Basketball: The Chosen Victim

Chapter 116 "Shark Taste"

On the night of December 12, the Cavaliers played against the Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena.

After Riley's comeback incident yesterday, the outside world's attention to the Cavaliers has reached a new level.

Not only was the arena full of seats, but journalists from major TV stations also flocked to the venue. The excitement was nothing like Cleveland.

But all other media are not as good as TNT.

They took advantage of the opportunity to launch a special program of "Shark Taste", and they wanted to fulfill the bet between Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley on the spot.

Before the game, under the close-up of the big screen, Barkley, the guest commentator of TNT, stood behind the Celtics center, Shaquille O'Neal.

Buckley looked at the shiny black head in front of him, not to mention how disgusted he was, but because of the previous bet, he had to lick it later.

He hesitated and hesitated, and after hesitating again and again, he still hesitated. He wanted to run away, but was caught by his friend Kenny Smith with security.

In the end, Barkley plucked up his courage, wiped it twice, and then stuck out his tongue and licked it with a determined face.

As soon as he took a sip, Barkley's face changed immediately, causing a burst of laughter in an instant.

"You know, I haven't showered in days!"

O'Neill squinted at Barkley and teased, and instantly got the latter's slap on his face:

"Fack Squid Shaq! Fack Squid! You're murdering! Bah bah bah! You taste like shit!"

Barkley became more and more disgusted with the aftertaste. He held his throat and vomited a few times, but watched O'Neill laughing, raised his fist and chased after him.

Sharks, like World of Warcraft, are also fierce in appearance, and their actual combat effectiveness is stretched.

The last time the two fought, O'Neal was hugged and thrown by Barkley on the field, so O'Neal ran fast after earning a bargain.

The two nimble fat men chased and fought, as if they were two three-hundred-pound children, and the audience roared with laughter again.

This wave of fulfilling the bet alone set a new record for this season's ratings.

After arguing for a while, the happy couple stopped. Kenny Smith said that the audience hadn't seen enough, and wanted to make another bet with Barkley, and said that this time he would give Shaquille O'Neill's brain cream to improve the taste.

But Barkley is not willing to gamble anymore.

It seems that O'Neill's shark smell is too lethal to him, and it directly cured his gambling addiction.

This incident also paved the way for O'Neal to retire next year and go to TNT as a guest commentator.

This season is now the final year of O'Neal's illustrious career.

His dominance in the interior has declined severely, and his actual performance is similar to that of Jordan, both of whom are quasi-superstars.

This made Scott see an opportunity. Before the Cavaliers trained for this game, Scott put Jordan at the core of his tactics.

As soon as the game started, Wu Di and the other three Cavaliers players began to feed cakes in various ways to help Jordan cause damage in the paint.

But the head coach of the Celtics, Doc Rivers, also known as Lao Li, is the star.

Seeing that O'Neal was in decline, he sent Jr. O'Neal to the iron gate on the inside line to block the hole of the gun.

Jordan was able to withstand the impact of Warcraft in the last game, but between being able to withstand the impact and becoming an offensive knife, there is still a small gap between O'Neal.

As soon as Jermaine O'Neal came up, he gave Jr. a big cap, and suppressed the Cavaliers' inside offense that had just started.

Lao Li once again proved that the pig who loves to laugh can never have too bad luck.

Being able to coach Shaquille O'Neal is already the dream of many NBA coaches, and the pig can have both big and small O'Neal at the same time.

The Cavaliers' other positions are not optimistic.

Hickson was a few notches behind Garnett, both offense and defense were completely blown away, and the roar of the wolf king resounded through the audience again.

Gibson and Parker fared better against Ray Allen, but not by much.

These two people attack and defend, and they might be able to fight if they fit together, but if they don't fit together, they are destined to become the background board of Jun Zilei.

Davis and Sessions faced Long, who was selected to the best defensive team this year, and were basically in a state of misfire.

Wu Di's role in the face of Pierce, who puts all his energy on defense, is also very limited.

After the first half, the score was fixed at 56-39, and the Cavaliers had already been beaten.

Among them, Wu Di scored 16 points, and his physical energy was exhausted.

The strength gap between the two sides is still too large. The Celtics are not the Magic that is about to be disbanded. The Big Three of the Celtics are still glued to each other this year.

Scott originally wanted to give up strategically, but Wu Di still wanted to fight again.

He feels good today, and the comeback is not completely hopeless.

And when he visited the forum before the game, he discovered that Cavaliers fans had high expectations for this game. After all, it was the Big Three of the Green Army who beat Lao Zhan away.

If Wu Di can lead his team to defeat the Green Army, it will be a bad breath.

In the third quarter, he carried the team on his shoulders again, led the team to chase points, and narrowed the point difference to 9 points by himself, 83-74.

The fans at the scene saw him constantly attacking Pierce's iron-blooded defense, and kept cheering waves higher and higher.

But soon, not long after the start of the fourth quarter, with a whistle, their hopes were shattered.

