Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 297 Redemption
After Anthony once again intercepted the pass from the Mavericks and completed the fast break, Nelson finally couldn't sit still and called the Mavericks' second timeout in the first quarter. At this time, half of the first quarter had passed. Time, the Nuggets with a strong bench, carried out a main rotation, Anthony and Nash took a rest, Diaw and Korver replaced them, and Brand led the Nuggets' bench to start entangled with the Mavericks.

Anthony ushered in crazy cheers from the Nuggets fans as soon as he got off the field. After he signaled to the fans, he went straight to the bench. The team's starting five positions are near the coach's bench. Unlike other teams ranked by importance, the Nuggets are ranked according to team position, so his left side is the team's shooting guard Ariza, the rookie lowered his head at this time, With a dejected face, he didn't watch the game on the court. It seemed that the two balls Finley hit him in the opening game had not slowed him down yet.

After Anthony sat down, he turned his head and looked at Ariza. In fact, playing in the league is the same as working in other places. There is a process of getting familiarized and adapting. Especially for rookies, the initial adaptation process is very critical. , It is also a very decisive process. You must know that not everyone has traveled through time like Anthony. Many things are still unknown to them, so it is normal for their mentality to fluctuate.

Maybe it was because Anthony had been watching for a long time, Ariza raised his head unconsciously and looked at him blankly.

"Hey, Trevor, it's not a big deal to see how miserable you are, is it?" Anthony said.

Hearing Anthony's comforting words, Ariza smiled. From his reluctant appearance, he can feel that he is definitely not as big a deal as Anthony said now.

Anthony saw Ariza's expression and knew that the blow might be more severe than he imagined. He then said, "Trevor, do you know what is the most important thing for a player?"

Ariza looked at Anthony puzzled.

Anthony then said: "Mentality, mentality determines your state, if you don't have a good mentality, you can't play out your strength."

"I know this, but..." Ariza hesitated to speak, wanting to say something, but didn't seem to know how to express it.

At this time, Anthony turned his head and looked at Carl standing on the sidelines. After seeing that his attention was on the field, he turned his head and said: "Trevor, you know the reason why Coach Carl asked you to start. What is it?"

"Defense." Ariza said without even thinking about it. He is still very self-aware about this.

Anthony nodded and said, "He really values ​​your defense, but there are many types of defense. Do you know which one Coach Carl values ​​you the most?"

"There are many types of defense?" Ariza looked at Anthony in confusion, and he really didn't think about the deeper things.

Anthony nodded and said, "Of course, do you think Battier's defense is the same as Ben Wallace's? Or is their defense the same as yours?"

Ariza didn't even think about it, and said with a wry smile: "Their defense is much better than mine..."

Anthony shook his head and said with a smile, "That's not necessarily true."

Ariza looked at Anthony in surprise, and he felt flattered by this high praise, but immediately, he knew that Anthony was comforting himself, and then smiled wryly: "Melo, I know you are comforting me." I, but this kind of words, can't..."

"I'm not trying to comfort you," Anthony interrupted before Ariza finished speaking, "I'm telling the truth."

The astonishment in Ariza's eyes became stronger, and after seeing that Anthony really didn't want to simply comfort him, the astonishment gradually turned into doubt.

Anthony went on to say: "This is why I said that there are many reasons for defense, because the focus of the defense of the people I mentioned is different, and of course you are included."

Listening to Anthony's words, Ariza's curiosity and sense of expectation were aroused at once, and he looked at Anthony with piercing eyes.

Anthony went on to say: "Battier, his defense relies on his experience. Although he has not been in the league for a long time, he was already the team's defensive core when he was in college, and he even brought the ball. The team's defensive system, so his defense relies on personal experience, and Wallace, I believe that the insiders who have confronted him know how strong Wallace is physically, and his defensive talent, so His defense relies on his physical gifts, and you..."

Anthony looked at Ariza as he spoke, and in the expectation of the latter, he said: "Your dependence on defense is your attitude. To put it more bluntly, it is your passion. Defensive passion sometimes leads to fouls, but if that intensity is there all the time, then your opponent will be afraid of it, so he can mess himself up."

