Champion, please stay!

Chapter 142, Page 140: Another Player of the Week Award! (Two Chapters Combined, 7K)

"This victory is dedicated to my family. I think it was their presence that brought us good luck."

Thanks to my teammates, their hard work gave me the opportunity to make that crucial shot... Of course, there was definitely an element of luck in this game, but we seized the opportunity.

The Celtics are strong, the strongest in the league, after all they are the defending champions, first in the regular season... weren't they first? We pushed them down to second? The Lakers should be very grateful to us..."

The on-site interview at Yishui almost made an unnamed old blacksmith in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, break his remote control.

After the game, Yi Shui's low-post dunk over Garnett in the final moments, resulting in a 2+1 play, was selected as one of today's top five plays.

His low-post talent has also become a hot topic among fans.

The prevailing view is that Yi Shui possesses amazing low-post talent, a good physique, strong mobility, versatile style, and a promising future.

There are also opposing views—Yi Shui relies on explosiveness in the low post, his technique is rough, similar to Howard, he can beat weaker opponents, but he doesn't dare to play against larger inside players.

A closer look reveals numerous flaws in this opposing viewpoint, and its points of opposition do not align with the points praised by the mainstream view.

However, Yi Shui expanded his influence and popularity by leveraging the influence of the Big Apple, but also attracted a large number of haters.

They don't care about loopholes; they blindly support any opposing viewpoint that comes up.

Moreover, this group is extremely active online, their influence far exceeding that of ten others, which has affected the opinions of some passersby.

Yi Shui was already used to this; he would just use a secondary account to flame each other for fun and didn't take it to heart.

He looked at his stats after adjusting his playstyle for this four-game winning streak.

The score has dropped, but that's not important. Just shoot more when needed, and take the shot when the opportunity arises.

Assists: 7.5 per game in 4 games, a significant increase from 4.7+ per game in the previous 32 games. However, turnovers also surged from 2.25 per game to 3.75 per game, resulting in an assist-to-turnover ratio of exactly 2 to 1...

He looked at the stats of Chris Paul, the current king of assist-to-turnover ratio in the league, who averages 11.2 assists and 2.7 turnovers per game, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of over 4.

We need to allocate some time to practice pick-and-roll, and increase passing practice time as well. Strengthening penetration is secondary; pick-and-roll can better disrupt the opponent's defense and create better conditions for penetration and passing.

...

After finishing his four-game series, on the morning of the 11th, Yi Shui bid farewell to his family and left home with his luggage.

His parents, grandparents, and maternal grandparents had only been there for two days when he had to go on a "business trip." He was really reluctant to leave them, but that's just how work is. Fortunately, everything was arranged in Batelstein. The handover with the travel agency and security company was completed yesterday, so the elders wouldn't be bored.

His father wanted to visit his school. Hearing that his son had been accepted into a master's program, his parents, who are both teachers, were very proud, as their family was about to produce a master's graduate.

His mother did some research, while his grandparents and maternal grandparents didn't care where they went.

This time, when going to play an away game, Yi Shui drove himself to the airport. Before, he took the team bus because it was too close to the stadium, just two streets away, which was convenient. Now that he lives in a new house, it takes five or six minutes to drive to the stadium, and if there is traffic, it can take twenty or thirty minutes. It is more convenient to drive to the airport by himself.

Before heading to the airport, Yi Shui went to a club and had a short meeting with her agent team and the others.

Meeting agenda – Finalizing the series name for the signature shoe and the official announcement date.

Even before the Olympics began, the signature shoe was already on the agenda. Initially, it was planned to be announced at Christmas, with a PE version released in January for training, and the official version launched during the Lunar New Year.

But in the opening game, Yi Shui broke the record for points in a rookie's debut, then won Player of the Week in his first week and Player of the Month in his first month... Although he only played for one month, Nike executives were certain that as long as the Knicks made the playoffs, Yi Shui would definitely be selected for the All-NBA Team in his rookie year!
Even if they don't make the All-NBA First Team in their rookie year like Larry Bird or Tim Duncan, as long as they make the All-NBA Second Team or Third Team, they can still be considered 'historic rookies', rather than being limited to the 'strongest' of the new century due to the decline in their immediate impact as rookies. They don't need to try to piggyback on the fame of some historical superstar.

