Champion, please stay!

Chapter 215, Section 213: The So-Called Reputation

The official pause has been lifted.

The Bucks brought in Ridnour, Stackhouse, and Delfino, while Jennings, Charlie Bell, and Mbah a Moute were substituted out. Ilyasova and Bogut continued to play in the paint.

For the Knicks, the lineup consisted of Curry, Webster, Barnes, David Lee, and Anderson.

This is the first time this season that Yi Shui has rested after the official timeout in the first quarter, which is a bit unusual.

Seeing that the opposing team didn't field Jennings, he felt a little disappointed. When everyone had plenty of energy at the start, Curry was no match for Jennings in one-on-one situations. The opposing team had Bogut protecting the rim, so he couldn't contain Jennings at the beginning either.

However, at this stage, just before the timeout, Jennings' breakthrough was noticeably slower. He tried hard to accelerate along the baseline, but in Yi Shui's eyes, the speed was clearly a beat slower than when he drove along the baseline earlier.

He took eight shots in just over six minutes, a frequency that even Yi Shui found outrageous, exceeding his shot frequency during the 26-point quarter he scored.

The opposing coach's assessment of his own players' physical condition was very accurate.

The Bucks have built up a really good roster depth over the years. The perimeter combination of Ridnour, Stackhouse, and Delfino is so good that even the starting lineup of a team on the edge of the Eastern Conference playoffs might not be as good.

Delfino, in particular, was a first-round pick in 03 and entered the NBA in 04. After his rookie contract expired in 08, he received a sky-high contract with a net annual salary of tens of millions of US dollars from the Russian Premier League. Although he was cut after only one year because he did not perform as a superstar as the Russian tycoon wanted, he was sought after by many teams when he returned to the NBA. The Knicks also tried to sign him but failed... He was known as a player without flaws.

However, the Knicks did not fall behind in the second half of the quarter!
Curry was the best player among the team's guards during the second half of the winning streak at the start of the season, averaging 18.5 points per game in 8 games from the game against the Pistons to the last game.

Webster's muscular physique has paid off, and coupled with his calm personality, his shooting consistency is even better than Curry's. He can maintain his shooting efficiency even after physical contact and running back and forth.

Webster also relies on his strong physique to provide shooting stability, and he has made good progress in developing fast break pull-up catch-and-shoot techniques! Unfortunately, he lacks speed, and his chase-down shots are easily blocked, but at least he can help create space in fast breaks.

The two players held a clear advantage against the defensive pairing of Ridnour and Stackhouse. Despite being at a disadvantage in the attacking third, they led their team to a back-and-forth battle with the opposing team.

With a little over two minutes left in the quarter, Chalmers replaced Curry and played quite well.

With Birdman catching a lob pass from David Lee and making an alley-oop layup, the Knicks led the Bucks 32-28 at the end of the first quarter.

...

After the break, Yi Shui brought Chalmers, Hughes, Harrington, and Gibson onto the field.

Seeing the opposing team bring in Jennings, Charlie Bell, and Delfino for their perimeter, and Hakeem Warrick, who was just traded back from the Bulls, and Dan Gadzuric, a veteran quality blue-collar center from Yao Ming's draft class... this small-market team is really willing to spend!

Like the Knicks, the Bucks also have a 12-man active roster where everyone can play. In terms of individual ability, the Bucks' role players are better than their counterparts, after all, with a salary of nearly $8000 million, apart from the injured Reed, they basically have no bad contracts.

But! Their team has even stronger star players!
The second quarter began, and Yi Shui was ready to take over and score!

However, Jennings was even more obsessive than Yi Shui had imagined.

Curry had already scored 11 points when he was substituted.

On the first possession of the second quarter, Jennings blew past Chalmers and drove to the left side of the free-throw line for a quick stop and shot... Yi Shui anticipated the opponent's shot and rushed forward, jumping with all his might to tackle him...

They poked the ball Jennings threw!
Although the ball continued to fly towards the basket, it fell midway, and Hughes grabbed the defensive rebound before Charlie Bell could get there.

Fight back!
Gibson made a fast break, and Hughes passed the ball to Harrington while on the move. Harrington dribbled into the three-point line and passed the ball out... Yi Shui followed Gibson, who was fast breaking down the baseline, and received the ball and slammed it home for two points!
On the defensive end, Yi Shui focused all his attention on Jennings.

He thought Jennings would calm down after sitting on the bench for half a minute.

