No one wanted to see Thick Eyebrows get injured. Wang Yi didn't, either.
But objectively speaking, Thick Eyebrows' injury was an opportunity for him.
With Thick Eyebrows injured, his playing time would be divided among the other players.
His shot attempts would be divided among them, too.
Wang Yi would naturally benefit as well.
Of course, that also meant greater responsibility.
All the players who benefited would have to share the burden of making up Thick Eyebrows' points.
Thick Eyebrows was currently averaging 25.8 points per game.
Those players would have to score that many points between them, or the team's record would suffer.
Coach Vogel said a few more words of encouragement, then finally announced:
"This afternoon's practice will be a scrimmage."
The players perked up at once.
All the other drills, whether shooting, tactics, or strength training, were incredibly tedious.
Only an intrasquad scrimmage was any fun.
Vogel said:
"LeBron, Harrell, Caruso, Pope, Wang—you're on one team."
"Drummond, Schroder, Tucker, Gasol, Morris—you're on the other."
Vogel had a specific reason for dividing them this way.
With Thick Eyebrows out, he needed to try out a few more lineups.
Harrell was better than Drummond at finishing around the rim, and he also had some mid-range ability, which could open up space for James to drive.
Caruso and Pope were both strong defenders.
And then there was Wang Yi, a classic 3D Player.
Aside from Harrell being a little weak on defense and a little short, this was arguably the best lineup the Los Angeles Lakers could field right now, at least in theory.
After being assigned to a different team from James, Schroder fixed his eyes on Wang Yi again.
Wang Yi simply acted as if he hadn't noticed.
Schroder glanced at James, then walked over.
He raised his chin and said to Wang Yi in a challenging tone:
"Hey, Oriental. You dare guard me?"
Wang Yi wasn't about to back down from a provocation like that.
He gave a cold laugh.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Schroder's anger, which had already been simmering inside him, flared up even more at Wang Yi's response.
He was a player looking to earn a max contract.
And Wang Yi was usually a pretty mild-mannered guy.
To Schroder, that meant he was weak.
He had thought a little taunting would make the guy back down.
He hadn't expected him to actually accept the challenge.
Since when could a mere short-term contract player act so cocky in front of him?
Fine, then. Schroder wouldn't hold back.
"A 3D Player, huh? I'll show you just how easy your defense is to beat!"
He left Wang Yi with that threat.
Wang Yi didn't respond.
He preferred to answer people with his performance, not waste time running his mouth.
Today's intrasquad scrimmage would last ten minutes per half, for a total of twenty minutes.
After the Jump Ball, Schroder got possession.
He dribbled across half court.
Gasol moved to set a screen for him.
But Schroder waved Little Gasol away with his left hand.
Then he beckoned Wang Yi over with a finger. "Come here!"
Wang Yi didn't hesitate. He strode forward, spread his legs, and got into his defensive stance.
If someone was asking to get beaten, the least he could do was oblige.
Coach Vogel could tell that Schroder was angry.
But he didn't stop them.
Sometimes, people needed to let their anger out.
If they kept suppressing it, the eventual outburst would cause much bigger problems.
Besides, some issues between players, such as playing time and who got the ball, could more or less be settled through competition.
Only when you were good enough would other people respect you.
On top of that, Vogel wanted to see whether Wang Yi's defensive efficiency changed against different kinds of offensive players.
The other players cleared out, leaving the court to the two of them.
Schroder looked confident, even a little arrogant.
He had complete faith in his ability to drive past defenders.
He was incredibly quick.
In the league, apart from the elite defenders, he hadn't met anyone who could stop him from getting past them.
Driving to the basket was his bread and butter.
After dribbling three times, he suddenly accelerated and drove to the right.
He didn't think much of Wang Yi.
He couldn't even be bothered to use a change of direction or a spin move.
As far as he was concerned, a simple burst of speed would be enough to leave the Oriental completely lost.
But as soon as he took a step to the right,
Wang Yi had already slid over and blocked his path.
Schroder couldn't stop in time and crashed straight into Wang Yi.
The collision knocked the ball loose.
Caruso, on the other side, reacted quickly. He snatched the ball, raced downcourt, and finished with a dunk!
The coach watching from the sidelines immediately perked up.
As a coach, he had a sharp sense that something about Wang Yi's defense seemed different.
He still needed to watch a few more possessions to figure out exactly what it was.
On the next possession, Schroder kept the ball.
Wang Yi kept guarding him.
It was only an intrasquad scrimmage, but the tension was palpable.
After coming up short the last time, Schroder added a change of direction.
His changes of direction weren't as rhythmic as Harden's or Durant's.
They were usually simple.
He'd dribble left, then suddenly make an extremely quick change of direction and switch the ball to his right hand—relying on his speed to get past his defender.
But if speed was all he had, he had no advantage at all against Wang Yi.
Wang Yi's lateral speed had increased by twenty percent. That was no joke.
Once again, he slid over and quickly cut off Schroder's driving lane.
Unable to get past Wang Yi, Schroder planted on his left foot.
He pressed his back firmly against Wang Yi, planning to use him as a pivot and spin around.
With his back against Wang Yi, he kept Wang Yi from moving.
That would make it easy to spin past him.
Schroder did indeed get halfway past Wang Yi.
But just as he pulled the ball with his right hand and spun around to Wang Yi's side,
Wang Yi suddenly slid a step diagonally backward, creating space between them.
Then he slid another step and once again blocked Schroder's path.
Unable to break through, Schroder had no choice but to retreat five steps.
He went back to midcourt to create some distance.
Then he accelerated toward Wang Yi.
As he reached Wang Yi's left side, he suddenly used a Crossover Dribble, still driving to the right.
He was already moving incredibly fast.
On top of that, his low center of gravity meant he didn't need to move the ball very far to change direction, making the move even quicker.
Under normal circumstances, very few players could stop him.
But Wang Yi slid over again and got into position ahead of time.
Thump—
Schroder crashed into Wang Yi once more.
This time, he was moving so fast that Wang Yi immediately fell backward.
Schroder fell right on top of him.
For a moment, the two of them were in a pose straight out of a melodramatic romance, with the male and female leads crashing into each other.
It was rather suggestive.
"Hahahaha..."
"Nice!"
"Mixing romance with work? You two are taking it too far."
The players around them burst into laughter.
Vogel's eyes flickered with a barely perceptible gleam.
He blew his whistle and signaled an Offensive Foul.
"Offensive Foul!"
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