Thirty-One: Slaughtering Snakes (2)

Once again, seeing Link dunk, fans of the Blues won't be surprised anymore. Although Link always seems to be slow and leisurely, whenever he has the opportunity, he can always stage a thunderous blow.

In the sad atmosphere of Upshaw's death, Link's dunk undoubtedly greatly boosted the morale of the scene. Not only boosted the morale of teammates, but also boosted the morale of fans.

After Link completed the dunk, he heard the audience shouting his name. Although there aren't as many fans here as in the NBA, and the shouting isn't as intense, Link is relieved.

In Houston, he was just a clown for the Rockets' eyeballs. But here, in Oklahoma, in the home of the Blues, he's a hero to the fans!

This was the first time that Link fully felt what a home field was.

He is wearing Upshaw's No. 0 jersey, with his teammates and fans behind him, he is not afraid of anything now!

"I've never seen any G-League game with such a hot atmosphere. Link seems to have brought the NBA back to Oklahoma. The Vipers won't go through easily today, and the Houston Rockets will because they didn't Renew Link and pay the price!"

In this frenetic atmosphere, Vipers point guard Larry Morris had the ball over halftime. Larry Morris, a star point guard in college, played for three years at Washington State and was undrafted.

As a college star, Morris was just a small pebble in the G League. The reason why he was not selected is mainly because his height is only 1.80 meters and his scoring ability is not so strong. And the confrontation ability is quite disadvantageous in professional competitions.

Don't think it's strange that the star point guard of the college is not selected. The well-known Heat point guard Chalmers was still the MOP of the NCAA Final Four. The results of it? He was also only selected in the second round.

Larry Morris has not been very confident since he entered the professional basketball world, so just after halftime, he wanted to find Carroll and try to pass the ball as soon as possible.

But he waited for a long time in the gap between the midfield line and the three-point line, and still couldn't get the ball out. Because of the yellow skin wearing the No. 0 jersey, the marking of Carroll can be described as quite "unreasonable".

"Carroll tried to get rid of Link, but was unable to succeed. His movement was too immature in Link's view, and the tragic ending of Luke Babbitt and Lance Stephenson seemed to be in the cards again. Roll back!"

"Link's defense is absolutely NBA-level. In the three games with the Rockets, he has adapted to the NBA's game rhythm. When he returns to the G League, the game will be a breeze for him!"

The commentators all marveled at Link's defensive ability, and Carroll himself is not a player with a particularly strong ability to score autonomously. He is active, but his athleticism is mediocre.

Neither athletic ability nor scoring ability are dominant. Carroll wants to get rid of Link, which is almost a fantasy.

Throughout the defense, Link stuck to Carroll like glue on his hands. This forward with exaggerated dreadlocks and looking like a wild predator, was tamed by Link like a trapped beast with no way out.

Seeing that the attacking time is getting less and less, Larry Morris doesn't plan to continue to spend it like this. He called the center to screen, and then drove the ball himself!

Morris, who is only 1.80 meters tall, seemed to lack self-confidence after breaking through, so he did not choose to layup himself, but passed the ball to the Vipers center who went down.

The center was about to attack the frame with the ball, but the next second, cheers filled the arena again.

I saw Joan Brockman flying over from the side with a powerful attitude,

Abruptly, the basketball in the hands of the Viper team's center was thrown out! This big white bear, who is indistinguishable in the NBA, has entered the Development League, but there is a gate in the restricted area.

The basketball went out of bounds and the Vipers' offense was disrupted. Brockman glared at each other viciously, then turned around and gave Link a light high-five.

Off the court, Conor laughed with relief. He has never seen the atmosphere of this team so good in the past few years as the coach of the blue team.

Link's appearance made the team's chemistry very delicate. He is not only a good player, but also a good teammate. To put it more bluntly, Conor thinks Link will one day be a good leader.

"Damn Houstonians, they are asking for trouble." In the end, Conor commented to himself on the sidelines.

Although the Vipers still retain the ball at this time, their self-confidence has been greatly damaged.

The "death striker" formed by Link and Brockman made the blue team's defense extremely tight.

