Chapter 21: Finally appearing after thousands of calls

Compared to previous games, the attendance rate of the Washington Wizards tonight is okay.

Since 2008, the Wizards have not entered the playoffs consecutively, and fans' expectations for this team have become very low. So the market feedback is not enthusiastic.

Arenas' injury is a major reason. Since signing a big contract, he has been rolling on the injury list, causing the team's record to go from bad to worse.

The arrival of John Wall this season has given fans some expectations. The attendance rate has risen from 50% to 60-70% at ordinary times, and there are about 70% tonight.

Probably because fans want to find some highlights in this dark time... After all, top pick Wall has already released words to teach Fan Xi a lesson.

Fan Xi was held very high by the Los Angeles media. It would not be a kind of happiness to have John Wall beat Fan Xi to a breakdown.

So, when Fan Xi appeared on the court, Washington fans gave some boos very uncooperatively.

Lamar Odom was worried that Fan Xi would be affected, and patted his shoulder to comfort this fledgling rookie.

But Fan Xi smiled and told him: "They are afraid of me, so they boo me."

"Have you ever seen away fans booing a nobody?"

Fan Xi's optimism moved Odom quite a bit.

He thought of the scene of his first away game in his rookie season. He was scared to death at the time. He felt that the whole away game was an enemy, and more than 20,000 enemies were sitting in the auditorium. That game made him nervous, and the fans' boos even made him lose the courage to shoot.

He will always remember his data in that game, 6 points and 2 rebounds. He shot 7 times.

Very bad.

What's worse is his psychology, he hasn't overcome it until now.

There has always been a shadow.

But now, Fan Xi is smiling and dealing with it calmly, and even has the heroism of horizontal sword and standing horse.

He realized deeply: People are really different. Some people are born to be unyielding, like Kobe Bryant, like the fledgling Jack Fan in front of him.

And himself, Odom felt that he was the same as the vast majority of people in the world... ordinary, mediocre. Although he has top athletic talent and the ability to play from No. 1 to No. 5, his psychological quality is really too far behind.

Phil Jackson seemed to hear the conversation between Fan Xi and Odom. 【21

He nodded slightly.

Although he had laid down harsh words to the management, insisting on keeping Fan Xi on the team, and had made no secret of his fondness for Fan Xi in front of Lao Wente and the coaching staff.

However, he did not express it in front of Fan Xi.

And he had actually made the decision to have Fan Xi sit on the bench and let Steve Blake start the game.

This decision surprised everyone, including Blake. Normally, shouldn't Fan Xi be playing? Now, all the focus was on Fan Xi.

John Wall had also called out to Fan Xi before the game.

What's more, tonight was the Chinese Derby.

Reasonably and logically, Fan Xi should have started.

But Phil Jackson was just that firm; he even deliberately asked Steve Blake back, "Are you not ready yet?"

"Always ready!" Steve Blake stood at attention and said very firmly.

His tone was incomparably firm.

He knew this might be one of his few remaining opportunities. Because of Fan Xi's rise, his position was bound to be impacted.

If the Lakers ultimately kept Fan Xi, then at least two players would be traded away from the backcourt.

Derek Fisher? Shannon Brown? Himself?

No matter how you looked at it, there was a two-thirds probability it would be him.

Beep!

The whistle blew, and the game began.

When the home fans saw that Fan Xi was not starting, they were very surprised, and there was even some uproar. To them, if Fan Xi wasn't playing, it was simply dull.

John Wall was also surprised; he thought it would be a peak showdown right from the start.

"Steady, Wall!"

Team leader Arenas shouted from the sidelines.

Arenas, nicknamed the General, was a legendary figure. He was a superstar who rose from being a second-round pick and was once the signature player heavily promoted by Adidas shoes. He even forced the League to revise the "Arenas Clause."

In his prime, he was a scoring master who could go toe-to-toe with Kobe Bryant; Staples Center still held his scoring records.

It was just that after he signed a massive contract with the Wizards, he got injured immediately, and suffered recurring injuries; he hadn't played in several seasons.

And judging by his current situation, even if he returned to the NBA, it would be very difficult for him to display his former strength.

He himself calmly accepted this result; he was now more willing to come to the training gym to educate the team's new players, pass on his own experience, and make them better.

