Chapter 58 Rookie of the Month

After supper, Yi Jianlian sent Tang Tian back to the hotel and then left.

Watching the Cayenne disappear from his sight, Tang Tian also withdrew his gaze.

To be honest, although Tang Tian had lived a lifetime, he was still a very patriotic person at heart.

The country is like a university. You can scold it, but you absolutely don't allow others to say anything bad about it. You can complain about it, but you definitely want it to get better.

Yi Jianlian is the core of the national men's basketball team, and Tang Tian also coached the national team in his previous life, so naturally he hopes it can get better.

After finishing the game in Dallas, the Spurs then set off and boarded a plane to Philadelphia.

Compared to when they came to Dallas, the players were much quieter at this time, focusing on rest.

For the Spurs, the most torturous thing about the lockout season was the number of back-to-back games, which was not very friendly to their old team.

The 76ers entered the post-Iverson era, and the core of the team was "Little Ai" Iguodala.

However, with Jrue Holiday and Louis Williams' strong performance this season, plus a group of quality rookies such as Turner and Vucevic, their competitiveness was not small.

Tang Tian also met an old acquaintance, Lavoy Allen, who also participated in this year's draft, but was selected by the 76ers with the 50th pick.

In the back-to-back game, the Spurs were obviously not in good shape physically. They were hit by a wave in the fourth quarter and eventually lost to their opponents 92-100.

Although they lost the game, Tang Tian's performance was relatively stable, scoring 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 25 minutes of playing time.

This was basically his normal performance on the Spurs.

This kind of performance even amazed the Spurs' coaching staff. They had rarely seen a rookie perform so consistently.

The last one was Tim Duncan, and it took them almost 20 years.

With a dense schedule and many back-to-back games, and Ginobili not yet returning, the Spurs' record fluctuated somewhat in January, but overall they maintained it very well.

Time flew by, and it was February in the blink of an eye.

The Spurs' record to date is 16 wins and 6 losses, leading the Thunder by half a game and still sitting in first place in the West.

This record also led to a burst of emotion from fans on Instagram.

"Didn't they say the Spurs have gotten even older? How come after a month of games, they're still first in the West?"

"An undeniable point is that there are a lot of back-to-back games this season, which has a big impact on the Spurs' performance. Their record could have been even better."

"Manu has been out for almost a month, their record could have been even better."

"Speaking of which, why are the Thunder so disappointing? This should have been their season."

"Watch, the Thunder will soon be the first in the West!"

"Does this seem like Durant's alt account?"

"......"

"Why doesn't he change to another account? ┑(￣Д￣)┍"

"Maybe he's too lazy to change it? After all, it's quite troublesome to register."

……

On this day, after finishing the home game against the Jazz, the Spurs raised their winning record again.

Tang Tian came out after taking a shower.

"'Godfather', you have to treat us to dinner," Ginobili said loudly to him.

Tang Tian looked puzzled.

"Congratulations, Tang." Parker came over with a smile and gave him a hug.

"What happened?" Tang Tian was confused. Could it be that Popovich came in just now and said that he would be starting in the next game?

That's not right, things like starting lineups are usually announced before the game.

"The league just announced the news, you are the Rookie of the Month for the first month," Green, still a nice guy, stood up and said to Tang Tian.

In a normal season, the league's Rookie of the Month for the first month is in December, but because of the lockout, it became January.

A smile appeared on Tang Tian's face, and he was in a good mood.

Irving was the best performing among the rookies, but he was in the East.

The Eastern rookies, like Marshon Brooks, Walker, and Tristan Thompson, were basically suppressed by him.

But the competition in the West was relatively fierce.

Ricky Rubio, who had been delayed for two years, Derrick Williams, the fourth overall pick, Klay Thompson, who was getting better and better, Kenneth Faried, the "Manimal" of the Nuggets, and Isaiah Thomas, the dark horse of the Kings.

It was really not easy for Tang Tian to stand out from a group of rookies.

This had a lot to do with the Spurs' league-leading record, but Tang Tian's performance was definitely worthy of this honor.

In the 13 games the Spurs played in January, Tang Tian averaged 23.2 minutes per game, scoring 13.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 48% and a three-point percentage of 50%. Among them, his scoring was second only to Irving among rookies, his steals ranked first among rookies, and his three-point percentage ranked third in the league.

Moreover, because of the rise in his tactical status on the Spurs, he took more catch-and-shoot three-pointers, and his three-point percentage naturally declined.

Reggie Jackson wanted to make the 23 teams that didn't pick him regret it, but judging from his performance, there was still a long way to go.

But Tang Tian's performance has already made the other 29 teams in the league start to regret it.

He was just a second-round pick!

Even the Spurs only spent 1 million to buy this draft pick, every team actually had a chance!

Of course, the most regretful were the Heat and the Timberwolves, one could have actually taken him, and the other gave him away for $1 million.

"Sure, I'll treat, lunch tomorrow is on me," Tang Tian said without hesitation.

He would definitely not refuse the opportunity to build a good relationship with his teammates.

There was a burst of whistles in the locker room, obviously they had never seen such a generous rookie as Tang Tian.

Tang Tian had just sat down when he received a text message from the league official.

"Mr. Tang Tian, congratulations on becoming the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January of the 2011-2012 NBA season. You can choose from the following ways to receive the trophy.

1. We will express it to the team;

2. Awarded during a home game;

3. Go to the league headquarters to receive it, address: Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue, New York."

This was the first time Tang Tian had received such a text message, and the professionalism of the NBA was indeed the best in the world.

Because the Spurs were flying to New York to play against the Knicks in their next game, he directly chose the third option.

He had just selected it when he received a detailed pick-up process.

Including how to get to the headquarters, as well as the contact person after arrival, etc., very detailed.

Tang Tian put away his phone and remembered that he hadn't contacted Olsen for a while, so he sent her a text message saying that he would be going to New York to play a game in a couple of days.

By the time he had changed his clothes, Olsen had already replied to the text message.

It turned out that she had been familiarizing herself with the script for *The Martian* during this time.

It seemed that with the basic framework provided by Tang Tian, ​​Ridley Scott had already completed the script, and the movie progress should be much faster than expected.