In the second game against the Rockets, Zeng Xingyang scored 21 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, and 3 turnovers. Although the score wasn’t high, his drive and finish with contact were spectacular, leading the Nuggets to victory.
In the third game against the Magic, Zeng Xingyang posted 27 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers, including two fast-break coast-to-coast layups in regular time, securing another win.
In the fourth game against the Jazz, Zeng Xingyang delivered 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block, clocking out after three quarters, helping the Nuggets to an easy victory over their opponent.
Zeng Xingyang consciously increased his ball-handling drives on the court, although this also led to more turnovers.
He did this to hone his attacking skills with the ball!
Ball-handling attacks in actual games can significantly increase experience.
Isn’t the summer league meant for this purpose?
Others fight for survival, but he has already passed that stage.
A guaranteed contract allows him to safely improve his all-around skills.
Jokic steadily contributes 12+10+8 figures, and he naturally becomes the team’s orchestrating core. Now, the Nuggets’ temporary guards pass the ball to Jokic to handle as soon as they cross the half-court.
Sometimes, without the coach even emphasizing it, everyone naturally does it.
It’s as if this guy never makes mistakes on the court, and every pass he makes looks very reasonable.
The Nuggets rank high in scoring ability among summer league teams, and everyone’s stats look pretty good.
Under the consistent performance of Zeng Xingyang and Jokic, the Nuggets smoothly advance to the knockout rounds of the summer league.
However, in the first knockout game, the Nuggets lost to the Phoenix Suns.
Zeng Xingyang was off his game, shooting 1 out of 10 on three-pointers, and on the defensive end, he couldn’t stop Booker either.
After being fired up by Russell at the draft, Booker became even more aggressive.
Moreover, tonight Jenner came to courtside to watch him play.
Booker reconciled with Jenner the day before the draft, and she accompanied him to the draft on the day itself, even landing Booker on the trending charts because of her.
The men in the Kardashian family really seem quite exceptional.
Booker’s hand was on fire.
It wasn’t that Zeng Xingyang’s defense was lacking, but even with all his defensive effort, Booker kept making shots.
Stopping jump shots from close range.
Converting three-point transitions.
Driving through to induce fouls.
Zeng Xingyang purely encountered Booker’s hot hand.
Couldn’t stop it, simply couldn’t stop it.
Booker scored 33 points throughout the game, leading the Phoenix Suns to an 88 to 78 defeat of the Nuggets.
Jokic’s performance remained consistent, tallying 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists. In light of Zeng Xingyang’s shooting struggles, he opted to increase his individual attacks, though causing damage, it didn’t change the overall outcome.
But it was just a poor performance in one game, which doesn’t detract from Zeng Xingyang’s overall outstanding performance in the summer league.
After losing the knockout game, Zeng Xingyang felt frustrated; they had won so many matches earlier, only to go home after a single knockout defeat. It’s suffocating.
With a smug face, Booker told the reporters, "Maybe Zeng lacks the nourishment of love; he needs to find himself a girlfriend or something, so someone can help pick up balls when he trains."
Zeng Xingyang’s single-status got a playful jab from Booker.
Zeng Xingyang didn’t heed Booker’s advice.
What girlfriend can be better than training?
After being eliminated from the summer league, Zeng Xingyang re-entered intensive training, having many areas needing improvement.
Especially his ball-handling skills, he needs to work on that quickly, can’t depend on Jokic for everything.
If he diversifies his offensive tactics, it would also increase the variations in their collaboration.
The Nuggets coaching staff were also continually researching Zeng Xingyang and Jokic’s summer league match tapes.
The Nuggets didn’t show any clear offensive system last season; it was very chaotic.
Oh, how they played last season was less structured than the Nuggets here in this season’s summer league.
"Zeng’s shooting is very stable; we can design some three-point plays with screens for him."
"Zeng can completely be used like Klay; his shooting is comprehensive, from all angles without blind spots."
