Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 197 The New King of New York
"I think Jerry must be the one who regrets it the most right now."

On the US team's bench, Popovich suddenly spoke.

On the court, Yao Ming used a low post back-up move, squeezed under the basket and faked a moment to create a rhythmic pause and mismatch, then immediately turned and hooked the ball in.

Jermaine O'Neal looked on with a helpless sigh.

They have strong physical strength, but they still try to outsmart you with technique. It's so damn annoying.

After scoring this basket, Yao Ming had already scored 30 points.

As long as the US team's interior defense relaxes its double-teaming efforts even slightly, Yao Ming can score one-on-one.

That's why Popovich had such feelings.

Which Jerry?

George Carr, who was standing nearby, even made a humorous remark.

Is it Jerry Krause of the Bulls or Jerry West of the Grizzlies?

At the draft lottery, both teams were incredibly close to getting the number one pick, but they fell for Stern's trick and missed out on the top pick.

With Yao Ming's performance now, the two of them are probably crying their eyes out at home.

Especially bulls.

Last year they failed to acquire Kwame Brown, and this year they missed out on Yao Ming. Krause's plan to revive the Bulls dynasty has been talked about for years, but it was ultimately destroyed by a behind-the-scenes maneuver by the league.

Popovich immediately understood the hilarious joke and couldn't help but laugh.

After laughing, he suddenly remembered someone and said, "George, there's another super genius coming up next year."

George Carr nodded slightly.

It's not even next year yet, and that high school student seems to have already secured the top scorer spot for next year.

"Most importantly, he has already started training with Tang."

For three consecutive years, the top scorer was Tang Sen.

Moreover, with such outstanding examples before us, and now that Yao Ming is being nurtured by Tang Sen, the prospect of James next year will only be even more anticipated.

Popovich gets frustrated whenever Townsend is mentioned.

I was hoping to give Duncan another chance to evolve, but I never got the chance.

"Lucky New Yorkers".

Popovich quipped, "So what if you have money?"

He turned his head and looked towards the sidelines.

Spike Lee goes without saying; he's even more concerned than the Chinese team's head coach. Whenever the Dream Team makes a big move under the basket and the referee doesn't blow the whistle, he'll yell at the head referee, shouting about why Yao Ming isn't getting the whistle.

The person who should be most pleased and elated right now is Leiden.

Popovich sized him up, feeling intensely displeased.

What's the difference between this top scholar's slip and one that's been picked up for free?

By the end of the third quarter, Yao Ming had already scored 32 points.

But it was no use; the score was 62-69, with the Chinese team still trailing by 7 points.

Popovich watched Yao Ming walk off the court with heavy steps and felt that the game was probably over.

Yao Ming shouldered too many offensive and defensive responsibilities, and was also forced to participate in support and offensive organization, so you can imagine the physical exhaustion he suffered.

Sure enough, in the fourth quarter, Yao Ming's shooting percentage dropped when he attacked from the low post.

The difficulty of gaining position inside the paint has also increased dramatically.

But in Popovich's view, that was enough.

Yao Ming's performance in the first three quarters was truly terrifying.

His shooting percentage was close to 80%, which made him look like a mini-O'Neal.

When Yao Ming went cold, the Chinese team's scoring almost completely stopped.

The point difference quickly returned to over 10 points.

Wang Fei began to make continuous adjustments.

For example, when Liu Yudong was substituted, he still had a leg injury and was truly playing with an injury.

However, the effect was minimal. The outside shooting was ineffective, and the inside shooting was ineffective. Compared to the Dream Team V, the Chinese team was lagging behind in all aspects of strength.

Yao Ming receives the ball in the penalty area midfield position.

Dribbling on the outside is difficult, so if Yao Ming wants to receive the ball, he has to move further out.

The consequence of being far from the basket is a lack of consistent ball-handling and attacking ability.

Yao Ming is agile and quick, but he can't match Nowitzki's level.

He turned his back to the basket, with Jermaine O'Neal guarding his back, and Ben Wallace poised to help from a short distance away. If Yao Ming moved toward the basket, he would immediately come over to help defend.

Yao Ming took a deep breath quickly, held it, leaned back forcefully, then took a large step with his left foot toward the middle, turned around, lifted his leg, protected the ball with his left arm, and lifted it with his right arm.

Skyhook!

Exhaustion caused my movements to become slightly distorted, but at that moment, the feeling in my hands was right.

With a flick of the wrist, the basketball flew out and plunged into the basket.

"Wortfalk!"

Yao Ming clearly heard Jermaine O'Neal exclaim in surprise beside him, his expression one of astonishment.

