The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 84 Who the hell leaked all the details?

In the basketball department, Liu Yumin soon received a call from Zhang Heli. After learning that Tang Bei was only willing to play in the Olympics, he fell silent.

In an era that valued selflessness, she strongly disagreed with Tang Bei's ideas and even suspected that Tang Bei was trying to reap the benefits.

There's only one direct ticket to the Olympics in the vast continent of Asia. Although the men's basketball team is strong in Asia, it's still very difficult for them to qualify for the Olympics.

Only the Asian Championships champion or the top eight finishers in the World Championships can qualify directly for the Olympics; otherwise, they will have to compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament for the last half-chance.

After other team members fought tooth and nail to secure their spots, he obtained the qualification for the Olympics without putting in any effort whatsoever. What are the other team members supposed to think? What are the provincial teams below him supposed to think? What are the team members who were replaced by him supposed to think?
Zhang Heli advised, "Director Liu, the intensity of NBA games is far greater than that of the A-League. The A-League only has about thirty games a season, and there is no home-and-away system."

The NBA regular season has 82 games, plus a home-and-away system. Players spend a third of their time traveling, which is much more physically demanding than in the second division league.

Moreover, Tang Bei's fighting style is very physically demanding and prone to injury, so, Director Liu, what do you think…”

"Old Zhang, you're right, but I don't have the authority to agree. This matter would have too much negative impact and would damage internal unity..."

"He may be talented, but what use is he if there are no other players? I can't let him lose the support of all the other players."

Liu Yumin knew that Zhang Heli was right, but if this matter were approved, the impact would be very bad. Not to mention her, even Director Yang of the Second Division would not have the authority to approve it, and it would even have to be reported to the Sports Commission for approval.

On the 11th, the media gave extensive coverage to last night's game between the Heat and the Spurs.

As John Salley and Glen Rice said, Tang Bei became famous, and the footage of him knocking David Robinson down four times made headlines in many media outlets.

TNT reports: "We've been debating who the fourth greatest center will be, and now we should be able to say for sure: it's Tang Bei, the 'Severe Fear' center."

ESPN reports: "Although David Robinson won the team's victory, his individual performance was lackluster. He was knocked down four times and fell to the ground a total of eight times, making him look rather pathetic against the rookie."

Analyzing the performances of Tang Bei, O'Neal, and Mourning, three rookie centers, against established superstar centers, Tang Bei is undoubtedly the best.

Of course, it's too early to declare someone the fourth greatest center, but Tang Bei has already taken the lead in the competition.

"hehe!"

Tang Bei was very happy and excited when he saw these news reports.

In the afternoon, the Heat returned to Miami.

With a record of 5 wins and 12 losses, second to last in the Eastern Conference, the Heat's fanbase is gradually forming and stabilizing, which has not affected ticket sales.

So far, the Heat's attendance rate has improved slightly compared to last season, reaching 98%.

Tickets for the game against the Suns on the 12th were almost sold out a day in advance.

Tang Bei returned to the villa the team had rented for him, enjoying the sea view and the warm, slightly humid sea breeze.

Miami has a tropical monsoon climate, where daytime temperatures can reach 25 degrees Celsius and nighttime lows are still above 15 degrees Celsius, making it very comfortable.

The next day, Tang Bei practiced martial arts for three hours before breakfast, rested for half an hour after breakfast, and then studied English for three hours.

He has now started English reading and writing training, and with the acceleration of the English learning cards, he is making rapid progress.

After lunch, we rested for an hour and then arrived at the team's training base at 2 p.m. for basketball training.

He had previously considered applying Wing Chun's horse-riding techniques to basketball games, and today he's going to give it a try.

The Heat assigned him a trainer named Leo Rocky, a 210cm tall man with very solid muscles, weighing 125kg, and possessing immense strength. His maximum bench press reached 198kg. He had a brief NBA career and informed his trainer after being eliminated from the league.

"Leo, you're in charge of defense, guarding against my turnaround, understand?"

"OK."

The two players positioned themselves in the low post on the left wing. Riolocchi defended with all his might, while Tang Bei, holding the basketball, stood with his back to Riolocchi, preparing to attack.

“I’m about to begin; there will be a feint,” he warned.

