
In any case, even he himself couldn't tell.
That said, some Warriors home fans actually asked him to sign their jerseys before the game, and quite a few of them did.
As an Asian who has never been well-received in the NBA, Li Xingchen is quite gratified that he has won the favor of local fans after just a few games.
Although he wasn't exactly a Warriors fan in his previous life, he had a pretty good impression of Curry. Now, with the Golden State Warriors, he's gained his first batch of individual fans since entering the league, and he can't help but feel a sense of belonging to the team. His desire to play well for the city and achieve good results has become slightly stronger than before.
After the pre-game warm-up shooting practice, Li Xingchen's shooting training progress was stuck between 91% and 92%, so it seemed that his previous plan to break through before or during the game was completely hopeless.
This is why Li Xingchen is even more pessimistic about the outcome of the game that night. He had a vague feeling that he would lose the game all day, mainly because after returning to the home field, both the head coach and his teammates seemed to be very confident about the upcoming game, even a little arrogant.
Although they were the losing side in the last game, it seems that everyone felt that the mission was accomplished because they drew away from home. Therefore, head coach Kerr did not review the loss in the last game much in the team meeting, nor did he make any targeted adjustments. The tactics were basically the same as before.
They seemed confident that once they returned to their home court, with the advantage of home-court advantage, the same playing style would be enough to defeat the Jazz.
Li Xingchen didn't quite understand, but since the team's leader Curry hadn't said anything, and the locker room "leader" Draymond Green hadn't uttered a word either, it wasn't appropriate for a substitute player like him to express any opinion at this time.
Regardless, he can provide a consistent contribution to the team. As for the rest, it all depends on how his teammates and opponents perform. The outcome of the game cannot be determined by him alone.
……
The first round, Game 3, has officially begun.
As expected, Kerr did not include Li Xingchen in the starting lineup, and the Warriors stuck to their usual starting five.
In the last game, this starting lineup fell behind right from the start, and it was only thanks to Curry's 7 points and 1 assist in four minutes that they managed to keep the score from falling too far behind.
However, Curry was clearly out of sorts at the start of the game, missing his first two shots and becoming slightly more cautious with his subsequent attempts.
But when he became cautious, the Warriors' offense came to a complete standstill. Playing with Green and Looney, two non-spammants, and especially with Wiggins and Cup Cat not being particularly strong shooters, mainly only able to take some open three-pointers from spot-up positions, made it extremely difficult for Curry to create offensive space.
In just over two minutes, the Warriors were down 2-10, with Wiggins scoring the only basket through a cut to the basket. Meanwhile, the opposing team was on fire, missing only one shot in five offensive possessions, and the score quickly widened considerably.
Kerr called a timeout and substituted Li Xingchen for Rooney.
In the live broadcast room, the fans were speechless as they watched Li Xingchen being substituted on at this moment.
"What's wrong with Kerr? Is his thinking so rigid? Rooney is clearly not suited for this series, so why does he have to play him for two minutes before bringing on our Star? Can't he just start him outright?"
"I don't understand, I don't understand at all. They dug an eight-point hole for the team right from the start, and then they put our Xiao Li on the court to fill it. I'm speechless."
At the competition, Li Xingchen didn't seem to think anything of it.
For him, as long as he gets enough playing time, there isn't much difference between starting and coming off the bench. Even a team leader like Curry might start as a substitute after recovering from injury.
The bigger problem now is that the team has fallen behind by eight points in less than three minutes.
He was brought on at this moment, carrying the hopes of his coach and teammates, and he had to be able to respond to the opponent!