The longest river

Chapter 175 Welcome to Portland Hospital
Sloan finally realized that he had made a huge mistake.

He turned around and called out to Russell and Foster.

Malone continued to demand the ball in the low post for one-on-one attacks.

His two-pronged fighting style consumes very little physical energy, allowing him to engage in continuous one-on-one combat.

However, Yang Shuai and Williams switched on defense in this round, and after he switched to the strong side, he immediately collapsed inside.

As soon as Ma Long saw Yang Shuai coming over, he immediately passed the ball to Kiefer.

When Malone first entered the NBA, he was a rough guy, but his basketball talent was indeed good. He not only developed his mid-range shot, but also his playmaking ability. As an inside player, he averaged more than 4 assists per game for three consecutive seasons.

Kiefer takes a mid-range shot after receiving the ball.

But to everyone's surprise, the moment Kiefer made his shot, Yang Shuai actually went back to defend and jumped high to block Kiefer's shot!

However, this wasn't a volleyball-style block; it simply disrupted the ball's path, causing it to change from forward to upward.

Then, as the ball fell, Yang Shuai leaped up and stole it right in front of Kiefer!

This shot drew gasps of amazement from the crowd and left even Kiefer stunned.

Are you even human?

While Kife was still in a daze, Yang Shuai landed and stepped on the gas, quickly launching a fast attack along the sideline.

Stockton realized what was happening and tried to foul him early, but he found he couldn't catch up at all.

Yang Shuai's fast break speed seems to have increased again!

Amid cheers from the fans, Yang Shuai sprinted to the frontcourt, glanced back at Stockton from the free-throw line like Usain Bolt, and then took to the air.

"Oh!"

The first tomahawk dunk at the Rose Garden Arena!
The Portland fans in the stadium couldn't sit still any longer, and many of them stood up and cheered excitedly.

It wasn't that they were overreacting; they were just genuinely too excited.

This is the third consecutive season they have watched Yang Shuai dominate at the Rose Garden Arena, but unlike the previous two times, this time Yang Shuai is wearing the Trail Blazers' number 16 jersey!
Sloan couldn't sit still any longer; he stood up and made tactical gestures to Stockton.

The Jazz started running pick-and-rolls in the frontcourt.

After Malone set a screen, he received a pass from Stockton and drew a foul from Wallace, who was helping on defense.

While Wallace's help defense was quick, the reason why the Jazz's pick-and-roll was so difficult to defend was that once Malone got going, it wasn't enough for just the help defense to be in place to stop him.

Malone's free throw opportunity.

The Jazz made substitutions, with Russell and Foster replacing Kiefer and Ostertag.

After this substitution, the Jazz's height dropped significantly, but their mobility on both offense and defense improved dramatically.

Malone made both free throws.

8:6.

It was at this moment that the fans in the stadium realized that the game had turned into a scoring duel between Yang Shuai and Ma Long.

"Malph, you're right, Hansen is Portland's hope for resurgence!"

Ernie Johnson was thrilled when he saw this.

As it turns out, his pre-game worries were completely unnecessary. The fact that Yang Shuai dared to make his comeback in the game against the Jazz shows that he has absolute confidence.

Albert coughed.

The most awkward thing in the world is when you make sarcastic remarks about someone, and then those remarks become a reality.

"Ernie, the game has only just begun."

Albert looked toward the field as he spoke.

Yang Shuai's explosive start was directly related to the Jazz's defensive strategy.

If it weren't for the fact that the Jazz's head coach was Sloan, he would have suspected that the Jazz were cooperating with Yang Shuai's performance.

But now things will be very different with Russell on the court, especially since Russell is guarding Yang Shuai right from the start.

When Yang Shuai sees Russell, he will inevitably recall the experience of being fouled by Russell and suffering a serious injury, which will cause him to have a stress response on the court.

"Your foot is healed so quickly?"

Russell also went straight for Yang Shuai after facing him head-on.

"The tattoo on your brow bone is quite unique."

However, Yang Shuai's smiling response made Russell's face puff up.

What kind of bullshit tattoo is this? Who would get a tattoo on their brow bone?

That was left on him by Jermaine O'Neal after the Finals; that hotheaded high schooler was too reckless.

Before Russell could say anything more, Yang Shuai reached out and took the ball.

Moreover, when Sabonis tried to set a screen, he signaled for him to move away.

