Chapter 226 225. Second Grade's Counterattack!

Liu Mang received a text message from Levia, saying that she has returned to the hotel, and Dinah is eating chocolate and watching TV...

The tone of the text message was very flat, but Liu Mang felt that the clear sky outside the car window seemed to contain murderous intent...

The coffee shop is not far from the hotel, but it seemed a little awkward for three men to press the road, so I took a taxi.

Magpie Cafe, Philadelphia has been ranked among the top 10 coffee shops in the United States since the 1990s.

After arriving, Kobe, a Philadelphia native, ordered a cup of Blue Mountain, which is a specialty of Jamaica, which is known as one of the three major coffee beans in the world and is produced at an altitude of at least 1,800 meters.

Relatively speaking, Liu Mang likes mocha with cream, milk, chocolate, etc., which taste less bitter.

Maddie... ordered a glass of freshly squeezed juice...

"Eh... I'm afraid I won't be able to fall asleep after drinking coffee." Maddy said very sincerely.

Looking at McGrady's deep dark circles and never-awakening expression, Liu Mang and Kobe nodded, and for the first time they had the same opinion.

Let this guy sleep peacefully! It looked like he hadn't slept in his entire life.

In addition to coffee, Liu Mang ordered a sandwich, Maddie ordered a cream cake, and Kobe...a vegetable salad with no sugar and only skim milk and a boiled chicken with only salt...Thanks The three of them are celebrities, otherwise they wouldn't have made such a meal on purpose.

"Eating sweets and fried foods is not good for body fat." Bryant said seriously.

"..."

This time Liu Mang and Mai Di had exactly the same idea.

This guy is outrageously paranoid! Taking a vacation is so cruel to myself.

...

Seeing Kobe chewing grass like a sheep, Liu Mang and McGrady felt that it would be a big deal to train for a while longer.

McGrady felt that the atmosphere was a bit awkward. The food Kobe ordered was too disruptive, so he found a topic: "Ace, are you going to participate in tomorrow's rookie game? Some media said that you might be selected for the main game just like Duncan. rookie game."

"Of course I'm going to fight! I want to win the MVP of the rookie game... I'm telling you that you don't understand what that is, have you never won it? My buddies will win it tomorrow!" This year is not too dazzling, Kobe, was robbed of the MVP by Iverson, only he still has a chance to get it.

"It's just a rookie game MVP, what's there to be proud of." Kobe muttered.

"Hey, what MVP have you won? It seems that you haven't won any MVP, it's all O'Neal's." Liu Mang fought back decisively.

"..." Kobe was choked up, as if he had been in the NBA for five or six years, rookie game, All-Star, regular season, finals... never won an MVP.

"We will get everything in the future!" It was about to quarrel again, and McGrady quickly became a peacemaker.

"Then let's watch the rookie game together tomorrow! Kobe." McGrady suggested.

"No." Kobe refused decisively.

"Of course, someone is afraid to see me win the MVP before him." Liu Mang continued to attack.

Just this weird guy who likes to ask others what Los Angeles looks like at four in the morning, that Public Enemy of the West, nine times out of ten it is this guy who messes with the West to deal with him, and wants to know what Los Angeles looks like at four in the morning? Just ask the sanitation worker uncle! Stupid or not!

How could Kobe be so excited! Immediately countered: "It's just that you may get it, not already. I scored 31 points in the rookie game! This is a historical record!"

"Well, the record will be mine right away!"

"Will others listen to you in the rookie game? You can't score without the ball!"

"Then let's wait and see!"

McGrady looked at the two staring eyes and held his forehead helplessly. These two people really love to rival each other too much!

...

...

Cousins ​​McGrady got together for a while. What is Cousins ​​McGrady’s gathering? It’s just this pair of cousins ​​who habitually forget to pay after eating. They’re both NBA players. Others pay the bill directly. Yeah, I forgot to buy a ticket when I went to the amusement park, and someone else bought it, and I forgot to pay the seat fee when I took my sister to the nightclub, and someone else paid...

Fortunately, the big player today is Kobe, and he is very used to McGrady's habit, so he paid the money directly.