"So..." Anthony smiled and looked at Ariza and said, "You don't have to feel any frustration about your previous performance. Everyone can see your hard work and hard work, including coach Carl of course. , you must know this."

Hearing this, the original dejected look in Ariza's eyes has slowly dissipated, replaced by a look of self-confidence and high fighting spirit.

After Anthony saw Ariza's confidence come back, he was also relieved. Ariza's performance, to a certain extent, has a very critical role in whether the Nuggets can go further. Not just this one.

But Anthony then immediately said: "Of course, this is not your first NBA game. You also encountered many similar situations during the regular season. I don't need to say more. You have to learn to control fouls and Make a balanced choice on the two points of maintaining defensive strength."

Hearing Anthony's warning, Ariza nodded as if realizing something, and then raised his head to look at the field. At this time, his eyes no longer showed frustration, but full of fighting spirit, that feeling Like a cheetah being led, as long as he lets go, he can give his opponent a fatal blow.

Karl turned his head inadvertently at this time, and when he saw Ariza's completely different appearance from before, a look of surprise flashed across his face, and he turned back to look at Anthony. After seeing Anthony smiling at him, he also roughly knew After the whole story, without saying anything, he turned his head and looked at the field again.

"beep!"

After a while, the bell rang at the end of the first quarter. The Nuggets' substitutes played vigorously under the leadership of Brand. The point difference was slowly widening. Double digits, 33:23, the Nuggets ended the first quarter with a 10-point advantage.

Before the start of the second quarter, Coach Carl called Ariza after he arranged the tactics and told him to prepare for the game.

After Ariza heard Carl's decision, the excitement on his face was naturally speechless, which was equivalent to a direct injection of chicken blood, and the effect was obvious.

Anthony appeared with Ariza. Perhaps after Carl realized what happened on the bench, this can be regarded as another layer of expectation for Ariza.

The other three positions of the Nuggets are still three substitutes, Mutombo, Jefferson, and Roger. On the Mavericks side, after seeing the lineup sent by the Nuggets, they were originally planning to rest. Nowitzki was called up by Nelson again, and he took four substitutes to mediate with the Nuggets during this period.

It was the Nuggets' offense at first. Anthony was double-teamed as soon as he arrived in the frontcourt. The original plan of the Nuggets was to let Anthony's personal offense drive the team's offense. Roger, who was in possession of the ball, tried several times but failed. After passing the ball in, he had to give up in the end. At this time, because of double-teaming, Ariza, whose three-point shooting percentage was not too high, was selectively given up.

Roger hesitated, and finally threw the ball to Ariza.

After seeing the Nuggets' offensive intentions, the Mavericks' defenseman, Devin Harris, made a symbolic throw. It can be seen from his actions that he felt that Ariza would probably throw the ball to Anthony. So there was room for re-teaming Anthony, and he didn't completely throw it out.

But at this moment, Ariza's choice was to let him, so that the entire Mavericks did not expect that Ariza shot directly after receiving the ball, and the ball spun and shot to the basket.

"Dangdang!"

With a crisp sound, Ariza's shot jumped out of the basket as expected.

After Harris saw the ball bounced out of the frame, he showed a "sure enough" expression, and then he was ready to find out if he had a chance to pick up the east board.

At this moment, the competition for rebounds at the basket became fierce. Veteran Dikembe Mutombo and Bamboo Bradley both had very tall heights. He played a decisive role in judging the ball's whereabouts. He was obviously a little better, and in the end the ball was also taken into his arms.

Mutombo, who grabbed the offensive rebound in the frontcourt, didn't stop for a moment, and directly threw the ball back to Ariza. It can also be seen from this that the veteran's observation ability on the court is full of concentration. The result is also that Ariza Zha once again got an open shot, and it was easier this time than the one just now. Harris didn't even make any saves.

To vote, or not to vote, a multiple-choice question was placed in front of Ariza.

Ariza didn't hesitate at all. If Anthony hadn't said those words to him, he might have hesitated, or the possibility of passing the ball was very high, but now, he didn't need to hesitate at all, and aimed at the basket After the basket, he immediately chose to make a shot.

The ball was thrown from his hands and flew towards the basket in a sharp spin.

(End of this chapter)