Champion, please stay!

Chapter 238, Section 236: If we can lose, we'll make the elementary school kids do a handstand while washing their hair.
Bartelstein's brokerage firm has many talented people, and they always do a great job arranging travel itineraries. The vacation villa they found for the Yi Shui family was beautiful, secure, had a good environment, and was fully equipped with services and facilities. The transportation was also quite good.

After Yi Shui learned the situation in person, he was driven away by his father.

Yi Donglai mainly didn't want to interfere with his son's work, adhering to the principle that "if you earn more, you have to do a better job."

There were bodyguards, tour guides, and translators. To be on the safe side, the agency even arranged for a lawyer to accompany the group. My son is even more famous than he was last Chinese New Year. In Texas, there are always groups of black people wherever you go. They actually have more fun and feel safer without my son.

Another thing is that he was surrounded by onlookers when he went fishing yesterday afternoon. Yi Donglai doesn't even want to recall it; it's too embarrassing. He's the kind of person who really doesn't want to be in the limelight.

After being 'driven away,' Yi Shui arrived in Dallas and checked into the hotel booked by the team.

The Mavericks' All-Star Weekend is held at Arlington Cowboys Arena, but their last regular season game before the All-Star Weekend is played at American Airlines Arena.

After a day of rest, on February 15th, the Knicks faced the Mavericks on the road in their final game before the All-Star Weekend.

Tonight, D'Antoni fielded Yi Shui and David Lee as the starting frontcourt duo, and Duhon, Curry, and Barnes on the perimeter.

Yi Shui directly matched up against Nowitzki!

Before their last matchup, the Knicks coaching staff had high expectations for Harrington, Barnes, and Webster to take turns defending Nowitzki.

These three can basically be considered replacements for the Warriors' defensive lineup against Nowitzki in 07, but only on the defensive end. Offensively, Webster is far inferior to Stephen Jackson.

But defensively... Nowitzki's three-pointers were completely shut down by his turnaround jumper and spin moves, and Nowitzki scored 37 points on 12-of-20 shooting.

If it weren't for Yi Shui scoring 45 points that day, plus Curry making 2 three-pointers, Duhon making 3 three-pointers, and Chalmers making 4 three-pointers, the three point guards would have scored 27 points just from three-pointers, and they would have been defeated by Nowitzki.

Cheeks came up with an idea: to have Yi Shui primarily defend Nowitzki, with Webster, Barnes, Harrington, and other strong forwards and guards providing backup defense.

Cheeks' defensive strategy worked very well after the game started!

After Nowitzki's playing style was slightly modified under Carlisle's tutelage, this was the first time he had encountered such a defense. Yi Shui had guard-level mobility, was about the same height as him, had a much better wingspan, and his awareness of shooting interference was above average. The key was that, as a young player, he was incredibly hardworking on defense... and there were three strong men on the wing ready to close in at any time!

In their last encounter, Nowitzki shot 60% from the field, but tonight he only managed 7 of 19, a shooting percentage of less than 40%.

However, the coaching staff of both teams had the same idea!
In their last encounter, they were completely outmatched by Yi Shui, forced to resort to mindless double-teaming, which resulted in their three point guards on the sidelines having wide-open shots and making a total of nine three-pointers.

This time they made targeted defensive adjustments, mainly referencing the Heat's defensive strategy, with the strong DeShawn Stevenson as the primary defender, Kidd providing help defense on the wing, and Dampier providing backup defense under the basket.

Yi Shui shot 8-for-20 tonight, a mere 40% success rate. His overall offensive performance wasn't much better than Nowitzki's, and it was a case of both sides hurting each other.

The key to the outcome of the game lies with the pitchers on the wings.

Curry and David Lee vs. Terry and Butler!

Butler had an exceptional performance tonight, scoring a team-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, along with 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, thanks to Nowitzki's presence and Kidd's passing.

大卫-李今晚表现也很好，丹皮尔、克里斯-亨弗里斯两名中锋注意力都在易水那边，他16投9中、加上8中6的罚球拿到24分10板。

The two fought back and forth.

特里今晚则是坑了，被杜洪和查尔莫斯防得15投仅5中！其中三分球7中1，加上3中3的罚球，只拿到14分！
Duhon and Chalmers played a fairly ordinary defensive role; they simply didn't make mistakes, played their defense diligently, didn't overthink things, and did what they were supposed to do.

It was Terry himself who, despite not shooting well with his regular shots, also missed several wild shots.

