Champion, please stay!

Chapter 121, page 119: Operation Shark Walking Begins!
Yi Shui saw several posts saying that so-and-so from the East was more deserving of the award, but they were overwhelmed by a bunch of data and couldn't find any reason to refute it. Of course, not refutating it is the normal situation.

As for the insults, personal attacks, and discriminatory remarks, Yi Shui plans to wait until the two newbies from the same year leave, then use a alternate account to start swearing and see who can insult the most.

However, the 'anti-riot team' has also gained experience, and they turned around and started to praise Birdman like crazy - Birdman's Player of the Month is the League Player of the Month, while Yi Shui's Player of the Month is only the Eastern Conference Player of the Month, and the difference in the quality is huge.

But Yi Shui saw that his fans and the team behind him already had experience!

The article lists players who have won the Player of the Week and Player of the Month awards multiple times after separating the Eastern and Western Conferences, suggesting that their trophies should be halved.

Fans of Kobe and LeBron are outraged. Since the awards were divided into East and West, the players with the most Player of the Month awards are the 24th and the 23rd, with the former winning 9 times and the latter 7 times.

Then, the floodwaters began to rush against the Dragon King Temple, and people started fighting each other.

Yi Shui guessed that this move must have come from Bartelstein, a standard operation for magical clashes.

While browsing the news, Yi Shui felt like she had overlooked something... Oh! Right, isn't there also the Western Player of the Month?

Just like when he won Player of the Week last time, he was ignored again in the West.

He found the original news link for 'Best of the Month'.

Coach of the Month, Mike D'Antoni and Phil Jackson, and the Lakers had a terrifying 15-1 start to the month.

月最佳新秀，西部获奖者是——OJ-梅奥，场均19分3板3助攻，击败了场均15.5分4板7.2助攻的罗斯。

Yi Shui was a little surprised. He opened the NBA website and looked up Mayo's information.

In terms of immediate impact, Mayo was indeed the strongest player in this draft class. After adapting to the start of the season in a few games, he once averaged 20 points per game in the middle of last month, but then dropped back down in the latter half of the month.

As for not seeing much news about Mayo... it seems that the topics about other rookies weren't very popular in the first month, because among this year's rookies, he, Embiid, is far ahead of everyone else, so the attention is concentrated on him.

The nickname "Emperor of New York" given to Yi Shui by "King Henrik of New York" began to be cited by more media outlets after the announcement of the Player of the Month.

When Yi Shui was browsing domestic portal websites just now, he saw that the media cited the same names more often, translating them as "Emperor," "Great Emperor," and "Emperor Yi."

Domestic media and fans are also explaining the difference between "Emperor" and "King" in Europe and America, emphasizing that James' nickname should not be translated as "Little Emperor" but as "King".

Yi Shui felt a little bit uneasy about this nickname.

But as a superstar goalkeeper and a New Yorker, he also won Player of the Month, which popularized the nickname.

Western Conference Player of the Month – Chris Paul.

Seeing Paul's performance, Yi Shui was amazed.

16场比赛，场均23.3分5.5板11.5助攻3抢断，投篮命中率51%；生涯首次单月三分命中率突破40%，44次三分出手命中18球，命中率40.9%；场均7次罚球命中6.3球，刚好90%命中率。

With Peja Stojakovic in a slump, Chandler sidelined for most of the season due to injury and his talent yet to fully develop, Paul led his team to an 11-5 record, decisively defeating Kobe Bryant, who led his team to a 15-1 record, and winning Player of the Month.

Surprisingly, this performance didn't generate much discussion...

Emperor: So, while I'm winning the award, the one who's really unlucky is Brother Pao from the underworld?

...

After browsing the news for a while and seeing the two newbies from the same year leave, Yi Shui opened the system and looked at the system notification he had received after confirming his award.

"You were named Player of the Month in your first month of your rookie season, breaking Larry Bird's record for the fastest time to win Player of the Month. Congratulations on receiving the following rewards: Performance (Three-Point Contest exclusive skill) and All-Round Shooting Talent +1."