McGrady and Kobe are two adults who want to play with other familiar NBA players. Before the two of them went to play, they still remembered to ask Liu Mang out for a cup of coffee. It is already very loyal. I don’t want those evil teammates, come to Philadelphia They all formed a group, leaving Liu Mang alone with two beauties and a loli to act alone.

Liu Mang went back to the hotel alone. It was past seven o'clock. Back in the living room of the suite, two beauties were eating.

The food is so familiar... There is a poor little loli next to her.

When Dinah saw Liu Mang came back, she ran to Liu Mang with a sad face and begged for a hug.

"Uncle, Dinah's chocolate was taken away by mother and teacher!" Dinah said pitifully.

"Didn't I tell you to hide it and eat it in the room?" Liu Mang said in pain, as if he felt the premonition that he might be beaten.

"The TV signal in Dinah's room is broken. Beautiful Neighbor just started, so Dinah will watch it in the living room..." Dinah is still pitiful.

"It's just that children can't watch soap operas, watch it, it's bad luck to watch soap operas!" Liu Mang strongly reprimanded watching soap operas, a good little lolita, learning more and more eccentric.

"Why don't you watch it! The uncle knows more and more beautiful aunts, the teachers are stupid, and the mother is fierce, so I can only rely on Dinah to attract the uncle!" Dinah said eloquently.

"..."

The atmosphere in the room was awkward for a while, Levia wanted to be aggressive with Liu Mang to tease the disobedient tenant who bought sweets for her daughter, but she didn't expect her daughter to say such a thing.

"Ace, why didn't you go to the nightclub with Kobe and McGrady? You came back so early." Levia changed the subject.

Alexia was also a little embarrassed, and said: "Leviia, you forgot, Ace is only 19 years old, and he is still a child, so he can't go to nightclubs."

"That's right, Ace is still a child, let me feed you jelly beans..."

"..." Liu Mang was so sad!

Who are these people!

...

...

On February 15, 2002, the annual NBA All-Star Weekend officially began!

In the early morning, Liu Mang left the hotel, and the staff of the 76ers drove to the Hilton Hotel to pick Liu Mang to the Wachovia Center. The process of the All-Star rookie game began with the group photo of the rookies in the morning.

The most famous group photo of rookies in NBA history is probably the group photo of the 1996 golden generation. There was no such thing in the first place. Since 1996, there has been such a tradition.

The enthusiasm of the rookie players was already very strong. Fans of teams with rookies and second-year players came to wait outside the Wachovia Center early, and there were many Eagles fans among them.

Undoubtedly, Liu Mang may be the most powerful rookie in the past two years, and he is the most likely player to win the rookie game MVP in this rookie game. It may not be that important, but it is very exciting for Eagles fans who have not won any awards in the past ten years!

This was the first time Liu Mang saw such a crowd of people and a lot of them came for him. When he entered the arena in a car, he became excited.

All-Star!

Liu Mang felt the fiery feeling of the All-Stars!

"Hello, Ace, good morning!"

Just as Liu Mang got out of the car, he heard a somewhat familiar greeting. He turned around and saw that it was Gasol who got off at about the same time. Beside him was Sean Battier, a man who entered the NBA and was dubbed the president by fans. .

"Hi, Paul, it's good morning. This is Mr. President, right? We have matched up before." Liu Mang also responded enthusiastically, and by the way greeted Battier who was meeting privately for the first time.

Teammates today! Therefore, the relationship needs to be good. Among the first-year rookies, the strongest are probably Liu Mang and the Grizzlies. Although Battier is low-key, but in terms of statistics, it is true that rookies are both the pinnacle. From points, to rebounds, to assists, Battier's rookie year was the highest in his career, averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

These two are good gentlemen who are easy to talk to. Battier was a little flattered to see Liu Mang's enthusiasm. Gasol and Liu Mang have a good relationship. Battier doesn't think there is anything wrong. The only two rookies In 2010, players who could see at least an All-Star level in the future, especially Liu Mang, were already All-Stars, but he, a rookie who had the third-highest scoring average among rookies but had never been well-known, had no Thinking of Liu Mang still remembering him.

According to the rumors that Battier heard, this is a rookie of the same class who does not deal with all the All-Stars in the West and has conflicts.

