dognovel Chapter 33 Silas's Crisis of Being Fired
Chapter 33 Silas's Crisis of Being Fired
The game has ended, and the Houston Rockets' private plane has taken off, heading towards San Francisco.
But the impact of the competition is already taking hold.
The Rockets' comments at the post-game press conference have greatly angered local Houston fans and Rockets fans in China.
When asked why he substituted Green on the final possession, Silas replied, "I didn't bring Jalen Green in because Gordon played better. He played very well on the final possession, but it didn't go in."
This answer made the Nuggets reporters on site almost burst out laughing.
When asked how it felt to play against Jokic, Wood replied, "It wasn't that difficult."
The reporter was obviously not satisfied with this answer, so he continued to press: "Looking at the stats, you got 12 points and 17 rebounds, while Jokic got 28 points and 14 rebounds. You think you did pretty well, right?"
"You can't just look at the stats; you also have to see if the team runs smoothly when I'm on the court," Wood replied nonchalantly.
"Wang Xiucheng had 6 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Do you think his game flowed smoothly when he was on the court?"
The reporter seemed to have found a potential breaking news story, so he continued to ask questions.
"Wang Xiucheng is a rookie, he still needs to grow. When he's on the court, the team isn't any better, is it?" Wood shrugged and asked the reporter.
The reporter stopped asking questions and instead typed rapidly on his notebook.
The other reporters were also surprised for a moment, then quickly took notes of Wood's remarks.
Silas frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong, but there was nothing he could do to fix it.
Following the post-game press conference, the official Houston fan forum launched a campaign calling for Silas's dismissal and a trade for Wood, and within just a few hours, it had garnered tens of thousands of signatures from fans.
In China, the fans were even more direct, unleashing a torrent of profanities directed at Wood and Silas that defied description.
Several major fan gathering places, such as Zhibo8, Hupu, and Baidu Rockets Bar, crashed and became inaccessible several times.
On Douyin (TikTok), any self-media or livestreamer who criticizes Wood will go viral, and any video that says Silas must be fired will also go viral.
Commentators Yang Yi, Su Qun, Ma Jian, and others also expressed their opinions on Weibo, roughly saying that it's fine if the Rockets don't want to win, but please don't delay Wang Xiucheng, as Chinese fans have been waiting for Wang Xiucheng for far too long.
Surprisingly, Yu Jia, a basketball commentator for CCTV Sports, posted a picture of Yao Ming's No. 11 jersey on Weibo.
The only thing the Yu family wrote after "11" was "+1" in a doodle style, and nothing else.
This has been interpreted by fans as CCTV Sports seemingly intending to loosen restrictions on NBA broadcasts.
Suddenly, the comments of several commentators also became a trending topic on Weibo.
……
Chase Center, San Francisco.
As the city with the largest Chinese population in the United States, the Golden State Warriors' home games are always packed with Chinese fans.
Today's opponent, the Houston Rockets, has recently produced a promising young Chinese player, so tickets for this game sold out early, with a significant portion going to local Chinese fans or Chinese students studying abroad.
When Deng Ziqi and her agent entered the stadium, they were spotted by many Chinese fans who came to watch the game, and they actually applauded.
Deng Ziqi quickly waved and smiled in greeting.
She's having a concert at this stadium tomorrow, and today's tickets were a gift from the organizers as a form of publicity, to let more Chinese people know about her concert.
After all, most of the people who come to her concerts are Chinese.
“GEM”.
Before she even sat down, Deng Ziqi heard someone calling her in Chinese.
She was in the first row, which wasn't a place for ordinary fans, so she turned around to look.
"Daniel, what are you doing here?" Deng Ziqi's surprised voice rang out.
The visitor turned out to be Wu Yanzu.
“I’m from San Francisco and a Warriors fan, so it’s normal for me to be here. What about you? Are you here for tourism?” Wu Yanzu extended his hand and shook hands lightly with Deng Ziqi.