That way, when Yi Shui finishes his rookie season, the sneaker market will be completely different! They'll sell out without a doubt!
First-generation sneakers are usually repeatedly reissued and remade, and the more popular they are on the first sale, the better.

Nike then negotiated with Yishui to postpone the release of the first signature shoe. At that time, Nike's market target was mainly the Chinese market, with the US market to follow later. Now, they are preparing to target both markets simultaneously.

The contract is for seven years, so a few more months won't make a difference; they have the patience.

Yi Shui didn't have any objections, unlike Rose who was making a fuss about Adidas releasing a signature shoe or even directly calling out to the media after a good performance, because he knew he would.

When signing the contract, Bartelstein made sure that Nike included a clause in the agreement stipulating that at least five generations of signature shoes would be released over seven years, with the first generation to be released in the first year.

Moreover, with more preparation time, the design can likely be done better.

For star athletes, signature shoes serve two main purposes.

One is to demonstrate their "sales-driving" ability through solid sales figures.

Another factor is face. Whether the sneakers look good or not, and the playing experience, are all related to his face.

As I said before, it's a 7-year contract, a couple of months won't make a difference.

The official announcement is scheduled to take place after the All-Star starters are announced and before All-Star Weekend.

This morning at 9 a.m., the NBA officially announced the first phase of votes for All-Star starters, which ended the day before yesterday, on the 9th.

Yi Shui is currently second in the East in terms of votes! The Eastern Conference forwards are in first place! They have received 97 votes.

James came in second with 79 votes, and Garnett came in third with 73 votes.

No one was surprised by this. With the Chinese market, New York, and 36 games, he scored 979 points, averaging 27.2 points per game... It's perfectly normal.

LeBron James' fans can only feel envious.

Dwight Howard is currently leading the league in votes with 106 million votes, making him the first player in All-Star Weekend history to surpass one million votes in the first phase.

Howard doesn't actually have many die-hard fans, but he has a lot of casual fans these days. He deliberately acts silly in public, and his team, brands, and the league have all cultivated a "sunny and innocent big boy" image for him. Plus, his "Superman dunk" in last season's Slam Dunk Contest has made him very popular with the general public.

There's another reason why Howard received so many votes—he has no competitors. There isn't a single All-Star caliber center in the Eastern Conference.

The center with the second-highest number of votes is Swift of the Knicks with 49 votes, followed by Perkins of the Celtics with 31 votes, then Horford of the Hawks, Rasheed Wallace of the Pistons, and Dalembert of the 76ers...

Therefore, the hook team and Bartelstein agreed to set this time for the official announcement. Yi Shui with 97 votes, Kobe with 91 votes who is currently the Western Conference vote leader, and Yao Ming with 90 votes who is the second highest among centers, all have the potential to overtake Howard later.

Even if they don't overtake, Yi Shui is guaranteed an All-Star starter position, and that will be the best time to make an official announcement.

The name of the signature shoe series prompted Yi Shui to complain: "Do my sneakers really have to have such an exaggerated name?"

"Is that too exaggerated? No, that's your nickname in college and the NBA. Fans often combine the two nicknames to refer to you. Many media outlets use it. The more well-known the series name is, the better."

With reason and evidence, Yi Shui was merely making a complaint and did not actually object.

The meeting only lasted about ten minutes, and half of that time was spent exchanging pleasantries.

As they shook hands and said goodbye at the end of the meeting, the executive in charge of liaising with Yishui asked, "Brook, you're not going to switch to playing inside, are you?"

Yi Shui immediately replied, "How could that be? I've always thought of myself as a shooting guard, but the team won't let me continue playing shooting guard, so there's nothing I can do... Actually, I'm only six feet seven inches."

