NBA: Warrior godfather.

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The more Liam Gonzalez and Rose slacked off, the harder Westbrook and Evans played.

Throughout the game, Westbrook made 16 of 28 shots and scored 40 points. Evans combined personal offense with leading his teammates, scoring 26 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds, a near triple-double, leading the freshman team to beat the sophomore team 140:128 and win the Rookie Challenge.

Evans also won the MVP of the Rookie Challenge with his outstanding performance. Although Harden and Jennings scored 22 and 24 points respectively, Evans' performance was so comprehensive that neither of them had any hope of competing with him for the award.

Liam Gonzalez was also watching with great interest on the sidelines. The rookies were playing very lively. There were no tactics. They just played blindly and ran very fast. They seemed to be flying in the sky. They wanted to show off their skills on every ball. There were no rules, but compared with the regular season, it was quite exciting.

Since Curry chose to slack off, his statistics were not very good. He only scored 8 points, 6 of which were in the first half. Rose was better than him, as he made two very sharp high-speed breakthroughs and scored 11 points.

After the game, Liam Gonzalez and Curry walked out of the arena, chatting and laughing. Rose followed Curry. Liam Gonzalez greeted him:

"Derrick, you didn't seem to be in high spirits during this game?"

Rose said:

"Isn't it the same with Stephen?"

Liam Gonzalez laughed:

"I am looking forward to your performance tomorrow. I have always believed that your breakthrough is the most beautiful and the strongest. When we played the final against the Tigers, I couldn't sleep all night because I wanted to figure out how to limit you."

Rose shrugged.

"I think you achieved your goal and your tactics worked... We lost the final and the Bulldogs won the championship."

"No, the Bulldogs beat the Tigers, but you didn't lose. Everyone can see how well you performed in that game." Liam Gonzalez shook his head.

A smile appeared on Rose's face, which was a rare thing for him, someone who always had a blank expression.

Curry was watching the two people bragging about their business relationship and had an expression of disbelief:

"Boss, are you guys done yet? I am the MOP, OK?"

Liam Gonzalez laughed out loud, and even Rose smiled.

I don't know why, Rose obviously doesn't like to talk much with people he doesn't know well, but in front of Curry, he has a very relaxed feeling. Even though he has lost to Curry twice, he can't muster any hostility towards Curry.

He envied Curry's abnormal three-pointer. Many people thought that he didn't like shooting and only liked to break through, but only he knew that he had to go to the basket for every ball and fight with a seven-foot tall man in the air. It was like this for a whole game and a whole season. How tiring it was.

He also wants to score more easily, but his long-range shots are not accurate enough, and the team needs his breakthroughs to tear open the opponent's defense. Rose can only fight hard on the front line every night and do his best for victory.

When Rose looked at Curry with envy, Liam Gonzalez suddenly straightened his expression and said:

"Derrick, I don't know if we are friends, but this All-Star Game brought back the feeling I had as a fan. I hope to be able to see your performance on the court all the time. There are some things I think I should remind you of as a fan."

Rose saw Liam Gonzalez so serious that the smile on his face disappeared. He looked at Liam Gonzalez with some confusion:

"Liam, if you have anything to say, just tell me. You are a well-known head coach in the United States. Of course, I will listen to your advice."

He and Liam Gonzalez had known each other for a long time. Although they had only exchanged a few words, Rose admired Liam Gonzalez very much. He was the only owner and head coach in the league, and the teams coached by Liam Gonzalez had defeated him twice. Rose knew very well how good Liam Gonzalez's coaching level was - at least much better than his current head coach.

Curry also looked at Liam Gonzalez with some confusion. Why did the boss suddenly become so serious?

Liam Gonzalez said:

"Derrick, as far as I know, you often injured your ankles and knees when you were in college. You even played with injuries, right?"

"That's right, but it's just a minor injury. It will heal quickly and has no impact on my body. It won't even affect my participation in the competition." Rose said with some indifference.

