Champion, please stay!

Chapter 107, 105. Weekly Best

If the game goes into overtime, Yi Shui feels there's a high probability of them losing.

His performance, whether good or bad, has a huge impact on the team's offense.

The score was caught up in the final quarter because his offensive performance declined for a period of time. Although the team's run-and-gun offense came together, the spacing and finishing efficiency dropped significantly.

His stamina wasn't good enough. His stamina rating of 89 is not bad for a rookie, and the coaching staff even praised his improvement in stamina during the offseason.

Durant is in his second year and his stamina is a step behind his, around 85.

But as the core scorer, the primary one-on-one option, the playmaker, and the fast break spearhead, he clearly struggles to maintain his defensive capabilities.

Playing against the Thunder and Bucks is fine; even when he's resting, the team won't be at a disadvantage. When he's on the court, they can capitalize on their advantages. But against teams with well-structured defenses like the 76ers and Bobcats, it'll be tough.

However, tonight his playing time increased dramatically from 33-35 minutes in the previous 3 games to 40 minutes, indicating a physical crisis, and he mainly focused on defense.

山猫队开局前3场场均得分联盟倒数第三，被这样一个对手拿到109分……虽然山猫队1/3/4/5四个位置攻框都很出色，刚好能抓着他们的内线弱点打，但还是太糟糕了。

Actually, the current situation is much better than when he was selected as the number one draft pick a few months ago. Back then, sitting in the middle of the court, he was thinking about how to pad his stats in his rookie year. Now that he has the ability to win, he should be quite satisfied with his calm thinking.

But he just wanted it to be better.

Giving up on defense? He can't do that! If he hadn't fought back and made a desperate charge in the final moments tonight, affecting Felton's floater, they might have been overturned.

At this moment, his teammates gathered around to celebrate the victory. Yi Shui finished thinking and first enjoyed the joy of victory with his teammates!

...

After playing two home games, the Knicks flew to Washington, D.C. at noon on the 6th.

On the plane, Yi Shui talked to the coaching staff about physical fitness.

Lead assistant coach Dan D'Antoni said, "I don't recommend that you do physical training during the season, as it will affect your development."

We should start by addressing energy distribution. The post-up specialist we found for you is arriving soon; he excels in this area, so we can discuss it together.

Yi Shui asked curiously, "A master of backfights? Who is it?"

"Mark Jackson, the guy who forced the NBA to introduce the five-second back-to-the-basket rule to limit his post-up game, without him, Stephen might not have been able to guard Miller that day."

"Point guard Barkley... I thought they'd bring in the gorilla."

"Ewing's post-up game is also very good, but his post-up game is a pure low-post type, which is not suitable for you. Or do you want to play center? With your physical attributes, you can become a deluxe version of Amar'e Stoudemire."

"No, no, that's impossible. I like Barkley the most, even the point guard version."

Yi decisively returned to the back of the coaching staff area. He was very satisfied with this communication. Indeed, it's better to talk about these things than to think about them alone.

The teammates were playing cards again. The elementary school student seemed to have developed a gambling addiction, and would play a few rounds every time.

Yi Shui could understand Curry's mindset. He had heard that Curry lived a very frugal life in high school and college, and it was normal for him to want to do things he had never done before now that he had money.

He had participated before, but after losing several hands in a row, he gave up. He had really bad luck at the poker table.

Moreover, the elementary school student was still restrained. If he lost more than $1000, he would go to a corner and sulk, instead of acting like a gambler who had to win it all back.

Yi Shui pulled out a newspaper from the one she had casually picked up before boarding the plane... and there was his name again.

"The second fastest rookie in the league to achieve 20+5+5 stats?"

昨晚他40分钟出场时间里，21投10中，拿到26分6板5助攻2抢断1盖帽，生涯首次20+5+5。

"This counts as a record?"

Yi Shui noticed the qualifier 'active duty' while complaining.

Looking down, sure enough, the fastest active player to achieve 20+5+5 in a single game is that player.

He was puzzled. He was just a rookie. Even if he played well, did they really want to outdo him whenever they had the chance?

Until he noticed the battle rankings in the newspaper.

The Knicks are 4-0, tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with the Cavaliers.

No wonder...

It doesn't matter whether he's better or worse, but he can't be on par with anyone else.

...

Yi Shui had just discussed the issue of physical strength with the coaching staff on the plane at noon. In the evening, after finishing his extra training at Verizon Arena and returning to the hotel, he saw Mark Jackson, the future head coach of the Warriors and now a commentator for ESPN.

Walsh, who was traveling with the team, quietly revealed to Yi Shui that the weekly salary was $50,000, with working hours starting from the day he reported for duty. This was much higher than Mark Jackson's salary at ESPN, where he currently earns $800,000 annually.

Moreover, it doesn't affect Mark Jackson's regular job. Training needs to be scheduled in advance, but communication can be done anytime by phone. The main reason for flying over this time was to sign a part-time contract and because the coaching staff was worried that Yi Shui would be anxious.