The person in charge, who is 1.88 meters tall, looked up at Yi Shui... Fine, fine, whatever you say. If it weren't for the fact that your customized driving test shoes have changed size twice in the past six months, I would believe you.

As long as it's an outside line, it's fine!
The main concern is that when Yi Shui played against the Celtics, he jumped for the ball and backed down Garnett in the low post, which sparked discussions after the game about whether he was better suited to playing inside.

The hype isn't actually that high, but Nike is quite sensitive to this.

Yi Shui headed to the airport to join the team, while his agent and Hook both had to continue promoting the All-Star game...

...

12号和13号，尼克斯队客场背靠背挑战76人队和黄蜂队，遭遇两连败，以110比116输给76人队、102比119输给黄蜂队，易水分别拿到24分7板6助攻、28分10板4助攻。

Similar to their previous away game against the Celtics, where the team struggled and then went into a slump, this time they fought hard against the Celtics at home until the very end, only to immediately face another back-to-back away game. Yi Shui, Du Hong, Birdman, and Harrington all performed well, but those four alone were clearly not enough.

Miller, the veteran of the 76ers, scored 21 points and 14 assists. Together with Iguodala, Brand, Willie Green, Lou Williams, and Thaddeus Young, a total of 6 players scored in double figures.

For the Hornets, Paul showed Yi Shui and Curry what pick-and-roll offense is and what the league's best point guard is, scoring 18 points, 5 rebounds, 16 assists, and 4 steals.

I brought back both of these items from my two consecutive trips...

After returning to New York on the 14th and resting for one night, the Knicks played their third game in four days, or their fourth game in six days, on the 15th against the Pacers.

At the start of the first quarter, the Knicks were down by 6 points, 2-8. D'Antoni called a timeout and quickly discussed the situation with his assistants, making adjustments—putting Yi Shui on the bench and letting Marquese Daniels, who was hampered by a long-standing injury and not suited to a fast-paced style of play, play more.

In the backcourt, Chalmers was substituted in early, and Nate Robinson, who usually has relatively little playing time, also saw a significant increase in his playing time in the first half... allowing Yi Shui, Curry, and Du Hong to rest more in the first half.

首节23比33、第二节21比27，尼克斯队半场以44比60落后16分！
不过第二节比分比较微妙，步行者队前半节16比11拉开了5分分差，后半节得分效率开始下滑只以11比10拉开了1分分差。

This was Cheeks' suggestion: collapse the paint to double-team Randolph, and use close-range defense on perimeter shooters. Don't worry if you can't stop them; leave open shots unattended and force the opponent's perimeter players to make shooting decisions at a faster pace than usual.

Teams with winning experience or strict offensive and defensive discipline can naturally control the pace of the game. However, after the Auburn Hills Palace incident at the end of 04, the Pacers were in chaos internally. In 07, they also suffered from infighting between Larry Bird and Rick Carlisle. New head coach Jim O'Brien was good at developing young players, but his ability to lead a team was... not very good.

Moreover, the Pacers were hit with bad news at the start of the season. Mike Dunleavy, the team's second-in-command last season who averaged 19 points per game, suffered a serious injury after playing only a dozen or so games and was sidelined for the rest of the season, leading to a six-game losing streak...

The Pacers are currently ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 17 wins and 19 losses, which is purely due to Granger carrying the team.

His own scoring average soared from 19.6 points last season to 24.1 points, and he also subdued Randolph with his strong personal charisma and leadership.

Randolph averaged 18.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, playing with unprecedented intensity. His rebounding was a career high, ranking second in the league, only behind Howard.

The current Pacers, led by Granger, play very aggressively, but they are also prone to overdoing it...

After halftime, Yi Shui (who played 12 minutes), Curry (9 minutes), and Du Hong (7 minutes) were substituted on, along with Anderson and Swift. Let's go!
The Pacers completely fell into the Knicks' rhythm in this quarter, with even the big men like Randolph, Hibbert, and Jeff Foster joining the attack.

This is related to the Pacers' core point guard being TJ Ford, who can't control the speed when he's charging and doesn't care about his teammates.

