At times, DeRozan would let memories run through his mind, especially when he saw familiar faces, such as facing the Heat, seeing the overly familiar stout defender, he would remember the afternoon four years ago when he learned he had been traded—a blank head, followed by anger, resentment, frustration, and all the negative emotions that fell from the sky. As if dodging an air raid, he sneaked into a roadside burrito shop and called Lowry. The two were silent for a full five minutes, with only a noisy background sound, white noise, and DeRozan's irrepressible whimpering.
For example, this night, as soon as DeRozan walked into the restaurant, he saw the familiar white hair and the shaking wine glass. He will think of Ade, who likes to shoot as much as he does, and White, who is not very good at shooting at the time, and the last time they met was last month, and DeRozan, wearing a red jersey, returned to the silver and black home and heard the call for "MVP" at the free throw line. DeRozan, who is determined to win the title, and spurs who are determined to rebuild pass by, and tomorrow night, they will be reunited on the court.
"More and more fans are starting to call you MVP." Popovich raised a glass and looked into DeRozan's eyes as if he were looking at a glass of wine.
"Not that much, and it's not the playoffs yet," DeRozan smiled as he pulled up his chair and sat down, picking up the bottle on the table, "you guys have new MVPs too, don't you?" ”
Popovich's laughter seemed to come out of his stomach: "Hahaha, not to that extent." ”
The joyful laughter also infected DeRozan, who couldn't help but think of the little brother who had long hands and feet, had an explosive head, and recognized the big brother everywhere. "Quick, the last time he won our game, he scored a quick 30 points."
Popovich's calm mouth rose a few more degrees, and the 25-year-old surprised him every day, unlocking different goal positions and ball-holding skills, just like DeRozan, who kept unlocking his talent for organizing passes two years ago, "Sometimes, I can see your shadow in him, the free throw line jump shot, the dribble turn... His crotch changes hands even as smoothly as you. ”
"Can I take this as a compliment?" DeRozan raised a glass.
"Of course you can." Popovich raised his hand, and the crisp sound of glass colliding spread out like ripples, "But he still has some places that are very similar to you." ”
DeRozan stared at Popovich, and the corners of the old man's eyes revealed a hint of kindness and cunning. He remembered Ned Stark's famous quote: All the words that precede "but" are nonsense. The familiar feeling came to mind again, and DeRozan took a sip of red wine and asked for a long time, "Is it the shot of the three-point accuracy and the anti-magic ball?" ”
Popovich smiled so hard that even his eyebrows began to flutter, and his gray hair seemed to float in the air like static electricity, and DeRozan couldn't help but have the illusion of facing Einstein. At this moment, Murray, who was resting at the guest hotel, could not help but sneeze.
Although it was hand-picked by injured Draymond Green to be selected as an All-Star — considering that both were Ritchie Paul's clients, there was an extra layer of "promoting his own little brother" — but no one could deny that Murray did meet the criteria for an All-Star this season. As we all know, there are five of the top three universities in the country, and there are three or five MVP-level superstars every year, and 30 people in each of the 20 all-star spots have reached the standard, so that the Spurs, which are the fourth-to-last in the West, can also make up a spare tire, which is also reasonable.
Specific to Murray himself, he is 25 years old, 6 years after his debut, and has been reimbursed for one season in the middle. From averaging 3.4 points per game to averaging 20+8+9 per game, from a flanking sapper defender who can only throw crabs and steal fast attacks, it has grown to a backcourt core with no dead ends covering the three-point line. Breaking the ceiling of high-end blue-collar and ball-holding cores, and letting the NBA with "star-making sports as the core" harvest a valuable ticket harvester, this kind of storyline that evolves all the way and breaks the limiter is also the favorite bridge section of competitive sports.
The Spurs under Popovich have always liked long hands and long feet, keen on defense rookies, from Leonard to Murray to Kelden, it is not difficult to see the training idea of this team: take defense and competitive attitude as the cornerstone, and then point out the skill points, and when the time is ripe, gradually transfer the ball holding task and develop a new core of the team.
This slow-heat type of cultivation, the cycle is generally 4 to 5 years, the second year that the Spurs select Leonard, Popovich said that "he will become the façade of the Spurs." Although Leonard finally grabbed the goal, opening the Spurs' door and the defensive efficiency never returned to the upper middle of the league, in 2016, when the Spurs selected Murray with the 29th pick, people also had high hopes for him. Bill Simmons, America's number one Celtics fan, once blasted out at the 2016 draft: "Damn, the Spurs are taking advantage of it, they're always winning!" At the same time, Leonard also confessed: "He is what I was five years ago." ”
Fortunately, under the careful guidance of Popovich, England De, DeRozan and others, the Spurs' five-year star-making program was once again a success. Murray grew from the 2011 version of Leonard to the 2016 version of Leonard – officially becoming the core of the team, pointing out the three-point skills of holding the ball, shooting, throwing and holding the ball. From the outside of the elite blue collar, upgraded to an ordinary level of All-Star, shouldered more ball rights, and became the team's offensive engine.