"OK."

Rio Locchi, who was behind, became more vigilant.

The next moment, Tang Bei began to perform the Wing Chun horse stance.

Turning the horse is a waist-generating technique in Wing Chun. It involves quickly switching the pivot foot by shifting the stance to dodge the opponent's attack while simultaneously generating power from the waist to attack and defend with the bridge hand.

For example, in a left-leaning horse stance, the body turns to the left front, but the pivot foot is the right foot, giving the impression of an imminent left turn.

Tang Bei instantly shifted his waist, into a left-leaning horse stance, and used his waist strength to lift his hand onto the bridge.

The bridge is the arm. When it seems like you're turning to the left, your left arm swings outward, and the powerful waist force is transmitted to Riolocchi behind you through the bridge arm, sending an absolutely real but wrong signal: I'm going to turn to the left.

In that instant, Riolocchi felt a powerful force.

"Tang lied to me; there was no feint."

This was absolutely real power, not an illusion. He instinctively judged that Tang was about to turn left, so he immediately took a step to the left.

But in the next instant, Tang Bei suddenly turned to the right and broke through Riolocchi's defense.

"boom!"

He drove straight to the basket and, in a burst of speed, unleashed a furious one-handed dunk.

"Tang wasn't lying to me after all; it really was a feint?"

Riolocci was stunned. It was clearly a left turn, so why was it a right turn? Was the feint so realistic?

Tang Bei was very happy that the experiment was successful.

The left-leaning stance appears to be a left turn, but it is actually pivoted on the right foot, making it very suitable for the subsequent right turn without needing to switch pivot feet or center of gravity, making it very convenient to use.

Next, Tang repeatedly tried out the Wing Chun horse-turning technique.

The main goal is to eliminate moves that are easily called fouls and to familiarize oneself with the application of turning techniques in order to prevent mistakes in actual combat.

For example, the bridge hand should not be too high; it is best placed in a position that the referee cannot see, such as the defender's abdomen.

In today's NBA, where physical play is so intense, drives are often cleared with elbows. If a bridge hand is placed on a defender's abdomen, it's unlikely to be called.

Fortunately, having practiced martial arts for many years, these martial arts skills were much more familiar to him than basketball skills, and they posed no difficulty for him.

After getting familiar with it initially, he began to try to integrate Tai Chi turning and Wing Chun turning stance into low-post back-hitting techniques, that is, to add turning stance skills to the tornado-style turning attack on the basket.

When turning into a horse stance, you naturally cannot use the power generation techniques of Tai Chi turning, because if the turning speed is too fast and the turning force is too great, it will be difficult to retract the feint.

But when you actually turn around, you can use Tai Chi turning techniques to increase the speed and power of the turn, creating an unstoppable momentum.

After practicing for a while, he had another idea.

In certain situations, a true turn can be achieved without using the Tai Chi turn technique.

What happens is when there is weak-side help defense, and the weak-side help defense is already in place.

If he uses a Tai Chi turn at this moment and can't retract his movement, it's easy for him to commit an offensive foul against the double-teamer who has already positioned himself for help defense.

At this point, instead of using a Tai Chi turn, he can pull back and finish with a close-range attack using a shot or hook shot.

In addition, when applying the turning horse technique, attention should be paid to the weak side's defensive support.

Wing Chun turning techniques allow for the switching of pivot feet, meaning that one can repeatedly sway up and down, and given enough time, can perform multiple up-and-down movements.

"Charles, I heard you got beaten up by Don last time?"

When the Suns arrived at the arena, a group of reporters approached Barkley.

Barkley's face stiffened for a moment, but he immediately smiled and said, "No, we get along well. I admire him. Last time we were just studying wrestling techniques and learning from each other."

"Charles, you lost, didn't you? The media reported that he ended your life in one fell swoop," the reporter asked bluntly.

Barkley's face darkened slightly, and he said seriously, "No, we didn't actually fight, we were just learning from each other."

The reporter immediately followed up: "You were finished off by Tang Yiben, pinned to the ground, and you even told him 'I surrender,' right?"

Barkley couldn't hold back any longer and cursed angrily, "Damn it, who leaked all the details?"

