Time flies and it is already mid-March.

The Bulls' performance in the month after the trade deadline was mediocre, and their record was obviously not as good as before.

This also includes a big loss to the Cavaliers.

One of the reasons is the impact of transaction rumors.

Yes, the frequent transactions did not bring much impact to the Bulls. After all, those transactions could only be regarded as minor repairs.

However, the trade rumors about Hinrich, which had already spread throughout the team, caused the Bulls' "veteran" to decline in form.

Hinrich is a very dedicated player. He was originally the team's unshakable outside core, but the arrival of Rose and Xu Yong forced him to play as a substitute for two consecutive seasons.

Even when Bynum joined the team, he had to switch to shooting guard, a position he was not so good at.

But even so, he still had no complaints.

But now the team has put him on the shelf, and the key is that he has not been traded in the end. Because of his personality, he will not complain publicly, but it is difficult to avoid that his condition will be affected.

The impact of his decline on the Bulls' backcourt was obvious, considering that he originally played the role of the team's sixth man.

However, the impact in this regard can still be controlled.

Because after Hinrich was in poor form, DeNagro, who liked to use new players, gave a chance to Bill Walker, who performed well in training.

Walker did not disappoint his expectations. In limited playing time, he achieved a 42.5% three-point shooting percentage and became the most stable point on the Bulls' outside line.

Of course, Walker obviously can't replace Hinrich.

Because in addition to his role on the offensive end, Hinrich also has organizational skills and elite defensive capabilities.

Walker is just a shooter now, and he has suffered multiple serious injuries. He has big problems with lateral movement and it is difficult for him to perform on the defensive end.

This is also the reason why he didn't get a chance to play in the Celtics before.

On the other hand, it’s the inside line.

Gaining weight and muscle has brought more disadvantages than advantages to Noah for the time being, and he needs time to adjust.

But more importantly, Kwame Brown was somewhat unable to shoulder the responsibility.

In fact, neither Brown nor Milicic have bad talents. The reason why they are labeled as counterfeit players is largely because of their training.

But by this stage in their careers, their skills are basically set.

Take Brown for example. It is impossible that his butter hands during his time with the Lakers would disappear when he moves to the Bulls; it is impossible that his steps in Los Angeles would not be called off when he moves to Chicago.

To sum it up in one sentence: Compared with the contributions he made on the court, the mistakes he made caused more harm to the team.

There's a reason why he didn't get much playing time with the Bobcats.

Hinrich's slump gave Walker an opportunity, and Brown's inability to handle the task gave Gray an opportunity.

This second-round pick selected by the Bulls filled the gap left by Songaila with his tenacious defense and aggressive fighting.

Even because of his performance, Brad Miller was able to move to the power forward position, which he is better at.

However, whether it was Walker or Gray, they just seized their opportunities and could not bring strength improvement to the Bulls.

So even though the twin stars Xu Yong and Rose continued to perform stably, the Bulls' record actually declined.

After the training session that day, Xu Yong found Brown and said he wanted to treat him to a meal.

Brown seemed surprised and visibly reluctant, but he agreed nonetheless.

They arrived at a restaurant far away from the stadium, found a private room, and Xu Yong and Brown started chatting.

At the beginning, it was basically Xu Yong talking about some interesting things about his time in the NCAA and in Chicago.

Then slowly, Brown relaxed and started chatting with Xu Yong.

Seeing that Brown was able to communicate, Xu Yong knew there was hope.

He asked Brown to have dinner with him, not because he had nothing to do, but because Brown was very important.

If they can make the playoffs according to the current situation, they will most likely be ranked seventh or eighth, so it will be either the Magic or the Cavaliers.

Then they will have to face either Howard or O'Neal. Even if Noah gains muscle, it will be impossible for him to fight against them throughout the game.

Especially with Howard at his peak, Noah could easily get into foul trouble.

It is obviously unrealistic to rely on Miller or Gray to take on these two giants. The only one who can do it is Brown.