As early as DeRozan's first season with the Spurs, Murray had already begun to move closer to him. Murray's shooting posture gradually changed from a one-handed throw in college to the standard "three ninety degrees". His range also extended from within the box to the three-point line. So far this season, Murray's mid-range shooting accuracy has reached 46%, his long two-point shooting rate has also been 43%, and more anti-magic ball, his mid-range shots account for 35% of all shots.
Skilled behind the change of hands, with his favorite waist position dry pull. In the 19-20 season singles Hayward's round, Murray's cultivation results can already be seen.
Facing the Celtics this season, Murray once again pulled out the mid-range shooting skill pack, the free throw line over the block to dismantle the jumper, Paul, DeRozan have praised.
Spurs beat the Jazz in this quality game, Murray and White took turns to use the mid-range strong attack, so that Gobert once again tasted the bitterness of dislocation. Even when the defenders had already made up for it, Murray cleverly used the ass to frame his back and arch out the shot space.
So far this season, Murray has averaged 4.1 three-pointers per game, and while his shooting percentage is a 32 percent that can't bear to look straight — one of the culprits of his 52 percent true shooting percentage — Murray has taken three-pointers as his regular take. Many people just look at the basic data, they think that Murray is the next Westbrook, but the two defenders are most similar, in addition to both like to take the backcourt rebounds to push fast attacks, is this kind of courage to shoot confidence.
Yes, confidence is the biggest difference between stars and ordinary players. Stars dare to show operations and dare to play Zhang Fei's embroidery under high-pressure defense, but the most important thing for ordinary players is to seek stability and not make mistakes. There is also a difference in technical ability and a player's mentality. Fortunately, Murray has developed this confidence.
For example, in the face of Trae Young's crotch change direction breakthrough.
For example, this Curry-style continuous change of hands.
Murray's years of hard work on dribbling skills finally came to fruition, allowing Popovich to confidently hand him the keys to the offensive engine. And he also lived up to expectations, everyone knows that the Spurs offense looks at Murray, but under this high-pressure defense, Murray still carries 26.6% of the usage rate and plays the second highest true shooting rate of his career - from this point of view, we can also feel how iron Murray has been in recent years.
But for the young ball-handling core, efficiency is never an issue, as strong as VanVleet, when he first took over the burden of possession, the true shooting rate also fluctuated. The key is whether he can tear up the defense and create opportunities for his teammates; it is whether he can shoulder the heavy responsibility at key moments and win the two points.
Just like this round, use DeRozan's classic moves to stop your opponent.
Before we used to say that the Spurs, a group of puzzle-type defenders, only White could really feed Bortel good cake. Now that White is away from Boston, Murray has taken over the task of making cakes. Surprisingly, Murray's passing and organizational skills have improved very quickly.
It has to be said that the Spurs are particularly able to cultivate the "Zhan position", and DeRozan has created a new career high in the two years of the Spurs, and the number of assists and assists and errors have created a new career high. Murray, on the other hand, averaged 9.3 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game, with an exaggerated 3.9 assist-to-loss ratio. If you cover up the name, you can probably guess paul.
Stats aside, just by looking at the scene, Murray can also repeatedly deliver eye-catching assists. He and Bortel's blocking became more and more tacit, and the bread he made for Bortel became more and more sweet. Bolter's stats this season have also reached new highs, and even attracted the old club Raptors to want to eat back grass, and Murray's credit for feeding the cake.
In the end, I still want to put this round. This offensive action that is too DeRozan – crotch changing hands, observing the defense, silky turning, walking into the box, the shot after the confrontation – is almost a mirror reproduction of DeRozan. DeRozan has left a lot in the Spurs' two years, including this former little brother, who is now the opponent's top card. In Murray, we can see the traces left by the years on the Spurs, and we can also see some light in the future of the Spurs, and the gentle reconstruction is not over, but this piece of jade, after five years of carving, has begun to shine. It is as if it is about to rise and become a new hope for the holy city.
DeRozan let out a long sigh and looked up at the scoreboard — he cut down 40 points with 24 shots to help the Bulls get revenge on the Spurs. The All-Star is coming, and he doesn't want to lose even one. The hug with Popovich was as long as a century, and when he turned around, he saw Murray, whose eyes were full of nostalgia, respect and reluctance, and couldn't help but think of the figure who was practicing the training ground to turn around and jump. The memories in his mind were still warm, DeRozan stepped forward, and Murray clapped, countless words poured into his mouth, blocking the train of thought at once, DeRozan opened his mouth, and suddenly thought of a sentence that was very suitable for this junior, he smiled brightly: "Dezhangtai, the future is yours." ”