Fifty-Four: Deeply Loved by the Big Guys

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Toronto Raptors collapsed after the Grizzlies played an 11-0 offensive climax.

This lineup of Conley, Tony Allen, Link, Randolph and Gasol makes Lionel Hollins see unlimited potential. Defense, offense and three-pointers, this lineup has almost everything Hollins needs.

Think about it, if the Grizzlies' backup striker was still Sam Young, the team just couldn't have played such a tough defense and such an empty offense. So, sometimes a player's ability to survive on a team depends not only on his strength, but also on his suitability for the team.

After the 11-0 timeout, Link and Tony Allen were replaced by Guy and Mayo, who were the Grizzlies' true starters after all.

In a situation where the Raptors have almost collapsed, Mayo and Gay have played their strengths in singles.

Gay's breakthrough dunk, let Keleza sink more and more. And Mayo's unreasonable pull-up jumper also made DeMar DeRozan extremely envious.

After a beating from Mayo and Gay, the Raptors trailed by 23 points after halftime.

At the time, the entire Air Canada Centre arena was filled with boos from fans. I don't know if the fans were booing the Grizzlies or expressing their dissatisfaction with the home team.

After the start of the third quarter, Zach Randolph also began to exert his strength. He scored eight points in the first six minutes, forcing the Raptors' defense to shrink again.

Link also got two 3-pointers as a result, raising his personal score to 13 points. As a backup, Link has an efficient double-digit scoring contribution in almost every game, which undoubtedly gives the announcers another excuse to blow Link.

After that, the Raptors were forced by the Grizzlies' defense to make jumpers from the perimeter. However, it is really difficult to kill the game by shooting with the likes of Calderon and Kreza.

Since Link played more often with Mayo or Gay in the second half, his chances of making shots were not as much as in the first half. As a result, Link focused all his attention on the defensive end. He put into practice everything he had learned from Tony Allen this afternoon and put the Lithuanian into a game of high drive and low walk.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Randolph broke out again, scoring 7 points in a row, completely establishing the victory for the Grizzlies.

Link came off the court in the sixth minute of the fourth quarter, when his personal score was 15. He was replaced by competitor Sam Young.

However, everyone is very clear that the reason why Sam Young can still play is because the game has completely entered garbage time. Link did not play because Hollins needed to ensure the health of the team's main players.

Yes, the main player of the team. Now, almost everyone tacitly agrees that Link is part of the Grizzlies' main rotation. No one, from coaches to players, finds it odd that Link is taking a break in garbage time.

Sam Young was a little indignant, but now, who cares about his opinion?

In this competition with Link, he has completely lost.

In the end, the Grizzlies successfully slaughtered the dragon by 19 points in back-to-back games on the road. Randolph, who scored 37 points and 17 rebounds, became the best of the game, and this guy who was once spurned by all teams shined in Toronto.

Because he was the best player in the game, the reporters who interviewed Randolph were the most after the game.

"Zach, you are undoubtedly the best person in this game today. But if you were asked to choose the second best person, who would you choose?" Husband's fearless personality will take all the credit for winning the game on himself.

"The first best is Zach, the second best and the third best is Zach!" The reporters thought Randolph would answer.

But in fact, Randolph has already passed his arrogant age. "If I have to choose, I will choose Link. His appearance has given me a lot of opportunities to easily play in the low post, without worrying about someone else. If there is a double-team, you can see the four-pointer he played today. Of course, the other teammates are playing equally well, and we are a good team.”

Randolph smiled, and the reporters were stunned.

They really didn't expect that the Chinese No. 0 actually had such an appetite for Randolph.

The NBA, like many other places, is a place that pays attention to seniority. Even if a No. 1 rookie like Yao Ming enters the NBA, he has to prepare it before every training session and place it door-to-door at the door of each eldest brother's room.

When Sun Yue was with the Lakers, he went to the fast food restaurant to buy 33 hamburgers, 20 milkshakes and 20 french fries because his teammates were excited on the plane. At that time, Chinese fans all ridiculed online: "Sun Yue was forced to give 33+20+20."

However, not only did Link never get this kind of treatment with the Grizzlies, but he was even praised by Randolph himself today, which of course shocked the media.

An undrafted player, who has only played less than five games with the Grizzlies, how can he earn so much respect?

Reporters overlooked a problem, Link played two games with the Grizzlies, who immediately went from a three-game losing streak to a two-game winning streak. And in these two games, the Grizzlies star Rudy Gay's performance was not too good. This thing is enough to explain the problem.

Sometimes, earning respect is as simple as that.

Randolph left the reporters looking surprised and walked towards the player tunnel. He couldn't wait to celebrate the victory with Link.

However, when Randolph arrived at the entrance of the player tunnel, he found out that Link was as high-profile as himself, and he was already surrounded by reporters.

Randolph then stopped, and then smiled wickedly. He pulled Gasol Jr., and the two of them snuck up two disposable cups, filled them with water, and walked behind Link.

The reporters immediately took a step back when they saw this situation. Although Link had Grant Hill's basketball experience, his judgment on this kind of thing was a little slow.

By the time he realized that something was wrong, two glasses of ice-cold water had already been drenched from his head!

"Hahahaha, run, Mark, run!"

Randolph let out an exaggerated laugh and ran like a 200-pound child.

Link looked at his soaked No. 0 jersey and shook his head helplessly, but he was not angry, but rather happy.

Because he knows that the big guys in the team have completely accepted themselves.

As an undrafted, if he can get the love of the big guys in the team, it is enough to wait for the future. As long as the team's big brother says "I don't like so-and-so" to the coach, or does not pass him the ball on the court, it is enough to block the NBA career of a bottom-level professional player.

Of course, the opposite. If they like someone in particular and like to pass the ball to him, it will undoubtedly help him cement his position faster.

Didn't Daniel Gibson and Dudley, who were only selected in the second round of the year, finally make it out because they were deeply loved by James and Nash?

And as a yellow-skinned player, it's even harder to be accepted by his teammates. As a traveler, Link knew that Jeremy Lin would be difficult in the future. It is not much easier for Chinese-Americans to gain a firm foothold in the NBA than for pure Chinese players.

But now, these problems are all solved because of the two glasses of water just now.

"Link, I can see that you and your teammates are very excited. You seem to be much smoother in Memphis than in Houston. So, do you think you can get a chance to start this season?" The reporters are not stupid, They could see that Hollins was using Link more and more. Now Link is not only playing at the 3, but also at the 2.

It's not impossible for Link to push Mayo to the bench one day. After all, when Xavier Henry was not injured, Mayo has been substituting him. It seems that Hollins prefers to let Mayo do the role of a super sixth man.

Link naturally wanted to start the game, but he couldn't say it so clearly, it would offend people. And with his current status on the Grizzlies, he can't offend anyone.

"I didn't think about this problem, I just want to help the team play every game well. And, I really want to get the first 20 points of my NBA career as soon as possible, hehe."

Link smiled and faced the camera, looking very young. Starter? Link hadn't thought about it yet. It is already a victory to be able to enter a stable rotation now. After all, half a month ago, he was still in the Development League.

But what's very weird is that after this interview tonight, Link's chance to play in the starting lineup came...