In the last game on the last day of December, the Nuggets successfully defeated the Knicks, setting their December record at 12 wins and 2 losses.
As a result, they became the team with the highest winning percentage in the Western Conference in December.
This record is partly related to the schedule. After all, the opponents we played in November were stronger, and the opponents in December will naturally be weaker.
But their own outstanding performance is the most critical factor.
Especially since Nene was absent, they won all the games they should have won.
The best honor of this season will also be announced soon.
With the No. 1 record in the Western Conference in December, Karl was successfully elected as the Coach of the Month for December.
However, in the selection of the best player of the month, Anthony regretted not being elected!
The Player of the Month finally went to Chris Paul of the Hornets.
Paul led the team to a record of 10 wins and 4 losses in December, averaging 24.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game.
This selection result also made Anthony very dissatisfied.
He publicly questioned the fairness of the selection in front of the media.
Because in theory, the best player of the month should be given to the best player on the best team.
Everyone on the Nuggets team, including Karl, was also dissatisfied.
But it didn't work in the end.
Because the award that is considered the "best in statistics" is not just the Rookie of the Month mentioned before.
Anthony averaged 22.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in December, which is much lower than Paul.
However, this is obviously unreasonable, because teams with a good record can theoretically defeat their opponents more times. If they have more core players and less data, the results will naturally be worse.
Fortunately, what is lost is in the east, and what is gained is the mulberry tree.
Anthony regretted missing out on Player of the Month, but Lin Ying successfully won Rookie of the Month!
He defeated Durant twice in a row!
In the December game, Lin Ying averaged 13.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, with three shooting percentages of 49.3%/85%/40.2%!
Almost all of his statistics have improved compared to November.
He still ranks second among rookies in scoring, third in rebounds, and first in assists after Durant!
And his shooting percentage ranks second among rookies behind Yi Jianlian!
In the national derby against the Bucks, he even contributed a career-high 33 points.
Compare Durant's data in December.
19.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 blocks, 40.7% shooting rate.
At the end of the month he had that aforementioned game of 2.4 points on 17 shots.
The Sonics also only had a 5-9 record in December.
After retreating and advancing, coupled with the comparison in record, the award given by the Rookie of the Year is more reasonable.
For two consecutive months, he has been elected as the best player of the month over Durant. This is enough to make domestic fans excited for a while!
And this time it wasn’t just Lin Ying who excited them!
In addition to Lin Ying winning the Rookie of the Month in the Western Conference, Yi Jianlian won the Rookie of the Month in the Eastern Conference!
In the December game, Yi Jianlian averaged 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game, with three shooting percentages of 50.3%/83.7%/40%!
He ranks third among rookies in scoring, second among rookies in rebounds after Horford, and first among rookies in field goal percentage!
Also in the National Derby with the Nuggets, he contributed a career-high 29 points and also scored his first career double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds!
With this two-pronged approach, how can domestic fans not be in high spirits!
And no one thinks that Guda is exaggerating. With such a performance that dominates the Eastern and Western Rookie of the Month, don't they deserve to be called the Emperor of the East and the Emperor of the West?!
…
And for Lin Ying, this wave of happiness is a double blessing.
On the first day of 2008, someone from Anta came to him with a pair of sample shoes!
In fact, Anta people have been communicating with him one after another about the design of shoes.
Although he doesn't know how to design, Anta still respects his personal wishes.
Then Lin Ying also gave some ideas one after another.
Some of it is his personal preference, and some of it is influenced by the clairvoyance he opened.
All in all, when this sample shoe actually appeared in front of him, he only had one feeling after reading it:
Great! These are the shoes he wanted!
If you take this as your first signature sneaker, it can be described as "perfect".
Lin Ying's affirmation also made Anta people feel that their efforts in the past two months were not in vain.
You must know that in order to design this sneaker as quickly as possible, the entire design department worked hard and barely slept at all.
Because from the design of sneakers to the production of sample shoes, it needs to go through multiple steps such as material selection, board opening, and board making, and it may go back and forth for various reasons.
In addition, the parent company of Fila is involved, not to mention how difficult it is.
