The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 24 So what if he's O'Neal? I'm going to take you down!

Although Laettner is a big star in the NCAA, this is an NBA rookie camp, and the referee saw it clearly just now. He pointed to the sidelines and said coldly, "Get off the court."

"Humph!"

Leitner walked angrily off the field.

"Suturing is required after anesthesia."

The doctor rushed over to examine Leitner. His left eyebrow had been cut open, like an open mouth, at least four centimeters long, exposing his brow bone. He needed stitches immediately.

"Shet!"

Leitner cursed angrily. He really wouldn't be able to get the injection today if he was anesthetized, but he was afraid of the pain if he wasn't anesthetized.

"Make a change, bring in two stronger inside players for the Red Team," league vice president Maurice Shears told the staff.

He glanced at Tang Bei on the court and felt that a Chinese player shouldn't be allowed to stand out too much in the rookie camp. He had to suppress him and immediately said, "Let O'Neal and Mourning go up there."

"Yes, Mr. President."

The staff quickly began arranging for the players to take the field.

"Oh, the best offensive center and the best defensive center among the rookies are on the court at the same time. How is Tang going to handle that?"

"The White team also has Tom Gugliotta in the paint. He has mid-range and long-range shooting ability and can pull one out to allow Tang to play one-on-one in the low post."

"If Tang can perform well in the future, then he is not only worth a first-round pick, but I think he is good enough to be in the lottery."

"He's too conservative. He can still put up a good performance against O'Neal and Mourning. He should be in the top five, or even at least the top five."

As O'Neal and Mourning entered the game, the general managers, scouts, and reporters present immediately began to discuss among themselves, but only they knew what they were really thinking.

"Tang, keep it up!"

Seeing O'Neal and Mourning put on the Rockets jerseys, Eric Fleischer shouted at Tang Bei and raised his fist in encouragement.

Tang Beiga missed the free throw, and Shaquille O'Neal grabbed the rebound over his teammate Alonzo Mourning, showcasing his height and wingspan advantage.

Seeing this, Tang Bei wanted to beat Mo Ning even more.

Eric Fleischer has analyzed this many times: despite Laettner's greater fame, almost no general manager would choose Laettner or Mourning over O'Neal.

Therefore, O'Neal has the highest probability of being selected first overall. Given his current strength, it is simply unrealistic to replace O'Neal.

Laettner has just played, and if he performs well against Mourning, he will get extra points, which will be beneficial for the draft.

Upon reaching the basket in the backcourt, Tang Bei proactively confronted O'Neal.

He wants to guard Mourning on offense, and on defense, he definitely wants to guard the strongest player. If he were to leave O'Neal to Gugliotta to guard, that would be irresponsible.

In the NCAA, Tom Gugliotta and Shaquille O'Neal were not in the same league and had never played together. Moreover, Gugliotta was a power forward and had not played center much. He did not want to guard O'Neal. When he saw Tang Bei take the initiative to guard O'Neal, he felt relieved and quickly ran towards Mourning.

"Kid, you can't take me."

Shaquille O'Neal spewed harmless trash talk as he ran from his left elbow toward the paint, accelerating toward Tang Bei, who had already stopped.

He knew that Tang Bei's absolute strength was terrifying; his maximum bench press of 230 kilograms was a strength he did not possess.

However, he was very confident in his explosiveness and impact, and believed that he was stronger than his opponent.

I'll knock you over!

Therefore, he believed he would win the confrontation when his opponent was stationary while he was moving and possessed a powerful impact.

At this moment, as the two giant beasts were about to engage in a fierce battle, everyone's attention was focused on the two of them.

"Oh!"

The next moment, the two collided.

Tang Bei, who stood still, relied on absolute strength, while O'Neal, who was moving, relied on the terrifying impact of his explosive power and speed.

A tremendous force erupted instantly, causing Tang Bei's low horse stance to break. He took a step back with his right foot but still couldn't stand. He had to take another big step back with his left foot before he could stand still.

On the other side, O'Neal's momentum also came to an abrupt halt.

The next moment, Tang Bei slid forward and blocked O'Neal's path again.

"Clap clap clap..."

The most direct, intense, and primal confrontation immediately drew applause from the audience.

"Shit, how can this guy be so strong in combat?"

O'Neal was so surprised. In the previous situation, five out of ten opponents would have been knocked down by him, but Tang only took two steps back. How was that possible?

