69novels Chapter 33 Walking the Dog
Chapter 33 Walking the Dog
"Wang, you're starting today, small forward. Defend Bobby Simmons well. Take your shots from where you're confident; we'll all watch out for you."
Before the game against the Bucks, Warriors interim head coach Tom Jackson announced the starting lineup to the players.
Wang Kai has replaced Mike Dunleavy, a "second-generation basketball player," as the Warriors' starting small forward.
No one objected to the acting head coach's decision, and no one dared to object.
Baron Davis, as the team's leader, celebrated with Wang Kai by high-fiving and chest bumping, clearly fed up with Montgomery's yelling and shouting.
As for Mike Dunleavy, he doesn't seem to care much about starting or not. To be honest, Mike Dunleavy isn't short of playing time, and if all else fails, he can always rely on his father.
"Congratulations, King! We all welcome you back."
Fisher, who is already considered a "middle fish," is really courting disaster. Not only has he made Wang Kai the father of a certain "little emperor," but he has also successfully made himself a representative of others (the president of the players' union), which is very much in line with his life trajectory.
"Thank you, Derek. I still hope you can call me King. I'm still young and don't want to be a father."
Wang Kai, stepping into the Bradley Center, looked reborn under the arena's bright lights.
The Warriors, playing as the away team, went first. Among the home team players, Andrew Bogut's extremely jealous gaze towards Wang Kai was particularly noticeable.
Before entering the league, Bogut had a very high opinion of himself. He believed that he should be the kind of person who could change the landscape of the league, just like Duncan back then.
But the reality is that nicknames don't necessarily translate into real ability. "White Duncan" has been quietly buried by the snowstorm in Milwaukee, leaving only the biting cold.
Although the Bucks won their first three games of the season, and although Bogut had an amazing performance of 10 points and 17 rebounds in the Bucks' second game against the Nets, no one in the entire league really thought that Bogut could become a player like Duncan.
Bogut managed 10 points and 17 rebounds against the Nets' weak interior defense, but against the aging Mourning who was missing a kidney, he only managed 6 points and 6 rebounds. Meanwhile, Mourning's performance of 14 points and 12 rebounds didn't seem like that of an aging veteran missing a kidney.
Therefore, Bogut was very jealous of Wang Kai. He thought Wang Kai had gone to a good place, and he also liked the environment of the Bay Area, which was very similar to Australia. Moreover, Bogut believed that Wang Kai had stolen all the attention, and that his lack of attention in Milwaukee was all Wang Kai's fault.
If Kobe knew what Bogut was thinking, he would definitely speak out loudly for Wang Kai.
"Heaven and earth bear witness, the lack of attention Milwaukee is not my Wang Kai's fault. Look at your boss Reed, averaging 23 points per game but not making the All-Star team, yet he's earning a three million dollar annual salary. This really isn't Wang Kai's fault."
Of course, Michael Reed had a breakout season, signing a six-year, $90 million contract with the Bucks, with a starting salary of $12 million. But since then, he has never made it to the All-Star team again.
After the game officially started, the Warriors took the lead. Bogut failed to win the jump ball against Warriors veteran Foyle, and Baron Davis quickly advanced to the frontcourt and directly overpowered Ford, who was out for the rest of last season, to enter the paint.
Standing at only 183 cm tall and weighing only 75 kg, TJ Ford was simply unable to stop the original bearded man's overwhelming breakthroughs, and could only foul him to send Davis to the free-throw line.
TJ Ford was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft. His speed was said to be comparable to Allen Iverson, but unfortunately, he had serious injury risks, as he suffered from congenital cervical stenosis.
Baron Davis made one of two free throws, giving the Warriors an early lead.
The Bucks are on offense. Michael Reed receives the ball, draws the defense, and then assists teammate Magloire for a mid-range jumper.
Reed had a field goal percentage of nearly 45% and a three-point percentage of 35% last season, so the Warriors didn't dare to let him shoot easily.
Wang Kai behaved himself in the first round of the match and didn't make much of a splash.
For the next three or four minutes, the Warriors and Bucks were evenly matched, with the lead changing hands frequently.
With four minutes and thirteen seconds remaining in the game, Wang Kai finally scored his first two points.
Wang Kai made a run off the ball to the weak side, received a pass from Davis using Murphy's screen, and made a shooting motion, which caused Bobby Simmons to jump.
Wang Kai dribbled past defenders, broke through to the three-point line, and hit a mid-range jumper.
Bogut's attention was always focused on Wang Kai, but his help defense was a beat too slow.
Seeing that Bogut seemed to value him highly, Wang Kai immediately had some thoughts. He didn't know that the top scorer had a problem with him, but Wang Kai could sense that the other party was somewhat hostile towards him.
"Byron, I'll have the ball in a bit, I'll pull their inside players out."
Wang Kai communicated with the team leader at the right time.
If anyone else had made such a request to Baron Davis, Davis probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. But since it was Wang Kai who made the request, Baron Davis was willing to give Wang Kai face, after all, he was his "little brother".
The Bucks were on offense, and Reed hit a three-pointer over Jason's defense, tying the game at 11.
The Warriors were on offense, and Baron Davis pushed the ball up the court and passed it directly to Wang Kai.
Wang Kai had a triple threat with the ball, but after a probing step, Bobby Simmons' defensive positioning was very stable, and the attack had no effect.
Murphy stepped up to screen for Wang Kai, a common tactic for the Warriors. Murphy's shooting range is a key factor in the Warriors' offense.
Wang Kai used Murphy's screen to ask Simmons for defense, and Bogut switched to guard Wang Kai.
Murphy stood outside the three-point line, drawing Simmons' defense, creating a one-on-one situation for Wang Kai and Bogut.
Wang Kai's dribbling wasn't particularly fast, and he didn't lower his center of gravity too much; he simply made a sideways breakthrough and then pulled the ball back.
Bogut defended very seriously. He tried to use his strength and weight to force Wang Kai into a disadvantageous position when Wang Kai broke through, so he adjusted his center of gravity forward in order to suppress Wang Kai's offensive route.
As a result, Wang Kai's swift pull-back caused Bogut to lose his balance and fall forward.
Wang Kai calmly observed Bogut, who was almost falling to the ground, for a second before shooting a three-pointer that went in.
"Come on, boy! You almost caught up with me."
How could Wang Kai, who had received so much instruction from Lao Ke, not use Lao Ke's dog-walking rhetoric?
An enraged Bogut arrived in the attacking third and yelled at Ford, "Give me the ball!"
Reed used Magloire's screen to circle to the weak side at a 45-degree angle, received a pass from Ford, and took a three-pointer, but missed.
Ignored, Bogut didn't even have time to stomp his foot before turning around to defend, because Wang Kai, who had grabbed the rebound, had already started the fast break.