NBA: The God of Basketball Begins with Precise Scoring

Chapter 96 Next Target: The Ball-Holding Core! (Two Chapters Combined, 4000 words)

In less than ten matches, Li Xingchen has already achieved a rapid evolution that others take ten years to accomplish!

This is a very long analytical article.

Through data and technical analysis, it deeply analyzes how Li Xingchen made such an astonishing leap forward in just nine games after entering the public eye following the play-in game against the Grizzlies.

"Eight playoff games, averaging 16.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks — what I originally wanted to write was that Li Xingchen's seemingly unremarkable basic statistics masked his enormous contributions on the court that the data couldn't reflect."

"When you look at his basic stats, they don't seem so unremarkable—especially when you add his shooting efficiency, it's even more impressive. His overall true shooting percentage in the playoffs is still above 70%!"

Eight games may not sound like many, but in terms of quantity, they account for one-tenth of the regular season schedule, and the actual game time spans more than half a month, making them a valuable reference sample.

However, Li Xingchen's data is difficult to measure using the concept of "average per game".

Many true football fans have already noticed that this guy's progress is so fast it's like he's been given a cheat code. In just two games, only two days apart, one of his techniques could undergo a complete transformation.

In the play-in game against the Grizzlies, he made all five of his three-point attempts within forty seconds of entering the game, and each shot was more difficult than the last.

That night's success seemed to give him unparalleled confidence. From then on, he never hesitated when he had any three-point opportunities on the court, and his shooting accuracy changed from being amazing in one game and terrible in another to being stable and efficient.

His three-point shooting accuracy alone, coupled with above-average perimeter defense, is enough to earn Li Xingchen a place on the team.

I've secured a starting position.

The reason is simple: the Warriors are desperately lacking three-point shooters who can create space on the perimeter. The only player who has shown decent shooting ability in the later part of the season, Jordan Poole, is still a weak link on the defensive end that everyone can exploit.

But Li Xingchen's ambitions clearly extend beyond this.

In the fourth game of the first round, Kerr started him.

Whether it was due to his improved status within the team or not, Li Xingchen's defensive skills made a huge leap in that game.

Mitchell faced Li Xingchen's one-on-one defense twelve times, only managing to take a shot on four possessions, and making only one two-pointer in that game.

Moreover, Li Xingchen's improved defense is not only reflected in his "death grip" on the perimeter, but also in his help defense and rotation in the low post. His progress is also visible, and he has even delivered game-winning blocks at crucial moments.

His frequency of steals and indirect steals on the defensive end also increased significantly in that game.

By this point, Li Xingchen had evolved into a top-tier 3D player—a coveted piece for almost every championship-contending team. And if such a player were still on a minimum salary, it would be a game-changer.

Simply put, he's a minimum-salary Klay Thompson, but with potentially better defensive versatility, more consistent shooting efficiency, and a tougher shot in clutch situations.

It's clear that after joining the Warriors, Li Xingchen saw himself as a bankrupt version of Klay Thompson.

He definitely trained with Klay Thompson as a model, consciously improving his three-point shooting and perimeter defense, but unexpectedly, he surpassed his teacher, no longer a "bankrupt" version of Thompson, but an "enhanced" version.

Even so, Li Xingchen's progress showed no sign of stopping for a single moment.

Just two games later, new skills he had never shown on the field before began to emerge again: ball handling and independent attacks.

As we all know, Klay Thompson is very strong, but he is still a player with a serious imbalance in his skills. His ball handling skills are hard to describe. He is the kind of player who can dribble the ball to the instep of his foot and make a mistake even when he is unguarded.

Almost all of his offensive points came from cuts to the basket and three-pointers from outside the paint.

Even his "60 points in three quarters" miracle was achieved by dribbling the ball only eleven times throughout the entire game.

That sounds really cool, but in reality, if a player is this one-dimensional, their ceiling is only All-Star level; they'll never reach superstar status.

Clearly, Li Xingchen's ambitions did not stop there.