Several assistant coaches were discussing the summer league summary.
Zeng Xingyang was clearly the main focus player of the assistant coaches’ concern.
The assistant coaching team were all praising Zeng Xingyang’s amazing shooting, but Ma Long also noticed the core orchestrating role Jokic played within it.
Ma Long had some plans in mind.
When the new season begins, he thinks they can try focusing their play around Jokic during certain stretches, letting Zeng Xingyang be the main attacker, which might yield good results.
However, Zeng Xingyang’s ball control in attack is still a bit lacking, causing Ma Long to frown.
A lively and bustling summer passed quickly.
Time quickly rolled around to October 8th.
The first day of the Nuggets’ new season training camp.
Jokic and Zeng Xingyang’s lockers were in the corner of the locker room.
As rookies of the team, both had low status, with veterans taking central spots.
Jokic casually handed a can of coconut juice to Zeng Xingyang who was sitting beside him.
At the sight of the sexy design on the can, Zeng Xingyang immediately recognized it as the Yeo’s brand.
"Zeng, did you go on a seaside vacation in the summer?"
Seeing Zeng Xingyang for the first time, Jokic was taken aback, a bit incredulous about his significant change.
In the two months they hadn’t met, Zeng Xingyang had bulked up a bit, with his skin a bit darker, looking fit and muscular, with more defined muscle lines.
"No, maybe just training on outdoor courts. Hey, why don’t you drink cola anymore?" Zeng Xingyang asked after taking a sip of the coconut juice.
"The coach told me not to let him see cola in the locker room if I want to play." Jokic said regretfully.
Cola was his favorite.
This was one of the reasons Jokic was reluctant to come to the NBA in his first season; here, not only can he not ride horses, but he also has to quit carbonated drinks.
NBA players generally drink sports drinks or plain water, fruit juice, and the like.
Zeng Xingyang noticed, as he’s transforming, Jokic is also gradually transforming, from indulgence to becoming more and more disciplined.
Indeed, basic professionalism is essential to becoming an MVP in the future.
While the two were chatting, other Nuggets players were coming in one after another.
Zeng Xingyang looked over and mentally recalled the traits of these teammates.
Danilo Gallinari, power forward, height 208 cm, weight 107 kg, plays as a power forward, a large Italian Cannon, excels at shooting, precise three-point shots, average defense, averaged 12 points and 3.7 rebounds last season, career three-point percentage as high as 38%.
Faried, power forward or center, height 2.03 meters, weight 103 kg, nicknamed "Manimal," can jump and bounce, very passionate, attacks primarily within the three-second zone, struggles slightly against technically solid interior defense, contributed 12 points and 9 rebounds last season.
Geoffrey Lowengi, center, height 2.11 meters, weight 100 kg, a typical European big man, has some mid-range ability, also not very good at rim protection, averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds last season.
Gary Harris, guard, height 1.93 meters, weight 95 kg, a physically robust athletic guard, strong in scoring, inconsistent shooter, able to drive and take mid-range shots, decent defense, didn’t get much opportunity last season, averaged only 3 points and 1 rebound.
Will Barton, guard, height 1.98 meters, weight 79 kg, a highly creative scorer, with a sharp build but well-built, naturally long arms, very sharp mid-range pull-up shooter, can also shoot from the three-point line, averaged 3 points, 1 rebound per game last season.
Randy Foye, guard, height 1.93 meters, a man with his heart on his right side, a bit streaky on offense, poor defense, averaged 3 points, 1 assist last season.
Jameer Nelson, guard, height 1.83 meters, this is a man with his heart on the right ventricle, height 1.73 meters, conducted the draft one day before, and Jenner accompanied Booker on draft day, during which Booker even trended because of her.
Nurkic, center, height 2.13 meters, weight 280 pounds, 2014 first-round pick, scored 7 points 6 rebounds, Bosnian, become the starting center for the Nuggets in the latter half of last season.