12dz Chapter 193 The Benefits of Playing as a Substitute
Chapter 193 The Benefits of Playing as a Substitute
Anunoby knew this when VanVleet bumped into Wang Xiucheng several times during the third quarter.
The main reason Anunoby only did this now is that he had already committed three fouls. If the point difference hadn't been so large, he wouldn't have taken the risk.
Wang Xiucheng glanced at the referee with a livid face, only to find that the referee did not respond.
Okay, you did it on purpose, didn't you?
Wang Xiucheng looked at Anunoby, who was still looking smug in the distance, and reached out to catch the ball served from the baseline.
Wang Xiucheng, who had brought the ball to the frontcourt, slowed down in front of Anunoby, glancing at Zeng Fanbo on his left.
Anunoby knew that Wang Xiucheng had intentionally passed several good balls to his compatriots, so when he noticed that Wang Xiucheng was looking in that direction again, Anunoby shifted his feet slightly.
It's only three or four centimeters.
But this distance was enough for Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng suddenly sprinted down the ball and rushed to the other side.
Anunobi quickly chased after him to the right, while instinctively grabbing Wang Xiucheng's clothes with one hand, trying to slow down Wang Xiucheng's breakthrough speed.
But Wang Xiucheng suddenly braked, jumped up, and threw the ball out of his hand.
Anunobi had just started to accelerate and had no way to slow down, so much so that his hand, which was meant to grab Wang Xiucheng, ended up piercing Wang Xiucheng's arm instead.
When Anunoby saw Wang Xiucheng jump up with his arm around his, he knew something was wrong.
It was too late to pull it back at that point.
So Anunoby gritted his teeth and grabbed Wang Xiucheng's arm, pulling him down.
Since the decision to foul has already been made, Wang Xiucheng cannot be allowed to score again.
With a swish, that's the sound of the basketball going through the net.
With a loud thud, Wang Xiucheng was pulled down and fell backward, landing on his back.
The Nets players were originally going to celebrate with Wang Xiucheng, but when they turned around and saw that Wang Xiucheng had been pulled down, they angrily rushed over.
Leading the charge was none other than Thomas, the shortest of the group, and behind him was Zeng Fanbo, who was spewing profanities.
The short Thomas shoved Anunoby in the chest, while Zeng Fanbo lowered his head and started butting heads with Anunoby.
Beep!
The referee blew his whistle loudly, trying to separate the two sides.
Wang Xiucheng got up on his own, then stood in the middle and pushed Thomas and Zeng Fanbo back.
"Go back? What for? Calm down."
Wang Xiucheng shouted and pushed the people back, one in each hand.
Nash shook his head helplessly on the sidelines.
Damn it, I shouted "calm down" for ages and nobody heard me, but when Wang Xiucheng shouted it out, everyone heard it.
Durant, draped in a towel, was also smiling happily on the bench.
Leadership is not something you can simply possess; it requires the recognition and approval of others.
How can it be recognized?
Naturally, one should use their performance on the field to gain recognition from others.
Wang Xiucheng has clearly gained everyone's approval.
This was earned by Wang Xiucheng through scoring time and time again, and assisting everyone time and time again.
Whether Wang Xiucheng is a substitute or not will not change.
This time, the referee didn't even review the video and directly gave Anunoby a flagrant foul 1.
Thomas and Zeng Fanbo were each given a T-shirt.
The Nets seem to have suffered a loss with two players being penalized.
But for Wang Xiucheng, Anunoby has already committed four fouls, so he can no longer act as recklessly as before.
While Wang Xiucheng was taking a free throw, Nick Nurse deliberately called Anunoby over, seemingly to remind him of this.
Indeed, when the game resumed, Wang Xiucheng clearly felt that Anunoby was no longer playing at the same intensity as before.
Sometimes, when he saw Wang Xiucheng waiting for him to come over to defend, Anunoby would keep a little distance from Wang Xiucheng, and even raise his hands to let the referee see that he had not made contact with Wang Xiucheng.
But every time this happens, Wang Xiucheng will quickly break through, either by taking a floater or by drawing another defender over, creating an open opportunity.
So Nick Nurse watched helplessly as the point difference between the two sides went from 11 points to 13 points, and then to 16 points.
With six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the score was 88-70, with the Nets leading by 18 points.
After a timeout, both the Nets and the Raptors brought back their full starting lineups, except for Wang Xiucheng, who was moved out of position and returned to the bench to rest.
The match resumed, and surprisingly, the two sides once again engaged in a back-and-forth struggle.
The score remained close throughout the game, and with one minute remaining, the Nets led by 10 points.
So Nash immediately substituted Durant out and put Isaiah Thomas in.