In the final two rounds of the first round's crucial battle, the most important match of the season was held.

At that time, because the outside was heavily guarded by the opponent and there was no suitable opportunity to shoot, Li Xingchen directly chose to drive into the paint.

Every time the team is in dire straits and there seems to be no way out, Li Xingchen seems to have an epiphany or a cheat code; this was the case when facing the Grizzlies in the play-in tournament, and it was the same when facing the Jazz in the pivotal Game 5 of the first round!

The Grizzlies' game was saved by a series of unstoppable, high-difficulty three-pointers; while the Jazz's game was a game where Li Xingchen made two consecutive indiscriminate drives to the basket and win against the Grizzlies. After that game, Li Xingchen has maintained his efficient and stable three-point shooting level. So when he played the pivotal game against the Jazz, some people speculated whether his ball-handling and driving skills would also improve.

Later events proved that the answer was yes.

In the next three games, Li Xingchen displayed sharp offensive skills in every game, with layups, floaters, and mid-range shots; there was no weapon he was not good at.

In addition, there are rumors that after the pivotal Game 5 of the first round, Curry invited Li Xingchen to a one-on-one practice match on a rest day, aiming to help Li Xingchen hone his defensive and offensive skills.

If this is true, it could somewhat explain why Li Xingchen's ball-handling and offensive abilities improved so rapidly in a very short period of time.

But this still proves his extraordinary talent. Otherwise, why don't you try having another player play one-on-one scrimmages with Curry and see if he can immediately improve to the level of a superstar after the game?

If that's really the case, then Curry wouldn't need to continue playing for the Warriors. He could just set up a ring in the training facility and charge for matches, and he'd probably rake in countless amounts of money every day.

Ultimately, it was Li Xingchen's own exceptional comprehension that enabled him to make such rapid progress.

In today's match, his technique seemed to have made another breakthrough.

Many were amazed by Li Xingchen's anticipatory block on Paul George's fast break in the final moments of the game; it truly was...

It was explosive, but that wasn't the focus of the match.

What's more noteworthy are the Warriors' first two offensive possessions.

In the crucial moments of the previous games, Li Xingchen chose to finish the attack himself, contributing many memorable moments of game-winning or near-game-winning shots.

This is certainly very strong, but it is still not the strongest form.

After all, no matter how strong your individual offense is, your opponent will always find a way to counter it. At worst, they'll just double-team you more and find a way to limit your offensive effectiveness.

If you are facing a double team and cannot accurately pass the ball to your teammates, you cannot truly extend your offensive threat to them, nor can you truly drive the team's offense, let alone have any "offensive influence".

This step is also an essential path to becoming a superstar, especially in the modern basketball environment.

Curry has always done a great job in this regard.

And today, Li Xingchen seems to have achieved that as well.

In the Warriors' last two offensive possessions, Li Xingchen's attempts to attack with the ball were met with double teams or help defense from the opposing team.

Instead of forcing his way through, he calmly delivered two assists, setting up Green's dunk and Wiggins' corner three-pointer.

The timing and trajectory of those two passes were extremely precise, and the passing technique was impeccable.

It's likely that Kawhi Leonard's decision to leave Wiggins in the corner to help defend Li Xingchen stemmed from his underestimation of Wiggins' passing ability.

Unexpectedly, reality immediately taught me a harsh lesson.

Based on past experience, Li Xingchen's two perfect assists are certainly not just a flash in the pan.

His ability to have "sudden insights" has been verified multiple times.

Whenever the team faces a critical moment and has no other options, he always manages to "suddenly realize" or "awaken" some new skills to save the team from dire straits. Moreover, he never loses these skills afterward and can even improve them further.

Such comprehension and talent are simply terrifying.

Currently, it seems that Li Xingchen has almost no weaknesses on either offense or defense.

In terms of individual offense, his three-point shooting ability and penetration level are very high. When facing double teams, he can accurately pass the ball to teammates who are open. His individual offensive influence has achieved a qualitative leap. On the defensive end, except for occasionally struggling against mismatch defense from forwards due to the large size difference, he has almost achieved perfection in other aspects.