Although Brown has many flaws, his one-on-one defense in the low post is at the elite level. Otherwise, how could a person who was definitely a failure in training still survive in the NBA and start for the Lakers for so many seasons?

Moreover, after a month of contact, he found that Brown's character problems were bigger than his ability problems.

This guy is too introverted and too unconfident.

This also explains why he was so talented in high school but ended up like this.

Because he is introverted, he can do nothing but hold it in his stomach when Jordan scolds him.

Imagine that you have to be scolded by the same person every day, and that person is a petty person, and you have to endure it all the time. How does it feel?

Even if you are full of confidence at the beginning, there is a high probability that your confidence will be completely destroyed in the end.

A similar example is Bynum, who was also a high school rookie. The reason why Bynum didn't become Brown was probably because Kobe was not as exaggerated as Jordan.

Looking at Bynum's performance after leaving the Lakers, he is just like a rebellious teenager.

What's more, not long after Brown left Jordan, he met Kobe again. He escaped from the tiger's den and fell into the wolf's lair. What an unlucky kid.

Moreover, Brown's personality is even worse than Bynum's. Look at him now. He obviously doesn't want to, but still subconsciously accepts Xu Yong's invitation. This is a reflection of his character.

After chatting for a while, Xu Yong turned from the court to his own life.

He has always believed that sincerity is the eternal killer skill and sincerity can be exchanged for sincerity.

It turned out that he was right to do so, because as the topics started to develop, Brown completely let down his guard and talked to Xu Yong about his life.

"I have eight brothers and sisters. When I was little, I wanted a basketball but I didn't dare to tell my mom. I knew if I asked, they would all want it. It was hard enough for mom to raise us alone."

"But you still got the basketball?" Xu Yong asked back.

"Yes, my mother saw my thoughts and bought me a basketball." Brown replied with a smile, but after laughing, he sighed, "In return, he worked as a cleaner on Christmas Eve."

Xu Yong couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.

From Harden to Cooksix to Brown, given the environment in the United States and the consistent nature of black people, it is not easy for black people to enter the NBA.

But the fact that Brown still remembers this shows that there are still differences between him and Bynum.

After realizing this, Xu Yong then looked at Brown. After Brown noticed his gaze and stared at him in confusion, he said seriously: "Kwame, we need you."

Brown was stunned for a moment. No, to be more precise, he was stunned.

"We need you because only you can protect our restricted area and defend Dwight, Shaq and others. You are irreplaceable now." Xu Yong also exaggerated.

Brown took a long time to come back to his senses, then smiled uncertainly and said, "Are you kidding me?"

But he soon discovered that Xu Yong did not laugh along, and still had that serious expression, so he couldn't help but ask again: "Are you serious?"

After seeing Xu Yong nodded, Brown's emotions suddenly went out of control for a moment, his eyes turned red, and then he took a deep breath.

He really had almost forgotten how long it had been since anyone had said this to him!

The last time was during the draft tryouts?

Or, still in high school?

Since entering the NBA, he has been surrounded by nothing but criticism, whether it is the guy who put him in a nightmare, the management, or even the fans.

He was always wondering why they brought him to that place if they disliked him so much.

Then it was Memphis, then Los Angeles, then Detroit, and that was the case with almost everyone.

Parallel imports, parallel imports, it’s still fucking parallel imports!

Just because he was spotted by Jordan back then, he will have to live in the shadow of these two words for the rest of his life.

This was the first time in a long time that he heard someone say that he was needed and irreplaceable.

Although the other party is just a rookie and a teammate, these words are really important to him.

Looking at Brown's reaction, Xu Yong knew that he had done the right thing and that this would be very important to the Bulls.

"What should I do?" After calming down, Brown looked at Xu Yong and said.

Although he is introverted, he is not stupid.

He is not playing well in the Bulls now. Xu Yong would talk to him alone about this, probably because he wanted to give him some advice.

“Do what you are good at, and don’t do what you are not good at.” Xu Yong said it very simply.