Arenas was famous for his shooting, specifically his unreasonable shooting. He took even more wild shots than Kobe Bryant, but he was very accurate and often threw in shots that killed the game.

His lower body speed and explosive power were fast, and his upper body was extremely broad and strong. Coupled with his amazing touch, he was a bit of a little monster.

The reason he reminded Wall to be careful was that, as an old fox on the court, he saw through Phil Jackson's plan.

He was certain Phil Jackson greatly appreciated Fan Xi, and the reason he arranged it this way was to pave the way for Fan Xi.

He wanted these ordinary point guards on the team to play; their performance didn't matter, what mattered was letting Fan Xi see Wall's moves clearly. At the same time, it was to dismantle Wall's sharpness... making him go from "one burst of energy" to "exhausted and fading."

The Zen Master was very good at military strategy.

Arenas had known this for a long time.

Moreover, Arenas also understood Fan Xi very well and greatly appreciated him.

Fan Xi's three-pointer that beat the Bulls made him see the shadow of his younger self. Back then, he also had such an arrogant buzzer-beater; he also threw up a three-pointer and then turned around directly to celebrate with his arms wide open.

Fan Xi had perfectly replicated him.

And he did it more perfectly than him, because the one defending Fan Xi wasn't just some nobody, but the number one superstar of the new generation, Derek Rose.

Besides this three-pointer, Arenas appreciated Fan Xi's ball-handling and his fast-break assists even more.

He even thought that if Fan Xi played for the Wizards, he could definitely form a super luxurious backcourt connection with Wall, and as an experienced big brother, he could certainly give them good advice.

Arenas was confident he could make two point guards who didn't like each other reconcile.

After all, he had once brought a gun into the locker room.

Arenas was having a beautiful dream.

John Wall on the court, however, was somewhat impatient. He was a rookie, even though he was two years older than Fan Xi. He couldn't wait to challenge the Lakers' paint; he wanted to force Fan Xi out from the bench.

Getting past Steve Blake wasn't a difficult task for him; he sliced through Blake's defense as easily as a watermelon knife cutting through tofu.

Blake was a point guard who was average in every aspect, which is to say, a mediocre person.

Facing a talent like John Wall, he certainly couldn't hold his own.

The Lakers didn't expect him to hold his own either.

They performed help defense in the paint.

Pau Gasol controlled Wall's head-on layup.

The rebound was secured by Lamar Odom, who then passed it to Steve Blake, and Blake organized the offense in a leisurely manner.

He was very steady.

He could only show his steadiness now; this was his only advantage.

After reaching the frontcourt, he found an opportunity to pass to Gasol. Gasol pulled out to the high post; he was facing McGee tonight.

McGee was a fledgling center.

His physical talent was very good, he could jump well, the kind of jumping that could participate in a dunk contest.

His build was relatively thin, and... his technique wasn't particularly good.

Gasol just gave a slight pump fake, and he was fooled. Gasol took the opportunity to kill into the paint, assisted Odom, and Odom dodged Yi Jianlian to put the basketball into the hoop with his left hand.

He was a left-handed player.

Yi Jianlian's defense was still too direct; he liked to go straight and hard.

But in the NBA, technique was still very important; playing basketball required a bit of cleverness.

The CCTV commentator on TV was also saying this to the viewers waiting in front of their television sets.

But they attributed this play to McGee's defensive misjudgment.

After all, he was their own countryman, so they had to protect him a little.

Just like the CCTV host at this moment questioned the Zen Master: "I completely don't understand why Phil Jackson would put Steve Blake on the court at this time. If it were Fan Xi on the court, maybe there would have been an alley-oop."

The game continued.

John Wall, under Arenas's repeated reminders, finally regained his reason; he was a very smart player. His physical quality was top-tier, and at the same time, he had good vision and could capture the Lakers' flaws.

He quickly killed into the paint. This time he didn't force a layup, but passed to McGee after attracting a double-team.

McGee leaped high, and the help-defending Artest didn't dare to block him at all.

Because this guy jumped too high.

Boom!

His violent dunk came down like a torrential rain.

The on-site commentator was stirred into cheers by him.

John Wall's pass also received praise from the on-site DJ at this moment.

It had the flavor of cheering for the number one draft pick.

Fan Xi sat on the bench, very calm.

