November 25, Auckland.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Middleton parked the car, picked up his backpack from the passenger seat, opened the Chevrolet's door, and felt the cold wind blowing towards him, and couldn't help but tremble.

The cold and humid Bay Area in winter makes Middleton, who grew up in South Carolina, feel a little uncomfortable. It has a subtropical climate, with long and hot summers and short and dry winters.

Fortunately, the parking lot was not far from the player's passage, and Middleton quickly walked into the Oracle Arena. The coldness in the air gradually faded from his body surface, making him breathe a sigh of relief.

After coming to the locker room, Middleton took out the training suit from his backpack. After changing it, he jumped on the spot twice, felt the lightness of his body, smiled with satisfaction, then sighed again, put his things in the cabinet, and walked out of the locker room.

Yesterday, the Warriors defeated the Timberwolves 127:103 at home, winning three consecutive victories, and completely became garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Middleton also scored 7 minutes of playing time, made 4 of 6 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, no free throws, and scored 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. These 9 points are also his highest score since entering the league.

But except Middleton himself, everyone else had hardly noticed that he set a career high, and only Zhang Yu encouraged him after the game:

"Chris, do a pretty job! Just play like this, the team needs your score. Come on, you won't be missing the chance to play in the future!"

This made Middleton extremely excited. As long as he could play on the court, he would do anything, let alone the offense he was good at.

After yesterday's game, thanks to Thanksgiving, the Warriors welcomed a full three-day rest time, and Zhang Yu also gave the team a day off to give the players a good rest.

But Middleton didn't rest. He just called his family, watched a movie, celebrated a new career high, slept an hour more than usual at night, and then came to Oracle Center for training.

Although he signed a three-year guarantee contract with the team and was not worried about being laid off in a short period of time, his basic salary was far from reaching his goal. In order to sign a big contract, he must continue to improve his strength and perform better.

Moreover, the Warriors' forward competition is too fierce. Middleton has a strong sense of crisis, fearing that his progress will slow down and he will not be able to enter the regular rotation.

Butler was selected into the All-Star Starter last season, and the Best Defensive Team, firmly occupying the starting position.

Leonard has the top single defense in the league, and is well-known for stealing after death. Almost all outside stars have suffered losses in his hands. He even started in the finals last season, which has won Zhang Yu's trust.

Parsons, who entered the league a year earlier than him, can also play as a small forward. Last season, he also served as a substitute for the third position in the regular season and performed well. Although he has now moved to the power forward position, it is easy to turn back to the third position.

The most important thing is that they are all very young and have been in the league for the longest time. Butler has only only three years of career. He is Zhang Yu's absolute direct descendant. Since his college years, he has played under Zhang Yu and is the most experienced player in the team except Curry.

Well, no, Ronnie Turiaff played for the Warriors before Stephen and Jimmy. He is now the most experienced player in the team, but he left the team for a long time and is now just receiving a basic salary and has no sense of presence in the team. Stephen and Jimmy are the most experienced people in the team...

However, what made Middleton a little confused was that Curry had signed a super maximum salary contract extension with the team, but Butler did not complete the contract renewal with the team in the summer, which was completely beyond his expectations.

With Butler's strength and his relationship with Zhang Yu, he did not renew his contract with the team. This not only puzzled Middleton, but also caused many speculations from the outside world. Is it because the Warriors and Butler's contract renewal was not reached?

Soon several teams tentatively made offers for Butler, hoping to replicate the Rockets' operation of intercepting Hu Harden.

In fact, Butler is more popular than Harden.

Butler is the Warriors' No. 2 star, with both offense and defense, and has proved his scoring ability in the playoffs. Harden was just the best sixth man before, and he performed such a brilliant performance when the Rockets played, and Butler is the front line that all teams lack. If the Warriors really want to trade Butler, most of the league may be heard.

But these offers were rejected by Larry Riley, who then reiterated that the Warriors would not trade any player, and the other teams returned in disappointment.

...

Middleton soon arrived at the exit of the player's passage, but when he was still a distance away from the exit, he heard a sound of a thumping dribbling.

As he got closer to the exit, the sound of dribbling became louder and louder, accompanied by the sound of a brushing basketball entering the net.

When Middleton walked out of the player's passage, he saw a man training on the court, happening to face his direction.

Middleton greeted him in surprise:

"Hi, Kawhi..."

Leonard, who was practicing mid-range shot, saw Middleton walk out of the player passage and stop the movement in his hand. A hint of surprise flashed across his face, but immediately returned to normal. He nodded gently and said in a muffled voice:

"Good morning, Chris, are you here to train, too?"

Middleton came to Leonard, looked him up and down, nodded:

"Yes, I have nothing to do at home, so why not come and practice the ball."

The warm wind in the training venue was very open. Leonard was wearing a sleeveless vest on his upper body and knee-length shorts on his lower body, revealing his muscular arms and thick thighs. From his front heart, which had been wet for most of his time, it can be seen that he had practiced for a long time.

Middleton looked at Leonard very enviously. Leonard was the same height as him, 2.01 meters, but Leonard weighed 102 kilograms, which was 7 kilograms heavier than him. He was much stronger in strength and confrontation. He was also very agile and maintained athletic ability above the average level of the same position. He was not at a disadvantage in confrontation with James.