"Okay, you may be right, but have you ever thought about why you suffer frequent injuries to your knees and ankles?" Liam Gonzalez asked.

"Well... those minor injuries should be just accidents, right? I haven't thought about this problem. After entering the league, I haven't suffered any injuries." Rose said hesitantly.

Yeah, why did I have so many ankle and knee problems in college? I didn't play 40 minutes per game…

"I once talked about you with a trainer - his name is Brandt Payne, who is Stephen's trainer. Stephen was able to play so well this season, largely because of Brandt Payne's guidance," Liam Gonzalez said.

Rose glanced at Curry, who nodded in agreement:

"Yes, Derek, the boss is right."

Liam Gonzalez paused for a moment and continued:

"Payne's opinion is very interesting. He believes that the reason why you frequently suffer minor injuries in college is because your playing style puts a lot of strain on your body, especially your ankles and knees. And you happen to be in the growth stage of your body, so your body is overwhelmed and suffers injuries frequently."

"But after I entered the league, the competition became more intense and I didn't suffer any injuries," Rose said puzzledly.

Liam Gonzalez responded calmly:

"I asked the same question. Payne said that it's because you've passed your growth spurt and your body can bear a greater load... But he also said that if you keep playing like this, you'll get injured sooner or later. And this time it won't be a minor injury. It will be a very serious injury. Derek, I'm not cursing you. These are his exact words. I'm just paraphrasing them."

His expression became more and more solemn, but he kept muttering in his heart:

"Brand, you have to take the blame for this. Don't blame me. I'm not a trainer. Rose won't believe it if I tell him. His fans will definitely thank you..."

Rose was a little surprised and said,

"Is the way he's talking about dunking? Or something else? I don't think there's anything wrong with the way I play."

"Yeah, Derrick doesn't have many dunks. Although he has a lot of breakthroughs, there are few confrontations. Isn't it dangerous to play like this?" Curry interjected with a little confusion.

Liam Gonzalez explained calmly:

"Stephen, do you remember the summer after your sophomore year when I asked you to change your power?"

"Of course I remember. It took me a lot of effort to get used to using my hip muscles." Curry nodded.

Liam Gonzalez said slowly:

"At that time, I said that you need to gain weight, and your ankles cannot withstand the large changes of direction that you are used to doing under the greater body load and higher intensity confrontation, so you need to change your way of exerting force."

"Derrick, your situation is similar to Stephen's. Your high-speed change of direction breakthrough is very powerful, but your knees are under tremendous pressure. Every time you exert force, your meniscus and knee cruciate ligaments are squeezed. They silently supply fuel, allowing you to change direction at high speed and rush into the inside like an F1 car entering a corner at high speed, completing a stunning layup or violent slam dunk."

"But in the process, the load they bear continues to increase, accumulating countless tiny scars. Every spring and every cushion has its service life, and the same goes for the cruciate ligaments and menisci. One day, they will no longer be able to bear such high-intensity work. At that time... snap, you will feel your knees suddenly loosen, as if your calves have lost support, and then you will collapse to the ground during a high-speed change of direction."

He gestured with his hands in front of him and glanced at Rose's knees.

Rose's body trembled. He leaned over slightly and gently touched his knees with a pair of long arms that Curry envied. He said hesitantly,

"Is it really that serious? I don't feel any signs of injury..."

Liam Gonzalez chuckled.

"This is only your second season, and you are already very strong physically, so there won't be any problems. But what about when you play three, four, or five seasons? What about when you experience the more intense playoffs? In these two seasons, you have to play 37 minutes per game, and you have to do your best on both offense and defense. This is too much of a drain on your body, and fatigue often means injury."

Rose nodded slightly. What Liam Gonzalez said made sense. Moreover, he was in charge of both offense and defense for the Bulls. On the offensive end, he had to go inside in every round and then turn around to guard the opponent's outside offensive core. Although he had plenty of energy, he did feel tired after the game.