In the third quarter, the Pacers' score plummeted to 22 points, while the Knicks launched a furious counterattack, scoring a whopping 33 points in the quarter!
The Knicks narrowed the gap to 5 points going into the final quarter, with the score at 77-82.

In the final quarter, the Knicks' momentum waned rapidly, but they still firmly held onto the initiative. With 9 minutes and 33 seconds remaining, David Lee received a pass from Yi Jianlian, turned, and drove past Randolph for a layup, making it 99-98. In just nine and a half minutes, the Knicks had outscored their opponents 22-16, taking the lead!
After the Pacers called a timeout, they stopped playing any plays and started spreading out, with Randolph posting up and Granger going for outside isolation plays – it was all about star players!
On the Knicks' side, despite D'Antoni's excellent rotation in this game, the players were exhausted by this point. The impact of playing the fourth game in six days was very obvious. If they had had the firepower in the third quarter, they would have already taken the lead or even widened the gap.

He also fielded a one-on-one passing lineup, with Curry and Big Q on the wings, Birdman on the weak side baseline for close-range support and rebounding, and Yi Shui and David Lee taking turns on one-on-one!
With 11 minutes and 49 seconds left in the game, Granger moved aside to create space and hit a three-pointer, making it 107-106, a near game-winning shot!

D'Antoni called a timeout and substituted Harrington for David Lee, while Curry, Q, Yi Shui, and Birdman continued to play.

After the timeout, Harrington employed his tactic of receiving the ball at the top of the key and passing it out.

After a series of screens at the top of the arc, Yi Shui successfully shook off Granger and Randolph who switched to defend him, and received the ball at the right 45-degree angle. However, unexpectedly, Hibbert, who was originally guarding the elbow area, rushed out to intercept!
It's just in time. Although I don't have the height advantage and the chance of triggering a hot streak with 'Tower Sniping' is slim, it can still improve the pace of the game!

Yi Shui judged the distance between himself and Hibbert, realizing that Hibbert couldn't reach him in time. He straightened his body and decisively jumped, striking out...

The ball flew past Hibbert's fingertips as he leaped into the air and hurtled towards the basket... The entire arena erupted!
Yi Shui responded with a three-pointer over Hibbert's help defense, a near game-winning shot!
Jim O'Brien called a timeout. There were 5 seconds left, and theoretically, they could launch a fast break.

But after the timeout, the Pacers' strategy was to pass the ball to Granger, who once again went one-on-one against Yi Shui... This time, although he jumped out of space, the shot hit the rim.

At 10:22 p.m., the final whistle blew.

易水上半场打了12分钟、第三节打满、末节打了10分钟，32分钟出场时间里，21投11中，其中三分球5中3，加上5中4的罚球，拿到29分8板6助攻2抢断1盖帽。

加上库里的14分4助攻、大卫-李的21分9板、鸟人的12分8板、杜洪的6分7助攻……

The Knicks completed a remarkable comeback in the second half, defeating the Pacers by 2 points, 109-107!

Yi Shui and his teammates celebrated their hard-won victory when he spotted Hibbert walking dejectedly toward the players' tunnel...

Hibbert, who was a star in college, had a rather ordinary rookie year in the NBA, averaging only 15 minutes of playing time, 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks, and not even making the rookie rankings.

Yi Shui hadn't heard any news about Hippo for a long time.

In the actual matchup, Randolph and Hibbert both came on at the start of the second quarter. Hibbert stayed in and out of the paint, never leaving the basket. Randolph's defensive awareness wasn't great, but he listened to his leader and, under Granger's direction, acted like a tank, blocking the defense at close range. Combined with Hibbert's height, Yi Shui, Curry, Harrington, Wilson Chandler, and several others couldn't get through!

With Granger at small forward, this attacking line is quite formidable!

It's a pity that their defense is too weak.

Shooting guards are helpless; injuries and tomorrow, you never know which will come. Dunleavy suffered a serious knee injury just as he was reaching his peak.

The point guard position is really bad. Ford is the starter and Jack is the substitute. One has physical talent but no skills and plays mindlessly, while the other has basketball IQ and is aggressive but lacks ability.