That makes the Bucks' offense difficult to defend. Jennings is very good at breaking through defenses with screens and passes the ball quickly; Delfino can pass, shoot and facilitate, and his abilities in all aspects are not particularly outstanding, but he has no weaknesses; Warrick is a good cutter; Charlie Bell is also accurate with his long-range shots... But Jennings is even more stubborn than Yi Shui expected. In this respect, he surpasses Kobe.

They don't even use pick-and-roll anymore!

Compared to Iverson, Jennings' one-on-one penetration is far inferior. Apart from his better long-range shooting, he is not as good as Iverson in any other aspect.

Even now, after Iverson gets past his opponent in a one-on-one situation, he can still maintain his momentum and shoot against the pressure, even if he's not accurate.

Jennings can drive straight to the basket and few can stop him, but once he gets inside, his energy disappears, and he often opts for a pull-up jumper from mid-range.

Yi Shui had figured out Jennings' playing style and continued the defensive approach from the first quarter—blocking key areas.

Then, Jennings embarked on another streak of missing shots.

Originally, once the rotation phase began, the Bucks, with their league-leading roster depth and better long-range shooting, had the potential to gain an advantage. If Yi Shui didn't have a breakout performance, they could have easily put up a close game.

But Jennings insisted on competing with Curry and Yi Shui... His ambitions were sky-high, but his fate was as fragile as paper.

If Jennings can get going, he can lead the whole team; but if he can't make his shots, then he's doomed.

Curry, who had rested for half a quarter, saw that Yi Shui could continue to dominate Jennings on the defensive end, so he went all out with his shots!
At 11:30 p.m., the final whistle blew as Jennings missed his shot at the buzzer.

首节32比28、第二节27比22、第三节24比21、末节25比19……108比90，尼克斯队客场屠杀雄鹿队！
易水今晚打了36分钟，17投9中，其中三分球2中1，加上6中5的罚球，拿到24分9板4助攻2抢断，以及生涯新高的7盖帽。

Four of those blocks came when he was helping out on defense or switching onto Jennings.

Jennings was blocked a total of 6 times tonight, while Barnes and Birdman also enjoyed a gift from the snake-like players.

Jennings scored 26 points on 11-of-35 shooting, including 2-of-6 from three-point range, plus 4-of-5 from the free-throw line, but he really let the team down.

库里首节9分半钟拿到11分、第二节6分钟拿到7分、第三节10分钟拿到9分、末节7分钟拿到6分，32分钟出场时间，23投11中，其中三分球9中5，加上6中6的罚球，拿到32分3板5助攻1抢断，生涯第4次单场30+！    赛后，现场除了小部分尼克斯队球迷或易水球迷在欢呼庆祝，绝大部分球迷安静得可怕。

This is a huge disappointment compared to their expectations!
They are hoping that Jennings can have another big breakout against Yi Shui, just like Yi Shui did against Kobe last season.

At the start of the game, Jennings made 3 of 4 shots, dominating the opponent's paint and raising their expectations even higher.

但首节前半段打完，4投3中变成了6分钟8中3，第二节9分钟8中2、第三节10分钟10中3、末节7分钟8中3……32分钟出场时间打了24铁！被帽6次！
Even the great emperor doesn't bother to score against Jennings; he lets his underlings do it.

The key point is that Jennings couldn't even outrun Curry!

...

Jennings has been praised for over 10 days since he scored 56 points in a single game, even though he actually played quite poorly in the past few games. The praise has only increased.

This match directly punctured the 'genius bubble' that the media had been forcibly creating.

艾弗森拿单场50+的前后，还有4场40+，合计连续5场40+。

After scoring 50+ points in a single game, Yi Shui never had a streak of 40+ points, but his assists would increase significantly after each scoring spree. Of his 8 triple-doubles in his rookie season, 4 were achieved in the game following a scoring spree.

Jennings' ability to score in bursts is not as good as Iverson's, his scoring consistency is not as good as Yi Shui's, and his utilization of double teams is not as good as Jennings'.

The latest comments, or rather, advice, given to Jennings in the locker room interview after the Yishui match have gone viral!
"Brandon is very talented and responsible, but his shot selection is terrible and needs improvement."

He dares to take mid-range shots, which is great, but his shooting isn't good enough and he needs to practice. Also, as a point guard, you can't be oblivious to your teammates. I had to help defend him several times, even though I left my man open, but I dared to go up to help because he didn't pass the ball.

I didn't see him play off the ball even once tonight. When he didn't have the ball, he just stood to the side. That's not right. For a small player like him, he needs to move a lot off the ball to get shooting opportunities. Just look at Stephen. When I didn't have a shooting opportunity and needed someone to pass me the ball, he was always by my side..."