"Performance: You are always in your best shooting form when you participate in the NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest."

“你全方位投篮天赋均已达到历史级别，远距离85（天赋91+5）、中距离78（天赋93+2）、近距离91（天赋94+2）。”

Looking at the latest notification, Yi Shui thought that the exclusive skill was better than nothing.

His basic shooting talent is 91+93+94, which is not bad. After adding 9 talent points, he has reached a historic level in all aspects.

He switched to the file interface.

“……远距离85（左侧底角81、左侧45度角86、顶弧84、右侧45度角89、右侧底角83）……。”

Compared to the training camp, the overall improvement in long-distance distance was 1 point.

The bottom left corner and the 45-degree left corner have the least improvement, both by 1 point. The bottom corner is due to a smaller throw, while the 45-degree left corner is due to a more accurate calculation.

The top arc and the bottom right corner both increased by two points, and the most accurate right 45-degree angle is now stuck at 89.

Mid-range shooting improved by two points overall, but the effective shooting area remains the free-throw line distance between the 45-degree angles on both wings.

The overall price rose by 1 point in the near term.

However, regardless of which area he shoots from, there is still a long way to go before he reaches his full potential.

The biggest improvement was in ball control, which reached 90, and passing also improved to 81. This was achieved through the 'Rhythm' mode and training cards, combined with more frequent ball possession attacks and more intense matches than in college.

After treating his teammates to a big meal that evening, Yi Shui was busy for another two hours as the media followed him to Sacramento, where he gave several interviews.

After a night's rest, the Knicks' toughest schedule of the year began the next day, December 2nd.

首节33比25、第二节26比24、第三节31比26、末节24比25……尼克斯队以114比100轻取国王队。

易水打了25分钟，12投8中，其中三分球4中2，加上1中1的罚球，拿到19分7板5助攻2抢断2盖帽……以及生涯首次0失误，犯规也只有两次，三节打卡下班。

Through actual matchups, he understood why the Kings, despite being only the third-worst team in points allowed per game with an average of 107 points allowed per game—less than the Warriors' 112 points and the Suns' 108 points—were rated the "worst defensive team."

He drove in and shot about 10 times, but didn't draw a single foul. Nobody stopped him from driving in from mid-range. Inside players like Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes, and Jason Thompson just watched him shoot, rarely even extending their arms.

His only free throw came when Hawes pushed someone in frustration after being dunked on by Swift. His entire team surrounded him, while the rest of the Kings stood by and watched. The referee called a technical foul on Hawes to quell their anger. Fortunately, Curry wasn't on the court, so he took the free throw.

Looking at the roster alone, the Kings have many excellent players: Kevin Martin, John Samuels, Francisco Garcia, Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson, Beno Udrih, Bobby Jackson... They shouldn't have started the season with a 2-15 record, ranking last in the league.

But this team only racks up their own points on offense, passes very little, averaging 17.7 assists per game, the worst in the league, and shows no initiative or unity on defense.

They truly deserve to be the only non-run-and-gun team among those that allow more than 105 points per game on average.

Thinking of this, Yi Shui cricket glanced at the Nuggets team, who had 'betrayed the organization'. They were all run-and-gun teams. The Nuggets' average points allowed per game this season had already been reduced from 107 points last season to 104.5 points, and there was still room to reduce it further. They had transformed from a 'pure track and field style' to a 'defense-counter-attack track and field style'.

...

After playing the Kings as a 'warm-up,' the Knicks traveled to Phoenix, rested for a night, and then the next day, the 4th, came to the American West Arena to challenge the Suns.

At 7:40 p.m., after the lights dimmed and the players' entrance ceremony began, the boos from the fans were not as loud as the Knicks players had imagined. Instead, more fans were chanting "Porter out" and "We want Mike."

Yi Shui looked at D'Antoni, and some of the spotlight's light reflected onto the mustache. The mustache had his arms crossed, and his expression seemed serious and focused, ignoring the noise from the fans in the arena, but he clearly couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth.

Yi Shui can understand the fans' reaction at the scene.