Moreover, seeing Jack sitting on the bench, Yi Shui felt that the Pacers might not last long, and even their starting point guard like Ford might not be able to keep his position...

...

The Knicks narrowly defeated the Pacers, avoiding a third consecutive loss and bringing their record to 26 wins and 13 losses.

The Knicks finally got two days of rest, and D'Antoni did not arrange any training, so they rested.

These past two days, Yi Shui has been getting up early every morning to accompany her family members who can't sleep in the morning, and to see the popular tourist spots in New York City that her mother wanted to visit.

During the three days Yi Shui was away from New York, the family didn't visit any of the local tourist attractions. They went to Stanford and Storrs, and visited some memorials in Philadelphia. They deliberately saved the local attractions for him to visit together.

Yi Shui hadn't actually visited many of these local attractions. Since deciding to run for office, he hadn't had any real rest time. He didn't want to rest either, wishing he could use all his time to improve himself... just like someone who had just graduated from university and found a job and was eager to climb the ladder.

The difference is that he put in the effort, his progress is visible, and he can verify his progress in competitions, which truly helps him improve.

On the 18th, after a two-day rest, the Knicks hosted the Bulls at home.

The Bulls are currently 20-20, still ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference, firmly ahead of Wade's Heat, who had a terrible start to the season.

Rumors have surfaced that the Bulls' management has given up on tanking and is focusing on trades. However, the only teams currently willing to negotiate properly and not looking to fleece them are the Pistons and Bucks, who are in a similar boat. They are only willing to offer scraps and are unwilling to give up any good assets.

However, it must be said that the Bulls' roster is really too good. Not to mention the best ones, if you give Tyus Thomas and Nocioni, the two reserves, to the Knicks, the Knicks' roster depth will be significantly improved.

The last time the Knicks played the Bulls on the road, it was a very close game, and this time it was also very intense from the start.

The Knicks led 27-26 in the first quarter, and the Bulls tied the score at 23-24 in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Yi Shui, Curry, Da Q, and Chalmers rained down three-pointers, making a total of 6 three-pointers in the quarter, and scoring 30-23.

After three quarters, the Knicks led the Bulls 80-73 by 7 points!
In the final quarter, a five-man lineup of Hinrich, two Gordons, Luol Deng, and Noah launched a counterattack, briefly taking the lead. However, in the final moments, David Lee, Yi Shui, and Harrington scored consecutive baskets, bullying the young Noah and scoring a crucial 6-0 run against the Bulls!

The final score was 102 to 98.

易水21投10中，其中三分球7中4，加上6中6的罚球，拿到30分6板8助攻1抢断3盖帽，带队以4分优势击败公牛队！

...

After two home games, the Knicks will head to an away game.

This time, Yi Shui did not travel on the team's private plane, as he brought his family with him to the away game, tomorrow's opponent—the Rockets.

Yesterday, he asked the team if he could bring his family on the private jet. Walsh's answer was no. Then he took out his phone and called the boss, who lent out the private jet for the Yi Shui family's trip to the away games.

Although she knew the reason, Yi Shui was still moved.

He didn't think it was unnecessary. The Knicks had been ruined by Thomas for so many years and needed to rebuild team discipline.

It is an unwritten rule in the NBA that players are not allowed to bring their families on the private jet. Of course, some teams are willing to break this rule, such as the Cavaliers, but many teams insist on implementing this rule, such as the Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Magic.

Their team needs to enforce the rules on things that seem unprincipled but are very intuitive for the players, and then make up for it in other ways.

In response, Yi Shui naturally had to do something. During an interview at his hotel in Houston, he expressed his gratitude to Dolan and his love for the team.

Besides that, there's another piece of good news today—he won an award! Player of the Week for the second time!
This was truly an unexpected surprise; he never expected to win Player of the Week, considering they only had 2 wins and 2 losses in 4 games last week.