"Haha..." Everyone who heard it, including the reporter who asked the question, burst out laughing.

7:40, players' tunnel.

"Tang, I'm going to beat you until you call me daddy tonight!" Barkley arrived first and immediately shouted when he saw Tang Bei.

"Boxing, wrestling, aikido, kickboxing, street fighting—take your pick. If you lose, call me daddy," Tang Bei said, rolling up his sleeves.

Charles Barkley's face twitched, and he quickly said with a grin, "You've got it wrong, Don. I meant playing ball."

Tang Bei glanced at the Suns' starting lineup and said confidently, "Your starting point guard is still not here. This time, I will personally beat you, and the team will beat you too."

When it came to playing basketball, Barkley scoffed, "Do you think the Heat are the Hornets? The second-worst team in the league, you think you can beat us? We can beat you even without Kevin."

"We'll see."

Tang Bei's words lacked conviction; there was no way around it, given the Heat's poor record.

That evening, the Miami Arena was almost full.

"Clap clap clap..."

Tang Bei met with fans for the first time at the Heat's home arena and received a warm welcome. Several fans were even wearing his No. 88 jersey from the Heat.

After the jump ball, the Heat went on offense.

Tang Bei entered the paint and was matched up against Mark West, the Suns' starting center, a blue-collar player who is only 208 cm tall and weighs 104 kg (230 lbs).

The two looked like an adult fighting a child. Mark West was short and thin in front of Tang Bei and could not resist at all. He also had no way to defend in front of Tang Bei. His height, wingspan and jumping ability were far inferior.

"ball!"

Tang Bei easily approached the basket, pointed at it, and shouted loudly.

Next, the Heat's outside shooters need to simply throw the ball directly towards the basket.

"boom!"

The next moment, Tang Bei hung on the rim, and Mark West could only watch helplessly, without even a chance to foul.

"The center is too weak. He'll definitely get crushed by the rookie tonight. Kevin's not here, so I'll have to step in and finish this game. Hehe!"

Barkley, as a superstar, didn't perform well last time, so he's really pushing himself this time.

"brush!"

He received the ball in the low post on the right wing, backed down Grant Long, used his big butt to push the defender aside, created space for a shot, and immediately turned and jumped to make the basket.

The offensive pace was very fast, and Tang Bei didn't even have time to go and help defend.

Moreover, Barkley's assist ability is excellent. He remembered that the fat guy had 7 assists last time, so he was too afraid to double-team Barkley early.

That night, Barkley played exceptionally well, shooting 15-for-23 for a remarkable 65.2% field goal percentage. Including free throws, he racked up 39 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks. The only downside was that he committed 7 turnovers and 4 fouls.

However, Tang Bei displayed his prowess against the short, blue-collar center Mark West and even worse substitute centers, crushing the opponent's morale by halftime.

21投18中，命中率高达85.7%，其中近两分7投4中，篮下进攻14投全中，加上12罚7中，轰下43分12篮板3盖帽2抢断，只有3次失误和2次犯规。

Ultimately, without Kevin Johnson as their engine, Barkley alone couldn't turn the tide, and the Suns lost to the Heat on the road.

Tang Bei's 43-point performance in his first game at the Heat's home court was nothing short of perfect, earning him the fans' approval right after the game.

However, the Hornets also defeated the Nuggets at home, bringing their record to 14 wins and 6 losses.

The Bulls lost to the Rockets at home yesterday, but won against the Nets at home tonight in a back-to-back game, bringing their record to 13 wins and 6 losses. The Hornets have once again climbed to the top of the league, leading the Bulls by half a game.

The next day, Tang Bei's Heat home jersey with the number 88 sold 1500 pieces, clearing out all the inventory and selling out completely.

This surprised him greatly. He had performed very well with the Hornets, so why weren't his jerseys selling as fast as those in Miami?
"The economy is better here, there's a larger population, and Charlotte is most popular with the NCAA. The NCAA atmosphere in Miami isn't as strong as in Charlotte. If you perform well enough, you can quickly gain a large following and influence here."

"In addition, the Heat do not have a star player with the same influence as Larry Johnson. Glen Rice is a shooter with little influence. He is too low-key and lacks star quality and buzz, which is somewhat similar to Kendall Gill."

