Where the noise did not reach

Chapter 79 The Holy Infant's Visit
As the season continues, the Grizzlies' goal remains clear: to secure a playoff spot in the highly competitive Western Conference.

This may sound like a fantasy, but their win rate is already firmly above 50%. As long as they persevere, hope is not out of reach.

With Rudy Gay sidelined, the Grizzlies had to temporarily move Xu Ling to the small forward position. His 1.98-meter barefoot height and 2.12-meter wingspan are adequate for the small forward position, but this puts him in a more direct and brutal physical battleground.

徐凌有过其他美妙的夜晚：对阵猛龙轰下30分，面对爵士砍下32分，在森林狼头上掠下25分10篮板7助攻的准三双。

But we also went through some agonizing times.

Especially in the second game against the Spurs. The Silver and Black Army, playing at home, were no longer led by the nose by Xu Ling as they had in the opening game. They laid a trap targeting his shooting hot zones, passing habits, and his more rhythmic rather than explosive driving style.

Bruce Bowen's relentless tenacity and Tim Duncan's impenetrable defense in the paint resulted in a disastrous game for Xu Ling. He missed all his shots that night, and his team suffered a crushing 22-point defeat.

This is just the beginning of another losing streak.

Then, in the away game against Houston, Yao Ming showed no mercy to his compatriot. He delivered a crushing performance against Pau Gasol, who was now focused on tanking and content with 15 points and 7 rebounds per game, a performance that would be impossible for him to achieve in FIBA ​​competitions.

36 points, 18 rebounds, and 7 blocks—the Little Giant tonight resembled a yellow-skinned Shaquille O'Neal.

After the game, before he could even wipe away his sweat, Yao Ming walked over to Xu Ling. His massive frame exuded an imposing presence, yet he wore a kind smile on his face.

"You played well," Yao Ming said, extending his large hand. "Just don't always try to challenge me in the paint next time; you're still too green."

Xu Ling had a lot of grievances to share. His shooting rhythm was disrupted by Battier tonight, so he tried to drive to the basket more often, only to run into the player with the highest rim protection success rate in the NBA.

Xu Ling had no choice but to say, "Next time you come to our home turf, I will definitely 'treat' you well."

"That won't do. You'll miss the shot again, just like tonight." Yao Ming laughed, then lowered his voice and said, "You've been in the news a lot lately, don't take it to heart. Playing your own game is more important than anything else."

Xu Ling nodded. His simple words, "Play your own game well," conveyed everything.

Although he was repeatedly punished by teams with strong perimeter and powerful interior players, this is an inevitable path to becoming a star player.

Moreover, Xu Ling is currently being treated like an established star, because opponents believe that if he gets into the game right from the start, the Grizzlies will become a very difficult team to beat.

Therefore, he was targeted by special forces in almost every game. However, this targeting did not always succeed.

A few days later, Xu Ling visited Washington to challenge the Wizards, where he experienced a full rebound in form.

Despite having a tough guy like Caron Butler guarding him the entire game, Xu Ling's clean pull-up jumpers after pick-and-rolls that night had an astonishingly high shooting percentage. Washington's defense had no answer for it. While Butler could score with his individual ability, he was clearly inferior in terms of playmaking and leading the team.

Ultimately, Xu Ling put up a well-rounded performance with 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists on the road, leading the Grizzlies to a successful end to their losing streak.

After the game, Michael Smith, a reporter from The Washington Post, asked, "You've faced very strong, targeted defenses in the last few games. How did you adjust and bounce back tonight?"

Xu Ling answered decisively: "That's how games are; you always have to find a way to score and help the team win."

The reporter then asked, "November is coming to an end, and the mid-quarter trading window will open on December 5th. Are you looking forward to trading?"

"Why not?" Xu Ling instantly transformed into a straightforward guy. "Let it happen."

A few days later, the Grizzlies returned to their home court for their final game of November.

The opponent was the Trail Blazers, and this was their second game. The Grizzlies, back at home, seemed to have triggered some kind of switch, with everyone playing with great effort. Xu Ling didn't exert much effort at all. He could be considered to be impersonating Kuroko Tetsuya throughout the game, perfectly integrating into the smooth operation of the team. His presence was low-key but efficient. In the end, with a large lead throughout the game, he easily scored 14 points and went to the bench early to rest.

Ultimately, the Grizzlies ended November with a team victory and advanced into December with a record of 12 wins and 8 losses.

Looking back at the first 20 games of the season, Xu Ling averaged 37 minutes per game, contributing a well-rounded stat line of 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Even more astonishingly, he led a team that was heavily underestimated before the season to eighth place in the Western Conference. All of this is quietly changing how people perceive him.

