Chapter 3： 1 chance to make up for the shortcomings

March 23, 2009, this is a memorable day, because on this day, Zuo Li, who was only 20 years old, only 160 cm tall, and only 65 kg in weight, officially landed in CBA, becoming the shortest recorded in CBA history. player!

It is conceivable that when the name Zuo Li and all his physical data were put in front of the national media, it caused a huge wave at that time. It can be said that the shock caused by this in the domestic basketball world at that time may be the second Yu Dayao has landed in the NBA.

This is no exaggeration. At that time, the GD men's basketball team was no longer the Wuxia Amon at the end of the last century. They were already the overlords of the CBA. The number of championships has steadily increased. The domestic super-class, the United Arab Emirates, Zhu Ba, Wang Qi, Du Feng, and Chen Jianghua have just followed the national team to finish the most successful Olympic Games in the history of the men's basketball team. Such a team can be said to have almost no shortcomings. The youth training is also well-known across the country. Under such circumstances, many people would never have thought that they would promote a person as tall and heavy as Zuo Li to the first team, and even entered the 12-man roster in the first game, which shocked them. a whole year.

What's more, Zuo Li's height is really too exaggerated, 160 cm would feel short in the crowd of ordinary people, not to mention in the CBA with long people, especially when there is a bus, Dazhi, Dayao, Ah People like Lian Yu came first. Basketball is a sport for tall people. It is basically the consensus of the people in the whole country. Even sports schools and various youth training camps now choose height as the first criterion. The higher the better, the standard. Standing turned out, it is beyond people's cognition.

At that time, some reporters stood up and questioned, thinking that GD's move was an act of grandstanding and meaningless, and even thought it was their disrespect to other CBA opponents. After all, GD's dominance in the league is very exaggerated, and it will not be because of a certain person. How much impact will it have.

Even a certain southern media said with certain words: "I bet Zuo Li won't appear on the court for a minute."

However, the reality hit them hard in the face, Zuo Li not only appeared, but also performed well!

In the first 12 minutes of playing time, Zuo Li efficiently hit two three-pointers, scored 6 points, sent 4 assists, and completed 2 steals. Although there were some deficiencies in defense, he was able to make his first appearance. Getting such data has exceeded people's expectations for him by a lot.

Countless people expressed such emotion after watching this game; "It turns out that even 160 cm can be professional!"

After the game, Zuo Li, who was interviewed, said something that ignited his popularity: "I am indeed too short, and it is not easy to make a breakthrough in a high-level professional basketball game, but I believe that basketball is not Not just for tall guys, but for guys with basketball talent."

This sentence immediately became a hit at the time, and many people fell in love with Zuo Li for this reason. Although the voice of doubt remained, more people began to pay attention to this inconspicuous little man, and even caused the Chinese basketball In history, the shortest person selected for the national team, that is Gong Luming's attention, publicly expressed his appreciation for Zuo Li in a subsequent interview.

"Zuo Li is right. He has to fight for himself even if he is short. Real talent won't be buried because of his height. I support him to take it to the next level."

More importantly, Zuo Li said this and did it. In the subsequent games of this season, Zuo Li gradually became a stable substitute for the point guard. In less than 15 minutes per game, he can get To the data of 5.4 points, 6.5 assists, 1.2 rebounds and 2.7 steals, he won the steals king of the season with an average of 2.7 steals per game. He is also the youngest and shortest steals king in CBA history.

In the first round of the subsequent playoffs, Zuo Li still won the coach's trust. Although his playing time was reduced to only 10 minutes, Zuo Li became more efficient. In 4 games, he averaged 4 points, 3 assists and 3 steals per game. Gained more playing time in the next round, and Zuo Li also repaid the coach's trust with a better performance.

In the subsequent semi-finals and finals, Zuo Li played well and finally won the CBA championship with the team. He also averaged 16.8 minutes of playing time in his first playoff trip, leaving 6.5 points, 5.2 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 Steal data.

After this season, Zuo Li is really famous. Many people call him a domestic Boggs and praise him as a new role model on the court, but no one knows that this is just the beginning.

In the summer of 2010, Zuo Li trained even crazier. He was obviously not satisfied with just being a second or even a third substitute. His ambition was far more than just being based on the CBA. ideal.

