When it was the rookies' turn to be interviewed by the media at noon on Friday, Guo Xu was the most popular player, and his popularity was significantly higher than the two best rookies of last season, Elton Brand and Steve Francis. In the fan votes of the Star Game, Guo Xu's votes exceeded the two of them combined, and finally reached 970,000 votes, only 90,000 behind Kidd.

The reporter asked a variety of questions. Some asked Guo Xu if he was eager to compete with Iverson in the star game one day, some asked him if he was confident of leading the team to defeat the second grade, and some Chinese reporters asked him if he knew Wang Zhizhi, who was preparing to join the NBA.

No matter how you ask, everyone regards Guo Xu as the only core of the first-year team.

At this time, the Grizzlies' management was bleeding. Although the top five in the 2000th class was not as good as Guo Xu, they were invited to participate in the challenge, but their second place could only be at home on vacation.

In Guo Xu's previous life, Swift was invited to participate in the 2000 Slam Dunk Competition, but now the NBA has officially invited Jason Richardson, who is obviously better at dunking, and he has nothing to do in his best field.

In the afternoon, the first-year team conducted simple training, and three Michigan State players gathered together, and the advantages were very obvious. Guo Xu knew the shooting positions and running habits that the two teammates were good at.

The first-year team does not have regular centers, but they do not lack talent. Both power forwards are as fast as defenders.

Mark Jackson has ordinary physical fitness, 208cm tall and weighs 115 kilograms, but his tactical role is greater and he has a stable mid-range shooting.

Jackson, 26, entered the NBA in a non-draft program. Due to the injury troubles of the Warriors' inside, he jumped from the marginal man to the starter. Then he set off a "black whirlwind" in the NBA. After starting, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 55.9%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 83.3%, becoming a strong contender for the best rookie.

The biggest highlight of this training was that Crawford proposed to fight Guo Xu alone. He was very confident in his ability to fight one-on-one and wanted to prove his strength in this way and get more playing time.

Guo Xu agreed, and the two of them decided to win and lose 10 goals according to the common bullfighting method.

The game ended soon, and Guo Xu easily played Crawford 10-3. His two friends took the lead in applause to make Crawfordt lose face and his face turned red when he ended up.

Crawford could feel the huge gap between the two sides, and it was not the same level at all. He had found the wrong opponent.

Crawford, 21 years old this year, has not made a sharp breakthrough. He can't beat Guo Xu, and has only a height advantage. He is 196CM tall and weighs only 91 kilograms. He can't easily squeeze out Guo Xu on his back. After being stuck, he turned around and made a move. His shooting rhythm was not very good and he frequently made irons.

Guo Xu was much easier to play Crawford. He made easy layups with various changes in directions, and took a step back and shot at a longer distance. He also had two performances of high-pinning layups. He wanted to save some face for his opponent, but he was in a good state and scored a high-pinning board. He scored 10 goals in total after 12 shots.

Currently, Guo Xu's average game data in the regular season has risen to 18.2 points, 2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals, with a shooting percentage of 51.2%, a three-point shooting percentage of 43.1%, and a free throw of 85.6%. Many people think that he is overestimated, and his shooting percentage is because he has a "OK combination" as a partner, so it is easier to shoot.

Now these first-year rookies and coach Jack Marin think that Guo Xu is clearly underestimated. With his shooting accuracy and breakthrough ability, if he is not in the Lakers and takes more shots, it will be no difficulty to average more than 20 points per game. Moreover, Guo Xu's defense is not as bad as rumored, and he will not be easily beaten against a player taller than him.

None of the apprentices Gary Payton has taught on the defensive end. Kidd, Kobe, and Snow have all been selected for the best defensive team. Guo Xu has practiced defense with Kobe in the loop, which is also a tradition. What he is afraid of is that his opponent uses his height advantage to pull up jump shots, and it is very difficult for him to rely on speed and change directions to break through the frame.

After the one-on-one challenge, there is no dispute over who will be the core of the first-year team. Marin arranged a front pick-and-roll and side-by-side screening as the main tactics, which are the basics and everyone will play. In addition, the players grab the backcourt rebound and play a quick counterattack to speed up the pace.

The second-grade rookies then trained, but the coaches were not good at making tactics and could only fight randomly. There were too many players with good regular season data in the team, especially the number one position could not establish the core, and even the playing time was not easy to allocate.

Byron Davis of the Hornets averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds, 7.2 assists per game, which is the worst point guard. Francis and Terry averaged nearly 20+ points per game, and Miller ranked in the top five in the league in assists per game.

In this case, the small forward who is easier to play in the second grade is the small forward, only Szebiak and Marion share their playing time, and Marion also has to play the power forward, so the two inside players can't play the whole game.

Tonight, the rookie challenge begins.

Guo Xu was very glorious when he was warming up because the audience laughed loudly because the advertisements for him and O'Neal and Meghan were displayed on the big screen of the stadium.

O'Neal and Kobe sat in the front row as the audience. Guo Xu went to the sidelines to punch the two and said hello to Vanessa.

On ESPN live broadcast, Tom Hovas said: "Jason Guo still looks relaxed when facing the four second-year point guards. He almost became an All-Star starter in his rookie season and lost to Kidd. If Kobe scored the votes, he might be selected. This kind of popularity is very rare."

Partner Mark Woodson smiled and said, "Before, only Grant Hill was more popular than him in the rookie season. In 1995, Hill was directly elected as the All-Star vote leader. But considering Jason's pick, it is even more rare for him to be so popular."

Both sides started.

First-year team: Guo Xu, Jason Richardson, Mike Miller, Kenyon Martin, Mark Jackson.

Sophomore teams: Steve Francis, Hamilton, Szebiak, Odom, Brand.

The Beast forward Martin jumped the ball and the game began.

Guo Xu received the ball from outside the three-point line, waved his hand to pull away his teammates, and faced Frances in the middle.

Before the time loop, he lacked confidence in the face of "Boss Fu" against the Rockets. Now he no longer takes the opponent seriously, and he didn't even want to find a pick-and-roll, so he just did it alone!

Guo Xu dribbled the ball under his crotch and gave it to his left hand. He waved his left shoulder slightly, changed direction to the right and passed Francis, and took it into the three-point line and jumped to the ball with a quick stop. 2 to 0.

Francis didn't work very hard in defense. After being turned around, he only stretched out his hand and did not jump to block it. Guo Xu clearly felt that it was easier to deal with him than in the regular season.

In the second grade offense, France dribbled through half the game, and he hit Guo Xu in the middle and scored three-pointers. He wanted to return one, but the choice was too simple. Guo Xu didn't jump, but only reached out to interfere slightly. The ball went out of the basket and Jackson grabbed the backcourt rebound.

Guo Xu dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and this time he played a pick-and-roll with Jackson outside the three-point line. He got rid of Francis and moved sideways, making a 70-degree jump shot from the right three-pointer. Brand did not change the defense, and Francis was not active in chasing the defense. Guo Xu made a move with an open position and entered the net hollow. 5-0.

The fans at the scene gave warm applause. He is the most popular rookie and the continuous scores are what fans want to see.

Woodson commented: "The defense in the second grade is too lax, and Jason Guo's shooting is not interfered with. If he has to be so defensive, he will definitely have a big explosion in this game."
Chapter completed!