With a final whistle, the referee blew the final whistle to end the game.
The Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors 109-100 on the road.
Durant immediately went to the bench and bumped chests with Wang Xiucheng, who hadn't played in the second half of the quarter.
This caused Wang Xiucheng, who had just stood up, to be knocked back down.
"Well done, bro."
Durant shouted excitedly.
Wang Xiucheng was slightly taken aback. The way he addressed her had changed?
They used to call themselves "Wang," but now they're all calling each other "brother"?
"Not bad, I had a good feel for the game today," Wang Xiucheng said modestly.
He got up again and went onto the field to shake hands with the other teams.
“You’re even stronger than last year,” Barnes said to Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng first contacted Barnes.
Compared to the rest of the Raptors team, Wang Xiucheng and Barnes have a pretty good relationship.
After all, they were both rookies last year, and they had talked for a long time and even had a meal together during the All-Star game, so they weren't strangers.
"You're not bad either. I feel like the Raptors value you a lot," Wang Xiucheng said, covering his mouth.
Whether it's playing time or ball possession, Barnes ranks among the top players on this team.
This shows that the Raptors' coaching staff values Barnes' future.
At that moment, Yuta Watanabe also came over and hugged Barnes.
Last year, Yuta Watanabe was still with the Raptors, so he knew most of the players on the team.
After shaking hands with a few more people, Wang Xiucheng found Zeng Fanbo and went to Meng Chao, who had been waiting at the bottom line to interview him.
Meng Chao looked at Wang Xiucheng, a fleeting hint of resentment in his eyes.
For a whole year, Meng Chao asked Wang Xiucheng out countless times, but Wang Xiucheng always refused with various excuses.
This led Mengchao to believe that Wang Xiucheng had no feelings for her.
But during holidays, Wang Xiucheng would always send messages, the wording of which, in Meng Chao's opinion, was somewhat ambiguous.
This kept Mengchao clinging to a sliver of hope.
"First of all, congratulations to the Nets on their second consecutive win of the season. Xiao Wang, could you please give your comments on this game?" Meng Chao quickly concealed the emotion in his eyes and asked into the microphone.
Wang Xiucheng gripped the microphone, and whether intentionally or not, his large hand happened to grasp Meng Chao's fingers, causing Meng Chao's face to turn red instantly.
"The coach assigned me to be a substitute in this game, and I didn't really know how I would perform, but it seems to have worked out quite well." "However, although we won the game, we still saw some of our shortcomings, such as in defense and teamwork."
Wang Xiucheng held the microphone tightly and spoke in a very official manner.
Mengchao's hand was still being held by Wang Xiucheng, which made her mind go blank, and she didn't hear a single word.
Fortunately, Wang Xiucheng released his hand after speaking, which allowed Meng Chao to pause for a few seconds before finally recovering.
"Zeng, you only scored 9 points in this game, and your shooting percentage was lower than last game. Was it because the opponent was intentionally guarding you?"
After a moment of panic, Meng Chao finally remembered the questions he had prepared in advance.
"Not really."
Compared to Wang Xiucheng's physical advances, Zeng Fanbo was much more disciplined, simply bending slightly to get closer to the microphone.
“My positioning wasn’t very good in this game, which is related to the opponent’s speed. When Brother Wang saw that others had made better positions, he would naturally pass the ball to other places.”
"One last question for Xiao Wang." Meng Chao looked at Wang Xiucheng, who was shaking hands with VanVleet behind him and then turning around, "The next game is against the Grizzlies, who also have a speedy guard, Morant. Are you confident about this game?"
Wang Xiucheng grasped the microphone again, this time holding half of Meng Chao's hand in his own. "I dare not say I'm confident. The opponent is a strong team, and we will do our best to win."
Meng Chao felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She wanted to hold Wang Xiucheng's hand back, but reason told her she couldn't.
"Thank you both for the interview. See you in New York." Seeing that Wang Xiucheng had finally let go, Meng Chao immediately ended the interview, feeling a little guilty.
He didn't even greet Wang Meng and Yang Yi in the live broadcast room before signaling the cameraman to cut off the signal.
Seeing the cameraman put down the camera, Mengchao finally breathed a sigh of relief and fanned his burning face.
The cameraman was puzzled: When did Toronto become so hot at the end of October?
Meng Chao's "departure without saying goodbye" left Wang Meng somewhat bewildered. When he saw the camera focused on him, he immediately looked down at the computer and read the data aloud.
"Wang Xiucheng played 28 minutes, shooting 9 of 13 from the field, 5 of 10 from three-point range, and 5 of 8 from the free-throw line, scoring 28 points, 13 assists, and 4 steals."