Sweat, hard work, and diligence are the most useful medals on the court. An offseason effort has allowed Zuo Li to further evolve. Although his height is still the same, Zuo Li's data has improved. Various one-arm dunks in training may be seen. It's easy to go up, but it's exaggerated to imagine that a person with only 160 cm can complete a dunk in actual combat. So, in the 2010 season, Zuo Li ushered in his season!

In the opening game, the starting guard Chen Jianghua was not feeling well, Zuo Li was entrusted with an important task, and Zuo Li also seized this opportunity.

With 20 points, 10 assists and 6 steals, Zuo Li recorded the first double-double of his career and set a new record for his single-game steals with 6 steals in a single game.

This is just the beginning. After only 10 games, Zuo Li pushed Chen Jianghua to the bench. In the following games, Zuo Li became more and more brave, averaging 16 points, 8.8 assists and 3.5 steals per game in the season. Exploding everyone's attention, and his role is not only reflected in the data.

Facing opponents who are generally 30 centimeters taller than him, Zuo Li showed the biggest reason why he can stand on the court, that is, his super-high level of ball intelligence and textbook-like technical ability!

There has always been a saying on the basketball court, the body is not enough, the technology is used, and there is no absolute advantage for people. The so-called advantage is the condition to be fully utilized. This kind of advantage can't really be called an advantage.

On the contrary, some people have what ordinary people call a disadvantage, but they can face it correctly, hone hard, and give full play to it, but it becomes an advantage.

Zuo Li undoubtedly brought this to the extreme.

He is not tall enough, but Zuo Li has brought his own advantages into full play. Running tirelessly on the court is the norm, and with his sense of rhythm and perfect technique, Zuo Li can often stage good shows that excel in a row. Accurate grasp of the situation on the court has made Zuo Li the brain and commander on the court. GD coach Chun Jiang described Zuo Li as the one with the highest IQ he has ever seen.

"He knows what to do when he's on the court, never hesitates when it's time to shoot, never gets soft when it comes to the shot, shoots accurately, has perfect technique, there's almost nothing he doesn't, and there's almost no turnovers on the court, the defense is limited though. On the body, but very positive."

"Also, he trains really, really, really hard!"

To make Coach Chunjiang, who has always been stingy with his own praise, say three 'very' in a row, which shows how hard Zuo Li has worked.

Sometimes you don't need to use words, you can only rely on imagination to know what kind of effort Zuo Li has put in to make up for his lack of height.

Fortunately, the hard work paid off. This season, Zuo Li, who was firmly in the starting lineup, followed the team to defend the championship again. More importantly, Zuo Li in the playoffs averaged 19.6 points per game to become the team's scoring champion, and even more in the finals. He staged a shocking block to block the opponent's No. 4 power forward. In the end, Zuoli averaged 19.6 points, 10.1 assists and 3 steals per game, which made everyone unexpectedly win the title of the most valuable player in the finals.

After the finals, Zuo Li was called by the national team, and he also replaced Gong Luming as the shortest player in the history of the national team.

After his debut two years, he won the championship in a row, won the most valuable player in the finals, and was selected for the national team. His deeds can be called basketball inspirational history.

This is not the end. In the next three years, Zuo Li has continued to improve steadily. In the past five years, he has been one of the most outstanding guards in the CBA with the fewest errors. He is also not afraid of dribbling and layup. With his superhuman basketball ability, he has broken through the sky in the CBA.

Five-year triple crown, two Finals MVPs, one regular season MVP, five consecutive season steals champions, and one local scoring champion, 67 consecutive double-doubles, Zuo Li has become the strongest local defender, not even one of them. Let him become the starting point guard of the national team and carry the banner in important games such as the Asian Games.

In the past, those sports school mates who fell to the ground laughing when they heard that he was going to enter the professional arena, now often show off to people: "I played with Zuo Li when I was a child."

And Zuo Li's self-introduction word most often said, "I am Zuo Li, left and right, left and right, standing upright" has also become a popular style among fans, and Zuo Li's popularity has soared. Almost no one is unaware of his existence.

His story even spread to the United States and earned him the title of Boggs Asia, and Boggs even posted a post on social networks, acknowledging and encouraging Zuo Li to go further.

And Zuo Li also made the boldest decision in his life!

He's going to hit the NBA!

This is not a wise choice in the eyes of many people, although Zuo Li did show unexpected energy, and even won himself the title of 'ball court brain', which is much more domineering than Boggs' bug , but that doesn't mean he can make it to the NBA.

