Champion, please stay!

Chapter 139, Section 137: Assists increased, but so did turnovers.
Facing the problem squarely, strengthening her resolve, and adjusting her mindset, Yi Shui called her agency and asked them to help her contact a housekeeping and moving company. They arranged a time to pack her things and prepare for the move.

On the evening of the 31st of last month, which was the morning of January 1st in China, he called his parents and learned that the high school in his hometown would have its final exams next week, which would be on Thursday the 7th in Beijing time and the 6th here. His agent in China had already arranged his trip to come here for the Chinese New Year.

His grandparents and maternal grandparents also came with him. In Yi Shui's memory, as the eldest grandson, his grandparents and maternal grandparents treated him very well.

There's no need to mention other relatives; his parents have siblings, and their relationships vary in quality.

His father was a very principled person. As a senior teacher at the best school in the county, he could theoretically help people get into the school, but he never did it. His younger sister tried to use connections to help her colleague, and his brother-in-law's child wanted to use connections, but his father refused. Yi Shui must be proud of his father's principles, because he himself would never have done it... Of course, his father also heard a lot of harsh words.

However, ever since Yi Shui made a fortune and filled his father's pockets, the sounds his father heard were particularly pleasant to hear.

After finishing his evening training session, Yi Shui returned to his apartment and, while browsing the news, saw that a major transaction had taken place that day.

The Bobcats traded Jason Richardson, who had been threatening to leave, in exchange for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell from the Suns.

Yi Shui couldn't understand Steve Kerr's thought process. He traded back O'Neal to strengthen the team's half-court offense and defense. If the team's record was poor and he wanted to make adjustments, he should have at least bought a defensive power forward to help O'Neal on defense in the second unit.

Or buy a backup center who can protect the rim and clean up Stoudemire's mess when O'Neal is resting.

Even doing nothing would be better than getting head coach Terry Bert, who doesn't like using rookies, to give DeAndre Jordan more playing time.

As a result, they traded away their best perimeter defender!
Raja Bell was an All-Defensive First Team player the season before last and an All-Defensive Second Team player last season. At 32 years old, his performance has started to decline this season, but he is still a top defensive player in the backcourt. And just like that, he was given to Larry Brown!
They even brought in Diaw, the key playmaker on the front line!
Yi Shui recalls the 10 Western Conference Finals, where Slam Dunk Champion Richardson faced off against Kobe. In the first game, Kobe scored over 40 points, easily outmaneuvering the nearly 32-year-old Kobe.

In Game 2, Gentry was forced to use veteran Hill to defend Kobe. He did a decent job, but given Hill's age and stamina, he could only last half a game. In the third quarter, Kobe would go on a rampage.

What impressed Yi Shui most about that Western Conference Finals was that Kobe averaged 12 points in the third quarter of all 6 games, and 33 points in the series, with a shooting percentage of over 50%.

Replacing Raja Bell with Jason Richardson didn't improve the Suns' offense at all, except for one more dunk per game. Their catch-and-shoot three-pointers even declined, and their defense turned their entire backcourt into a sieve.

Yi Shui felt that Nash was really unlucky; his peak years were completely wasted in the last two years.

Even if the Suns owner simply left the general manager position vacant and didn't make any trades after Colangelo Jr. left, Nash's situation would still be much better than it is now.

Yi Shui was also curious as to why Kerr chose Terry Bert, who was only in his 40s, had only been retired for a few years, had little coaching experience, and had previously coached the Bucks to win the number one draft pick.

He checked and found that the two had been teammates on the Spurs. When Kerr signed Terry Bert, he told reporters, "We are good friends. I know Terry's abilities and I want to give him a chance to showcase his talent."

My heart aches for the Wind Child again...

...

After a night's rest, on January 4th, the Knicks hosted the Timberwolves at home.

In terms of the outcome of this game, few people felt there was any suspense. The Knicks are known for their dominance over weaker teams, while the Timberwolves are competing with the Thunder and the Kings for the last place in the league.

But the match between Yi Shui and Mayo is attracting a lot of attention!

With the season nearly halfway through, Mayo's team has stopped hyping him up as a "super Jordan." It's not that they don't want to, but even his "mommy fans" no longer believe that kind of nonsense. In fact, because the hype during the offseason was too much, many people even stopped supporting him at the beginning of the season because Mayo couldn't even average 20 points per game.

Mayo's team then changed tactics, hyping him up as a "genius scorer" and "the strongest player in the 08 draft class besides Yi Jianlian." This time, they chose the right path!
Mayo is averaging 19.1 points per game this season. He was ridiculed and lost fans when he was hyped up as a 'super Jordan', but if you put Yi Shui aside and only compare him with others, he is the one who can score the most.

罗斯场均16.3分、埃里克-戈登场均15.5分、库里场均14.2分、大洛佩茨场均13分、比斯利场均12.8分……都在梅奥之后！
As for team performance, in recent years, people no longer care about the team's results when evaluating a rookie.