Popovich on the bench also exclaimed in surprise.

His eyes widened suddenly, his face filled with astonishment.

This looks like a Skyhook!

“Greg, am I seeing things?” George Karl murmured beside him.

What did he see?

It wasn't a simple hook shot under the basket; it was a perfectly executed skyhook from 10 feet away.

Was it a flash of inspiration, or... did you practice specifically for it?

If it's the latter, then its value...

George Carr hesitated to think about it too deeply.

Based on his performance in the first three quarters, he felt that Yao Ming had already been amazing and well-rounded enough.

He thought that was all Yao Ming had to offer, but who knew he'd pull this stunt.

At that moment, he wanted to rush onto the court and ask Yao Ming what he had learned from Tang Sen.

You haven't even played a single NBA game yet, please don't exaggerate like that.

The shock of that skyhook was immense.

"I guess this counts as a 'heavenly hook' (a type of hook in Chinese mythology)."

Wang Fei turned to Zhang Degui beside him and asked.

When he went to Los Angeles to scout Yao Ming, he had no idea that Yao Ming had this skill.

Zhang Degui didn't speak, but Nuggets assistant coach O'Connor, who came to San Francisco with the Chinese team, kept nodding, even though he didn't understand what Wang Fei was saying.

And Spike Lee in the front row.

He held his head in his hands, his expression as if he had seen a ghost.

He turned to his companion and asked what had happened.

Am I seeing things? This big guy actually used a skyhook.

Spike Lee was as excited as if God had descended upon him.

"Tang, look! A skyhook!"

In the stands, Leiden suddenly tugged at Cheney and excitedly pointed at the field, shouting.

Houston said that Yao Ming has been practicing skyhook.

He didn't lie to himself.

"too crazy."

Leiden stood there blankly, shaking his head repeatedly.

I can't believe it.

The media area was filled with groans and lamentations.

"Fuck, I didn't even get a picture!"

"Damn it, who took a picture? My God, he can do a skyhook."

"Guys, don't get excited, it might be an accident."

"Even if it was an accident, it's still quite exaggerated."

The reporters were incredibly excited; the top scorer's quality far exceeded their expectations.

The referee was stunned for a moment before serving.

It's been so many years since we've seen Skyhook on the court.

"Yao, is that a skyhook?" When the paint was close together, Jermaine O'Neal couldn't help but ask, secretly hoping that Yao Ming would do it again.

It's just a warm-up match, he doesn't care about winning or losing, since he's already been completely crushed.

But the sky hook.

Good heavens, how can this guy know everything?

"Yes!"

Yao Ming responded quickly, took a step forward to receive the ball, feinted slightly to the left and right, and then dribbled and hooked the ball out.

Jermaine O'Neal waved his arm symbolically, wanting only to look up in awe.

My performance this time was just so-so.

Yao Ming has been practicing hard for a long time, but he still can't use him as a reliable regular weapon.

The ball was a bit short, bounced on the rim, and luckily went in.

But this distance, this movement, is the skyhook.

On the sidelines, Spike Lee raised his hands high and repeatedly bowed, making a gesture of submission.

At that moment, he was so happy he almost fainted.

After trading away Ewing, New York has finally welcomed another cornerstone-level superstar center.

After his second backhand hook shot from the low post missed, Yao Ming decisively gave up.

Skyhook is not stable enough.

He still wants to win.

But I sensed a struggle.

China's outside offense was completely ineffective.

Not only can they not break through, they can't even defend against attacks.

The US team clearly knew how strong their presence was in the paint, so they opted to focus more on the perimeter and mid-range shots to finish their games.

They didn't use any tactics; they just engaged in mindless one-on-one battles.

Trapped inside the paint, Yao Ming could only helplessly watch as the score gap widened.

In the final moments, Finley pulled the ball behind his back, showing off to Li Nan, who casually took a three-pointer but missed, ending the game.

China lost by 12 points, 78 to 90.

Yao Ming stood with his hands on his hips, his chest heaving rapidly, clearly exhausted.

Thunderous applause erupted from the stands, though no one knew who had brought it.

In particular, a large number of Chinese fans chanted Yao Ming's name in unison.

Popovich and Karl stood up and applauded together on the sidelines.

The Chinese team lost the game, but Yao Ming's performance couldn't have been more perfect.

"39 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 4 assists, f***ing, that's fucking incredible," Popovich said, clapping his hands.

Carl nodded in deep agreement.

Brown scored 41 points in the Summer League last year.

But that was the Summer League, a competition for a bunch of rookies.

What kind of competition is this?
In national team matches, Yao Ming faced the Dream Team, comprised of current NBA stars.