Now Lin Ying is also satisfied, which makes them feel that all their efforts are worth it.
Once the shoes are confirmed, the next step is the global launch.
As the first shoe in the LinK series, LinK-1 must have made a huge impact.
Just like the AJ-1 back then, this may even determine whether Anta's investment in Lin Ying can really succeed.
They've bought a lot of newspaper headlines.
They initially set the date of the press conference on January 9th.
1 is Lin Ying’s jersey number in the NCAA, and 9 is Lin Ying’s lucky number in his NBA career.
This arrangement is very thoughtful.
"I think it's going to be a hit."
Lin Ying is also very confident.
Perhaps because of my own opinion, this shoe not only looks good, but also has a very advanced design.
…
Lin Ying's press conference will take a few days.
It was at this time that another very important thing also started at the same time.
NBA All-Star voting.
Each team will provide several candidates as a candidate list, and Lin Ying's name is clearly on the list.
If it were a few years ago, when the NBA had no voting restrictions in China, with Lin Ying's popularity now breaking through the domestic circle, he would really be an All-Star in minutes.
When a woman is interested in something like voting, the situation can easily get out of hand.
But even though he was restricted, Lin Ying still received a lot of votes in the first round, and finally ranked third among forwards, behind Anthony and Duncan, beating Nowitzki and Gasol, who had just been traded to the Lakers.
.
This startled Stern.
Historically speaking, after Yi Jianlian went to the Nets, he almost edged out Garnett to become an All-Star!
That year, Yi Jianlian averaged just over 8 points per game, and his shooting percentage was less than 40%.
If this were true, the influence of the All-Star Game would have been completely wiped out.
Moreover, when Yao Ming was selected, Stern felt the "power" of Chinese fans and was so frightened that he immediately changed the rules.
Lin Ying was teaching him another lesson this time.
Of course, Lin Ying doesn't care about that. The All-Stars are still a bit out of reach for him now.
He is more concerned about the upcoming sneaker conference and... the current situation of the Nuggets.
Entering January, the impact of Nene's absence on the Nuggets is magnifying.
Especially after the easy schedule in December, the schedule in January has become a bit difficult again.
And I don’t know if it’s because he wasn’t elected Player of the Month in December, but Anthony’s desire to play in singles has become much stronger since January.
Including Lin Ying's playing time surged, he also began to be focused on by opponents.
When he played against the Cavaliers before, Ilgauskas' defense against him was referenced by many teams.
Because his offensive ability with the ball is average, a tall and wingspan insider reaching out to interfere with the passing route will impose great restrictions on him.
This is what Lin Ying needs to overcome in the next games, or in other words, this is his rookie wall.
After these three gates came down and the honeymoon period passed, the Nuggets suffered a losing streak.
They began to face challenges.
But this is also normal. 82 games in an NBA season is very long, and it will go through many different stages, and the team will also have its ups and downs.
If the Nuggets can overcome this and take a step further, you'll have a chance to go further in the playoffs.
…
The time has come to January 9th.
Hyatt Regency Denver, also known as the Colorado Convention Center.
It is the seventh tallest building in Denver, reaching a height of 149 meters.
Lin Ying's LinK-1 press conference was held in the conference room on the first floor here.
A large number of media reporters and fans gathered at the scene.
There are a lot of Chinese faces among them, even Chinese faces.
A Chinese player signed a contract with a Chinese brand and held a signature sneaker press conference for the first time. This is somewhat exciting.
Moreover, the changes Lin Ying brought to the Nuggets also made him very popular among Denver fans.
All in all, by the time the press conference started, the seats of nearly a thousand people in the venue were basically full.
The first row even set up various long guns and short cannons, and the scene was quite lively.
Anta people are very happy to see this effect.
The fragrance of wine is also afraid of deep alleys, and talents still need to be appreciated.
In addition to the excellent quality of sneakers, whether they are popular or not is also a very important aspect.
Before the press conference was about to start, Lin Ying and Duffy entered the venue together.
This caused a burst of cheers from the audience.
