Chapter 57 Rookie Wall? (Part 1)

On January 1, 1997, the NBA announced its Player of the Month for December, and Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers successfully won the award;

The Lakers achieved a record of 11 wins and 3 losses in December. O'Neal played 39.9 minutes per game, averaging 27.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.1 steals, 3.4 blocks and 2.9 turnovers per game;

He averaged 21.0 shots per game, shooting 52% from the field, and averaged 10.2 free throws per game, shooting 55.9% from the field.

In addition to the consistent free throw shooting, the Shark's statistics are impeccable!

The Rookie of the Month in December was awarded to Li You. The Knicks achieved a record of 13 wins and 2 losses this month;

Li You played 26.4 minutes per game, averaging 15.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 turnovers per game;

He averaged 10.3 shots per game, shooting 48.4% from the field, 6.0 shots from outside the three-point line, 39.5% from three-point range, 3.6 free throws per game, and 74.3% from the field.

This data not only leads the new players, but also ranks among the best among the league's No. 1 players.

The New York media has started a new round of boasting. They have not seen the Rookie of the Month award for some years.

However, if Li You wants to get the trophy, he has to wait until he returns to the home court on the 5th.

Just after his birthday at the end of the year, Li You flew to Washington with the team on the first day of the new year. On the night of the 2nd, they will challenge the Washington Bullets away from home.

The newbie John Wallace looked at Li You with envy when he got on the plane. This unlucky guy had a calf strain and rested for less than half a month, and he finally recovered completely:

"This is Rookie of the Month. A player can only win it a few times in his life. Li, aren't you excited? This is really cool!"

The doormat Walter McCarty was also jealous to death.

Comparing people with each other makes people angry!

The Best of the Week and the Best Rookie of the Month, winning these two awards have already shown that Li You has almost established a foothold in the league. As long as he maintains his current level, a million-dollar contract in the future will not be a dream.

"It's just a small award for a rookie player. Grant Hill was elected as the All-Star vote winner in his rookie season. This guy is really cool!"

The veterans felt a little unhappy when they heard Li You mention Grant Hill's name. The real Jordan successor was stepping on the old guy to take over.

The newbie John Wallace didn't care about Grant Hill. That kind of genius was too far away from him. At this time, he still maintained his excitement and said loudly to Li You:

"Li, can I touch your trophy when you get back? I want to take a few more photos!"

Li You twitched the corner of his mouth and quickly restrained his divergent thinking:

"No problem, I can leave it at your place for half a month and take pictures as you like!"

"."

On the night of the 2nd, at the US Airways Arena, the fans who bought tickets to watch the game that night were a little depressed, and the game was extremely dull.

The last time the two teams met, the Knicks won easily. Jeff Van Gundy's repeated warnings before the game had no effect. Everyone underestimated the opponent.

Oakley and Larry Johnson both went 1-for-6 in the half, almost knocking the rim off.

Although the Knicks' offense stretched, the opposite Bullets were in even worse shape, scoring only 12 points in the second quarter.

Juwan Howard made 3 of 13 in the half, and Chris Webber made 3 of 9. The two scored 16 points together, and they had already smashed their own basket.

45:34, after halftime, the Knicks still led by 11 points.

Li You's performance was also mediocre, mainly because Rod Strickland, who was playing against him tonight, seemed to be on stimulants, and the defensive end was never far away, almost growing on his body.

"Welcome to the NBA, Lee, starting from this month, you will always enjoy such defensive treatment!"

"If you were still a nobody, no one would care about you, but it's different now. When you win an award, everyone wants to step on you. This is the NBA!"

Returning to the locker room at midfield, Starks introduced the current situation to Li You with a smile, and the Lemons were about to start a counterattack.

This is the so-called "rookie wall", and only well-known rookie players will encounter such a situation.

No team will study a 12th man who plays less than 5 minutes. A typical example is the doormat Walter McCarty, who doesn't even have a chance to hit the wall.

Charles Oakley didn't care that Li You was defended, the old guy was more concerned about his own face.

Sitting on the Bullets bench is his younger brother Ben Wallace, who doesn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the newbie:

"Play a few more pick-and-rolls, Lee, right at the elbow, and a few more passes, and I feel like I've regained my touch!"

As soon as Oakley finished speaking, the "aunt" on the side also turned her attention to Li You:

"No problem, we are still ahead by double digits anyway, and there is enough room for error!"

Li You nodded and agreed. Ewing didn't like eating cakes. That was because the boss had to be responsible for attacking difficulties. Others didn't have such worries. Gaining points was everyone's favorite.

In the second half of the game, Charles Oakley still couldn't find his touch and couldn't shoot well. He finally regained some face with his fierce offensive rebounds.

On the bench of the Washington Bullets, Ben Wallace showed envious eyes. He didn't look at Oakley at all and was paying attention to Li You most of the time.

In a rare transitional attack, Li You quickly advanced along the right sideline after receiving the ball. While traveling, he suddenly dribbled the ball behind his back, lowered his center of gravity, and swayed to the left.

Taking advantage of the opponent Rod Strickland sliding to the right, Li You changed direction significantly in advance, switched to his right hand, and accelerated to break through.

The old guy who has been in the league for many years has a lot of defensive experience. He adjusts his body's center of gravity, pulls hiddenly with his hands, and continues to slide, trying to complete the defense.

Li You was well prepared. He dribbled past the center line and suddenly stopped. Then he swayed his body to the right, misdirected the change of direction, and quickly dribbled with his hips.

Rod Strickland failed to resist this time and subconsciously slid to the left and back, making a wrong defensive prediction. He tried to pursue the defense again, but stumbled and completely lost his defensive position.

Li You's rhythmic shaking made the fans at the scene scream in surprise and accelerate towards the paint area, causing the Bullets' defense to shrink subconsciously.

Breaking through to the free throw line, Li You suddenly swung the ball behind his back while walking. The ball flew straight to the left wing. Alan Houston caught the ball and threw it!

"Whoa!" The three-pointer hit the net!

Alan Houston is in the best shape tonight. Counting this goal, he has already made 3 three-pointers.

"Shhh!!"

Jeff Van Gundy looked relaxed and ignored the boos at the scene. He stood on the sidelines and applauded continuously. He didn’t need to call out tactics. He just shouted loudly:

"That's it! Keep up the offense!"

On the bench, assistant coach Thibodeau and Don Chaney looked at each other, and they both read the meaning in each other's eyes:

"Our head coach is used to hosting tactics"

In the daily training of the Knicks, the most practiced routine is the transition attack. How to counterattack efficiently and score easily is also a technical task.

The already bald Jeff Van Gundy didn't know that the assistant coach was planning him in his mind. He only thought that the trusteeship tactic was very useful. When he saw the team defend the next round, he shouted with great enthusiasm:

"Move! Move! Go! Go! Go!"

"."

Thank you book friends for your collection￣﹁￣
Chapter completed!