The roster is star-studded, featuring Nash, Raja Bell, Diaw, Stoudemire, O'Neal, Barbosa, Jared Dudley, Louis Amundson, and Grant Hill. The offseason acquisition of Matt Barnes is a great value, and the draft pick Robin Lopez is a decent role player who can contribute immediately.

Moreover, both O'Neal and Hill seem to have been reborn.

O'Neal played in all 18 of his first games, averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds, and was considered one of the three great centers alongside Howard and Yao Ming.

Hill missed 12 games last season, but he has played every game this season. He was put on the bench at the start of the season, and his stats have declined, but his overall efficiency is higher than last season.

However, with this lineup, they only managed a record of 10 wins and 8 losses in the first 18 games!

They average 107.5 points per game and allow 108 points. Their offense is not as good as in previous years, and their defense is even worse. Apart from the team doctor, there is nothing to praise about this Suns team.

Nash, Stoudemire, Diaw, Raja Bell... the mainstays of the run-and-gun era have all seen a significant decline in performance.

Meanwhile, the Knicks started the season with a 13-4 record, and D'Antoni won the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award for the first month.

After the opening ceremony, D'Antoni facilitated a meeting between Yi Shui and Nash, Stoudemire, and others.

Nash was very enthusiastic, while Stoudemire was perfunctory and clearly hostile.

This is all D'Antoni's fault. During the preseason, he said in an interview that Yi Shui was "a defensive Amar'e", and later used an exaggerated description like "a combination of Little Tyrant, Silver Horn King and Wolf King".

Little Tyrant: Is it that I don't want to practice defense? I was very active on defense when I first entered the NBA! It was you who said I had no defensive talent and shouldn't waste my time after you became a star!
When Yi Shui greeted O'Neal, he noticed that O'Neal was exceptionally enthusiastic, even more so than Nash.

He thought O'Neal was targeting him because of his status as a Chinese player; this guy knew how to cater to fans and the market, especially with the camera pointed directly at him.

Because the Knicks vs. Warriors game at the end of last month was incredibly popular and broke the season's viewership record, major media outlets broadcast the game again tonight. Although the Suns' record is not satisfactory, they are still fourth in the league in scoring.

Indeed, as he suspected, O'Neal's enthusiasm stemmed from this reason, but there was another reason he hadn't considered—after winning Player of the Week for the first week, O'Neal was showered with praise by the 'Bombardment Team,' just like Bird was being lauded while lying down on the 1st.

At 8 p.m., the Knicks' first game of a back-to-back road game against the Suns will tip off!
Suns starting lineup: Nash, Raja Bell, Diaw, Stoudemire, O'Neal.

Knicks starting lineup: Duhon, Curry, Yi Shui, David Lee, Anderson.

D'Antoni made adjustments to the starting lineup in response to the Suns.

O'Neal beat Birdman to win the jump ball, giving the Suns the lead!
On the first offensive play, O'Neal received the ball in the low post and went one-on-one against Birdman. Yi Shui left Diaw wide open and let him in, but O'Neal, who had received the ball, dribbled a step and turned to face the baseline, was knocked down on his back!

With Birdman on his left and Yi Shui behind him, O'Neal tiptoed and threw the ball with a hook shot from his right hand... and it went in!
His use of the body, his timing of turning, and the gentleness of his hook are all superb!
But the Knicks didn't give O'Neal a chance to turn around and domineering. Birdman turned around, picked up the ball, and sent it in. Yi Shui also immediately went around to the front of the basket to receive the ball and turned to push the fast break!

O'Neal raised his left hand and right foot, quickly stopping to chase after Birdman who was following up after the serve... but he couldn't keep up!
After Yi Shui rushed out of the three-point line, he passed the ball to Du Hong, who then made a long pass to Curry. Curry then passed the ball to Yi Shui, who was driving down the right wing and rushing into the three-point line.

Yi Shui drove straight to the basket and slammed the ball into the hoop over Stoudemire, who was sprinting back to the basket!
The commentator on the imperial television channel exclaimed in surprise: "The Great Emperor is suppressing the Little Tyrant!"

(End of this chapter)