No one could see any emotion on his calm expression; even the CCTV commentator said he had thunder in his heart but a face like a calm lake, worthy of being a great general.

What Fan Xi was thinking at this moment was... if he were on the court, what could he do?

The solution he provided was... to fly over and steal the ball directly from McGee... this center's protection of the basketball wasn't very good.

What Steve Blake was doing on the court was trying his best to keep up with John Wall's pace.

This was a very "safe" approach; there was no credit, but it looked like there was a lot of hard work. Even if he didn't defend successfully, he could use "ability is not enough, but the attitude is very good" to express it.

It is hard for mediocre people to have their "shortcomings" caught, although they also have no advantages.

John Wall performed very eye-catchingly in the first five minutes of the first quarter. He used his amazing speed to thread the needle, beating Steve Blake until he couldn't lift his head.

However, the Lakers, relying on the advantage of Pau Gasol, also maintained a tie.

At the fifth minute, Phil Jackson requested a timeout.

This timeout made everyone think Fan Xi was about to play.

However, still no.

Coming back from the timeout, it was Shannon Brown who entered the game.

At this, there were even some boos in the away arena.

They came to watch the number one draft pick John Wall beat up Fan Xi, not to watch these Lakers nobodies taking turns playing.

These boos, to a certain extent, were a form of affirmation for Fan Xi.

And also a contempt for Shannon Brown.

Shannon Brown was really angry; he wanted to make these away fans who looked down on him feel uncomfortable; he wanted to make them pay the price.

However, the mindset was good.

But the ability was not.

Upon entering the game, he was directly stolen from by John Wall.

This physically strong point guard hadn't even passed the most basic ball-handling test.

When Wall rushed to the frontcourt and completed a violent dunk, the Lakers bench was full of sighs.

Wall even deliberately and arrogantly pointed his finger at Fan Xi.

This was a provocation.

Cheers erupted on the scene.

"Why hasn't Phil Jackson put Fan Xi on the court yet? If he wants to be a coward, don't drag Fan Xi into it," the CCTV commentator voiced the inner thoughts of all domestic fans.

But the Zen Master remained unmoved.

Shannon Brown played for 3 minutes, and when Lamar Odom went to the free-throw line, he subbed in Derek Fisher.

Three out of four point guards had played, and it still hadn't been Fan Xi's turn.

"Is the Lakers suppressing Fan Xi? Does the Lakers not want to sign Fan Xi anymore?" another CCTV commentator, Coach Zhang, said worriedly.

"If the Lakers do this, it must be their biggest loss. Fan Xi has plenty of teams fighting to have him; the Bulls' Derek Rose dreams of being teammates with Fan Xi, and the Knicks' D'Antoni also wants Fan Xi to restore the glory of the run-and-gun," the host said in a fit of pique.

He represented the inner thoughts of all domestic fans.

Everyone thought Phil Jackson suppressing Fan Xi like this was too outrageous.

Instead, when the camera shone on Fan Xi, Fan Xi was sitting there very calmly; he still had no emotion, just focused on watching the court.

At this time, Yi Jianlian was subbed out, and Blatche was subbed in.

Blatche was a short forward; although he was short, he was one of the few inside players in the current league who possessed a full set of post-up skills.

In this era where the inside is withering, it was not easy.

Fisher was very steady.

Although he couldn't defend John Wall, John Wall didn't attack him either, but passed to Blatche.

Blatche played one-on-one against Pau Gasol; a few pump fakes made Gasol uncomfortable... Gasol didn't like physical contact.

Blatche completed a beautiful dream shake and scored with a left-handed layup.

The Wizards gradually gained the initiative.

Derek Fisher was indeed old; on the court, besides moving the ball, he was just walking outside the three-point line waiting for opportunities.

Seeing the Wizards gradually controlling the situation.

Wall's coordination with McGee and Nick Young became more and more proficient, and Blatche also opened up his own style in the paint.

With the Lakers missing their most important perimeter scorer Kobe Bryant and their most important inside weapon Andrew Bynum, they fell into a comprehensive disadvantage.

The first quarter ended quickly.

29:35.

The Lakers were already trailing by 6 points.

At this time, Phil Jackson finally stood up; he called Fan Xi's name: "Jack."

He called it in English, which seemed intimate.

This was something no one expected.

Fan Xi walked over with a smile; he understood Jackson's intention.

…