"Hi, I'm Sean Battier." Battier was a little embarrassed, he was a rookie, and he was not the leader on and off the field of the championship team in the future.

After saying hello, the three of them went to the locker room of the second-year rookie to change their jerseys under the leadership of the staff. Although the jerseys were still the jerseys of the players' own clubs, they were all-star customized versions, which were all placed in the locker room.

...

The three arrived in the locker room, and it seemed that the three of them were the last to arrive, and the other six had already arrived.

Warriors' Jason Richardson, Pacers' Jamal Tinsley, Wizards' Brandon Haywood, Spurs' Tony Parker, Suns' Joe Johnson, Jazz's Ender Rei Kirilenko.

They are all young people, they are all rookies, and maybe this is the only time for everyone. At least now that the future is still uncertain, many people think that they can make a mark in the All-Star Weekend. It should be just one or two All-Star Rookie Games , everyone is discussing something very enthusiastically.

However, when Liu Mang and Gasol, who stood out from the rookies this year, entered the locker room, the atmosphere suddenly cooled down.

Gasol is fine, just a favorite for the best rookie, and Liu Mang has already entered the All-Star Game.

This is not the main thing, the main thing is that these people, except for Heywood who plays the center, seem to have been sprayed by Liu Mang's poisonous mouth during the game!

Liu Mang also felt this, especially Tinsley of the Pacers, who seemed to be the one who got sprayed the worst...

so awkward!

Especially it seems that this group of people are still waiting for me to speak first before they are willing to say hello, which is even more embarrassing.

Liu Mang decided to break this embarrassment, and rely on these temporary teammates to win the rookie game MVP! The bullpen has been blown off, and there is still the task of five-star glory in Philadelphia.

"Hi everyone, I'm Ace, I think everyone must have a deep impression on me..." Liu Mang laughed at himself first.

Sure enough, this sentence made these rookie companions with rough nerves and mainly blacks couldn't help laughing.

You also know that you are hated by others!

"Ahem, don't laugh, don't laugh, buddy is very serious!" After Liu Mang said this, Jason Richardson, the most forthright, burst out laughing.

"Ahem, we are able to get together today, it can be said that we are destined to meet thousands of miles away... I don't understand, right! Just don't understand! This is a Chinese idiom, and it has the same meaning as your proverb..."

Liu Mang's relaxed and funny opening remarks immediately eased the atmosphere, including Gasol and Battier, who were a little surprised that Liu Mang actually did this in private, which was so different from what he imagined!

...

"Ace, I thought you were a difficult person before, but I didn't expect you to be no different from us... By the way! I heard that you are not an adult and can't go to nightclubs? How pitiful!" Jamal Tins Li, a great streetball player, has a very similar personality to Emmanuel, who is also a streetball expert on the Eagles. After discovering that Liu Mang is easy to talk, he immediately became acquainted with him.

As for the grievances between Liu Mang and Tinsley's boss Reggie Miller...that's the business of the All-Star bosses, and now it's time for the first-year players, so I can't control that much.

Hearing the topic of underage, Liu Mang looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Damn! Jamal, who spread the word?"

"When we were in the hotel yesterday, when we were discussing what to do when we met you today, Paul said that you are a very good person. We didn't believe it at the time. He said that you went to drink milk last time..." Tinsley immediately Sell ​​Gasol.

Gasol, who was changing his shorts, almost fell to the ground.

Don't mess with it! Who doesn't know that this Ace Liu is narrow-minded, isn't this pushing the buddy into the fire pit! Gasol quickly put on his shorts and left, saying he didn't say anything.

The sister-in-law is indeed a gossip!

Liu Mang is so sad, even the rookie team knows about it, what about the All-Star team with McGrady's big mouth and Kobe who hates him so much?

Depend on!

They went to the nightclub together last night!

...

Group photo of the rookie team!

Unlike before 1998, when fifteen or six rookies took a group photo together, now there are only nine left, because a team has been formed, and the rookie game is two quarters of 20 minutes each, so there is no way to give as many as 12 The time for players to perform can only be eight or nine people in a team, and the number of rookies can only be reduced as a last resort.