In other words, judging from the technical characteristics that Li Xingchen has shown so far, he seems to be evolving into a ball-handling core player. Moreover, he is good at both inside and outside defense, and his outside defense can even be described as a "top-notch" ball-handling core player!

His biggest problem now is his physical fitness.

Because of his physical limitations, his output always seems to be low.

It could also be due to his role on the team; he spends a relatively high percentage of his energy on defense, which leads to his relatively low scoring output.

Perhaps if he switched teams during the offseason, he could transform into the team's number one superstar.

"To reach superstar level in the NBA, and to be a ball-handling powerhouse, is truly unprecedented in our country."

"This could really be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the national team. The value of a superstar-level ball-handling player to a team is self-evident, given how much Luka Doncic has contributed to the Slovenian team."

"If our Xiao Li can also evolve from a 3D wing player to a ball-handling core player, and even a ball-handling core player whose defense is much stronger than Doncic's, then we can hardly imagine how much our national team's strength can leap forward."

Let's all look forward to that moment!

After reading the full analysis of his article, Li Xingchen turned off his phone, leaned back on the recliner in the VIP waiting room, squinted his eyes, and looked completely at ease.

My comprehension and talent are terrifyingly profound.

So this is how I'm perceived by outsiders?

In reality, he didn't have any comprehension or talent. It was simply the immersive prompts the system gave him every time he needed help in a crisis that allowed him to understand the essence of all tactics and the most cutting-edge details of every technique in a very short time.

Of course, after each match, Li Xingchen would take time to consolidate the offensive and defensive tactics that he had successfully executed at crucial moments in the game, trying his best to make everything the system had taught him his own and turn it into his true skills.

So it's not wrong to say he's hardworking, quick-witted, and talented.

I have to say, this is pretty cool.

"The ball-handling powerhouse —"

"I've always positioned myself as a 3D wing player, so I always prioritize improving my scoring and defense when it comes to mission rewards."

"Looking back now, it seems I was actually limiting myself."

"Now that my three-point shooting and defensive abilities are strong enough, I feel it's time to improve in other areas," Li Xingchen thought to himself, wondering if his next reward should be the "assist" scoring element.

Gradually developing towards a ball-handling, big-core style of play—that feels pretty good too.

Another important reason is that he really tasted the benefits of assists as a "point-controlling element" in today's game.

Two assists in the final moments directly helped the team score five consecutive points.

If I were to score those five points through my own individual offense—

It doesn't seem like a bad idea, since if he chooses to add points in this game, he will have an extra six points.

But I always feel that it would be better to develop in the direction of being an all-rounder.

Even if you can't become the primary ball-handler right away, being a top-tier defensive secondary ball-handler is still much better than being a pure 3-and-D wing player.

For the team, the value will definitely be higher.

After flying back to San Francisco overnight, the Warriors players naturally went home to rest.

Li Xingchen was an early riser; she was all ready by noon.

Because he can feel his own improvement in every game, he trains more actively than anyone else.

We need to remember that we're currently in the training phase. The sooner we start training, the sooner we can complete the mission and get the rewards!

However, this breakthrough training was indeed difficult to advance. After most of the day, Li Xingchen had only managed to advance the mission progress from 15% to 25%.

After completing this task, if he chooses to unlock the assist "point control element", his basic stats per game will reach 16+4.

With the addition of skills that allow him to actively add points, his stats per game can range between 22+4 and 16+6.

Both of them seem very strong!

So, even though he was a little tired, Li Xingchen continued training, striving towards his goal of becoming a "ball-handling powerhouse".

Enter.

Anyway, even if the physical exertion from training is too great and really affects his performance in the game, the system will find a way to help him solve this problem.

However, his training had to be interrupted by evening.

Because Cole sent the assembly message.

They're about to conduct video analysis in preparation for the upcoming home game, Game 3!

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