But he refused to admit defeat, because he hadn't really picked up his speed, his explosive power was insufficient, and he couldn't unleash his true impact.

The three-second shot clock expired, and his attempt to get to the basket failed. He could only run to the left wing to position himself in the low post and call for the ball.

Seeing this, Sprewell, who had the ball on the outside, lobbed it down.

As the ball fell, Tang Bei immediately intensified his confrontation, scrambling for it with O'Neal.

"Snapped!"

His center of gravity shifted, and O'Neal's right hand touched the basketball, but he couldn't catch it. The basketball bounced out of bounds, resulting in a turnover.

"Beep!" The referee blew his whistle, signaled the change of possession, and then pointed towards the white team's frontcourt.

"Pretty!"

Eric Fleischer and others shouted excitedly.

Having disrupted the opponent's pass and completed a successful defensive play, Tang Bei happily ran towards the frontcourt.

Following his usual practice in the CBA, he also ran towards the basket.

"Get out!"

O'Neal came out from under the basket and, just like Tang Bei had done, took up the front defensive position, preventing Tang Bei from entering the basket.

He harbored some hostility towards Tang Bei, whose talent was no less than his. He had won the confrontation just now and then caused Tang Bei to make a mistake, so he wanted to regain his pride.

"So what if it's O'Neal? I'll take you on!"

The idea of ​​hitting Mourning had been completely forgotten. Tang Bei's eyes gleamed, and with a burst of strength, he charged headfirst into Mourning, just like O'Neal had done before.

The same intense confrontation occurred instantly, only this time the two switched positions, but it still attracted everyone's attention.

"Oh!"

A heavy thud echoed from the terrifying impact.

"how is this possible?"

O'Neal felt as if he had been hit by a heavy truck. His lower body was unstable, and he stumbled back two steps, then a third, but he still couldn't regain his balance. Then he completely lost his balance, and his massive body involuntarily flipped backward.

"Damn it, I'm going to lose face!"

As he lamented inwardly, Tang Bei knocked him to the floor.

Tang Bei took another step forward, showing that he hadn't exhausted his momentum and still had some strength left after knocking over his opponent.

"Di!"

The referee blew his whistle, pointed at Tang Bei, and made an offensive foul gesture.

"Oh!"

When O'Neal was knocked down, gasps of surprise erupted in the stadium.

"awesome!"

Eric Fleischer roared excitedly.

"This Chinese man has incredible explosive power!"

"His absolute strength is greater than O'Neal's, so how could his explosiveness be even greater than O'Neal's? This is not scientific!"

"During the physical tests, his 40-yard sprint was indeed faster than O'Neal's, and his explosiveness was stronger, which was not unexpected. I had expected it."

"O'Neal's upper body strength is not as good as Tang's, and it seems that his lower body strength is not as good as Tang's either."

The general managers, scouts, and reporters immediately began discussing excitedly.

"Hey kid, I didn't fall, but you did. Were you faking it?" Tang Bei said.

John Liu, who was on the sidelines, heard it clearly and immediately translated loudly: "Mr. O'Neill, he's asking you whether you flopped."

"Damn it! Again."

Shaquille O'Neal angrily got up from the floor, his face full of defiance, and even challenged Tang Bei to a duel.

"Tang said he'd come again."

John Liu shouted.

"Come!"

With a nonchalant look, Tang Bei raised his left hand and beckoned O'Neal with his index finger.

"You wait."

O'Neal saw the contempt on Tang Bei's face, gritted his teeth in anger, and vowed to crush this despicable guy on the next offensive possession.

At that moment, a group of people walked into the stadium through the players' tunnel.

It includes Jordan, Pippen, Horace Grant, Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks, Anthony Mason Jr., Phil Jackson, and Pat Riley.

There were no matches today, and no training this morning, so they came together to watch the fun.

When the Bulls' general manager Jerry Krause and the Knicks' general manager Ernie Gruenfeld saw them, they went over to greet them.

When Alonzo Mourning's agent, David Falk, saw this, he also came over.

"Jerry, which rookies performed the best?" Jordan asked casually.

Jerry Krause's relationship with Jordan is not currently experiencing any major problems; in fact, after winning the championship last season, they are still in a honeymoon period.

He shrugged and replied, "O'Neal, Mourning, Laettner, Jim Jackson, their performances are basically in line with the scouts' assessments."

Just as he was about to add something, he stopped and looked towards the court when he saw O'Neal and Tang Bei begin another offensive and defensive battle.

(End of this chapter)