After the timeout, the Bruins replaced Love and Josh Shipp, and all five starting players returned.

After this substitution, although the Devils team, led by Xu Yong, still kept close to the score, they were unable to further narrow the gap.

Just as shown at the start, the Bruins’ starting five is not only very talented, but also has high tactical and mental attributes.

However, considering the talent of the five players on the Devils' field, it is incredible that they were able to maintain a stalemate.

When the game entered the second half, the score was quickly widened by the Bruins.

Although under the leadership of Xu Yong, they tenaciously narrowed the score, forcing Haolan to not dare to use his main players.

But in the end, the score on the field was fixed at 67 to 54, and the Devils lost by 13 points.

After the game, the fans at the scene chose to applaud their home team.

The difference in strength between the two teams is obvious. UCLA is worthy of being a member of the Pac10 league and the favorite to win the championship this season.

But the fighting spirit shown by the Devils was equally admirable.

"Well done, brother." As an opponent, Westbrook took the initiative to hug Xu Yong and expressed his respect during the post-game handshake ceremony.

For players, the charm of basketball lies in this kind of competition on the court.

Whether it was Jordan or Kobe, they both defeated players of their generation.

Although Xu Yong is still far away from them, he won the respect of his opponents tonight.

In fact, Xu Yong won more than just the respect of his opponents.

After the game, the Suns' trident was waiting for him at the entrance of the player tunnel.

Xu Yong's attention was focused on the game before and he didn't notice their arrival.

Seeing the three people at this moment, he was very excited.

"Son of the Wind" Nash, "Little Bully" Stoudemire, "Hacker" Marion, this run-and-gun Suns team is part of his youth.

"Now we are your fans." Nash's first words made Xu Yong flattered.

"I'm your fan too." Although he was excited, Xu Yong still showed excellent emotional intelligence.

As he spoke, he asked a fan nearby for an autograph pen so that Nash and the others could sign his jerseys.

"I will never wash this jersey." After they all finished signing, Xu Yong said with a smile.

Marion's expression was somewhat moved at this time.

A player with excellent skills and tough playing style, who fights tenaciously against strong opponents and whose manners and conversation off the court are warm and welcoming, is extremely charismatic.

"I will recommend you to management," Marion continued.

Xu Yong didn't expect Marion to say that. He smiled and said thank you, but he didn't take it to heart because it was obviously just a polite remark.

But if he really goes to the Suns, it is indeed a good choice for him.

First, his technical characteristics are in line with the Suns' style, and with Nash passing the ball, his scoring will become much easier; second, the Suns are on the decline, and he has the opportunity to become the new core of the Suns by improving alongside Nash for two years.

When he was just reborn, he didn't think too much about it, because he knew that even if he didn't get sick, it would still be too difficult to become an NBA star. At that time, his more realistic goal was to enter the NBA and then survive in the NBA.

Don’t think this goal is small. With so many rookies entering the NBA every year, it means that at least an equal number of players are eliminated. The competition in the world’s highest basketball hall is extremely cruel.

However, as he persisted in training over the years and felt his strength improving rapidly, his mentality was also changing.

Because he can clearly feel that his efforts can bring him to a higher level.

Becoming an NBA star, or even going further, is entirely possible.

…

In the locker room after the game, Sandek specifically praised the team's bench players.

"I'm proud of what you've done," said a stern Sandek.

But then he changed the subject: "But we could have played better and even had a chance to win the game if our starters had played as they should have."

When he said the following words, Sandek's gaze stayed on Harden for a long time.

In this game, Xu Yong was undoubtedly the best player of the team, followed by several substitutes, and then Ayers and others who also worked hard in the second half.

The player who played the worst was Harden.

After giving up in the first half, Harden did not recover in the second half, and did not show the desire to win that a core player of the team should have.

Throughout the game, he only scored 8 points and made 5 turnovers. Bin Laden was confirmed.

If this was a big defeat, perhaps others wouldn't feel it so strongly, but compared with other players, he stood out.

Sandek did not name anyone directly, which gave Harden some face, but everyone knew the answer.

After leaving the stadium, Xu Yong and Harden returned to the dormitory.

Harden was silent along the way and looked a little depressed.

He was so smart that he naturally couldn't have not known that Sandek was pointing at him.

And more importantly, because he knew the importance of this game, he understood that playing such a bad game in front of so many scouts would have a great impact on his draft stock.

If the draft pick prediction is not good, he will probably only be able to play for another year and then participate in the draft next year.

Xu Yong didn't say a word along the way, he knew Harden needed some time to recuperate.

They waited until they returned to the dormitory and sat down before Xu Yong asked, "James, who is your idol?"

Harden was still thinking about the scout. When Xu Yong asked this question, he was stunned for a moment, and then subconsciously gave the answer: "Kobe, he is the idol of every kid in Southern California."

After answering, he also looked at Xu Yong: "What about yours?"

Xu Yong pointed to the number position on his jersey which he had not yet taken off.

Harden smiled and nodded.

If there is one player who is regarded as an idol by the most people on this planet, it must be No. 23...

Michael Jordan.

Jordan's influence around the world is like a gap. Xu Yong regards him as an idol, and he should have known it from his jersey number.

"James, we can't beat UCLA without you." Xu Yong continued.

Harden was stunned for a moment. Xu Yong's sudden words made him unable to react.

"Without you, we can't beat Kansas, North Carolina, Memphis, or even Stanford and Washington State. Your talent is the best among us, and no one can change that, but you can really do better, and we need you to do better," Xu Yong continued.

"I tried it." Harden said with a wry smile.

He tried hard, but his skills were completely unusable against the Bruins.

It’s not that he wants to give up, but he really has no choice.

"James, Michael once said something that impressed me deeply. He once said, 'I can accept failure, but I can't accept giving up.' The difficulties he faced when facing the Pistons that year were far greater than what we encountered tonight, but after the failure, he did not give up. Instead, he kept improving himself and crossed that mountain, didn't he?"

Harden fell silent after hearing this. Xu Yong's words were very tactful, but they did not allow for rebuttal.

If Sandek said the same thing, he would say: The difficulties you encountered today are nothing compared to what Jordan encountered!

"James, have you noticed that you like to use words like 'I tried' or 'I tried my best' to convince yourself? When you were playing Halo 3 with Jaylen, you gave up immediately after you were beaten to low health at the beginning of the third game. Also, when you were learning table tennis, you gave up after trying for a week.

Yes, those are not big things, but isn't a person's character reflected in small things? James, have you really tried or tried your best? "

Harden was stunned. Smart people can easily know what kind of people others are, but they often don't realize what kind of people they are.

"Kobe is the player who is most like Michael and he also idolizes Michael. I don't think Kobe would say 'I tried', he would only say 'I need to do better', he would not give up under any circumstances.

You said Kobe is the idol of every kid in Southern California, so Russell (Westbrook) did not give up after Casey's death. If Kobe was also your idol, you could do it, right? "Xu Yong continued.

Harden looked up at Xu Yong, and what he saw in the other's eyes was not disappointment, but expectation.

At this moment, he understood some things.

Why can Xu Yong train so desperately, why is Xu Yong always so confident on the court, and even why does Xu Yong give people a sense of déjà vu when talking about that 360-degree windmill dunk.

Because Jordan is Xu Yong's idol, it is not just "my idol is Jordan" that stays on his lips, but he really tries to do what Jordan did.