Unless he can lead a team to a qualitative change like he did at Yishui.

Rose, for example, although his team barely managed to achieve a 50% winning percentage in the Western Conference, he was only highly regarded by a few long-time fans outside of Memphis.

Eric Gordon is another story altogether. The team has a solid 50% winning percentage, but nobody credits him for it, even though he's a strong contender for Sixth Man of the Year.

Mayo truly earned the title of 'the best rookie under Yi Jianlian'.

Before the game, many fans had high expectations for Mayo. Rose, who had never won Rookie of the Month, was able to hold his own against Yi Shui for half a game. As the Rookie of the Month for November, Mayo might be able to hold his own for three quarters.

After the game started, the Timberwolves really went head-to-head with the Knicks for three quarters!

But it has nothing to do with Mayo... well, not entirely. He 'attracted' the Knicks' perimeter defensive firepower.

Based on the team's recent situation, Yi Shui and Cheeks discussed and decided to simplify the defense. They would select a few double-team targets each game to maintain defensive intensity, and would no longer insist on switching or helping on defense, prioritizing the preservation of offensive stamina.

Tonight, the Knicks' frontcourt players, led by Yi Shui, relentlessly double-teamed Al Jefferson; the backcourt players, led by Curry, double-teamed Mayo whenever he had the ball, and circled him around when he didn't.

As for the Timberwolves scoring against other players... well, they'll attack back!

In positional play, Yi Shui increased the proportion of one-on-one attacks, and David Lee did the same. Yi Shui also went all out on the counterattack, creating better conditions for run-and-gun offense. After trading baskets with the Timberwolves for three quarters, they finally wore down the Timberwolves' role players' shooting touch.

三节比分87比84，末节33比23，最终，尼克斯队以120比107击溃森林狼队，将战绩提升到23胜10负！
Yi Shui played 38 minutes tonight, which is 4 and a half minutes more than his season average. He played... and he was indeed very tired.

But the stats were good: 9 of 19 shots made, including 1 of 3 three-pointers, plus 5 of 6 free throws, for 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists, his second triple-double of the season.

Yi Shui significantly increased the number of drives and passes in half-court offense tonight. The Timberwolves' defensive efficiency was even worse than that of the Knicks. They allowed fewer points, simply because the Timberwolves' style of play revolves around the slow Al Jefferson, resulting in fewer shot attempts for both themselves and their opponents.

After he scored two goals, the opposing team double-teamed him, and he could easily get an assist by passing the ball.

However, his number of turnovers also hit a new season high, reaching 5.

He had anticipated this.

In previous games, he mainly scored through one-on-one plays and made assists by off-ball play and fast break passes. He didn't organize many attacks while holding the ball and controlled his turnovers very well.

In the first 32 games, he only had 72 turnovers, averaging 4.7 assists and only 2.25 turnovers per game, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of over 2. This is the point on which his playmaking talent is most praised.

Increasing the proportion of drives and splits will inevitably lead to a rise in turnovers.

But he committed 5 turnovers in one game, more than half a turnover in the previous two games combined... Yi Shui plans to watch more game videos of James and Westbrook to learn from them. He also needs to practice pick-and-roll, because with the 'Iron Wall' skill, he can start at full speed after successfully executing a screen, and his shooting touch will improve after catching the ball and shooting. He mainly sets screens for others when he plays pick-and-roll.

Now that ball-handling attacks have increased, we must learn to use pick-and-rolls to draw out the opponent's interior players to defend the pick-and-roll, which will definitely improve the effectiveness of our drives and passes.

As for Mayo, he's probably going to lose fans again. He went 2-for-9 from the field, including 1-for-4 from three-point range, plus 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, for a total of 8 points and 5 assists...

Curry only scored 9 points tonight, but he doesn't care. Anyone who says they are the 'best player after Yi Jianlian from the 08 draft class' will be taken down by him and his teammates!
...

6号，尼克斯队主场迎战76人队，以104比97险胜，易水拿到19分9板7助攻，力压10分10板7助攻的伊戈达拉一头。

Curry didn't score in double digits tonight, only 8 points and 3 assists, but he did a great job defending Andre Miller, limiting him to only 12 points and 6 assists.

Yi Shui had previously taught Curry some small moves for close-quarters combat because of Curry's strong static strength, but he didn't expect the elementary school student to do them so well.

However, the hottest topic tonight was Cheeks embracing Brand, burying the hatchet, and urging Philadelphia fans to give Brand another chance to become the city's new basketball hero.

Yi Shui thought that Brand was probably really not very bright, while Cheeks was a shrewd person.

On the 8th, the Knicks hosted the Nuggets at home in a nationally televised game, and the two teams put on a thrilling offensive battle.

Yi Shui's fast breaks, pull-up jumpers, and step-back shots were a spectacular battle against Anthony's triple-threat isolation plays and fast break support.