而库里今晚支棱起来了，16投8中，其中三分球6中2，加上4中4的罚球，拿到22分2板3助攻1抢断！

易水24分、大卫-李24分、库里22分，尼克斯队三大全明星合砍70分，力压21分的诺维斯基、25分的巴特勒、14分的特里、5分11板8助攻的基德。

The Knicks defeated the Mavericks 99-91 on the road, ending the first half of the season with a victory!

...

随着湖人队主场以122比116击败掘金队，15号最后一场比赛打完，NBA2009-2010赛季进入全明星周末假期。

After the first half of the competition ended, major media outlets released various lists and rankings that very night, vying for traffic.

League mid-season standings.

东部：尼克斯队43胜11负第一、魔术队39胜15负第二、步行者队37胜17负第三、骑士队37胜17负第四、老鹰队31胜23负第五、凯尔特人队30胜24负第六、热火队29胜25负第七、山猫队27胜27负第八。

西部：太阳队39胜15负第一、湖人队37胜17负第二、小牛队36胜18负第三、掘金队34胜20负第四（西北赛区第一）、灰熊队35胜19负第五、马刺队34胜20负第六、第七和第八的爵士队和开拓者队都是33胜21负。

The Knicks are in first place with a record of 43 wins and 11 losses, enjoying unparalleled dominance.

Even ESPN and NBC, among other television networks, have been full of praise for the Knicks.

The Knicks' previous best record at the halfway point of the season was 37 wins and 15 losses, which significantly broke the team's record.

Even excluding the wins against the Rockets and Mavericks, with a record of 41 wins and 11 losses in 52 games, that's a full 4 wins improvement.

Ewing said on TNT, "The Great One will definitely become the greatest player in New York basketball history."

Fans joked that Ewing had taken money from Dolan.

As is well known, Ewing had a bad relationship with the Knicks because he was abandoned by them in his later years. In 05, Ewing wanted to apply for a job as a player development coach to teach Curry inside skills, but the Knicks did not offer him one. In the end, he could only go to Orlando to coach Howard... His coaching career suffered a major setback at the very beginning.

However, last summer, Hakeem Olajuwon also received the same treatment as Ewing, teaching Dwight Howard for two weeks. Olajuwon himself almost forgot how to do the Dream Shake.

The Knicks received the most praise, but the Cavaliers were the team with the most discussion about their record.

The Rockets' 'reinforcements' were so bad that no normal person would think they would improve the team, so their collapse was expected.

The Cavaliers' recent acquisitions were considered a huge win, with strong new additions who are a good fit for their star players. Everyone thought it was a bargain. However, the trade caused the Cavaliers' record to collapse. In the first 13 games after the trade, they went 5-8, and their record dropped to 34-17, overtaken by the third-ranked Mavericks in the West, and falling to seventh in the league.

Fortunately, they had a three-game winning streak before the All-Star break, which allowed them to catch up and overtake the Lakers to move into fifth place in the league.

The reason for the Cavaliers' improved record is... O'Neal was injured due to a groin problem and will be out for 2-3 weeks.

Barkley was absolutely right. As soon as the Cavaliers dropped O'Neal, their record immediately improved. To enjoy the better spacing that Jamison brings, you can't have both the rim protection and half-court scoring ability of a 38-year-old O'Neal.

In the mid-season player rankings, major media outlets have placed Yi Shui at number one.

He averaged 33.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game, making 2.5 three-pointers per game with a field goal percentage of 48.6%, a three-point percentage of 41%, and a free throw percentage of 88.9%, leading his team to the best record in the league.

However, there are many second-place finishes.

The Boston Globe ranked Nash second; Sports Illustrated ranked Kobe second; ESPN ranked James second; TNT ranked Wade second; ABC ranked Howard second…

纳什场均打30分钟，拿到15.5分3板10.8助攻，51%+43+92%的命中率，率队打出联盟第二的战绩；

Kobe averaged 27+5+5, his stats were solid, and he hit 4 buzzer-beating game-winners in the first half of the season, demonstrating his exceptional skill.
Although James' team's record dipped for a while, his average of 28.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game was unparalleled.

韦德战绩差一点，但场均32分6.5板4.5助攻1.7抢断1.1盖帽的数据，49.1%的命中率，个人表现残暴；
Dwight Howard averaged 20.3 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game, leading the scoring center position, and ranking first in the league in rebounds and blocks, while his team's record was tied for second in the league...

There are reasons for ranking either of them second.

