Champion, please stay!

Chapter 114, Section 112: Using me to establish authority?
After finishing his pre-game preparations in the morning, Yi Shui and his teammates Curry and Chalmers, who were from the same year, went to a restaurant near the stadium for lunch.

Yi Shui sat by the window, leaning back in his chair, looking at the main entrance of Madison Square Garden in the distance, and said, "When I was in college, I didn't think there was anything good about a relaxed schedule, but now I finally understand."

At that time, he was still complaining about not having enough matches and not having enough training cards.

Now, a single match requires anywhere from a dozen to over 20 hours of training cards. Not only are training cards for sports that I don't have time to practice specifically accumulating, but training cards for my main sports are also becoming increasingly abundant.

Chalmers chimed in, "Yeah, it's been over two weeks since the regular season started, and for the first time we only need to practice positioning and shooting for 20 minutes on game day mornings. The preparations were all done yesterday, how wonderful."

Curry complained, "You two are acting like old men! You need to be more energetic and passionate!"

Yi Shui: "Did you catch Ross's influence? You hot-blooded kid, oh right, you can't even get into a bar, hot-blooded elementary school student... Hahaha... Don't touch me... Watch my Mighty Vajra Palm!"

Curry's surprise attack failed again. He sat back down in his chair, comforting himself that at least he had hurt the bastard's palm. He remembered reading in a book that forces are reciprocal; if his head hurt, the bastard's palm must hurt too.

Chalmers watched from the sidelines, laughing nonstop.

When he was first drafted, Chalmers was prepared to be humble and play the role of a subordinate. At that time, he believed that Yi Shui would definitely become the leader of the Knicks. He had personally played against him and knew how talented this fellow number one draft pick was.

Indeed, Yi Shui became the team leader as soon as he joined, but Chalmers discovered that the leader only cared about his status on the field, but was very easygoing off the field.

Duhon and David Lee were in charge of the locker room leadership. The two were rivals and had a so-so relationship, but they both got along well with Yi Shui.

During team activities, Daniels and Harrington acted like big shots, but Yi Shui didn't mind.

Moreover, Yi Shui protected him and Curry, preventing them from being bossed around by the veterans.

Of course, there were occasional times when he was called upon to help out, such as at nightclubs, where Harrington would call him to be his wingman, playing the role of a subordinate to Harrington, helping Harrington pick up girls... But Harrington would also cover the expenses for the night, which was much better than other rookies in the same cohort.

According to gossip news reports, on the first day of the training camp, Kevin Love's job was to clean the shoes of the veteran players, and he was always the "baggage handler" when he went to away games.

Eric Gordon suffered the most, being played by the disorganized and ruthless veterans of the Bulls. Ben Gordon even put a special '0' sticker on the back of the rookie's new car.

Eric Gordon had his car window banged with a '1' for several days in a row. Once, he was almost shoved by a two-meter-tall man. Luckily, Gordon, with his round head and strong build, managed to save his life. After the police were called, the local police easily removed the sticker and that was the end of it. It's clear that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened to the Bulls.

There are also those who can make a living without the protection of a boss—Beasley, who got into a fight with Haslem and was never used again after that, only privately ostracized.

Chalmers remarked briefly on what had happened in the past six months, saying, "Boss, I sometimes feel that the schedule is too packed and I'm very tired, but you probably aren't, right? You train extra every day and are more excited than anyone else when there's a match."

Yi Shui: "I'm not tired, but I just thought about it and felt a bit sentimental. Back in college, I could occasionally go on dates with my seniors and juniors. Now, I feel like I don't have enough time to train every day, and I feel like I'm not strong enough."

Curry raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and said, "Yes, we're not strong enough yet. Someone like Wade tonight is someone we can't handle one-on-one."

Yi Shui glanced at Curry—was this guy trying to provoke me? Was he worried that I would 'let myself go' like I did in my sophomore year because I didn't feel there were any worthy opponents?
He thought of the increasingly outrageous stories about his 'talent'. Oh well, this guy had done him a favor, so he wouldn't hold it against him for saying Wade was better than him.

Elementary school student: What's going on? Aren't you going to give me a piece of your mind? My Iron Head Kung Fu has recovered, I'm ready to fight again!

...

After the three finished lunch, they returned to Madison Square Garden.

Yi Shui hadn't looked back when he left, so he hadn't noticed, but now he was shocked to see the advertisement title on the giant screen above the gate: "Weekly Showdown".

This morning, the league announced the Players of the Week for Week 2.

In the Western Conference, Billups won Player of the Week. His stats weren't particularly outstanding, averaging 17.5 points and 7 assists per game, but his team had a 4-0 record.

Before the trade, the Nuggets had a record of 2 wins and 3 losses, ranking ahead of the Grizzlies and fourth from the bottom in the Western Conference. After the trade, in just one week, the Nuggets became the fourth team in the Western Conference, behind the Lakers, Spurs, and Hornets!
The Denver Nuggets' track-and-field style of play is similar to the quick, agile, and fast-moving style of play employed by the Detroit Pistons under coach Flip Saunders, both relying on the ball-handling core's ability to control the game.