Yi Shui attracts a lot of attention, and his every word and action sparks discussion. The proportion of haters among his followers is probably higher than that of Kobe, James, Iverson, and others.

However, even his haters felt that he was genuinely giving Jennings advice and hoping that Jennings would become better.

Because Durant himself said that Yi Shui advised him to make good use of his non-dominant hand's ball-handling ability and to improve his off-ball screen skills; a commentator skilled in lip reading revealed that Yi Shui taught James how to generate power in post-up situations on the court, and it wasn't just random teaching, it was genuinely useful advice, it's just that James doesn't seem to have learned it...

That's what you call word-of-mouth!
Tonight's match was very popular and the aftermath was lively, but because it wasn't a popular match at the beginning, the time was scheduled very late. By the time Yi Shui returned to the hotel, it was already past 2 or 3 a.m.

Once the drowsiness wore off, Yi Shui turned on her computer and browsed the news.

Seeing that netizens have finally stopped praising Jennings so excessively... I feel happy.

If Jennings can truly be compared to him and Iverson, then praising him is fine. Otherwise, as the person involved, being compared to a rookie with a shooting percentage of less than 40% is indeed very unpleasant.

In a post-match locker room interview, Yi Shui offered Jennings some genuine advice on how to improve his playing style.

Who told the reporter from the Honest Man's Daily to be so shameless, asking questions in such a pleading tone?

However, Jennings also made his mark in NBA history tonight.

Yi Shui observed that 24 missed shots in a single game broke the NBA rookie record for missed shots in a single game since detailed statistics began.

What he surpassed... was his prestige. Last season, he had a game with 22 missed shots, which was surpassed by Allen Iverson, who had 21 missed shots in a single game.

When it comes to blacksmithing, the three of them really deserve to be discussed together.

However, Jennings' new record of being blocked 6 times in a single game in the 21st century can only be enjoyed by himself, surpassing Anthony and Duncan's record of being blocked 5 times in a single game. As for before the 21st century, the NBA did not have this kind of statistic; it only started in 2001.

Jennings and Anthony share the record of being blocked four times by the same player in a single game.

In his rookie year with the Rockets, Carmelo Anthony was blocked four times by Yao Ming. Yao Ming's career record of eight blocks was achieved against the Nuggets, and his second-highest record of seven blocks also came against the Nuggets…

After browsing the news for a while, Yi Shui opened the system.

Looking at the newly acquired skill 'Snake Heart (Fake)', this mission was completed more easily than he had imagined.

Especially in Task Two, after dunking over Bogut at the start, he didn't have many opportunities to face Bogut's defense directly. When Curry and Chalmers had the ball, they often chose to use screens to pull Bogut out. He wasn't blocked by Bogut tonight. The only time he was blocked was when Gadzuric blocked him and then Delfino blocked him during the help defense.

He also failed to block Bogut. Bogut's shot selection was excellent; he never forced shots when driving to the basket and would pass the ball when he was helped on defense. This is the key to Bogut's ability to maintain a 55% shooting percentage despite his poor offensive skills and lack of offensive drive.

Bogut also had 4 blocks tonight. If it were a normal game, Yi Jianlian might not have had as many blocks as Bogut, but Jennings alone gave him 4 blocks...

7 blocks + 2 poster dunks, 9 hours of interception training cards easily obtained, plus the basic rewards and data rewards for winning, a big harvest of training cards tonight.

Task 1 wasn't too difficult. Curry was substituted after an official timeout in the fourth quarter. At that time, Curry had 32 points and Jennings only had 21 points. Jennings scored 5 points in garbage time.

Mission accomplished, skills and training cards obtained, Jennings' 'genius bubble' burst, and even used Jennings to experience a primary pick-and-roll defense game, gaining valuable defensive experience... Yi Shui felt great.

As for the advice given to Jennings, Yi Shui estimated it was unlikely that Jennings would listen. In the second quarter, he felt that Jennings had lost his mind and was not the kind of person who would listen to advice.

Yi Shui didn't really care whether Jennings would waste his talent, nor did he feel any regret. At least based on his performance tonight, he wasn't that talented.

It's just that they're faster and more willing to throw.

The next day at noon, Yi Shui and the team arrived in Minneapolis. Today, Jennings was criticized even more harshly, but he lost interest in this opponent who was 'past his prime' and focused his attention on this year's strongest rookie - Tyreke Evans!
(End of this chapter)