Brown thought about it, but still didn't quite understand.

"Kwame, this is not Washington. No one will force you to do anything you can't do. You just need to do a good job of low-post defense, fight for rebounds, and smash the ball into the basket when the opportunity is good. The rest will be done by me, Derrick, Joakim, Luol, and the rest of the team."

Xu Yong then used a metaphor: "We are like a machine. As long as we do our job, we can do anything."

Brown now understood a little, and Xu Yong's words convinced him from the root.

After so many years, it is impossible for him to become the top pick that people expected him to be, but he still has a chance to get rid of the label of being a fake.

"I know you and Joakim will have extra practice in the evening. Can I join?" Brown asked Xu Yong.

Noah no longer got up at four in the morning to train like Xu Yong, but he still joined him for extra training in the evening.

"Of course." Xu Yong smiled when he heard this.

Brown had mentioned the past when he wanted a basketball but didn't dare to tell his mother, but now he took the initiative to ask Xu Yong for extra practice.

This is the most direct change.

That night, Brown practiced with Xu Yong and Noah.

Brown mainly practices one thing: dunking.

This may sound a bit absurd, because with Brown's height and wingspan, there is no need to practice this.

But in fact, he really wanted it.

Because in addition to being a parallel import, Brown also has an indelible label: butter fingers.

This is not a problem with his technique, but because his hands are too small.

When it comes to basketball talent, hand size is an aspect that is easily overlooked, but has a huge impact.

The reason why Leonard has the skill of [Death Coil] is because he has a pair of extremely large hands that are rare in history.

As for the difference between Kobe and Jordan, the palm is also a very crucial part, otherwise why you almost never see Kobe holding the ball with one hand, it is because his hands are small.

Xu Yong's palms are not as exaggerated as those of Jordan and Leonard, but they are also normal size for NBA level.

But Brown's words are really too small.

This makes it easy for him to drop the ball when he is doing low-post offense, and even technical moves such as hook shots are difficult to succeed.

If he had started intensive training on this point early in his career, he might have been able to make up for it with technology like Kobe.

But now it seems unrealistic.

So the simple and crude way is to dunk.

Dunk at the basket, dunk with one dribble, dunk by an alley-oop, anyway, it's just a simple but efficient way of slamming the ball into the basket.

As for if you encounter defense, then as Xu Yong said, don't do things you are not good at, just pass the ball again.

The Bulls now have Nate Robinson and have no shortage of people who can dilute the ball, so there is no need for Brown to launch an offense in the low post.

Moreover, during training, Xu Yong also played offense and defense with Brown.

He found that Brown had very good defensive judgment when he was out of position, and that he was not the type of jumper who liked to block shots, but the type who used his body to seek confrontation.

Because he had few opportunities to play before, Xu Yong didn’t notice this.

But from this perspective, Brown may be able to do more than expected.

…

Time flies, and it’s the end of March in a blink of an eye.

At this time, there is less than half a month left until the end of the regular season.

Before the Bulls' morning practice session began that day, Hinrich came in and closed the locker room door.

The team members all turned their eyes to him.

Although he is not in good shape, Hinrich is the most experienced player on the team after all, and his status is not much lower than Deng.

"I need to apologize to everyone."

Everyone was stunned by what Hinrich said.

Even Xu Yong didn't expect it.

"I apologize for my performance in the past period of time. I shouldn't bring personal emotions to the team. No matter what the future holds, at least I am still in the team and we can do something this season."

Hinrich's words were sincere, perhaps because of his loyalty to the team, knowing that this is his seventh year in Chicago; or perhaps he felt the team's atmosphere and it was inappropriate for him as a veteran to do so.

"Kirk, welcome back." Deng stood up and walked towards Hinrich, then gave him a hug.

Xu Yong and others also walked forward and put their hands on Hinrich's shoulders.

There wasn't much talk, but this was the moment the Bulls truly emerged from their struggles over the past January.

Like Hinrich said, now they are ready, really ready to do something this season.

Maybe, something daring.