但他看了下东部其他候选人的情况……骑士队也是2胜2负，魔术队1胜2负，凯尔特人队3胜1负战绩最好但没有谁的个人表现很突出……

Moreover, James' performance last week was mediocre, averaging 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists per game.

Howard's average of 20+14 is pretty good, but when he can't win, he really looks like a stat padder.

Yi Shui's opponent was not either of these two, but Wade!

上周4场比赛，他场均27.75分7.75板6助攻1.5抢断2.5盖帽，场均命中2.75个三分。

韦德同样拿到2胜2负，胜率其实是高于热火队赛季平均的，但数据‘只有’场均28.25分6板5.5助攻1.5抢断1盖帽。

The player who won Player of the Week in the West, coincidentally, was none other than Pao Ge again.

这是保罗赛季第3次拿到周最佳，3场比赛2胜1负，拿到19.7分6板13助攻3抢断。

Established stars who win awards alongside rookies are always unlucky, and it was Pao Ge who was unlucky.

Paul was overlooked again this season, winning his fourth award but being overlooked for the third time...

Previously, the schedule was too tight, so I often checked Yishui News, but mainly it was to relax by playing on alternate accounts. My attention to other teams was usually focused on their records and whether there were any juicy stories to gossip about, and I didn't pay much attention to the overall performance of other star players.

It's only now that I've noticed that almost all star players' stats have declined since January.

Kobe's average points per game dropped from 27.2 to 26.1, and his playing time also decreased significantly to 31 minutes.

James averaged 29.3 points per game in the first two months, and in January he played 11 games, averaging 26.1 points per game.

Superstars like Wade, Nowitzki, and Paul are all seeing their scoring decline.

There is an exception, Duncan's stats: in 41 games, he only scored 30+ twice, with his scoring almost always in the 17 to 23 point range, averaging 20 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Yi Shui hadn't paid much attention to the trend of his data changes, but he did some calculations.

These 10 matches in January are compared to the 30 matches in the previous two months.

得分，前30场场均27.5分，最近10场场均26.3分，但主要是11月有2次40+、12月有1次50分，除开那3场飙分，其他27场比赛合计689分，场均25.51分。

Rebounds: 8.5 rebounds per game in the first 30 games, and 8.7 rebounds per game in the last 10 games;
Assists: 4.8 per game in the first 30 games, and 5.9 per game in the last 10 games;
Steals: 1.8 per game in the first 30 games, and 1.6 per game in the last 10 games;
Blocks: 2 per game in the first 30 games, 2.2 per game in the last 10 games;
Three-pointers made: 2.1 per game in the first 30 games, 2.2 per game in the last 10 games...

Steady growth!

Yi Shui was very satisfied with this, and could even be described as pleasantly surprised.

The improvement doesn't seem significant, and the increase in assists has been accompanied by an increase in turnovers—2.3 turnovers per game in the first 30 games and 3.2 turnovers per game in the last 10 games… But! In January, not declining in performance means progress! Especially since he has improved!

In the evening, Yi Shui and his family were invited to Yao Ming's home.

The young giant cares a lot about what others think. He bought a house in a middle-class area of ​​Houston, not in an affluent area, and the house cost about $50. Of course, this is just for houses in Houston.

During a dinner gathering in Beijing after the Olympics, Yao Ming mentioned that after getting married, he bought a vacation villa in Los Angeles and also has a large house in Shanghai. He said he lives here mainly to maintain his public image.

Yi Shui felt that Yao Ming really had to maintain his image... It's not that it wasn't difficult, considering he earned so much and also fattened up a bunch of people.

Anyway, he felt he didn't need to.

During the Olympics, Yi Shui's parents went to watch the games, but they didn't get to meet Yao Ming up close. They didn't visit him during the training camp or the Olympics. His mother wanted to go, but his father wouldn't allow it, worried that it would affect him.

Upon seeing him up close, Yi Shui's mother exclaimed in amazement, "Little Shui, even standing next to you, Yao Ming looks like a giant! How tall is he?!"

Yi Shui spread out his arms, thought for a moment, bent one finger, and replied, "About this tall."

(End of this chapter)