"I'm having a concert here tomorrow during my nationwide tour." Deng Ziqi smiled and quickly took out a ticket from her bag: "If you have time, come to my concert tomorrow."
"It's a great honor." Wu Yanzu took the ticket and then asked, "Did you know that the Rockets have a Chinese player?"
"The Rockets?" Deng Ziqi shook her head, searching for a long time among her limited NBA knowledge, but couldn't recall anyone who was Chinese.
"They're here!" Wu Yanzu suddenly became excited, disregarding his image, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Wang Xiucheng..."
Wang Xiucheng chewed gum, twirled the ball with his fingers, and followed his teammates onto the field to prepare for the final warm-up.
Suddenly someone called his name, and it was in standard Mandarin. So Wang Xiucheng looked in the direction of the voice.
In the United States, only people who are very familiar with him will call him by his full name. Fans or people from other teams will just call him "Wang".
Upon seeing this, Wang Xiucheng was slightly surprised. Wu Yanzu and Deng Ziqi?
They didn't come here specifically to see me, did they?
Even though he knew it was impossible, Wang Xiucheng couldn't help but think about it for a moment.
Wang Xiucheng stood on the sideline and threw the ball, but it was an airball.
Then he walked toward the two of them.
"Azu, stop."
Before the person even arrived, Wang Xiucheng spoke.
Wu Yanzu paused for a moment, then shook his head: "What a terrible joke."
After bumping chests and exchanging greetings in the American way, Wang Xiucheng shook hands with Deng Ziqi.
Deng Ziqi slowly raised her head, her gaze falling on the tall boy in front of her.
He was like a towering mountain, inspiring a sense of reliance. At that moment, Wang Xiucheng was gazing down at her, his eyes revealing an indescribable tenderness.
The two were so close that Deng Ziqi could even clearly smell the faint scent emanating from Wang Xiucheng.
This unfamiliar aura, yet one that brought her a sense of peace, made her somewhat intoxicated by it, to the point that she didn't even notice her cheeks burning.
"I am... Deng Ziqi." Deng Ziqi introduced herself using her Chinese name, not her English name.
"It's all just bubbles..." Wang Xiucheng sang half a line, then scratched his head awkwardly: "It doesn't sound good, does it? Sorry, my sister is your fan, and she even has your autographed photo. She spent several thousand yuan to buy it back then, but she doesn't know if it's real or not."
Hearing Wang Xiucheng say that he knew her, Deng Ziqi smiled happily.
"Are you free tomorrow? I'm having a concert here, can you come?" Deng Ziqi said, taking out another ticket.
"Tomorrow? Unfortunately, I have to go back to Houston with the team tonight."
Wang Xiucheng said regretfully.
In fact, Wang Xiucheng could have taken leave to stay in San Francisco, as long as it wouldn't interfere with the subsequent matches.
Wang Xiucheng felt that it wasn't appropriate for a rookie like himself to ask for leave before he had even achieved much.
Another point is that he was indeed somewhat resistant to having to squat at the concert venue for several hours.
“Houston? I also have a concert in Houston next week.” Deng Ziqi looked at Wang Xiucheng expectantly, her eyes sparkling.
“I will definitely be there, as long as there is no competition.” Wang Xiucheng agreed this time.
Since the other party has already said that, it wouldn't be good to refuse again.
"Then let me have your phone number."
Wang Xiucheng took the two phones and entered the numbers.
After a brief chat, Wang Xiucheng went back to warm up.
TNT live broadcast room.
Barkley and O'Neal resumed their regular program.
"Let's continue today. It's 3000. As long as Wang Xiucheng's ball is intercepted, these 3000 are yours."
Barkley placed a wad of cash on the table.
O'Neal picked it up and smelled it; it still had the distinctive ink-wash scent of new money.
After searching his pockets for a while, O'Neal also took out a wad of cash.
“You know what, bro, Yao Ming called me yesterday,” O’Neal suddenly said.