The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 123 Short-legged Sheep

Mark Fleischer said, "Gong Xiaobing, the power forward for Shandong Gold Club, is quite good and has the ability to play in the NBA. However, he is a bit short and can only play small forward, which is not suitable for him."

“Do you know Tang?” Eric Fleischer asked.

Tang Bei shook his head and said, "No, I didn't pay much attention to these things when I was in China. We didn't have a TV at home, so I had to go to other people's houses to watch TV, so I didn't watch TV often."

Mark Fleischer added, "There's also a swingman named Sun Jun and a shooting guard named Hu Weidong, both of whom are quite good."

He added with some regret, "But I've found that Chinese players aren't good at physical contact, and their shooting consistency is poor in physical situations, which is the complete opposite of Tang's approach."

Eric Fleischer immediately said with a proud look, "Do you think Don is just anyone? He's one of a kind."

Mark Fleischer retorted angrily, "He was mine, Eric. You owe me a one-of-a-kind superstar."

"nonsense."

Eric Fleischer immediately denied it.

"Stop."

Tang Bei had already heard the two brothers argue about this topic before, and said:

"That's the style of play in our country. When I played basketball in my town, they wanted to tie my hands and feet."

Mark, if you're looking for someone, you should look for someone younger and train them from a young age.

Mark Fleischer shook his head regretfully and said, "The playing environment over there isn't good; it doesn't cultivate players with strong physicality."

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Eric Fleischer said.

Mark Fleischer said, "I met a little guy in the youth team of the Shanghai Sharks Club. He's only 13 years old and his name is Yao Min. He just joined the youth team and his height is already 196 centimeters."

Oh, and there's another young man named Wang Zhizhi, from the Bayi team. He's 16 years old and already 210 centimeters tall.

Both of these young men are very talented, especially Wang Zhizhi, who is already a professional player and will be eligible for the draft in two years.

"You signed them?" Mark Fleischer asked.

Mark Fleischer said dejectedly, "Yao Min has a development contract, and the Shanghai Sharks won't release him. I simply can't afford the cost of buying out that contract. And that Wang is a soldier; there's no chance of signing him."

“A waste of time,” Eric Fleischer joked.

Mark Fleischer also lamented, "The national team ignores me and treats me coldly."

"You steal their people, do you think they'll be friendly to you?" Eric Fleischer said gloatingly.

“But I’ve already made contact with the parents of these two young men, so there will still be opportunities in the future,” Mark Fleischer said.

“Mark, you’re really cunning,” Eric Fleischer laughed.

That night, the Bulls lost twice to the Cavaliers at home, and the Suns also lost twice to the Spurs at home.

The next day, the 14th, only has Game 3 between the Heat and the Knicks, while Game 3 between the Rockets and the SuperSonics is scheduled for the 15th.

Before 7 p.m., the Miami Arena was already packed, with an occupancy rate of 108%. All available seats had been filled, and only standing tickets were left to be sold.

Unlike Madison Square Garden, there aren't many celebrities here, so there's not much star power.

But many celebrities from Miami and Florida were present, most notably the governor of Florida and the mayor of Miami.

Jiabao was already on vacation, holding a bag of snacks and drinks, sitting in the front row arranged by Tang Bei.

On the right is the Heat's bench water boy, on the left is Eric Fleischer, and behind him sits Mark Fleischer.

This was her second appearance at the Miami Arena. She's beautiful and has a connection to Tang Bei, so ESPN frequently gave her close-up shots on the overhead screen.

Eric Fleischer knew that Garbo had assembled an investment team for Tang Bei, which to some extent weakened his influence over Tang Bei.

Most NBA agents also act as financial investment advisors for their players, because those Black players mostly come from slums and don't understand financial management at all, or even how to save money. They spend whatever they have and only trust their agents.

But he had no objection to Jia Bao, because Tang Bei never intended to entrust his private funds to him for management and always planned to bring all the funds back to China.

"Miss, may I ask what your relationship is with Tang?"

"He is my teacher."

"Miss……"

"I'm sorry, I'm not a public figure and I don't give interviews."

Media reporters frequently came to interview Garbo, but she paid little attention to them, displaying her aloof demeanor. After giving a few casual replies, she left the interviews to Eric Fleischer.