While playing for the Knicks, Yi Shui often experienced the meaning of the old saying – money makes the world go round.

But even if salary issues aren't kept secret, shouldn't they be discussed like this? He didn't even ask... does that show the team's concern?

Yi Shui, Mark Jackson, and D'Antoni sat down and talked for a while, and Mark Jackson had some suggestions.

"Brook, as a rookie, your stamina is actually easy to manage because you are young and have a stronger ability to adapt."

I suggest you simplify things: reduce playing time and your role on the court, and most importantly, optimize your playing style.

I've watched your preseason and regular season game footage. Your basketball IQ is excellent; you see many opportunities that others miss and notice points that others don't notice. But because of this, you often make useless runs and set unnecessary screens. Your teammates don't have your brains.

"And your technique needs improvement; you need to make it simpler..."

After some communication, a preliminary improvement plan was developed, but Yi Shui knew that the specifics still needed to be based on a detailed tactical study.

Mark Jackson is analyzing this from the most idealistic perspective.

Just like Mark Jackson said, 'His teammates aren't that good,' there are many things in the tactics that Yi Shui needs to do, and only he can do them.

After the meeting, Yi Shui asked D'Antoni to inform the team nutritionist to prepare food for him while he went to the gym to lift weights.

Mark Jackson saw that D'Antoni actually called the nutritionist... After the call ended, he asked, "Is Brook going to the gym tonight? Don't we have a game against the Wizards tomorrow?"

D'Antoni: "It's his hobby, lifting weights the night before a game."

"A hobby? Won't it affect tomorrow's game? He just came back from the Wizards' arena, right? He looks exhausted from training."

"Don't worry... You'll find out during training tomorrow. There will be many surprising things in the future, so be prepared."

The next morning, before the Knicks' practice, Mark Jackson saw Yi Shui and Curry playing alley-oops, showing no signs of fatigue.

As D'Antoni said last night, although he was surprised by Yi Shui's recovery ability, he was mentally prepared for it.

Curry's jumping ability surprised Mark Jackson even more; the video showed no sign of the rookie being able to jump so high.

However, given Curry's slender build of just over 80 kilograms and his relatively slow jumping speed, it's normal that he can't fully utilize his natural jumping height during games.

During a break in team training, Yi Shui was called over by Mark Jackson to demonstrate his post-up skills.

After the demonstration, Mark Jackson said, "Wow, Brooke, your moves were beautiful! You can tell you've been training hard for a long time."

Yi Shui replied, "It is very difficult. In the weeks following my development of back-to-the-basket moves, I have been practicing back-to-the-basket moves for 1-2 hours almost every day except for match days. At first, I was not used to it, but after getting used to it, I got better and better with practice."

Mark Jackson's eyes widened: "The last few weeks? You mean, when Donnie first contacted me, you had just started practicing back-to-the-basket moves? You hadn't practiced them before?"

Yi Shui: "I developed late and was short before, so I never thought about developing my back-to-the-basket game. Now that I have a height advantage playing the small forward position, I'm thinking of developing this move... Uh, Mark, what's wrong with you?"

Mark Jackson: "It's nothing, I was just thinking about sad things from my childhood."

I'm going next door for a smoke. I'll come back and teach you some back-to-the-basket techniques later... Training can wait, there's a match tonight..."

In the evening, the Knicks easily defeated the Wizards 112-88, handing them their fifth consecutive loss to start the season.

易水打了33分钟，15投9中，其中三分球4中2，加上4中4的罚球，以60%命中率拿到24分，外加11板4助攻3抢断。

This was the first time he hadn't had a block since the start of his rookie season, because the opposing team was all shooting from the outside.

In this match, he finally met the General.

However, Arenas' return did not improve the Wizards' overall strength at all; in fact, they played even worse.

Arenas played 31 minutes in this game, scoring 13 points and 10 assists. The stats look good, but he only made 3 of 11 shots, including 1 of 4 three-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws, to get 13 points.

Moreover, he plays extremely long on the ball, with a ball possession rate that may exceed 50%!
Arenas signed a 6-year, $1.18 million contract extension last summer, and this is only his first season... Moreover, Yi Shui remembers that the General will also cause a gun incident later on.

Houston and Eddie Curry's big contracts are considered 'high-quality contracts' compared to Arenas's, with only Jerome James being comparable.

On November 9th, the Knicks, back at home, suffered a crushing 86-104 defeat to the visiting Jazz, ending their winning streak.

易水拿到21分5板5助攻还是没能挽回败局……因为他命中率也挺差的，15投6中、其中三分球4中1，靠罚球得分上了20。

Despite their winning streak being ended, the Knicks still made headlines the following day!
带队战绩5胜1负，场均26.5分7.7板4.5助攻2.2抢断1.8盖帽，投篮命中率48.1%、三分命中率42.1%……易水当选首周东部周最佳！
He tied Shaquille O'Neal, becoming only the second player in history to win Player of the Week in his rookie season!

(End of this chapter)