Let's go back about an hour ago.

Salt Lake City.

Before the start of the game, Gu Yu received one from Westphal, and there were some strange requests.

"Little ghost, I repeat, I'm not saying that you won't break records or anything like that, and I'm not asking you to put away your desire to score. In our current team, your desire to score is perhaps our most valuable asset. ”

Westfaal looked at Ai Jiang and said, "But I don't know about you...... Have you ever heard of a saying. ”

"What?" Gu Yu asked.

"It's too early to get out of the state."

Westphal looked at Gu Yu, with a trace of dust accumulated over the years in his eyes, as if he remembered a lot of past events.

“…… I've heard of it. ”

Gu Yu nodded: "That is to say, some players immediately showed their best state at the beginning of the season, and even showed an extraordinary state beyond their usual performance." But then more and more games were played, and he was exposed in his original form, whether he was targeted and studied by the opponent, or his physical consumption was too intense, in short, when it came to the crucial season finale, and even in the playoffs, the state could not come out. ”

This is called a "half-haul MVP".

Those of us who follow the NBA regularly have some of this feeling. At the beginning of almost every season, there will be so many players who, when their performance in the last season was not too eye-catching, suddenly burst out with amazing energy, and the beginning of the season is amazing, and at one point it seemed that they were going to become first-line stars, and even compete for MVP.

The names of these players will continue to appear in major media reports in the first half of the season, and they are known as "underestimated". Critics will say they "don't get the respect they deserve", and fans will think that another generation of superstars will be witnessed.

But later, as the game deepened, these players showed their edges prematurely, resulting in being targeted by countless opponents, and finally suddenly dropped the chain in the second half of the season, and everyone was lost.

This phenomenon may seem incredible, but it's not hard to understand when you actually dig deeper.

First of all, why didn't these players have a superstar before? Why didn't they kill all sides in their rookie season like those historical superstars, and you knew it was going to be a big thing at a glance?

Even Kobe Bryant, a star who played as a substitute at the beginning of his career was enough to attract attention in the substitute era. The data may not be eye-catching enough, but people can see from his physical fitness, technical maturity, mentality, etc., that this guy is by no means a thing in the pool, and sooner or later he will ascend to the sky.

Otherwise, why was Kobe Bryant selected for the All-Star Game in his bench season?

The reason is simple, those players who have risen to prominence are not superstar materials in the first place.

So the next question is, since they are not superstars, why can they play enough to compete for MVP level in the half season?

Answer: One trick.

If you think about it, almost all of these players are players with a fresh move. Or the breakthrough speed is amazing, or the shooting is accurate, or the body is against the bull fork, or the defense counterattack is invincible.

In short, they have to have one or two technical abilities that are at the top of the NBA.

In addition, they were not star players before and were not targeted by opponents too much, so in the first half of the season, the opponent was not prepared enough, but he took his tricks to the extreme, which may be caused by the coach's proper tactics, or it may be the result of his own summer training, so they created their unexpected explosion.

And halfway through the season, all the teams are in serious mode, and it's time to start competing for playoff spots.

All the opponents after that naturally know what aspect of this player is powerful, and when it comes to fighting hard in every game, they will naturally make targeted defensive arrangements.

If you're incredibly fast, then I'm going to play against your team and put players who are as fast as you can mark.

If you break through the fork, then I'll arrange for a kraft candy that is fast enough to stick to you from the moment you get off the team bus.

If you're shooting accurately, then I'm going to play a defender who knows how to make small gestures and make physical contact, and do everything in every possible way to disrupt your shooting rhythm and disrupt your scoring continuity.

If you counterattack sharply, then I will wholeheartedly defend against counterattacks, don't let you get up fast, and if you miss the shot, you will immediately retreat and don't let you fight back.

Although these targeted tactics require specialized talents to deal with, in the NBA, the most important thing is talent.

After these methods were used, as soon as the player came on the field, he was naturally confused. The best style of play is blocked, and you want to change your style of play but don't have enough weapons in reserve. In the end, it can only be pinched by the opponent, there is no room to turn over, and the data is dismal, and the team loses.

No matter how explosive a player's talent is, you can't ask him to suddenly develop some new moves during the busy regular season. The defensive focus has increased, and these players have burped.

On the other hand, those real stars have always been treated with the strongest defensive intensity, and they have long been accustomed to this kind of pressure. In addition, you have a lot of skills, and there is always a way to destroy your defense, so there is no way to achieve true comprehensive suppression.

This is the biggest gap between these half-way stars and superstars.