During a breakthrough, Wu Di was injured again because of excessive force.

This time it was the infamous groin strain.

Competitive sports are cruel, and there will be a price to be paid for the output that goes against the sky.

Although Wu Di scored 36 points in three quarters, the Cavaliers eventually lost the game 113-89.

What's worse, after the MRI test results came out, Ariana said after the diagnosis that Wu Di should rest for at least three to six weeks this time!

Wu Di is numb...

It is now December 12th, even if you are absent for three weeks, you still have to miss the Christmas game with the Chicago Bulls!
Seeing that he was injured, the sunspots fell into a collective climax again.

"Hehe, not being injured is the top talent of an athlete, and obviously Wu Di doesn't have it!"

"Swiping data will hurt myself, Wu Di is also No. 1 haha!"

"The real Huang doesn't care about these statistics at all. He already has a wise insight into everything. Health comes first, and he can lead the team to go further!"

"People of the yellow race are not naturally suitable for playing basketball. There is Yao Ming in the front and Wu Di in the back. They are just in a good state but they are constantly injured. Just want revenge? When the intensity of the playoffs comes up, they will fall in the first round!"

...The Cavaliers fans attacked the Cavaliers management:

"The Cavaliers' lineup is really rubbish. It's okay to play like this once in a while. No one can afford such a consumption if they play like this every day!"

"Jamison's hamstring strain was caused by too much consumption. The Cavaliers' coaching staff really don't have a long memory, alas!"

"That's right, don't even think about competing for rankings in the regular season with this lineup, save your strength and wait for the playoffs to exert your strength! The rookie season averaged 40 minutes per game, and Wu Huang will be useless sooner or later..."

"Reinforcement! Reinforcement! Reinforcement! Cavaliers players are working hard, and the management can't be idle. If Xiao Mo is not traded, is it still saved for Christmas? Only by trading for Wu Huang to make a reliable rotation Really improve the situation!"

"The difference between the Cavaliers' management and the Heat's management is too far. Riley is going all out in order to win. If Grant can't make a deal, just replace him!"

The incident intensified, and in the end it was Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert who stood up and said that he would personally conduct player transactions, and the fans were willing to give up.

……

There are four phases to recovery from a groin strain. The first phase, the first week, is the acute phase.

The pain is obvious at this stage, try not to do any stretching or any strength training.

So Wu Di lay in bed for a week.

However, he was not idle this week. First, he watched the video with Ariana and analyzed the cause of the injury.

"Recently, your explosive power has risen sharply, which makes your breakthrough more threatening, but judging from your movement posture, your flexibility has not kept up..."

"We have to carry out some targeted training to improve your flexibility and flexibility, and suggest that Coach Scott keep your playing time within 36 minutes..."

"Otherwise your body will be under overloaded pressure for a long time, and your body will become more and more vulnerable to injury..."

Ariana said with a face of self-blame, she has been busy with the signing of the contract during this time, and she has less communication with Wu Di in training.

Ariana's analysis was very accurate, Wu Di's explosive power index has reached a super giant level of 92, but his flexibility index is only 83...

In the past, Wu Di was leveled up, but now talent points are too expensive, and he needs to save 100 million dollars to exchange them.

And he thought that 83 is not low, so he ignored the index of improving flexibility, which seems to have little effect on actual performance.

As a result, this lesson was learned.

This is the first time he has been injured in sports in the NBA. The previous sprained wrist was caused by Bodogte.

But Wu Di has no regrets about the decisions he made during the Celtics game.

Even if he was asked to do it all over again, he would still choose to fight.

This injury is not enough to affect his desire to win.

Let's talk about professional athletes, who doesn't hang dots?
Continue krypton gold training later to improve flexibility and it's over!
But after going through this incident, Wu Di was a little hesitant about improving his static talent.

Improving his height and wingspan, although it can enhance his shooting and blocking, but it will also increase his probability of injury.

His current wealth value is more than 1100 million dollars, which can be exchanged for 11 points.

If according to the original plan, 11 o'clock is not enough, but now, it may be necessary to optimize the promotion plan.

The height should be raised a little less, and it can be raised by 5 cm to 2 meters.

Increase the arm span a little more, by 6 centimeters to 2 meters 17.

This experience has once again confirmed how precious the innocence badge is!
If he could really get the no-injury badge, then this kind of injury would never have happened to him, no matter how he made it, he would not be injured!

In fact, Dayao is 4 years younger than Garnett and 8 years younger than O'Neal, but the latter two are still active on the field, but Dayao has already announced his retirement from injury. I have to say that the injury is really damn!
"Made, we must win the championship!"

Wu Di clenched his fist again and studied the Timberwolves' lineup.

If he wants to win the championship, he must find a way to trade Love, and if he wants to trade Love, he has to figure out what the Timberwolves' management is doing.

Now the Timberwolves' record is the last in the West, with only 5 wins and 17 losses.

But the team has in fact completed the reconstruction.

