Chapter 82 Picking up Soap

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"You know, Reuben, that guy used to be a prison guard," Bunchwells whispered during the warm-up.

"Who?" Reuben Patterson was stunned.

"Who else could it be? Wolverine, the person you're going to kill later." Bunch Wells said this and ran away.

"Prison guard?"

Reuben Patterson felt a chill on his back. He had been in the detention center several times, staying there for more than a month in total, and was extremely afraid of the prison guards.

Even boxing champion Tyson was badly bullied by the prison guards in prison. When a man like him went in, the prison guards would not show any mercy. They locked him up with a group of rapist women prisoners, and he picked up the soap several times.

"Boom bang bang..."

Due to distraction, he was careless in dribbling and the ball fell into the Knicks' half. He hurried over to pick up the ball, but it was picked up by He Zhongqiu.

"..."

Looking at Wolverine's terrifying face, he opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

"Name."

He Zhongqiu saw that Reuben Patterson's expression was not right, and suddenly he got into the mood for acting. His face turned serious and he asked sternly.

"Reuben Patterson."

Patterson stood with his feet together as if by reflex, his teeth chattering, and tried his best to reply loudly.

"how?"

"What is Wolverine doing?"

On and off the court, fans and reporters all looked at He Zhongqiu and Patterson.

"Why did you come in?"

He Zhongqiu's acting skills exploded and he asked again.

"Suspected of raping a woman..."

Reuben Patterson answered halfway before realizing that even if Wolverine had been a prison guard before, he wasn't anymore and they were playing a joke on him.

But even so, he didn't dare to do anything. He just ran away in shame and anger, without even taking the ball.

He Zhongqiu chuckled a few times, walked to the sidelines and asked Philip: "Wellington, what did he just say?"

"He said he was suspected of raping a woman."

After saying that, Philip advised again: "It's Mid-Autumn Festival, just have some fun, don't overdo it."

"it's him?"

He Zhongqiu looked at Patterson not far away, with undisguised contempt in his eyes.

There are guys like this in juvenile detention centers, and they often get beaten by them. Even if you are a murderer, you have more dignity in there than those who rape women.

At eight o'clock, the competition begins.

In terms of paper strength and record, the Knicks are no match for the Trail Blazers, but sometimes the game depends on the performance on the spot, the players' condition also fluctuates, and there are many games where the weak defeat the strong.

Rasheed Wallace is good at both offense and defense, Dale Davis is also a defensive inside player, and He Zhongqiu didn't get any benefits in the penalty area.

He only had the ability to attack under the basket, and even his one-on-one performance under the basket was only at level 86, which was above second-rate and not up to first-rate level. He couldn't give full play to his skills, making 4 of 2 shots and 2 of 1 free throws, and only scored 5 points.

Although he dunked two balls, he was blocked once by two players each. Both times he was blocked, the ball was not knocked away, but he was called for traveling. Combined with a traveling violation and a pass error, he made four turnovers in the first quarter and was substituted in the 9th minute.

It was Kurt Thomas, who was good at mid-range shots, who got a lot of open space on the wing and made three shots because Dale Davis focused a lot of his defensive energy on the restricted area.

Thibodeau reminded: "Wolverine, if the offense is not strong, you can focus on defense, rebounding, second offense, and actively participate in fast breaks."

"I understand," he said.

After the first quarter, the Knicks were trailing by two points at home, 23:21.

At the beginning of the second quarter, both sides used half main force and half substitute lineup, and He Zhongqiu came on the court again.

In this quarter, his opponents were Sabonis and Randolph, one was a 38-year-old veteran plagued by injuries, and the other was a sophomore who was not good at defense.

But even with these two people, he still had no idea what to do.

One is a 221 cm giant, tall and strong, weighing 130 kg, and the other is a 206 cm short and fat guy, also big. When these two stand under the basket, they take up a lot of space and he can't get any space under the basket.

With the offense not going well, he could only follow Thibodeau's instructions and focus his main energy on defense and rebounding.

At the end of the game, the Knicks won by three points and won four consecutive games, with 14 wins and 16 losses, a winning rate of 46.7%, and climbed to the 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

Alan Houston made the first contribution, making 23 of 12 shots, 9 of 2 three-pointers, and 4 of 3 free throws, scoring 29 points.

In addition, Madman, Charlie Ward, Shandon Anderson and He Zhongqiu scored in double digits.

He Zhongqiu played for 29 minutes, and facing the Trail Blazers' powerful four-man inside lineup, he exposed his biggest weakness of limited offensive means.

总共11投5中，6罚3中，拿到13分8篮板2助攻2盖帽2抢断7失误4犯规的数据。

Turnovers set a new record, as did shooting percentage, and he was blocked a total of four times.

This game made him realize that he must practice rebounding shots as soon as possible, and he must also practice his hook shot, otherwise even under the basket, his offensive means will be very limited.