Another very important point is that in the past two years, it has not been possible to select a fairly good rookie who can make up a complete team of 12 players.

After the group photo, it was time for the reporter interview.

Similar to the round table meeting the day after tomorrow, hundreds of journalists and media from all over the world poured into the training ground to take group photos.

There are two training grounds in the Wachovia Center, one is for the home team 76ers, the other is for the usual visiting team, and the rookie team is using the home training ground.

There is not much difference between the training grounds of the two training grounds, except that there is a fan area in the home training ground, and occasionally training is open for fans and media to watch, and the visiting team does not need it.

The 2000 rookie and the 2001 rookie, although they are both young drafts, but compared with the 2000 rookie, there are two rookies in the 2001 class, Gasol and Liu Mang, who may become superstars in the future, so the two places The number of journalists is not at the same level at all!

In the second grade, there are basically only reporters from the cities where their respective teams are located. The most famous rookie in 2000 so far is Kenyon Martin, who averaged 14+5 per game. It is not without reason that he is called the smallest draft year. .

...

Being interviewed by the media as the protagonist, except for the one or two months before the draft that changed the lives of every participating player a few months ago, for Liu Mang's rookie, after successfully entering the NBA, it is very difficult. How many people will have such an opportunity again, everyone is so excited.

Everyone is surrounded by a group of reporters. The main thing is that there is really no crowd around one of the most popular rookies.

Liu Mang looked at the dense crowd of reporters. This formation frightened him. How could there be such a formation in Atlanta? In the past, thirty-five reporters participated in the Eagles' home press conference. Hundreds of people, this huge training ground was occupied half of the area by reporters.

"Ace, will you choose to play in this rookie game? Or choose to leave the opportunity to others like Duncan?"

"Of course I will play, I want to win the MVP."

"Who among your teammates do you think will be your competitor?"

"It's hard to say, but we are a team, and the first thing we want is to win."

"Who do you think will be the biggest obstacle to your victory in the class of 2000?"

"Uh... Who are the 2000 rookies?"

"..."

"..."

Just so confident, Liu Mang made it clear in the interview that he wanted to win the MVP of the Rookie Game, so let's talk about it first.

Since he was almost the best among the 2001 rookies, of course he had to show his confidence, otherwise how could he hold back the group of people in the locker room?

The interview has been going on for a while, this is a happy game for everyone, there is no one who provokes, mainly because most of the reporters interviewed are not even American reporters, this is a basketball fan from all over the world The All-Star Weekend will be broadcast live in more than 150 countries around the world.

Reporters from many countries watch the football, but they don't really understand what these rookies are like in the century, and they ask very basic and simple questions.

More than half an hour later, the interview was over, Liu Mang breathed a sigh of relief, his voice was dry, he was so crowded that he had no chance to ask the staff to get a bottle of water.

On the other hand, other non-popular rookies other than Gasol are very reluctant to part with this feeling of being surrounded by the media. Except for Gasol and Liu Mang, it is difficult for the third rookie in this draft to have such an opportunity.

Even Gasol, in fact, rarely saw such a battle, a little excited, the Spaniard's elegance was all excited.

An interview is like a war!

The morning process is like this. First, take pictures, then interviews, after lunch at noon, and the All-Star Game in the afternoon, and the three-point contest and the slam dunk contest. A group of 40 people will go to the orphanage, nursing home, and school for the disabled. Waiting for places to carry out public welfare activities.

This year's All-Star charity event is to care for the disadvantaged, and all prize money from the event is donated to charity.

The morning activities were finally over. Liu Mang and his group had just returned to the locker room to change their clothes when Jason Richardson and Tinsley, who were very active, joined them.

"Ace, do you want to win the rookie game MVP? I support you!" Jason Richardson seemed to take this matter more seriously than Liu Mang.

"Eh..." Liu Wei was a little confused, he hadn't said anything about it yet, probably because he heard the interview, Liu Wei didn't deny it, and said: "Thank you!"

"I also support Eisner MVP!" Gasol, a good old man, took the lead in expressing his support.

"You and I have played against Ace the most times. I know how strong you are, count me in!" Contemporary Jordan was convinced by Liu Wei from the very beginning.