Moreover, Leonard also has the top static talent in the league. He has a pair of long arms and big hands, which makes him a nightmare for all outside players and also gives him the upper hand in the process of grabbing rebounds.

In contrast, Middleton is much worse in both static talent and dynamic talent. This is also the main reason why he clearly showed good scoring ability in college, but was only selected in the second round. Even though Leonard's offense was very unstable, he was selected by the Warriors in the seventh place.

"Oh..." Leonard nodded, and was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm too...well, you played very well yesterday, and you shot much more accurately than me. You're very awesome."

In the game against the Timberwolves yesterday, Leonard played for 9 minutes in the fourth quarter, played 22 minutes in the game, made 6 of 14 shots, 2 of 4 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, scored 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He had excellent defense, but his offensive efficiency was not high. Among them, the middle-range singles with 2 of 5 shots were the main reason.

Although Middleton made few shots, he made 3 of 4 shots in the middle distance, which was much more efficient than Leonard.

Middleton said embarrassedly:

"That's because the Timberwolves stopped defending in the end, and I got a few good opportunities..."

Leonard nodded slightly:

"Then you are much better than me. The Timberwolves' defense is not good, and I can't make it. It seems that I still need to practice mid-range singles."

"Uh..." Middleton didn't expect Leonard to say that, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

But Leonard is usually taciturn. As a rookie who has just entered the team, Middleton is also cautious in the locker room. They have hardly communicated before, and he doesn't know how to answer.

For a moment, both of them were silent, and suddenly, Leonard spoke:

"Why don't we play a game? I practice alone, and it doesn't seem to be effective. I want to try your singles at mid-range, is it OK?"

Middleton was stunned and immediately agreed:

"Of course, come on, I just happen to try your defense, we haven't played against each other in the training game..."

"Then you attack first."

"Okay, then I'm not polite!"

...

“Hu…hu…hu…”

Middleton gasped, sat on the sidelines, holding a bottle of energy drink and pouring it into his mouth.

Leonard sat next to him, wiping the sweat from his body with a towel. His breathing rhythm was a bit chaotic, but it was far less rapid than Middleton.

"Huh..." Middleton put down the energy drink in his hand, exhaled a long breath, turned to look at Leonard, with admiration on his face, "Kaishuai, your defense is too strong, stronger than any small forward I have ever met!"

"Is it stronger than Jimmy?"

"Uh... each has its own advantages. I don't know much about the specifics. After all, you know that I don't have the authority to play singles in the training game. However, when I run without the ball, Jimmy can always accurately judge my intentions. His defense is very experienced, but he does not have the strong sense of oppression and aggressiveness as you do."

The two of them just played three rounds of bullfights, with ten goals in each round. Leonard won with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, but the process was very anxious. The scores were 10:4, 8:10, and 10:9 respectively. As long as Leonard misses, the winner will be Middleton.

During the bullfighting process, the two showed their respective technical characteristics to the fullest.

Middleton is good at attacking, especially at mid-range jump shots, but his defense is very average, his confrontation is poor, and his strength is insufficient.

Leonard is good at defending, and his one-on-one single defense made Middleton miserable. Under his death tangled, Middleton was often intercepted and made frequent mistakes.

But Leonard's singles are a bit bad. He is inferior to Middleton in dribbling and shooting. His movements are incoherent and sometimes he makes unforced mistakes. Even if his movements are done well, he shakes away Middleton's defense and often hits the iron shot.

After listening to Middleton's comment, Leonard nodded slightly and said thoughtfully:

"I've tried my best to defend myself compared to offense. I've tried my best. At first I looked OK, but in the end I just barely won one goal. If I had a fewer irons…"

"Actually, if you only play one or two singles, you will be very efficient, especially if you turn over and jump shots. But to be honest, you are only more skilled in this move and are very unfamiliar with other moves. If you keep playing singles, just guard against your back, so in the end you only won one goal..." Middleton explained.

"You mean, I should continue to develop new moves?" Leonard's eyes lit up.

"No, you should continue practicing back-to-body singles."

"Why?"

"Do you know how much I envy you for your shoulder width? Your body is so perfect, with wide shoulders, long wingspan, and a pair of big hands. It can easily create shooting space, especially when you are on the back! If I had such a good static talent as you, I would definitely not be selected in the second round!"

"Well, you're right, come on, go ahead."

"What to continue?"

"It's a one-on-one fight. I just need to practice offense. You need to practice defense. Time is limited, how can you waste it easily! You won't have a rest yet, right?"

"It's only a little bit... Of course I'm fine! Come on, continue!"

Middleton took a few deep breaths, tried to calm his rapid heartbeat, and gritted his teeth and stood up.

Just then, a voice sounded:

"Chris, aren't you resting at home?"

Middleton and Leonard turned their heads and found that Butler had walked out of the player's passage.

He looked at Middleton in surprise:

"Today is Thanksgiving, are you still here to train?"

"I'm idle at home, so I'll just come and practice ball..." Middleton explained.

A smile appeared on Leonard's face:

"Jimmy, I thought you would come to train in the morning, but I didn't wait for you, but instead waited for Chris."

Since last season, he and Butler have often practiced together while the team was on vacation, and both knew each other's habit.

Butler's eyes turned away from Middleton, who was already wet in the training suit, and looked at Leonard, who was also sweating profusely, with a complex look:
To be continued...