Who can come to the venue who is not here for Lin Ying? Does anyone think that someone will come here because of Anta during this period?
Lin Ying is now walking on the road that Jordan walked.
But whether it can be successful depends on the effect of this first pair of shoes.
After Lin Ying arrived, the press conference officially began.
In the beginning, of course, it was impossible to show off the shoes directly.
The shoes are packed in a long transparent box and covered with red cloth.
This practice is also very characteristic of Chinese culture, just like when a girl takes off her hijab when she gets married, for good luck.
It starts with an introduction to some research and development.
For the American market, Anta is a brand new company, and its quality is definitely what fans are most concerned about.
During this process, Fila's technology continued to emerge, which also reassured some American fans at the scene.
After all, Fila was quite popular back then, and many people even wore it, so with this foundation, they were confident about LinK-1.
After the research and development is completed, it’s time to design.
The design is relatively straightforward, and the shoe shape is immediately revealed at the beginning.
The venue was also filled with excitement instantly.
These shoes... are so cool and handsome!
First of all, it is a mid-cut mandarin duck shoe!
At this time, there were not many mandarin duck shoes, and the more famous ones were Tracy McGrady's Tma-3.
Moreover, Lin Ying wore that pair in his debut, so the fans were even more impressed.
Secondly, I love this color!
Black, white and gold colors!
The left foot is black, the right foot is white, black shoes with white soles, white shoes with white soles.
Then the logo is gold "LinK" shoe label, and a gold Velcro is added!
If mandarin duck shoes are rare in this era, then Velcro is rare.
At this time, many of the shoe designs still had a zipper in the middle!
There are only a few, like Iverson's answer, with Velcro.
This thing theoretically increases the packaging, but in fact it mostly increases the aesthetics.
Compared to the Tma-3, where the tongue and shoelaces are directly exposed, the Velcro provides an instant sense of tightness and security.
This is also an important reason why Velcro will be widely popular in the future.
This is also Lin Ying's request.
Although he doesn’t know much about sneaker design, this is how the Sky Eye is used, and it must be popular for a reason in the future.
And on the opposite side of the shoe logo is one of Lin Ying’s iconic silhouettes: the buckle!
Several scenes that have impressed fans the most in his career: dunking on Hibbert, dunking on Oden, and dunking on Bowen!
Exclusive for long arms, it complements Jordan's Jumpman logo.
It can be said that the design of this shoe alone has whetted the appetite of fans.
Then the real climax comes from the pricing of sneakers!
This scene is somewhat similar to last year’s Apple 1 conference.
Anta actually sells LinK-1 in different grades!
It is divided into fan models, actual combat models and commemorative models!
The commemorative model is the most special. In addition to the previous designs, there is also a painting on the outside of the shoe, which is the back painting of Lin Ying wearing the jersey.
The black side is the back of Lin Ying’s No. 1 jersey from the NCAA era, and the white side is the back of Lin Ying’s No. 9 jersey from the Nuggets era.
There is also a "" logo on the heel.
It is priced at US$328 and is limited to one thousand pairs worldwide!
Needless to say, this kind of limited-edition sneakers are prepared by rich people and will definitely be snapped up.
The normal model is the one shown before, with a replica signature.
Its price is US$128, equivalent to about 935 yuan.
The price of ANSW during the same period was 1,350 yuan.
As a signature sneaker, the price can be said to be quite affordable!
Finally, there is the fan model.
The shoes are the same, but the air cushion technology and materials are relatively inferior, but they also have replica signatures, and the price is only $82!
Converted to RMB, it is about 600 yuan.
There was an uproar when the price came out.
In terms of technological content and design investment, these shoes should definitely not be that cheap, but this wave of Anta's first-generation shoes is obviously aimed at opening up the market!
And before the fans could react, the host announced another news.
All sneakers have several pairs signed by Lin Ying!
Although the number is not large, it is random, just like a lottery, it depends on your luck!
And to prevent leaks during sales, all shoes are also externally sealed!
At this time, the scene was completely boiling.
They only have one idea in their mind.
Where to buy? Give me a pair!
Chapter completed!