Overall, more media outlets ranked James second, as the New York Times placed him second, and New York fans also supported James being ranked second...

...

The next day, the 16th, marked the start of the All-Star Weekend holiday.

Yi Shui woke up around noon and saw that James and Duncan had won Player of the Week awards.

他们尼克斯队上周3胜1负，骑士队3胜0负，他场均33+10+3，对比场均30+9+8的詹姆斯也没什么优势，没争得过。

Breaking this Player of the Week record will be really difficult! The hardest part is that James is also in the Eastern Conference, and he has won Player of the Week four times this season, playing a total of 16 weeks. Together, they have won it nine times.

However, the environment would be much harsher if you played in the Western Conference. Currently, Kobe and Durant, who have the most Player of the Week awards in the West, have both won it twice. Apart from the Mavericks, all the other players in the top ten in the West have won Player of the Week awards. Some teams have more than one player who has won it, like the Suns, where Nash and Stoudemire each have one.

With the start of the 'holiday,' Yi Shui became even busier. Normally, he would train and play matches, which at least gave him some free time. But during the holiday, from the afternoon of the 16th to the 18th, he traveled to several major cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States. Business activities came one after another, much more intensive than last year.

The main reason is that Texas is much more prosperous than Arizona, so brands pay more attention to it.

On Friday the 19th, All-Star Weekend began. In the morning, Yi Shui joined the rookie team to participate in group activities and do charity work, which felt much more relaxed than the previous days.

At 2 p.m., Yi Shui arrived at Arlington Cowboys Stadium with the second-year team for pre-match training.

Looking at his eight teammates—Curry, Rose, Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Love, Brook Lopez, DeAndre Jordan, and Marc Gasol—Yi Shui felt that the elementary school student was overthinking things.

In the training room next door, only Evans, Jennings, Harden, Blair, and Gibson are strong in terms of immediate impact. The rest—DeRozan, Jonny Flynn, Jerebko, and Casspi—are not even as good as their weakest player, DeAndre Jordan.

If we lose, I'll make elementary school students do a live stream of themselves urinating while doing handstands.

However, although we have the advantage, it's better to be cautious. Yi Shui took the lead and we came up with a simple strategy.

As for the defense, just do your own thing. If you can't defend, then forget it.

On offense, Rose and Westbrook were the main scorers, Curry, Harden, and Love provided mid-range and long-range support, Jordan and Lopez finished the plays, and Yi Shui and Gasol were responsible for receiving and distributing the ball.

Cheeks, the Knicks' defensive assistant coach who is now the head coach of the second-year team, watched Yi Shui pull out one drive-and-kick play after another and experimented to see which one was more suitable...

It's just a rookie game, why make it all so professional?

The training session of the rookie team next door only lasted half an hour, with most of the time spent getting to know each other.

On the second-year team's side, Rose and Turtle were the two core players. After a ten-minute one-on-one battle, Rose defeated Turtle and won the starting position.

Then, after spending more than ten minutes, the two of them chose their preferred tactics from those provided by Yi Shui, and then spent another half hour practicing together. With the talent of these players, they had already run the tactics quite well in half an hour.

Cheeks recalled what Walsh had said to Yi Shui—"Brook, do you have a grudge against those players from your draft class?"

He felt that Walsh's malicious speculation was wrong!
The Emperor doesn't have a grudge against his fellow rookies; he's just instinctively targeting all rookies.

...

Around 3 p.m., the second-year team finished training, and Cheeks announced that they would gather at 6 p.m. for warm-up, after which they would be dismissed.

Yi Shui was preparing to have dinner with Curry, Jordan, Eric Gordon, and the rookie team next door, Gibson, Harden, and DeRozan, when the team's vice president's secretary arrived and said that Walsh wanted him to come over.

Yi Shui guessed that something was going on, so he agreed and told Curry and Gibson to take the people to the restaurant first, while he would go later.

He followed his secretary to the office area of ​​Cowboys Arena, an area that the Mavericks and Cowboys offered free trials to the management of other teams, while the Knicks also occupied a room.

After entering the office, Yi Shui saw Walsh, D'Antoni, Mark Jackson, and Cheeks, whom he had just parted ways with. He got straight to the point: "Donnie, at this time, with such a grand occasion, you must be planning a trade, right?"

Walsh: "As expected, you could have guessed this!"

I think if we want to go further this season, we have to make changes. We have a target player, and negotiations are going well, but it will require us to give up important players..."

(End of this chapter)