Kirilenko and Parker from Europe didn't have much right to speak, everyone supported them, and they all supported it. Haywood, the 2001 center, really couldn't jump out from Eddie Curry, Kwame... Brown, Tyson Chandler, etc., have no right to speak, and if everyone supports it, they all support it.

Speaking of Kwame Brown, the first No. 1 pick failed to participate in the rookie game. Since 1994, there was a rookie game for the first time. Even Olowokandi in 1998 appeared in the 2000 rookie game. .

However, there is always someone who is not confident and will spoil the atmosphere. Battier said very unconfidently: "It's okay for us to help Ace, but it's not easy for us to win against the second-year players..."

Liu Mang wondered if this President Battier was a fake!

What about the president of the Heat who was full of confidence in the key ball in the finals?

"Xiao En, those second graders are not that strong, they just played for an extra year. The strongest among them is not as good as you, so don't worry." Liu Mang had no choice but to cheer up his teammates.

It's so hard to be the best player on a team! He finally understood the pain of Kobe and Wade leading the team alone, being a father and a mother at the same time.

"Impossible..." The rookie president felt that this was beyond his cognition.

Liu Mang said that he had to get used to it. One day when he became the boss, it was all his job. He mobilized his emotions and said, "Of course, Xiao En, remember, you are stronger than the most powerful rookies in 2000! You see, you are still a rookie, you average 14 points and 5 rebounds per game, and their most powerful Kenyon Martin only has 14 points and 5 rebounds, you will be better than him!"

Liu Mang's words made Battier suddenly realize, it seems that this is the truth! It seems that I am really powerful! Self-confidence was built up at once.

It's just... Liu Mang didn't say anything, that is, this seems to be your peak year in terms of statistics...

...

...

On the first grade side, they were discussing that they had better statistics than the so-and-so in the second grade, and found that they were really good! Finding self-confidence from people who are weaker than yourself is indeed the best way.

As for the second-year locker room, the atmosphere was a bit bad.

"Kenyon, I just went to their locker room and heard it. Sure enough, the rookies want to beat us, especially that Ace Liu. He doesn't pay attention to us at all! They are talking about who has better statistics than us!" Quentin Richardson, who is very dog-legged, said to Kenyon Martin, who is the leader in the data and record in the second grade.

These words not only made one or two or a few people in the second grade angry, but everyone felt humiliated.

Yes, since the 2000 draft has not yet started, since the All-American high school students entered college in 1999, people have been discussing how bad the 2000 draft is, and they are used to hearing these words.

But that doesn't mean they won't be angry!

Especially the group of 2001 rookies, who were also young draft years, looked down on them so much, and they all expressed their anger!

The news interviews not long ago have all come out. Although the newspapers only come out in the evening or tomorrow morning, there are already news on the Internet and TV news!

Even after the media knew that Liu Mang would not retire, they said that this was Liu Mang and Gasol's performance time, and speculated that according to Gasol's gentle temper, Liu Mang was determined to be the MVP of the All-Star Rookie Game. , completely disregarding the feelings of the second-year players.

"They all look down on us, we need to let them know that no matter what we do, we are still seniors, and we need to let those rookies know how good we are!" Kenyon Martin said in a deep voice the aspirations of all the second-year players!

...

...

In the first-year locker room, Liu Mang finally breathed a sigh of relief after watching his teammates compare their performance with the second-year's performance in the NBA this season. They all found a sense of superiority and self-confidence.

In terms of strength, the first-year players don't hesitate and play hard. With him and Gasol as the two core players, and Battier and Kirilenko as the two defensive champions, there is no problem at all in winning the second-year players.

When Liu Mang was changing clothes easily, suddenly his hands trembled and he almost didn't hold onto the clothes!

"Ding...Temporary mission, second-year counterattack."

not good!

Hearing this voice, Liu Mang knew that something bad was about to happen.

"The counterattack of the second grade: Due to being ignored by the rookies, the media, and everyone, the rookies of the 2000 class worked hard collectively, temporarily producing the most perfect team state, and the overall ability of all the players in the second grade increased by 10%. The host needs Lead the rookie team to defeat the second-year team, task reward: Pretend to be a card, task failure: admit that I am not as good as a second-year player."