Nine Hundred and Seven: Problems Off the Basketball Court

January 14, 2015, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.

Nets No. 4 Mason Plumlee is holding the ball on the right side. In front of him is Zach Randolph, who has been involved in crazy discussions in the media recently.

Plumlee was the No. 22 pick in 2013, and this is only the second year of his career.

Last season, Plumlee averaged only 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Although the statistics have improved this season, they have not improved much. The average of 8.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game is not worth mentioning at all.

It can be seen from the data that Plumlee is a blue-collar insider. When paired with Brook Lopez, the big white man did mostly the dirty work.

Scoring is usually not Plumlee's turn.

But today, when he saw Zach Randolph, Plumlee's eyes lit up as if he were seeing a cash machine!

"Mason is very happy today. This may be the happiest night of his career. After all, he is facing two-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA Third Team Zach Randolph! There is no doubt that Zach Now it’s completely transformed into an upgrade package for Mason.”

As soon as the live commentator at Barclays Center finished speaking, Plumlee suddenly started, dribbling faster and passing Randolph.

Under normal circumstances, this kind of breakthrough is difficult to succeed. But Randolph seemed to be stunned on the court, letting Plumlee pass by him before turning around to catch up.

He was like a basketball player with network lag. By the time he turned around, it was too late.

Plumlee, who is tall and has long arms, jumped up and dunked, pulling hard on the basket.

Randolph is not very tall, so it is very difficult to make amends after being breached.

Plumlee dunked easily and scored the 15th point of the game. He screamed to the sky and became more confident as he played.

15 points may be a small number for stars such as Link. But for a blue-collar player like Plumlee, 15 points is already a lot.

Plumlee's current career high score is only 20 points, averaging less than 9 points per game. It's really hard for Plumlee to score 15 points in a single game.

"Once again, Mason Plumlee defeated Zach easily. I don't know what happened to Zach.

His performance has been very poor since his comeback. In the first two games against the Pelicans and Suns, Zach also performed very poorly. "

"This is normal. Zach is almost 35 years old, and the Most Improved Player of the year is no longer young. Look at Zach's figure. It's a miracle that he can still play basketball!"

The on-site commentator shook his head and couldn't help but joke.

Two games in one game may be just a coincidence. It can also be said that Randolph has been away from the game for too long and cannot find his form.

But if it happens like this for three consecutive games, it cannot be explained by chance.

Dave Joerger had to call a timeout, and Randolph walked off the court dejectedly.

Joger patted Randolph on the shoulder and said nothing more. Criticizing Randolph now will only put more pressure on him.

"Get off the field and take a rest, Zach, then leave it to your teammates."

Jogel only said one sentence, and Randolph just nodded silently.

Then, Joger replaced Tobias Harris, which restricted Plumlee.

Although Plumlee has a height advantage, he has no ability to score independently. As a result, after Randolph left the game, he was held scoreless in the final five minutes of the game.

In the end, the Grizzlies relied on their stronger strength to defeat the Nets with an 11-point advantage at the Barclays Center.

The Grizzlies once again won five consecutive games, but the whole team was not too happy.

After all, Randolph is an important player in the Grizzlies, and his state affects everyone's hearts.

Randolph did not attend the post-game press conference at all.

He left the locker room very uncharacteristically early and got on the team bus early alone.

This guy who was usually the most lively and lively guy suddenly became cold.

At first, Link thought that Randolph was simply discouraged because of his poor performance, but now, it was obvious that the problem was not just caused by his poor performance.

So Link and Qiaogel muttered a few words.

Qiaogel was startled at first, and then nodded slightly.

As of now, that's all it can do.

※※※

Reporters sat in the luxurious media room at Barclays Center with great anticipation and prepared a lot of questions related to this game.

To be precise, there are a lot of Randolph-related questions.

With 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 turnovers, Plumlee also had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Randolph's performance continues to decline. Although the Grizzlies can still win, people believe that the Grizzlies will not always be so lucky.

In the next game, the Grizzlies will face the Trail Blazers, one of the top three in the Western Conference this season. And LaMarcus Aldridge, the star player of the Portland Trail Blazers, happens to be a No. 4!

If Randolph continues like this, Aldridge will not be as simple as Plumlee, who only scored 15 points, and the Grizzlies may not continue to win like these three games.

After waiting for a long time, the door to the media reception room was finally opened.

The scene fell silent instantly, and Dave Joerger was the first to step into the media reception room.

Everyone craned their heads, ready to see who the players were at the press conference today. Most importantly, see if Randolph is available.

As a result, after Joger sat down, the press officer closed the door to the media reception room.

"Ask." Qiaogel put his hands on the table and leaned forward.

Reporters, look at me and I look at you, looking in disbelief.

Forget it if Randolph doesn't come, and even Link, who rarely misses press conferences, doesn't come either! ?

what's the situation? Just a coach? That’s a lot to ask!

"Uh...where are your players?" A reporter stood up and asked hesitantly.

"I was too tired, so I got on the bus to rest first. There was no way, we were crossing from the west to the east coast after all." Qiaogel spread his hands and pretended to be calm.

"So, how do you evaluate Zach Randolph's performance today? After the last game, you said he would definitely recover as soon as possible. But today, he obviously still hasn't found the feeling."

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask Zach yourself about that."

"What about Zach?"

"I told him that he was too tired and got in the car to rest early."

"..."

The interview was at a dead end, and a lot of questions prepared by the reporters were useless.

In the end, they could only ask Qiao Geer some innocuous questions and ended hastily.

I think once upon a time, Dave Joerger was not very good at dealing with the media. Usually, he would answer honestly whatever the reporter asked.

But now, Qiaogel has also learned to make peace with others.

His chatting style is hard not to remind people of Link.

It’s really dark to be close to the ink...

At this time, Link had already changed his clothes and walked to the underground parking lot.

From a distance, he could see Randolph talking on the phone back and forth on the bus, looking very anxious.

Speaking of which, Link found that Randolph was particularly depressed when playing away games.

Although the Suns' performance at home was not good, they seemed to be more anxious when playing away games.

Link quickened his pace, stepped onto the team bus, and deliberately cleared his throat to remind Randolph that he was here.

Randolph glanced at Link, but did not hang up the phone in a hurry because the call was not over yet.

"Let's do this for now, Mom. I'll be back tomorrow, and I'll have a good rest tonight. Well, what? How did I play tonight? Well... I played pretty well, Mom. We won again It’s just a fight, don’t worry. Hey, good night.”

Randolph tried to pretend to have a relaxed tone when talking on the phone, but as soon as he hung up, anxiety was immediately written on his face.

"Big Black Bear" spread his hands, and he knew that Link heard everything. But he was not angry, but sat down on the bus seat with a sullen expression.

"I don't want to affect you, Link... leave me alone, I will take care of it." Randolph waved his hand and looked out the window.

Although Link didn't know exactly what happened to Randolph, at least he proved that his guess was right.

Randolph's problems extend beyond the basketball court.

His problem seems to be related to his mother...

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