Many basketball experts have pointed out that Xu Ling's performance may be the most influential rookie performance since Tim Duncan. With the Grizzlies finishing November as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, public opinion on Xu Ling in American sports media has quietly undergone a rational shift. After the initial shock and opposition, undeniable results and statistics have begun to speak for themselves, forcing many commentators to readjust their narratives.

ESPN senior columnist Marc Stein aptly described this complex and subtle shift in his weekly "Power Rankings" column: "Let's put aside for now Eli Xu's 'inappropriate comments' after the game, his well-known unpleasantness with a former teammate, and his post-game remarks that could have stopped the PR team's heart—simply because his performance on the court leaves us with almost no choice but to put him at the center of the 'Rookie of the Month' discussion (in fact, possibly 'Rookie of the Year')."

Chris Sheridan, also from ESPN and widely known as Xu Ling's biggest critic, had to write the following in a hate email from Memphis: "A harsh reality is that the Memphis Grizzlies' current record is built on the complete isolation and sacrifice of Rudy Gay—a young talent they once promised to build around. Eli's excellence highlights the management's mistakes and the past chaos in the locker room. He has proven himself to be an exceptional player, but does that equate to a competent leader? We'll have to wait and see. Victory can mask many problems, but it doesn't answer all of them."

Subsequently, more experts joined the early public trial surrounding a controversial team.

As a result, apart from Rudy Guy, no one needed to be hanged.

The Grizzlies' record seems to prove that Gay is their biggest problem.

Then another question arises: "How will Jerry West handle Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay, and how will the trades surrounding these two players affect the Memphis Grizzlies' Eli era?"

However, there has been no inside information disclosed regarding the progress of the transaction between the two individuals.

Some people suspect that West did not actually push the deal forward.

But this makes no sense at all. The Grizzlies have no reason to keep someone who has already decided to leave and someone who has to leave.

West is waiting.

He is indeed waiting. Not to mention that the trading window has not yet opened, the most popular trade rumors at present still focus on Kobe.

This soap opera has been going on for more than five months since Kobe expressed his desire to be traded after the end of last season, and there is still no end in sight.

The team currently actively involved in the negotiations—the Chicago Bulls—has repeatedly claimed to have made progress, but these progresses have been unilaterally vetoed by the trade initiator, Kobe (you read that right).

Here's the situation: Kobe wanted to leave, but he didn't want to go to a team that would go bankrupt for him. He left the Lakers to avoid going to jail. If leaving the California stage was to join another cage, then what was the point of all this?
Therefore, the situation became somewhat awkward after Kobe rejected several of the Bulls' trade proposals that were appealing to the Lakers.

The Bulls couldn't help but wonder, was Mr. Bryant playing a trick on them? Were they just a pawn in a power struggle between him and the Lakers? Did he actually want to remarry Chicago?
This not only made the entire league laugh, but even Xu Ling, who was far away in Memphis, wondered how this drama would end.

He knew about the Lakers' 2008 trade that snatched Pau Gasol. Although the later trade that included Marc Gasol, who grew into an All-Star, made the trade seem less of a loss, if you were the head coach of a championship contender at the time and saw the Lakers trade a few mediocre players for a healthy All-Star center, you would probably give Chris Wallace's mother a good dressing down and maliciously wonder if there was some shady business going on between the two teams.

But Xu Ling knew that the deal wouldn't happen.

Because he, this butterfly, landed in Memphis.

Whoever pushed for this deal in their past life could not make the same decision in this life.

So now the biggest question for Xu Ling is: if the Lakers really can't strengthen their roster, if they really can't get an All-Star player to please Kobe while keeping the core of their roster, then will Mr. Kobe Bryant, who should be a Laker for life and "the real Lakers don't need to recruit," really be traded?
after one day
Another guest has landed in Memphis.

They are the Seattle SuperSonics.

This is a team that has already confirmed it will be relocated and renamed next season.

The decades-long history of the Supersonics is coming to an end, but their superstar Kevin Durant has other troubles.

There was a bunch of reporters outside, but he had to pick up his bag, present himself as innocent as the Holy Infant in a legend, smile, be friendly, and listen to their bullshit questions.

"KD, what are your thoughts on the competition between you and Eli for Rookie of the Year?"

All of these are utterly disgusting and worthless problems!

Durant chuckled dryly, “Oh, that’s great. Eli played an incredible game, and I have a lot of respect for him. We’re all trying to help our teams, and that’s the most important thing—as for Rookie of the Year, that’s something the media and fans care about more, and I’m just focused on improving every day and becoming a better player.”

(End of this chapter)