"Brother Xia, get the private training team ready as soon as possible." After the game, he said to Xia Song who was sitting on the sidelines watching the game.

"Don't worry, I have posted the recruitment information online before and am currently selecting. It will definitely be in place within a week." Xia Song nodded.

Two and a half hours later, in the early morning, the Knicks' private plane took off and flew to Orlando overnight.

The Magic currently have a record of 18 wins and 17 losses, having played 5 more games than the Knicks, with a winning rate of 51.4%, ranking seventh in the Eastern Conference.

McGrady, one of the four most popular shooting guards in contemporary times, currently averages 32 points per game, ranking first in the league, even overshadowing Kobe and last season's scoring champion Iverson.

He Zhongqiu doesn't pay attention to McGrady. He only pays attention to one person in the Magic, and that is Rain Man Shawn Kemp.

Shawn Kemp became fat like a ball, and the Trail Blazers bought out the last two years of his contract after the end of last season. This season, he joined the Magic and served as the main power forward.

This beastly, talented and violent All-Star power forward can be regarded as his own template. Even though he is now 140 kilograms fat, the media's evaluation of him is higher than his own.

Because Shawn Kemp is not only talented, but also has good skills. He has mid-range shots and can attack under the basket. In addition, he has good skills in dribbling and breaking through after receiving the ball on the wing.

In comparison, now he can't do anything except playing under the basket, and his true colors were exposed against the Trail Blazers.

But unfortunately, Sean Kemp is no longer able to fight, otherwise he would like to have a fight with the opponent.

While sitting on the plane, others were listening to music or something, but he was still reviewing the tactical manual.

After a week of training and competition, his offensive tactics improved from level 49 to level 51, and his defensive tactics also improved by two levels to level 53.

Thanks to the improvement in the defensive tactical level, his assist defense ability also increased from level 44 to level 48, and his backup defense ability increased directly from level 35 to level 40.

This is also the first time that assist defense and backup defense have been upgraded in level due to the improvement of defensive tactics.

另外篮板球的预判从65级提升到66级，低位步伐从56提升到57级，打板投篮从66提升到67级。

低位面筐从50级升到了51级，罚球从62级提升到63级，扣篮提升到91级，上篮提升到82级。

……

On the morning of January 1, the NBA officially announced the top ten plays of the week through ESPN. Over the past few days, He Zhongqiu's two dunks in the game against the Spurs have received tens of millions of hits on the Internet and were both selected as the top ten plays.

At noon, after eating and drinking at home, Sean Kemp took another puff, and then came to the Magic training base in high spirits.

Several reporters were waiting at the door. When they saw Yu Man's car arrive, they ran up to interview him.

"Sean, you look fine."

In order to get Rain Man to cooperate, a reporter complimented him before the interview.

"I'm ready for the game tonight and I'm full of energy," said Shawn Kemp excitedly.

"Your opponent is Wolverine, who is called a big Rain Man by the media. Do you agree with this statement?" the reporter asked immediately.
Shawn Kemp shrugged his shoulders disdainfully and snorted, “He’s really good at fighting, but this is the NBA, not boxing, not UFC, not K-1, so this is basketball, not a fighting competition.

When it comes to basketball, he can't even dribble, let alone shoot, he doesn't have the basic skills, not to mention offensive skills. He is useless away from the basket. What qualifications does he have to be compared with me? "

"Oh ho!"

Several other reporters screamed with excitement when they heard Shawn Kemp criticize Wolverine.

"So how are you going to deal with him tonight?" the reporter asked excitedly.

Shawn Kemp was so full of energy that his head got too excited. He forgot his current tonnage and that he could no longer jump or fly. He immediately shouted, "How else can we deal with him? Of course, we will crush him."

"Rain Man: Wolverine, I will crush you!!!"

"Rain Man: What qualifies Wolverine to compare with me?"

"Rain Man: Wolverine is useless when he leaves the basket!"

In the afternoon, the content of Sean Kemp's interview appeared on the Internet, and many major media outlets rushed to repost it on their own websites.

At the Orlando Arena, the home of the Magic, the Knicks are conducting recovery training. The players are moving around, shooting hoops, and doing some stretching exercises, but there is not much training involved.

He Zhongqiu is practicing dribbling. His dribbling level is now 51, and it was 50 before entering the NBA.

The other two basic skills, passing and receiving, have not been upgraded, but shooting has been upgraded from level 46 to level 47.

Although he plays center, the basic skill of dribbling is still very important to him. If he is too bad at dribbling, his ability to connect with the ball will be very poor, and his ability to attack with the ball will also be very poor.

For example, when holding the ball on either wing in the low post, if you don't have the ability to attack with the ball, you can only shoot from there. If you force an attack under the basket, your error rate when dribbling will be very high. In the last game against the Trail Blazers, he made such a mistake once, losing the ball when he turned around and slid to the bottom.