If these half-way stars can break through this hurdle with a new reserve of technology, then their future is limitless after that.

And if you can't break through, sorry, game-over, go back and be your role player, or a second- or third-tier star!

If it is said that the phenomenon of rookie players playing some games, because of the targeting, resulting in a decline in performance, is called a rookie wall.

Then this wall is the so-called "superstar wall".

Why is the offseason so important? Why do we always feel like a superstar has "evolved again" at the start of each season?

Because everybody, they want to break through this superstar wall.

Whether Gu Yu will experience this kind of superstar wall, Westfaal doesn't know. But he had to tell Gu Yu in advance to prevent trouble.

"So I suggest you cool down a little bit and play team basketball."

After some explanation, Westphal said earnestly: "You are famous enough, your ability has been recognized, and on the field, as long as you are not blind, you will be given enough respect, and you don't need to 'prove' anything." And if you can cool down a little, not only can you reduce the pressure on your opponent's defense, but also lay the foundation for your future outbursts. You'll also be able to pace your entire team's offense, restore your fitness and get ready for the playoffs! ”

"I see."

Gu Yu knew that the old man was also kind, and nodded.

But if we accept it like this, then our protagonist will not be called Gu Yu.

"I want half time."

Before going on the field, Gu Yu thought about it again and again, and said to the old coach: "In the first half, I will play the team, play according to your ideas, and help the team." Second...... I'm still going to have unlimited right to fire! ”

“…… deal。 ”

The old man nodded, and the two made a deal.

Back to the present.

"See?"

Asking the staff to send the latest technical statistics to Gu Yu, Westphaal looked at Gu Yu with a smile on his face and said with a surprised expression: "How is it?" What about my proposal? Isn't it more shocking? ”

"This ......"

Gu Yu really didn't know what to say.

On the technical statistics sheet in front of me, just behind my name, there is a surprising line of data.

"Gu: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals."

Although at first glance, it is far less eye-catching than Gu Yu's previous games of thirty or forty points in the half.

But this wonderfully distributed data made Gu Yu think of another thing.

That's what Westphal thought of too.

"So you mean ......"

Putting down the technical statistics, Gu Yu looked at the old handsome with bright eyes.

"That's right."

Lao Shuai smiled and nodded: "Do you want to try to impact it, what about the first triple-double of your career......?" ”

Triple Pairs...... Is it?

Looking at the technical statistics again, Gu Yu's heart was pounding violently.

Ten minutes later.

"The second half of the game is on!!"

"It's finally here......!!"

In the shouts of the commentator, the fans in the stadium were already hungry and thirsty, and they were all very excited, waiting for the game to start.

They want their home team, the Jazz, to do a comeback show.

Vaguely, I was also looking forward to it, if Jazz could perform better, cousin Gu Yu, would he turn on his indiscriminate killing mode......?

"Let's go!"

"Whoosh!"

The two sides switched back to the starters, the Jazz kicked off, and the first offense after the frontcourt cooperation, and Marvin Williams shot two points.

Garcia's interference......

"Dang!"

Miss!

"Rebounding ......"

"Smack!"

Before the Jazz players rushed to grab the rebound, under the king's basket, an uncommon figure jumped up and grabbed the ball in mid-air.

“…… Cousin! Cousin's rebounding! To push back ......"

"Smash !!"

"Whoosh!!"

Before the commentator's voice fell, Gu Yu turned around, swept Evans who had already sneaked away at a glance, opened his hand and made a long pass, and the basketball seemed to be precisely guided, passing through the entire defense of the Jazz team and heading straight to the frontcourt.

“…… Well passed! ”

Worthy of a cousin!

Evans received the ball, did not need to make any adjustments at all, stepped on the ground and jumped directly, raised the ball with one hand, and steadily sent the ball into the basket.

“…… yes！ ”

On the sidelines, Westphaal shook his fist fiercely when he saw this scene, and a smile rose on the corner of his mouth.

That's right.

has unrivaled team attack power, and also has the first human firepower imp head in the current alliance.

As long as the two are organically combined, our Kings team will ......

"Unparalleled in the world!"

"Good shot!"

High-fived Evans, Gu Yu glanced at the data on the scoreboard.

7 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Very good.

The triple-double is promising!

But......

"I want three pairs, and ......"

Gu Yu wiped his sweat, and in the eyes of the Jazz players, a boundless murderous aura suddenly dispersed.

“…… Who said that if you get a triple-double, you can't break the stadium scoring record?? ”