Basketball Player Post-Game Interview

First of all, congratulations to Xiaobao on playing nine minutes today,

and making very important contributions

on both offense and defense. On offense,

you made a three-pointer and also hit two

free throws for five points. Mm.

Then, at the postgame press conference, the coach

also said that on defense, against the opposing

center,

your defense was very solid. Mm.

How would you evaluate your own

performance today? Uh, I think first of all,

being able to get playing time,

the first thing is to cherish it,

to cherish every moment I get on the court,

and cherish every opportunity

to play and get minutes.

I think those are all very, uh, things

I’m extremely grateful for. And I also

hope that in every

possession I’m on the court,

I can do my very best.

Because sometimes, uh,

on defense, I did have

some problems, and, uh,

I try my best to do my part well.

As for what I can’t do, I can only keep

training and make up for it afterward.

In today’s game,

when the coach substituted you in,

what specific instructions or

assignment did he

give you exactly? Mm, actually,

his plan and thinking for me have always

been based on whether the

opponent has a big man inside

or, uh, a big player.

That’s when he puts me in

as the defender.

I’ve also talked with him several times

about my playing time.

Everyone can see that I’m now

maybe the team’s fourth or even

fifth big in the rotation. And, uh,

I really went through a very difficult

period of struggle.

It was very painful for me some time ago,

but over these past few games,

I’ve gradually been making adjustments myself,

because I think, uh, a lot of the time,

growing up, I may have always

been a starter,

and I’ve hardly ever come off the bench.

So sometimes I lost my sense of

my role and mentality.

Now I’m gradually finding

the right understanding of my role

and, uh, my form. If you give me one minute,

I’ll try my best to make that one minute count.

If you don’t put me in,

then I’ll do what a bench player

is supposed to do from the bench.

Uh, I’m very grateful that

Dallas is very, very

united, and that the team’s locker room

atmosphere is very, very good,

with everyone, with me

Everyone I talk to feels this way,

because Dallas

has such a great locker room

atmosphere. It makes you feel

like it's too good to be real, and I

feel incredibly lucky to be part of

a team like this,

where everyone has

the same goal. Everyone wants to win,

everyone wants to be victorious,

and everyone wants to make this team better.

Being part of a team like this,

I also feel that

I should fight for as much playing

time as I can. If I don't have time,

I just do what I need to do,

make sure my training is done well,

and do whatever I can with

strength training, my body,

and my skills,

improve as much as I can,

- and absorb as much as I can.

Actually, just

now at the press conference. Yeah.

I asked the

coach that question too. Yeah.

I mean, after you were subbed

into the game, you made major contributions

on both offense and defense. Yeah.

And you contributed immediately. Yeah.

So I also asked him whether he had considered

putting Li Yueru into the

rotation earlier. Yeah. He may not have

answered that question

too directly. No. Right.

But I think you've always

used your performances,

just as you said. Yeah.

Whether you come off the bench for five

or ten minutes, you use your

actions on the court to earn his

trust. Yeah.

There's one question, because we

know that when,

when you're a professional athlete,

every time you take the court in a game,

no matter how much preparation

you do before the game,

whether it's training or warming up,

no matter how thorough it is. Yeah.

when you know you only have five

or ten minutes,

it's hard to ensure

you're in the right condition. Yeah.

So from your own perspective,

whether mentally

or physically,

including handling the intensity of the game,

- how do you adjust?

First of all, I'm very grateful that our

team has an excellent

trainer, a development,

a player development coach,

I think that's the right translation. He,

he spends quite a lot of time

helping me train.

Even when I don't have much

playing time, he does his best

to communicate with me

and help me with a lot of, uh,

technical adjustments on the court,

or, or with my own

These mental adjustments,

I really have so many

struggles, I don't know how to put it,

but they help me break these things down,

and I feel that this process really

helped me make a lot of adjustments.

And now, I feel that

because the player

development coaches gave me

much better training, I feel that

I believe in myself and that I have

received very good training,

and I believe I can perform

as well as possible on the court.

If I do well, that's a gain for me.

If I don't, then I haven't lost anything.

I'll just work at it again for the next game

and play my way back,

that's the kind of mindset I have.