At 7:30, both sides announced their starting lineups, which remained unchanged from G1 and G2.

In the ESPN studio, Michael Breen said, "In Game 2, the Knicks continued with the same defensive tactics as in Game 1."

The main strategy is to cut off passing lanes between Tang and the ball handler, reduce Tang's shot attempts, and strengthen perimeter defense.

Tom Tolbert said, "It's the Pistons' extreme tactic: if they can't stop Tang, they'll stop everyone else."

Tonight's commentator is not Wilt Chamberlain, but another legendary superstar, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar continued the discussion, saying, "The Knicks' extreme defensive tactics weren't as effective as the Pistons'."

“Why?” Michael Brin asked.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explained, "Because Don is closer to the basket than Michael Jordan, the Knicks have to double-team him and defend him closely to prevent him from getting close to the basket easily."

Michael Breen nodded and said, "Yes, once he gets close to the basket, no matter how strong the perimeter defense is, it won't be able to stop the ball handler from passing the ball to the basket."

Tom Tolbert said, "Grant Lang got some opportunities because he would get open shots when the Knicks double-teamed him."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, "So when Oakley is double-teaming, he also has to watch out for Grant Long. When Grant Long gets into the paint and gets close to the basket, he has to be careful of Don's passes."

Michael Breen said, "Ewing is responsible for the defensive work. He can cut off Tang's passing lanes on the weak side, and that's what he did in Game 2."

Tom Tolbert said, "The Heat have home-court advantage in Game 3 tonight, and I still really favor the Heat."

"It all depends on whether the Knicks can play top-notch defense on the road," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said.

"WOW!"

"tornado!"

"Don!"

"Bone crusher!"

Then Tang Bei made his grand entrance, and the Miami Arena erupted in a deafening roar of cheers and shouts.

Zhang Heli excitedly said to the CCTV camera, "Did you hear that? Did you see that? Tang Bei's influence in this city is huge, and it's getting bigger and bigger."

The Heat's influence in the city is also growing, and tonight's game even attracted the mayor of Miami and the governor of Florida.

The competition officially began at eight o'clock.

This is their home court, and they have home-court advantage. The coaching staff advised Tang Bei to be aggressive in the first quarter to suppress the Knicks' defense.

The Knicks' strength over the Heat lies in their defense; their offense is not stronger. In fact, the Heat have Tang Bei, a powerful low-post weapon, giving them a greater ability to break down defenses than the Knicks.

Tang Bei's offensive threat lies in the paint. Although he won't directly harm the Knicks' perimeter players, the Knicks rely on their defensive system. If the interior defense is weakened, and Ewing or Oakley lowers their defensive intensity or is forced off the court, it will definitely affect the quality of their perimeter defense.

After the jump ball, the Heat went on offense.

Power forward Grant Long pulled out and brought Oakley to the right midfield position, allowing Tang Bei to enter the paint and forcefully push towards the basket.

With Ewing on the defensive, Tang Bei suddenly executed a Tai Chi spin, bypassing his opponent and stealing the ball under the basket.

"ball!"

Bimbo Coles was two steps away from the top of the key when he saw the ball and shouted, passing it towards the basket.

Oakley and Ewing quickly double-teamed under the basket, and the three jumped almost simultaneously to fight for the ball.

"Snapped!"

Tang Bei jumped even higher, grabbed the ball with both hands, landed and rose again, his momentum like a tiger.

The next moment, Ewing and Oakley's large hands struck Tang Bei's left and right arms simultaneously, but even with their combined strength, they still couldn't suppress his terrifying explosive power or stop him from getting up.

"boom!"

With a loud thud, the Knicks' backboard was smashed and sank.

"Di!"

The referee blew his whistle, and Oakley raised his right hand before Ewing could.

"WOW!" At the same time, an amazing cheer erupted in the Miami Arena.

"Chair, a short-legged sheep like you can't stop me."

After succeeding, an excited Tang Bei, following local customs, started trash-talking Oakley.

Oakley was already annoyed by the word "chair," but when he heard the word "short-legged sheep," the blood rushed to his head, his brain buzzed, and he felt like he was about to have a stroke.

