Before Xu Yong's rebirth, his understanding of Harden was limited, but he still knew something about Rose.

Not for any other reason, just because Rose was really popular back then.

Don't ask, the only thing to ask is the sales volume of sneakers, which is the most representative of popularity. Rose sold more than 40 million pairs a year.

The answer is that he led the team to defeat the Heat Big Three for two consecutive years, played in a flamboyant style and was the youngest MVP.

The Windy City Rose is very popular with fans both on and off the court.

So off the field, Xu Yong also heard some things from hearsay.

The most well-known are, of course, Ross and his brothers.

Rose was born in Chicago, a gang capital, and his childhood experiences must have been even worse than Harden's.

At least Harden can still practice on the court, but Rose has to risk eating peanuts in order to train on the court.

Later, he showed his athletic talent, and his brothers chose to join the gang in order to give him a safe training environment.

While these two things may not sound necessarily related, when you're in a city where gangs outnumber the police 10 to 1, it just might work.

Facts soon proved that Xu Yong's judgment was correct.

Because the very next day, the police who had been investigating for him for a week without any progress called him.

His case was solved.

The thief who had broken into his house turned himself in to the police and returned everything he had stolen, including the watch.

"No more thieves will come to your house." The police also gave him a guarantee.

Just highlight the word "outrageous".

However, after experiencing this incident, Xu Yong was basically certain that the things he had heard from others should be true.

Moreover, in a city like Chicago, knowing some gangsters is just like knowing some friends within the system in China. It can solve many problems that cannot be solved through normal channels.

Of course, this is just a small episode in Xu Yong's life.

As the season progresses, for him, or for the Bulls, they are now more concerned about the team's current situation.

Because after three consecutive wins at the start of the season, they lost to the Magic, Celtics and Nuggets in succession, suffering a three-game losing streak.

This has something to do with the schedule. Teams like the Magic and Celtics are both championship-level teams.

But apart from that, there were also problems with their condition.

It's not that there are problems with the rookies. The performances of Johnson and Gibson are both remarkable. Xu Yong has continued his "not new" rookie characteristics and is the most stable player on the Bulls during this period.

The problem is Ross.

Last season, with Ben Gordon and Salmons on the team, Rose averaged 14.9 shots per game, contributing 16.8 points and 6.3 assists.

This season, Gordon left the team as a free agent, and Salmons was also sent away in the trade for Xu Yong. Rose's number of shots increased sharply to 18 per game.

However, his scoring was lower than last season, averaging only 15 points per game, and his shooting percentage fell below 40%.

It can be said that except for the opening game where he played well, his performance in the subsequent games was very poor regardless of whether he won or lost.

It's not because of his ability, but because his ankle injury has recurred.

Rose is a player who relies heavily on breakthroughs, and the ankles and knees are the two areas that have the greatest impact on breakthrough players.

Just as Breen said during the opening game, recovery from an ankle injury is a long process, and Rose's comeback still seems hasty.

Such performance naturally attracted a lot of doubts from the outside world.

On November 10, the Bulls played against the Heat at home, and the game was very intense.

Xu Yong played very well. He made 10 of 21 shots and contributed 26 points, a team-high and career-high, but the Bulls still lost to the Heat 87-95.

Deng contributed 17 points and Noah had 10 points and 7 rebounds, but Rose made 4 of 15 shots, without a single free throw, and only scored 8 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

After the game, outside doubts about Rose finally began to erupt.

At the post-match press conference, because Rose was not present, the local media in Chicago couldn't help but raise questions.

"Rose should give more shots to Xu. Is it selfish to keep shooting when Xu is not in good condition?"

"When will Derrick Rose develop a consistent shot? It sucks when your opponent only has to defend your drive and you can't make a shot!"

"If Rose's ankle injury has not healed yet, shouldn't the team consider letting him rest? Playing with an injury like this will not only fail to help the team, but will hurt the team!"

…

These questions were all posed to De Nagro.

Faced with these questions, Denagro was unable to give a good answer for a while.

Because these questions are all reasonable doubts.

Especially when asked whether Rose should rest, he was speechless.

Just at this moment, Xu Yong, who had been silent before, picked up the microphone on the table.

"I don't think Derrick's rest will help our record. He tried his best on the court. The data can't reflect what he did. And the loss is not the responsibility of a certain player, but the responsibility of the whole team."

Xu Yong didn't say much, but every word he said was to the point.

It is true that Rose is in poor condition due to injury, but can they beat these opponents without Rose?

The answer is obviously no.

No matter how bad Rose's condition is, his impact is better than Hinrich's.

Because when he is on the court, opponents have to be wary of his breakthroughs, which is a distraction on the offensive end.

If Rose does not play, Xu Yong will face even greater defensive pressure.

Of course, it is reasonable to be questioned by the media for playing badly. Just like Yao Ming said, you can play badly but others are not allowed to say anything?

But the reason why Xu Yong said this tonight is because those who questioned him were local media in Chicago, which was equivalent to his own people.

It's fine if others question it, but it's also useless if our own people follow suit and make a fuss. It won't have any real effect other than affecting the team's mentality.

Xu Yong spoke, and the reporter tactfully shut up.

Because Xu Yong was the one who played the hardest and performed the best on the team tonight.

"I believe Derek can get back to his form, just as I believe we will win the game again soon," Xu Yong added.

After the press conference, Xu Yong went to the training hall for more practice.

Although he is the person least to be blamed for the team's loss tonight, a loss is a loss.

No matter how good the losing statistics are, they are just the pearls on Puyi's crown. They look good but have no practical significance.

All he can do is continue to improve himself and then do what he said and help the team win the next game.

Their next opponent is the Lakers.

The defending champions are not having an easy time either. They lost the opening game to the Rockets without McGrady. There is no timetable for Gasol's return, and they have only 4 wins and 3 losses so far.

There are many doubts about them from the outside world now, such as "Kobe is old", "Last season's championship was just luck to meet the Magic, if they played against the Celtics or the Cavaliers, they would definitely lose" and so on.

So it is not easy to win this game, but they may not be without a chance.

And if they can beat the defending champions once, like they did against the Cavaliers in their opening game, it will be a huge boost to their morale.

The next morning, Xu Yong came to the gym as usual.

The team has one more day of training today and will not fly to Los Angeles until tomorrow.

He went to the locker room and was changing when Rose arrived.

After he changed into his training clothes, Rose stood up and walked towards him, then stretched out his hand, shook his hand just like before, and then bumped shoulders.

There was no conversation during the process, but Xu Yong could feel that Ross was thanking him for the words of protection he had said last night.

He could even feel that his progress in the strategy of [Not Slowing Down in Disguise] had increased by at least 30% at that moment.