“杜兰特上场26分钟，18投8中，其中三分球9中3，罚球10中8，砍下了27分。”
“小曾上场18分钟，三分球,7中3，得到9分，还有4个篮板和1个助攻。”
Wang Meng quickly finished reading the data, then looked up at Yang Yi and asked, "Teacher Yang, is there anything you want to summarize?"
Yang Yi pushed up his glasses and said in a calm tone, "Like I said, without Harden and Irving, you can let Durant do it all by himself."
"Look at this game, no one was competing with him for the ball. Durant scored 27 points, which may not seem like much, but everyone should note that this is the score Durant got in 26 minutes of playing time."
"The advantage of Wang Xiucheng being a substitute is that he can play more minutes, while Durant can play less minutes."
"This is very good for Durant to stay healthy, so that when the playoffs come and things get tough, Durant will be ready to play at any time."
"And all of this is the effect of Nash placing Wang Xiucheng on the bench. So it's not that Nash is bad, it also depends on what kind of players Nash is facing."
Wang Meng laughed upon hearing this.
One spends all his time cultivating immortality and never plays a match, while the other sits on the sidelines in a suit and tie every day and never plays a match either.
No coach can have a good time dealing with either of these two.
"Thank you, Mr. Yang Yi, for your commentary today, and thank you, Mina, for joining me. Just a heads up, the Nets will be hosting the Grizzlies at 8:00 AM on the 25th. See you there!"
……
That same night after the game, the entire Nets team returned to New York on a chartered plane.
There's nothing in Toronto that these players would want to stay.
Only Yuta Watanabe seemed to have some things left at his home in Toronto that needed to be taken care of, so he took leave and did not come back with everyone.
At midnight, Wang Xiucheng returned to his apartment on the top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel.
Zhang Jiani and Li Jiahua have already returned to China.
Without Zhang Jiani, Ma Wei and the others naturally had no need to stay here anymore.
The last time they stayed here, it was partly for safety reasons, and partly because Wang Xiucheng was afraid Jenna would call.
With Ma Wei and his group around, any excuse is easier to come up with.
Before leaving, Li Jiahua called Wang Xiucheng and finally agreed to accept Wang Xiucheng's investment.
However, the number of shares to be exchanged needs to be discussed back at the airport, so even Ma Xiaoxuan went back with her this time.
Speaking of which, Wang Xiucheng hasn't seen Ma Xiaoxuan for quite some time.
Zeng Fanbo, Zhang Zhenlin, Yu Jiahao, and Guo Haowen have all become contracted players under Ma Xiaoxuan's management.
This kept Ma Xiaoxuan so busy that she couldn't spend as much time with Wang Xiucheng as before.
After taking a shower, Wang Xiucheng flirted with his older sister as usual, and then went straight to sleep.
The next morning at eight o'clock, Wang Xiucheng brought Ma Wei and the others, who hadn't even opened their eyes yet, to the restaurant.
Wang Xiucheng is used to waking up early, but this time is a bit difficult for Ma Wei and the others.
The Nets have no training scheduled for today, and all players, including coaches, will have a day off.
However, Durant had already made an appointment with Wang Xiucheng yesterday to go to the team's arena for training in the afternoon.
Wang Xiucheng didn't want to go either, but since Durant had spoken, Wang Xiucheng couldn't refuse him.
Of course, Wang Xiucheng wouldn't go alone; he would take Zeng Fanbo with him.
Zeng Fanbo had already arrived at the restaurant early. Upon seeing Wang Xiucheng, he quickly greeted him, "Brother Wang, over here."
Zeng Fanbo used to stay in a hotel more than ten kilometers away from the Barek Center. Although it was cheap, it required a long drive to get there for training and competitions.
So Wang Xiucheng rented a room for him at the Four Seasons Hotel where he was staying.
Of course, even though they said it was rented by Wang Xiu, the Nets immediately put the bill on the team's bill.
"I'll just grab something to eat, then go back to sleep. I'll go to the gym this afternoon to train with Durant," Wang Xiucheng explained to Zeng Fanbo as he got food from the self-service area.
Ma Wei and the others were already slumped over the table, showing no intention of eating.
But this timeframe suited Zeng Fanbo very well.
He's from Northeast China, so even if you call him at 6 a.m., let alone 8 a.m., he'll get up.
So the three of them lay down to sleep, while Wang Xiucheng and Zeng Fanbo sat not far away eating.
After eating for a few minutes, another person suddenly walked in through the restaurant entrance.
Wang Xiucheng glanced at it casually, then his eyes lit up, and he reached out to greet her, "Miss Miyoshi Ayaka? Are you here for dinner? Would you like to join us?"