Sure enough, the Vipers still failed to score in the next attempt to attack. Carroll couldn't catch the ball, and the others were deterred by Brockman and didn't dare to hit the basket. In the end, the Vipers could only reluctantly shoot on the outside, and the efficiency can be known.

With just one offense and one defense, the blue team seems to have taken the initiative in the game. The players of the Viper team had lingering fears. What they encountered today was not a group of players, but a group of angry beasts!

Carol swallowed. He felt extremely passive. He didn't know how the yellow skin in front of him would attack.

It stands to reason that defense is where Carroll's real value lies. This aggressive forward has been well-received for his contribution on the defensive end.

Therefore, he also wanted to use a tight defense to limit Link, but now what makes him difficult is that he does not know whether to press or prevent Link from breaking through.

Although Link doesn't look fast, his rhythm is weird, and he can cut to the basket unconsciously. Thinking of Link's dunk just now, Carroll couldn't help but take a few steps back. He can no longer let the opponent easily attack the rim, and sometimes would rather bet on the opponent's shot than let the attacker go to the basket.

Besides, Carol didn't let Link go far. If Link is going to shoot, he also has plenty of time to seal it.

This black striker still thinks Link is too simple. If he knew that his opponent was Grant Hill, he probably wouldn't dare to defend like this...

Link still did not hold the ball, and he swam to the right side of the court wearing the No. 0 jersey. But instead of staying outside the arc, he went inside.

Carol was secretly happy, his strategy was right!

But Link hadn't cut to the basket yet, but had just entered the three-point line, and the blue team's point guard passed the ball!

Link received the basketball, suddenly stopped, and took two steps from the three-point line, he pulled it up and shot!

Carroll was caught off guard. He thought Link would go to the basket, but he didn't know that the opponent suddenly made a pull-up jumper. Impatiently, he blocked it immediately, but by the time he responded, that No. 0 had already completed his shot.

Shooting, which is Grant Hill's strength during this period, is also the main scoring method. Whether it's mid-range or three-pointers, Grant Hill has done a great job.

Link is well aware that in the near future, mid-range shooting will be nearly extinct. Most players will either choose to shoot 3-pointers or go straight to the basket. But Link is very clear that CIC is an ancient and cost-effective skill. The premise is that you have to be very accurate.

The basketball crossed Carroll's fingertips, drew a rainbow arc, and fell straight into the net.

For the second consecutive round, DeMarre Carroll was scored by Link. At this point, Carroll only had one question in his mind-why did the Rockets not renew this guy? Are their brains broken?

※※※

Darrell Morey is in a good mood these days. He successfully used the Chinese player to attract a wave of attention with just $50,000.

Now, the Rockets' attendance rate for each game is gradually picking up, and the ratings for each game are gradually increasing. Most importantly, he stabilized the Chinese market.

The Chinese market is a big piece of cake, and doing anything for that piece of cake is worth it.

As for the Chinese who missed the draft? Who cares? That's what G League players are, they always come and go silently. In another week, everyone will forget who Link is.

Morey did not renew Link's contract, except that Link was not in his plan or not, but also because Morey felt that Link's strength could not compete in the NBA.

In his opinion, Link is just a soft guy with a high basketball IQ but a mess of physical fitness. And Link is already 22 years old, so there is definitely not much potential to be tapped in the future. For a young player with physical qualities like those in his thirties or forties, Morey doesn't think he can do anything.

If he needs a shooter, Europe has a bunch of good shooters waiting for him, and he doesn't have to waste time on an undrafted pick.

Cruel as it may be, business is business.

While Morey was still reminiscing about his "victory" in the past few days, he received a call from his scout.

"Darryl, you haven't slept yet?"

"No, what's the matter?"

"I don't think you should give up that Chinese undrafted pick."

"Ah?" Morey froze for a moment, what's the situation? Is a scout teaching a general manager how to do things?

When he did not renew Link's contract, Adelman also protested with Morey, but Morey did not listen. Why should he listen to a scout?

"Can you give me a reason?" Morey asked jokingly.

"Reason? God, turn on the TV! Link is about to blow up the Vipers, he's about to tear up Carroll! And..." the scout's voice on the other end of the phone After a pause, "Also, he is about to break the single-game scoring record of the G League..."