“Charles, he’s using trash talk to provoke you. You need to control your temper. We can’t do without you,” Ewing said, pulling Oakley aside.

"Don't worry, I won't fall for it," Oakley said, panting.

"brush!"

Tang Beijia's penalty hit.

0-3, Knicks on offense.

In Game 2, Pat Riley abandoned the offensive strategy of having John Starks drive to the basket and draw fouls from Tang Bei.

Simply put, as a shooting guard who only averages two or three free throws per game, John Starks really doesn't have that ability.

The Knicks' core offensive tactic is half-court set offense centered around the paint, combined with limited defensive counter-attacks.

The first tactic was to use screens or cross-cutting by wing players (John Starks, Charles Smith) to clear low-post space for Ewing and create opportunities for him to score one-on-one.

The second tactic is a screen and pick-and-roll between the perimeter and the interior. Ewing can either roll to the basket for a layup, cut to the perimeter for a mid-range jump shot, or drive to the perimeter and pass the ball to a shooter lurking on the weak side.

The third tactic is defensive counter-attack.

Fourthly, it emphasizes secondary attacks through physical confrontation.

Of these four main tactics, the first one can be executed without any cover, because Tang Bei has been guarding Ewing one-on-one. However, the problem is that Ewing can't beat Tang Bei in a one-on-one situation.

The second and third methods were both played well and were the Knicks' main and effective offensive tactics in the first two games of the series.

The fourth type also performed poorly, because Tang Bei's rebounding was stronger than Ewing and Oakley's, and the Knicks didn't grab many offensive rebounds in the first two games of the series.

Pat Riley primarily employed the second tactic in Game 2, supplemented by the third and fourth tactics, and leveraged the home-court advantage to secure the victory.

In today's Game 3, the Heat had the home-court advantage, but he still deployed the same tactics.

However, he made a change. Today, he planned to reduce Ewing's shot attempts but strengthen his position in the low post to draw Tang Bei's defensive attention and reduce Tang Bei's help defense area.

Patrick Ewing moved to the low left wing and began to aggressively try to gain position, prompting Tang Bei to immediately intensify his defense against Ewing.

At this moment, Oakley and John Starks ran a pick-and-roll on the right wing. Starks drove to the basket and then passed the ball back to Oakley, who was cutting to the outside.

"brush!"

Charles Oakley got a wide-open shot a step inside the three-point line, caught the ball, and made a jump shot.

On the left wing in the low post, Tang Bei needs to both position himself deep and receive the ball.

Oakley immediately began moving towards the basket, and Grant Long, who had moved to the right wing, also immediately moved towards the paint, drawing the defense from the left side.

This prevented Oakley from fully committing to weak-side help defense, forcing him to retreat only to the basket.

Because in the first two games of the series, Tang Bei made several good passes to Grant Long while completely leaving him open, showing some restraint.

When the ball came down, Tang Bei had already noticed that Oakley only returned to defend under the basket, so after receiving the ball, he immediately started to post up Ewing without wasting a second.

"Oh!"

Ewing was knocked back a small half step, shifting his center of gravity.

At this moment, seeing Tang Bei begin to attack, Oakley immediately moved again, taking a full step towards this side to provide defensive support.

The distance is only two meters; he only needs one step to touch Tang Bei.

"Oh!"

Just as Oakley was about to reach out and touch Tang Bei, Tang Bei's second strike erupted, slamming into Ewing's chest.

The terrifying impact caused Ewing to grunt, his upper body suddenly flipping backward, his feet unable to move in time.

The next instant, as Ewing took flight, Oakley bent down and grabbed the basketball that bounced off the floor with both hands.

At the same time, Tang Bei, who had knocked Ewing away, immediately grabbed the basketball with both hands.

Both players reached out at the same time. Tang Bei, who maintained a low stance, had a lower center of gravity, was closer to the basketball, and had a longer arm span, so he grabbed the ball first and prevented it from being stolen.

The moment after the ball was collected, Tang Bei turned around and pounced on the basket like a tiger.

"boom!"

With a loud thud, his body swung high forward, pulling the entire basket rack down two feet, almost breaking it.

"WOW!"