This is outrageous.

They used the No. 4 pick in this year's draft to select swingman Wesley Johnson.

Johnson played 22 starts, almost can be said to have unlimited firepower.

But the current scoring average is only 9.0 points per game, and the shooting percentage is less than 40%. It is hard to say that it has met expectations.

But compared to their draft operations last year, Johnson is pretty reliable.

The Timberwolves directly dropped 3 first-round picks last year and selected 3 guards.

In 09, 3 first-round picks and 3 guards, do you think the Timberwolves have stabilized after seeing this?

Don't worry, they are the No. 5 pick Ricky Rubio, the No. 6 pick Jonny Flynn, and the No. 28 pick Wayne Ellington.

The three of them are currently stretching their hips more than the other.

Ellington averaged 6.6 points per game and shot 40.3 percent from the field.

Flynn is averaging 5.3 points on 36.5 percent shooting.

Rubio is still playing in the league in Spain. He averaged 5 points per game after suffering ligament surgery with his right hand for shooting. He made less than 2% of his three-pointers and was uncertain.

The Timberwolves perfectly missed Curry, Jennings, DeRozan, Holiday and other star guards in the guard year.

Their backline is in dire need of reinforcement, so Williams is a perfect fit.

In the past two years, the only bright spot of the Timberwolves management is the introduction of future CBA MVP forward Michael Beasley this summer.

Beasley is known as left-handed Durant.

This dude is actually Kevin Durant's younger brother, and coincidentally, his height is 2 meters the same as Durant's, and his draft pick is the same as Durant's. They are all exactly the same as Durant, and they love jump shots!

On left-handed shots, he shot 45 percent overall, just 1 percent behind Durant, but shot 36 percent from 1-point range, another [-] percent better than Durant.

His first step is very quick, his athletic ability is good, and he can fight inside, which is more versatile than Durant.

His height is suitable for both small forwards and power forwards, but because of Love, he currently plays more of a small forward position.

Timberwolves are currently hesitating between the two candidates for the next wolf king.

This duel will last until next season to decide the winner, but as a fan of the two generations, Wu Di knew the result in advance——

Beasley was eliminated due to injury and left for Phoenix. Love became the next Wolf King.

But at present, the two are evenly matched.

Both of them average around 20 points per game. In terms of rebounds, Love is better because of his position and talent, but Beasley is better at blocking shots and stealing.

From a demand point of view, it is indeed a good idea for the Timberwolves to replace Love Gaflin with Williams and Jordan and then speed up the first round of the pick.

Their back line is no longer empty, the inside line has also been strengthened twice, and there are first-round picks...

But in terms of transaction value, it has a hint of extortion.

Because Flynn has proven that he has little potential to tap, he can only be a water cooler manager with an annual salary of several million dollars in the deal.

Love is currently just an All-Star prospect who hasn't fully proven his abilities.

For these two, at most Williams, who was selected as an All-Star last year, plus Hickson.

The Cavaliers make up another first-round pick of their own, which is already considered as the best of humanity.

But the Timberwolves still want to add Jordan...

They obviously saw the popularity of the topic of the Cavaliers' revenge heat, and saw that the Cavaliers were short of strikers, and they wanted to take advantage of the fire!

But then again, with the current shortage of centers in the league, this deal is simply impossible and unrealistic.

Because of the trade away of Jordan, the Cavaliers can only use the unreliable Hollins as the center, and the increase against the Timberwolves is also limited.

Their current two centers, Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic, are playing pretty well, plus Koufos, their centers are not short of people at all...

Therefore, this offer from the Timberwolves is very problematic!
……

On this day, Gilbert came to visit Wu Di with Eva Carneiro, a beautiful doctor who had just been recruited for Wu Di:
"My dear Di! Get well soon! You are not here these days, we have lost to the Pistons and the Thunder in a row! If this continues, we will lose to the Timberwolves!"

Seeing that Eva was stopped by Ariana and taken to another room as soon as she entered the door, Wu Di had no choice but to discuss with Gilbert about the Timberwolves' offer.

"I know the reason... Timberwolves owner Glenn Taylor, this guy, he can really waste a season waiting for Love and Beasley to decide the outcome!"

After listening to Wu Di's analysis, Gilbert held his forehead and said with a headache.

"why?"

Wu Di was a little confused. The career of an NBA player can only be built in a few years, and if the problem is not resolved, the Timberwolves can only remain a weak team.

"Taylor was once elected to the senator. You know, those politicians, they like the feeling of holding cards in their hands! They won't play all the cards until the moment the house is on fire..."

Gilbert explained.

Wu Di was taken aback, Gan, so it turns out...

Taylor is bringing his philosophy of "boiling" in the political arena to running an NBA team...

It's really a wonderful flower among NBA team owners!
But it also made Wu Di suddenly realize that many questions he didn't think to understand before now have answers!

He quickly found Beasley's information, and said a little excitedly:

"Haha, I know how to trade to Love!"

(End of this chapter)