In the training plan given to him by head trainer Holmes Lester, the first sequence of training content is dribbling, bank shots, and hook shots.

These three basic skills and offensive techniques are essential for attacking under the basket and facing the basket. He is best at attacking under the basket and better at facing the basket than with his back to the basket, so he must first improve these three.

Two Knicks team reporters hurried to the sidelines at this time. The media they belonged to was the Knicks' cooperative media. They followed the Knicks everywhere all year round. If permitted, they could take pictures at will during training.

"Hey, Wellington."

"Hey, Parker, Lewis."

Parker Joseph and Lewis Wallace sat next to Philip, one on each side.

"Something?" Philip asked sensitively.

Wallace smiled and said, "Sean Kemp just published his opinion on Wolverine, and now it's all over the Internet, with over 300,000 hits in one hour."

“Huh!”

Philip whistled and said with a smile, "That must be very exciting. Tell me about it?"

Joseph took out a notebook from his bag and said as he opened it, "Look for yourself."

After taking a look, Philip said in surprise: “Has he forgotten what state he is in now?”

"Maybe, well, I drank too much, or smoked too much." Joseph shrugged.

Philip nodded and said, "But some of what he said is very true. Wolverine really can't leave the basket now. He really doesn't have the skills."

Wallace said: "We all know that Wolverine has a very strong ability to accept and learn. We believe that after two or three seasons, Wolverine will be able to reach the peak level of Rainman or even surpass him."

"Of course. Wolverine's self-discipline is a hundred times greater than Rain Man's, so his upper limit must also be higher than Rain Man's." Philip nodded.

"Are you going to tell Wolverine?" Joseph asked.

"Of course, if I don't tell him, other media reporters will tell him later," Philip said.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, the Knicks finished their training, went back to the locker room to shower and change clothes, and then went to the restaurant for dinner.

Philip told He Zhongqiu about the content of Sean Kemp's interview. He Zhongqiu scratched his head with his fingernails, puzzled:

"Wellington, you said I didn't do anything, first of all, I don't have any hatred for my father's murder, and secondly, I don't have any hatred for my wife's seizure, why are there so many people against me?

The Pacers wanted to deal with me before the game, Jordan and his gang rushed into our locker room without saying hello, and there were those shitty fans of the Mavericks, and now it's Shawn Kemp, this guy who ruined himself. Are they sick?

The Trail Blazers were okay, they behaved well in front of me, and they won the game, but they didn’t act arrogantly in front of me.”

Philip smiled and said, "Jordan is used to being arrogant. He is a god in the NBA. He probably didn't target you specifically. He treats everyone like that."

"hehe!"

He Zhongqiu smiled and said that Jordan was indeed qualified.

Phillips continued: "The fans of the Pacers and Mavericks are racist, that's how it is in America, and no one can fix it.

As for Shawn Kemp, I think it's nothing. The media has always said that you are a big Rain Man. Your current strength and achievements are not as good as his. It's normal for him to be dissatisfied with you."

He Zhongqiu nodded and said nothing more.

At 7pm, in the home team's locker room, the Magic players were changing their clothes.

McGrady had already bandaged his foot, but he didn't rush to put on his sneakers. Instead, he put on his headphones and drooped his eyelids, as if he wanted to take a nap before the game.

He is the boss of this team. After Grant Hill came to the Magic in 00, he only played 18 games in two seasons. He is still resting this season. This team depends entirely on him.

Now he has entered his peak period. This season, he can not only compete for the scoring title, but also has a good record and a chance to make the playoffs. So don't be fooled by his sleepy look, because he is actually very motivated.

Cobra player Horace Grant sat in front of his closet in a suit and tie. He hadn't played a single game this season and was in a seriously injured state.

Next to him was Grant Hill, who was also dressed in a suit and tie. The two of them whispered to each other from time to time.

Next to Grant Hill, is Shawn Kemp.

He smelled of alcohol; he had had two drinks with dinner.

Fortunately, there was a game in the evening, so he didn't smoke again and only smoked a marijuana cigarette.

Noticing that Sean Kemp seemed a little uneasy, Grant Hill couldn't help but remind him, "Sean, Wolverine is a man who will take revenge if he has any. You shouldn't say those things."

Cobra Grant said, "Don't worry, I've never heard of him hitting anyone off the court. As long as you don't provoke him and just play basketball, there will be no problem."

"Am I afraid of him?"

Hearing Cobra's words, Shawn Kemp felt relieved and immediately said disdainfully: "I said I would crush him, and I will crush him."

McGrady suddenly opened his eyes and said to Grant Hill: "Grant, I'm going to crush Alan Houston tonight, too."

Hill was startled, then smiled gently and nodded, "T-Mac, as a former teammate, I know Alan's strength very well. He is very strong, but I believe you are stronger than him."

(End of this chapter)