A deafening roar of cheers erupted instantly in the Miami Arena.

In the conference room of the Sports Commission's Ball Games Department, Liu Yumin spoke to Yang Boyong.

"Boss, I heard that the NBA has reinforced its equipment twice because of Tang Bei. Our training base's equipment is all domestically made, and it can't withstand his tinkering. Do you think we should apply for funding to replace it with imported equipment?"

Yang Boyong said irritably, "You make it sound so easy. The funding can be approved, but where are we going to get the US dollars?"

The black market won't work; we can't afford it. The official exchange rate is close to 1:5.8, while the black market is almost 1:10. Who will cover the difference?

"What should we do then?" Liu Yumin asked, his head throbbing.

"Let the higher-ups worry about it. You should submit an application as soon as possible, and I'll report it tomorrow," Yang Boyong said helplessly.

"Okay." Liu Yumin laughed.

On the field, Ewing struggled to his feet, feeling a stiffness in his back.

His playing style is known for its toughness. He often plays in the low post and rebounds. Under such intense competition, his back muscles have long suffered from chronic fatigue damage. However, it is still in the early stages and the injury has not yet reached its peak.

In the two series against the Heat, Tang Bei wore me out. My chest and back were covered in wounds, and my back muscles have been in a state of excessive fatigue for the past few days.

He had just been knocked away and his back hit the floor, and he felt something was wrong with his back. He needed to rest for a bit, so he gestured to the scorer's table to let him be substituted.

With Ewing leaving the court, the momentum immediately shifted in the home team's favor, and the Heat quickly took control of the game.

Tang Bei launched a furious low-post attack, making all three of his field goal attempts and two of his free throws in the next four minutes, scoring another 8 points. He had already scored 13 points in the first six minutes of the first quarter.

During his final offensive play, he drew two fouls from Oakley, forcing Ewing, who had only rested for three minutes, to come on and replace Oakley.

In the 9th minute of the first quarter, Ewing felt discomfort in his back again and asked to leave the game.

Under these circumstances, Pat Riley dared not continue to overwork Ewing, lest he get injured and the series be over.

In the sixth minute of the second quarter, Herb Williams, the backup center who replaced Patrick Ewing, was injured by Tang Bei.

He weighs only 110 kilograms and his defensive skills are far inferior to Ewing's. In a short period of time, he was knocked down three times by Tang Bei through post-up moves, resulting in a strained lower back and forcing him to be substituted.

Ewing felt he had rested enough and his back was no longer stiff, so he went back on the court.

At this point, the Knicks were already down by 15 points, and it was the Heat's home court; their fate was essentially sealed.

After three quarters, the Knicks were unable to close the gap and conceded defeat in the final quarter.

"85-105, congratulations to the Heat, who take a 2-1 lead over the Knicks," Michael Breen said.

Tom Tolbert said, "Don didn't play in the fourth quarter. He played 33 minutes in the first three quarters and only rested for 3 minutes."

20投15中，命中率75%，13罚9中，命中率69.2%，轰下32分11篮板1助攻1抢断4盖帽的数据。”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar continued, "His offensive percentage in the paint was 65%, his two-point percentage was nearly 30%, and his two-point percentage was 5%, with only one two-pointer made. His dominance was truly immense."

Michael Breen added, "Ewing's playing time was inconsistent due to physical discomfort; he played 23 minutes and only scored 11 points."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shook his head and said, "The Knicks have been eliminated by the Bulls in three of the last four seasons, by the Pistons once, and now they're facing the Heat. They're having a lot of bad luck!"

Tom Albert said, "This is Ewing's eighth season in the NBA. He failed to make the playoffs in the first two seasons, but made the playoffs in the next six seasons. His record as a team is not bad."

However, despite reaching the second round three times, they haven't been able to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, and judging from the current series standings, their chances of advancing seem slim.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said, "From the Celtics to the Pistons, then to the Bulls, and now the Heat, the competition in the East has been too intense in recent years. In the first seven seasons, Eastern Conference teams won five championships. The Knicks and Ewing were really unlucky."

Michael Breen said, "With Jordan entering his prime and another super center, Tang, emerging from his peak, the competition in the East will only increase in the coming seasons."

(End of this chapter)