To score 39 points under these circumstances is incredibly impressive.

"If it weren't for the loose whistle, he would have scored even more points," Carl sighed.

Today was a warm-up exhibition match, and the referees were relatively lenient, not giving many whistles.

Otherwise, Yao Ming would have scored even more points.

Seeing Yao Ming quickly surrounded by reporters, Karl sighed and then laughed, "Jerry is really going to cry."

Popovich couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The game was not broadcast live across the United States, but as soon as it ended, mainstream American media responded and reported on it at an extremely fast pace.

"Take a look at this."

On a TNT evening program, Barkley exaggeratedly gestured to his chest and exclaimed, "He's so pitiful. He looks like a dwarf next to Yao."

"And Jermaine, he got blown up too. My God, Yao single-handedly destroyed the Dream Team's interior defense."

"He's unstoppable, even double-teaming him won't work, because Yao can still use his skyhook!"

Barkley slammed his fist on the table and yelled, "Kwame didn't learn the skyhook, but Yao did! Karim, tell me, did you secretly go to Los Angeles to teach Yao the skyhook?"

39 points is impressive enough, but his skyhook is even more impressive. However, this is ultimately a basketball program. After the exaggerated praise, the three of them began to seriously analyze why Yao Ming is so strong.

"Body."

Kenny Smith said with a serious expression, "I've seen the video of Yao's tryout in Chicago. Charles, you were there too, so you should know that Yao was very thin back then, and it's said that he weighed just over 120 kilograms."

Barkley nodded.

Smith continued, "But now look at Yao, he's gained weight. Before the game, the data we had was that he now weighed a full 136 kilograms."

"And we all know that Tang has an incredible ability to help players gain weight while maintaining their original athletic ability."

The media has reported on this matter countless times.

Brown is, McGrady, and a bunch of Magic players are the best examples.

"Although I don't know what kind of magic Tang has, it's really amazing that Yao, who weighs 136 kilograms, can still have the flexibility of 120 kilograms."

"So we saw that Jermaine, who was 34 kilograms heavier than Yao, simply couldn't hold his own in the paint."

Barkley nodded in agreement.

In the paint, when you have a huge physical advantage, you can dominate like Shaquille O'Neal, and there's no way to stop you.

“Most importantly, Yao also has skills.” Barkley reminded him again: “Look at his low-post offense, his footwork is very elegant, and he is proficient in all kinds of finishing moves.”

“I’ve watched his highlights in the Chinese league. He really knows all the techniques. He already showed that when he was in Chicago.”

"So when he's physically strong enough and his skills are that good, he'll become a monster under the basket."

"Not to mention, he's even practicing his skyhook. Fuck, I don't know how Yao can be stopped like this?"

"New Yorkers are going to celebrate, they've really hit the jackpot."

Barkley is now particularly curious to see just how excited the New Yorkers will be after this preseason game.

The New York Times was very excited.

The next day, The New York Times featured a photo of Yao Ming completing a skyhook on its front page, occupying half of the page.

The title is even more exaggerated.

The New King of New York

One passage in particular stirred the blood of every New York fan who bought a copy of the newspaper in the early days.

"Willis Reed instilled a fighting spirit into the Knicks with his willpower, and Patrick Ewing, with his indomitable spirit, ensured the continuation of Madison's legend."

"And with Reed winning the first overall pick, it was like a cycle, giving New York another giant."

"New York needed a new king, and now he has arrived."

Nobody thought it was an exaggeration.

Because Yao Ming scored 39 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against the Dream Team.

All the fans felt excited.

Just as this saying goes, New York needs a new king, a giant.

This is a tradition, a source of pride and glory for New Yorkers.

New Yorkers don't just offer their support verbally.

Yao Ming's No. 11 jersey sold out instantly, completely sold out.

And Nike too, I'm so happy I could faint.

Because Yao Ming is their contracted player.

In 99, they signed Yao Ming for only 4 years and $20, and the contract will not expire until next year.

Nike made a huge profit by signing a number one draft pick for $20, especially against a superstar center who scored nearly 40 points against the Dream Team.

They believe in New Yorkers; those bastards are really willing to spend money when it comes to supporting star players.

Nike contacted the Knicks immediately and launched a major advertising campaign for Yao Ming in Times Square, letting all of New York know just how good Yao Ming is.

Dolan simply ignored them.

It makes it seem like I'm short of money.

The day after the game ended, in Times Square, a promotional video featuring Yao Ming beating up the Dream Team's center was edited and played on a loop.

This is New York, where if you have the talent, you can gain incredible attention.

So overnight, Yao Ming's name resounded throughout New York.

(End of this chapter)