易水21投10中，其中三分球1中0，加上10中8的罚球，拿到了28分7板7助攻1抢断4盖帽……以及3失误2犯规。

安东尼23投10中，其中三分球4中1，加上7中5的罚球，拿到26分9板3助攻。

Yi Shui has a slightly higher score, assists, and shooting percentage.

But Anthony's performance was no less impressive than Yi Shui's, with 5 offensive rebounds, forcing the Knicks to more aggressively collapse their defense and create better opportunities for their teammates to shoot from the perimeter.

Anthony's high volume of shots and high iron production in positional warfare mainly served to 'digest the right to shoot'.

Moreover, Anthony had several missed shots that were 'self-inflicted'. Of his 5 offensive rebounds, 3 were blocked on second-chance opportunities, and Yi Shui alone had 2 of them blocked.

Ultimately, the Knicks lost to the Nuggets 112-118 in this high-scoring battle. However, the fact that the Knicks and Nuggets were able to fight to this extent was beyond the commentators' expectations.

Pre-game media assessment of the Nuggets: A Knicks team with defense.

The Knicks were able to keep the score close for a long time, launch constant counterattacks, and maintain the possibility of a comeback until the end for two reasons.

One reason is that the Nuggets did a poor job defending against Yi Shui. In their first encounter, the Nuggets' defensive strategy was the same as when they defended Durant – sticking to the three-point line. As a result, Yi Shui broke through their defense in half-court sets.

Furthermore, compared to the Nuggets, who have become a 'defensive powerhouse', the Knicks don't care about defense at all; they just go all out!
The Nuggets players are not good at controlling the pace of the game and just keep running back and forth.

However, the Knicks ultimately lost because of their 'brainless offensive' approach; they lacked the consistency of the Nuggets in this aspect.

The only player on the Knicks team who could still manage to pass the ball when they were on fire was Yi Shui.

Wilson Chandler, Birdman, and Swift also have the ability to rush up and compress the defense, but if they get blocked after receiving the ball in the attacking third, they are basically outmatched.

For the Nuggets, Kenyon Martin played alongside Kidd for several years, and Nene's fast break passing performance has always been good.

Not to mention Melo and JR Smith, they're the spearheads of the fast break!

This game also revealed the difference between the two teams' core players in orchestrating fast breaks and controlling the game. Duhon is excellent, with outstanding strength, and he is often placed on the bench but he is still very hardworking. However, compared with Billups, even if Billups was only at the tail end of his peak, he is far behind.

...

On the morning of the 9th, Yi Shui drove his newly bought car, along with his two younger brothers, Curry and Chalmers, who were each driving their own cars, to the airport. They picked up his parents, grandparents, and maternal grandparents, and took the six of them back to his new home.

Two days ago, Yi Shui had already notified the housekeeping and moving companies to move everything in his apartment except for his bedroom and study to the storage room of the new house. He would unpack his things later.

The two younger brothers were happy to be 'working for free'.

Yi Shui rarely had the chance to order them around. Seeing that even Mayo, Gordon, Love, and Lopez were often ordered around to do this and that, while Yi Shui, who was protecting them, had ordered them around less often than Harrington and David Lee had asked them to be his wingmen, it always felt strange. Now he felt relieved.

Curry was very enthusiastic and proactive in helping Yi Shui's family move their luggage; they had quite a lot of stuff.

Yi Shui's grandparents and maternal grandparents brought a bunch of local specialties, wanting their grandson to taste the flavors of his hometown.

When they arrived at their new home and saw that their eldest grandson had moved into a villa, his grandparents were overjoyed and kept praising him for being so successful.

Now that Yi Shui's parents have money, they haven't neglected their parents. They've demolished and rebuilt houses in both of their hometowns, and they buy almost anything the elderly can want. Even health supplements—the four elderly people can buy as many as they want, just to give them some peace of mind. Anyway, they haven't been seen taking much of it.

However, they didn't give much cash; just a little money in your pocket for playing cards and smoking was enough, since everyone has a few eccentric relatives.

Originally, we had planned to bring the four elderly people to the county, but they were used to living in the countryside, and all their friends and old buddies lived there, so they were unwilling to move to the city.

Compared to his rigid father and his mother, who, as a teacher, knew that children don't like nagging, his grandparents and maternal grandparents chatted idly with Yi Shui for half the morning.

Yi Shui did find it a bit nagging, but he thought of his grandfather, with whom he had depended on each other in his previous life, and he found it sweet... This made his mother very jealous.

After lunch, Yi Shui reluctantly left her new home, telling her family to get some rest. They had set off during the day and arrived during the day, so they would have to adjust to the time difference.

He arrived at Madison Square Garden. The team had no training scheduled for today, and preparations would be done on the same day, but he still needed to train and "recharge" for tomorrow's game.

With such a tight schedule and away games, Yi Shui knew he definitely wouldn't have time to spend with his family. So he had already made arrangements to let his family rest for a few days and catch their breath before letting them travel around with tour guides, translators, and bodyguards.

He could already imagine his own mother, grandparents, and maternal grandparents showing off after returning to China... It sounds pretty good!
(End of this chapter)