Eric Fleischer's words filled Tang Bei with anticipation and confidence for the future.

But Fleischer reminded him, "Don, a third of your shots are now close to two points. Although your shooting percentage is low, you need to keep it up. This will reduce your energy consumption on the court and allow you to play longer."

However, it's important to note that when attacking under the basket, you shouldn't always rely on dunks to finish the offense. You can use layups or hook shots to finish the game.

Excessive dunking not only consumes a lot of energy, but also increases the wear and tear on your body, leading to stress injuries.

For example, the knees, feet, and ankles are the most vulnerable areas for centers. Once stress injuries accumulate to a certain extent, they will erupt, which can be troublesome, and in the worst case, end your career.

"I will pay attention; I've been practicing my shooting technique."

Although Tang Bei enjoys dunking, he doesn't neglect his physical health. However, his technique is still a bit lacking, and overuse of it would significantly reduce his offensive efficiency.

With All-Star voting about to begin, the Heat have kept their word and started mobilizing media resources to promote Tang Bei.

Glen Rice was somewhat jealous when he found out, because this was a treatment he had never received while with the Heat.

However, he didn't reach his peak right from the start. His performance in the first two seasons was only considered decent, and he only became the team's leading scorer last season.

However, due to injuries this season, his performance has declined somewhat, so he feels he has no right to compete with Tang, who debuted at his peak.

Another point is that his personality isn't particularly assertive, his playing style isn't aggressive, he lacks strong offensive capabilities, and he doesn't step up in crucial moments, so his desire to compete for the top spot isn't very strong.

On the 15th, the Heat defeated the Kings at home, achieving a record of 7 wins and 12 losses, with their winning percentage climbing from 26.7% to 36.8%.

With a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in a week, the Heat surpassed the 76ers and the Bullets to climb to 12th place in the Eastern Conference, third from the bottom.

Tang Bei played in three of the four matches, winning two and losing one, with excellent statistics and impeccable performance.

That same night, the Bulls defeated the Hornets at home.

The Bulls had a record of 14 wins and 6 losses, while Huang Feng had a record of 14 wins and 7 losses, officially making the Bulls the top team in the Eastern Conference.

With a winning streak, the Suns have climbed to the top of the league.

On the 16th, the Hornets lost to the Warriors in a back-to-back home game, bringing their record to 14 wins and 8 losses.

On the 17th, the Bulls defeated the Bullets on the road, bringing their record to 15 wins and 6 losses, and began to widen the gap in their record against the Hornets, reaching 1.5 wins and losses.

Meanwhile, the Knicks finished with a 13-7 record, tying the Hornets.

However, the Knicks defeated the Hornets, so the Knicks' record surpassed the Hornets', moving them up to second place in the Eastern Conference, while the Hornets were third.

On the 18th, the Heat lost to the Hawks at home.

The Hawks were in great form, with seven players scoring in double figures, while the Heat only had three players in double figures. Tang Bei scored 26 points, and Glen Rice only made 4 of 17 shots.

After playing the Hawks, the Heat set off overnight for New York, where they will face the New York Knicks in a back-to-back game on the 19th.

On the 19th, around 5 a.m., although he went to bed late, Tang Bei had very good sleep quality and still woke up very early.

After practicing martial arts for three hours, he stood by the hotel window, gazing blankly at New York City in the early morning.

He has been in the United States for nine months and has experienced a lot.

The bewilderment and hunger upon arriving in New York, the surprise of receiving the treasure chest, the joy of meeting Eric Fleischer, the happiness of being drafted, the fierce excitement of competing with Larry Johnson, the frustration of being let go by the Hornets, and so on.

His basketball career has only just begun, and he will encounter many more challenges ahead, such as failures, injuries, competition, ridicule, and provocation.

But he believes that as long as he works hard, in addition to these, there will definitely be victory, championships, commercial endorsement contracts, flowers and applause, beautiful women and all sorts of wonderful things waiting for him.

He knew he was no longer the same person he was nine months ago; simply eating his fill and earning money for his family was no longer his goal.

Gazing out the window, he felt as if he were the slowly rising red sun, which would one day illuminate the earth.

“Don, go have breakfast,” John Liu called out.

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)