However, Rose used Jordan's integrated offense and defense to motivate himself. He did not take it to heart, but instead trained harder, striving to reach top levels on both offense and defense.

Liam Gonzalez saw that Rose was lost in thought and continued:

"Think about Grant Hill. He has the fastest first step in the NBA. What he is best at is using his extremely fast first step to get rid of his opponent after a large change of direction. He can complete a large change of direction during a high-speed breakthrough, then leap up lightly and put the basketball into the basket in various ways in the air, such as a folded layup."

"Derrick, don't you think you are very similar to him? Except for the different positions, you both have unparalleled speed and are very good at using it. I believe that your future achievements will not be inferior to Grant Hill, and you may even surpass him. Because you are a defender, you can take advantage of misaligned offense better than him. You can use your unparalleled speed to completely tear open the opponent's defense, which Grant Hill cannot do."

Rose nodded slowly. He had watched Grant Hill's games when he was a child and liked his playing style very much. What Liam Gonzalez said made sense. He, like Grant Hill, played with speed.

"However, Grant Hill suffered a devastating ankle injury. Since then, he has suffered consecutive serious injuries and can no longer perform as well as he did before the injury. His path to becoming a superstar was cut short and he has since become a role player. Derek, do you think Grant Hill's injury has anything to do with his playing style?" Liam Gonzalez said slowly.

Rose's pupils suddenly dilated, and scenes of Grant Hill's games emerged in his mind, with sharp speed, fierce breakthroughs, gorgeous finishes, and few mid- to long-range shots... Then he thought about himself. Although the specific game presentations were different, the two people's playing styles were essentially the same, and even the way they broke through was similar - Grant Hill relied more on his ankles, while he relied more on his knees.

"Derrick, humans are not made of iron, and basketball has only been around for a little over a hundred years. Every night, NBA players have to challenge the limits of their ankles, knees, and ligaments with their flesh and blood.

 They use the things that were originally used for walking to stop and start suddenly, leap, and change directions at high speeds... Why are there so many injuries in the league? Because this sport goes against human physical instincts! Do you really think you cando this kind of thing for decades without injury?" Liam Gonzalez said solemnly.

Rose was silent. He wanted to say that there was nothing wrong with his playing style, but deep down he thought that what Liam said made sense. In NBA history, there were too many stars who relied on their physical strength to play and never recovered after being injured.

Isn't he just a point guard who relies on his talent to play, can't shoot from long range, and relies on breaking through to pass the ball to a large extent? If there is no sharp breakthrough... Rose shuddered, he couldn't imagine what the scene would be like.

Rose whispered,

"Liam, you have a point. I must admit that I am starting to worry. But I have always played this way, and I made it to the NBA and became the No. 1 pick in this way... I can't change anymore. Without a breakthrough, I will not be Derrick Rose."

Liam chuckled and said,

"What I said is just a possibility. You may not get injured. And since you have stepped onto the field, you have to bear the risk of injury. This is inevitable. There is no need to go to extremes. Breakthrough is your most powerful weapon. Not only can you not give up breakthrough, you should also continue to improve its power."

"So what you mean is..." Rose looked at Liam in confusion.

"I hope you can develop the three-pointer. Look at Stephen. His speed is not as good as yours, but he can still often break into the penalty area to score. This is because of his powerful long-range shooting threat, which forces defenders to guard him closely, giving him a lot of space to break through. If you have the same shooting as Stephen, no, half of his shooting, your breakthrough will be much easier," Liam said.

Curry smiled proudly:

"Derrick, the boss is right, everyone is afraid of my three-point shot, it's much easier for me to pass than you."

"Okay, I understand, Liam, thank you. I will think about it carefully when I get back." Rose said gratefully.

Liam nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

In his previous life, Rose achieved nirvana, but could never return to the peak. Liam hopes to see the Windy City Rose blooming proudly all the time, rather than withering miserably.

End of this chapter

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