When the trade was completed, the general consensus was that it was a good deal for the Nuggets, as Iverson was clearly only suited for scoring high and not for being the core of a run-and-gun offense.

But no one could have imagined that Billups's effect would be so immediate.

In the East, the winner was none other than Dwyane Wade.

The Heat actually only had a 2-2 record last week, which is worse than the Cavaliers' 3-1 record.

但韦德个人，上周打奇才队拿到37分获胜、打猛龙队拿到42分空砍、打步行者队拿到33分获胜、打太阳队双加时爆砍50分空砍……4场比赛场均40.5分！外加6.5板6.5助攻1.8抢断1.2盖帽！    这年头，这数据，看着就让人头皮发麻。

At 7:40 p.m., the Heat and Knicks entered Madison Square Garden one after the other.

After the opening ceremony, the two team leaders exchanged pleasantries with the camera.

Yi Shui was genuinely there to exchange pleasantries, but he had no real relationship with the other party, only hostility.

But Wade took the initiative to praise Yi Shui's performance.

Yi Shui felt confused, and Wade wasn't the type to praise his opponents.

After praising him a few times, Wade changed the subject: "I knew you would succeed in the NBA, but you are even better than I imagined. You surpassed Chamberlain in the opening game and won Player of the Week with Shaq in the first week... I have been looking forward to this day to face you again and see who can score more."

Yi Shui smiled so much her eyes narrowed, and replied, "I'm looking forward to it too."

After exchanging pleasantries, Yi Shui walked back to the bench, looking at the new assignment.

"The Heat have had a poor start to the season and are in low spirits. Dwyane Wade desperately needs a win and needs to defeat a high-profile opponent. You have become his target... Mission: Establish authority? Triggered."

Objective 1: To score more points than Dwyane Wade.

Objective 2: Defeat the Heat.

Prize: A Miami Heat 2008-2009 season player skills blind box.

Previously, Yi Shui had challenged Wade, but the latter hadn't responded directly. This time, the latter challenged him directly, even in front of the camera. Yi Shui immediately sensed something was wrong, and upon seeing the task, he completely understood.

That's just...undignified.

但看着韦德从首周5场比赛场均27分，到现在9场比赛场均33分，热火队战绩4胜5负……

Yi Shui was able to understand why the other party had abandoned all pretense of dignity.

The New York media's favorite point to promote about him is not his two 40+ point games, nor his Player of the Week award in the first week, but rather—his ability to still deliver a good performance against superstars and strong teams.

This is unique among rookies since the beginning of the new century. Players like Roy, Rose, Okafor, and Ben Gordon were considered to be very capable in their rookie years and could maintain their performance when facing superstars, but their performance in general was only considered good among rookies.

Yi Shui was different. He entered the NBA with superstar stats. Even when playing against strong defensive teams like the Jazz and Spurs, despite his slightly lower shooting percentage, he still managed to score 21 and 24 points respectively.

Rookie, poor team defense... Wade chose him as a stepping stone, Yi Shui could understand it, but he was angry.

After D'Antoni finished his final pre-game instructions, Yi Shui called his key teammates together, including Cheeks and D'Antoni, and said, "Tonight, our defense will target Wade. Protect the rim, and don't worry about the wings. We'll definitely shoot more accurately than them... Morris, it's up to you."

Cheeks glanced at the head coach and, seeing no unusual expression, made defensive arrangements based on this very fast starting lineup. There was no need to consider the overall defense; just target one point and add rim protection. It was too simple. He also included the team's main purpose in signing him—to reduce the movement and fatigue on the defensive end of the Yi Shui team.

D'Antoni saw that Cheeks' adjustments wouldn't affect the offense at all; in fact, the rim protection arrangement would enhance defensive rebounding and facilitate fast breaks. Not only did he have no objections, he was quite satisfied. He felt that although the new assistant coach was a bit sloppy, he knew how to handle things.

The match starts at 8 PM!
Heat starters: Wade, Daequan Cook, Beasley, Marion, Haslem.

Knicks starting lineup: Curry, Q, Yi Shui, David Lee, Swift.

Swift beat Haslem to win the jump ball, giving the Knicks the first possession!
Curry and Swift initiated the offense with a pick-and-roll. Yi Shui set a screen for Da Q, then shook off Wade and cut into the paint. He received the ball in front of the basket and scored two points against Haslem, who had retreated to the bottom of the court.

Looking at Marion's lack of initiative in helping out on defense, and thinking of O'Neal averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds per game for the Suns at the start of the season... Wade grunted and received the inbound pass to advance to the frontcourt.

Attack! Score!
During the preseason, he was already mentally prepared to be both a father and a mother figure in the new season, handling everything from scoring and organizing the offense to rebounding, one-on-one defense, and help defense.

But after the regular season started, he realized that it wasn't enough. He had to become a god for the team, just like Kobe Bryant did back then!

He needs a special game to boost the team's morale, and Yishui + Knicks + the holy land of basketball is the perfect target!

But! Wade's first shot missed under the pressure of Curry's delaying action, David Lee's defensive pressure, and Yi Shui's collapsing defense!
Cheekbone: ? ? ? Where did the Knicks get their zone defense?!
(End of this chapter)