CBA and NBA...how to say it, I can only understand it. Since the Arab League left the NBA, no one domestic player can stand there, and since Dayao, no one can reach the height he once was. , Although Zuo Li performed well in the CBA, the NBA is another dimension.

But Zuo Li still did it. In 2015, Zuo Li left the GD men's basketball team and flew to the United States for a trial training. As he said, "It is my eternal dream to climb to the top."

But this time, Zuo Li failed to continue his legendary story, he fell in front of the NBA gate...

After flying to the United States, Zuo Li has tried out with many teams. With his excellent shooting and passing skills, Zuo Li has attracted the attention of many people, but his height has become the biggest obstacle, not to mention Asia. The guard has no precedent for success in the NBA, and the height of 160 cm is enough to dissuade most coaches and scouts.

However, on the last day of the training camp, the Knicks had a turnaround, and the Knicks had one spot left, and they had the precedent of Nate Robinson, the current strongest 175, so they were willing to give Zuoli a chance.

So Zuo Li went to the Knicks. After three days of trial training, the coaching staff of the Knicks believed that Zuo Li still had potential. After all, there are really few people with such ball intelligence, at least more than those who can only hold the ball. Nate is too strong, the only problem is that Zuo Li is really too low, which makes his defensive end almost useless, but Zuo Li's defensive attitude is still worthy of recognition.

After a few days of discussion, the Knicks almost decided to give Zuo Li a short-term contract to try first. However, at this time, in an ordinary training game, after Zuo Li completed a wonderful defense, he suddenly held a painful grip. live on my ankle...

"OH, SHIT!" This was Zuo Li's last feeling before he lost consciousness because of the pain.

it's all over…

"Genius and inspirational player left standing Achilles tendon ruptured indefinite truce."

The news the next day explained everything. Zuo Li was not able to enter the NBA because of this. Not only that, but Zuo Li underwent surgery after the injury, but the effect was mediocre. The tireless training and competition all year long overdrawn Zuo Li’s Achilles tendon. , Zuo Li is still lame in walking, let alone running and jumping, and this kind of injury is fatal to anyone with talent. He can make great gods like Grant Hill and Kobe fall to the altar, not to mention Zuo Li .

This almost pronounced the end of Zuo Li's career.

Sure enough, in 2016, Zuo Li announced his retirement, and since then there has been no news, leaving only countless sighs and sighs from countless people.

Zuo Li was like a splendid meteor, falling quickly when it burst into the hottest light.

When the talent was poor, at this moment, Zuo Li deeply realized this.

And no one knew that the once brightest meteor was in this small shop in New York's Chinatown...

"Cough cough cough~!"

The memories evoked by the conversation filled the brain in an instant, UU reading www.uukanshu. com Zuo Li took another sip of the liquor in front of him.

Yes, after retiring, Zuo Li was depressed for a while, but he quickly adjusted. He chose to stay in New York and took a year to obtain a coaching certificate. This year, he became the most famous high school in New York, Stevenson. The assistant coach of the high school basketball team, which is also the first local Chinese assistant coach, although compared with its education level, the basketball team of Stevenson High School is simply not worth mentioning.

The reason for choosing not to return to China, but to stay in New York to become a teaching assistant is also very simple. Zuo Li himself was affected by unscientific selection and training methods, so he was well aware of the shortcomings of domestic grassroots training, and he wanted to use his own methods. Change all of this to prevent more seedlings from being eliminated during selection and grassroots training.

This season, Stevenson High School is finally proud of himself, reaching the semifinals in New York State all the way and creating the best result, so Zuo Li chose to come to this school on such a snowy night, which is the most frequent visitor in New York for a year. 's small shop.

It just didn't occur to him that the words of the two drinkers would bring back those memories back then.

"Hu~!" Zuo Li couldn't remember how much he had drank, and rubbed his hairy head. Once upon a time, he thought he had put it down, but once his memory was aroused, he knew , he is still not reconciled.

"Mingming... It's right in front of me..."

With the murmur, Zuo Li lay down on the table and slowly closed his eyes...

The camera zoomed out, and only the boss's shout and the sound of the glass bottle shattering could be heard. At this moment, a blue light flashed outside the window and disappeared between Zuo Li's eyebrows...

This is an opportunity to make up for past regrets!