Carlisle is certainly right, but some things transcend right and wrong, just like how Jordan didn't care about winning or losing when he wanted to teach Yang a lesson during the Christmas game.

Ultimately, this is just a regular season game.

Whether it was his debut or the Christmas game.

Upon seeing Yang Shuai's choice, Russell clapped his hands and got into a defensive stance.

In last season's Finals matchup, Russell played more of the power forward position due to tactical needs, so he didn't get much matchup time with Yang Shuai.

Moreover, Yang Shuai's greater threat with the Pacers lies in his off-ball offense, and he doesn't have many opportunities to attack with the ball.

Therefore, he was quite confident that he could defend against Yang Shuai.

After his teammates separated, Yang Shuai did a crossover dribble forward, passing the ball between his legs with his left hand and switching it to his right hand.

The significance of Tim Hardaway's crossover dribble is that it can close the distance between him and the defender, which is the biggest difference between it and James's stationary crossover dribble.

Russell quickly slid to the right to maintain his defensive position; after all, he was the Jazz's defensive anchor on the perimeter. However, just as he slid over, Yang Shuai executed a crossover dribble to his left hand, then accelerated past him with a burst of speed.

Tim Hardaway is hailed as the "father of the crossover," but a more accurate term would be the crossover with a front crossover, as his crossovers are almost always followed by a front crossover.

Yang Shuai is tall, so he's definitely not as fast as Hardaway, but it's precisely because he's tall that he can change direction more easily.

Most importantly, after training according to Grover's training methods, his explosive power conversion rate is higher, and his change of direction speed is very fast.

After getting past Russell, Yang Shuai drove straight to the basket. Seeing this, Foster quickly came to help defend, and his movement speed was much faster than Ostertag's.

Yang Shuai closed the distance to him and then hit a bounce pass to Sabonis, who scored with a one-handed slam dunk.

Although his jumping ability is practically negligible due to his knee condition, his height makes close-range dunks relatively easy for him.

After Sabonis dunked, he reached out and gave Yang Shuai a high-five.

Just like he did in the locker room before, this is a direct form of recognition.

After giving Russell a high-five, Yang Shuai turned to look at him with a disdainful expression.

"No wonder you can only play as a substitute now, you've become so bad."

"Negative energy from Brian Russell +600".

Russell started breathing heavily!
What Yang Shuai didn't know was that Russell didn't just start playing as a substitute in this game.

He was benched after playing two games at the start of the season.

Sloan didn't explain anything to him, and even if he had doubts, he couldn't say anything, since no one on the Jazz team dared to disobey Sloan.

So Yang Shuai accidentally hit a nerve.

Malone received the ball in the low post again, and this time he fed it to Hornacek who was cutting to the basket, and the latter made a layup.

When Bird took over the Pacers, the Pacers were already a strong defensive team that Brown had been adjusting for several seasons. However, judging from Yang Shuai's 51-point performance with the Trail Blazers last season, the Trail Blazers are clearly still some distance from being a strong defensive team.

To win, they can only pin their hopes on offense.

Yang Shuai continues to have the ball in the attacking third.

"Call it help defense, you can't stop me."

He glanced behind him after receiving the ball and offered his advice.

Russell turned around and saw Foster coming over to help defend, and immediately told him to go back.

You can't say there's anything wrong with this choice. After all, the Trail Blazers' two big men, one at the free-throw line and the other at the baseline, create a lot of space for offense. Blindly double-teaming them will only give them opportunities.

Yang Shuai's pass to Sabonis just now has already proven one point.

After Foster retreated, Yang Shuai once again broke through with the ball.

This time, Russell's defensive positioning was noticeably deeper, in order to guard against Yang Shuai's breakthrough.

However, his backward movement wasn't significant, since Yang Shuai's shooting was more threatening than his drives.

Especially tonight, in addition to his three-pointers, Yang Shuai also showcased his mid-range shooting ability.

It was this fear that ultimately rendered his retreat meaningless.

Yang Shuai first sprang into action to close the distance, then directly changed direction in front of Russell to get past him.

Although he was studying Hardaway's crossover dribble, he didn't need that for every drive.

Russell was easily beaten once again, but despite being hit where it hurt, he didn't give up and continued to fight hard to defend.

Sabonis has now blocked Foster under the basket, leaving Yang Shuai with no obstacles between him and the rim.

Yang Shuai rushed into the three-second zone and jumped up, and Russell followed suit.

However, the difference in physical talent between the two is obvious, and it is basically impossible for Russell to stop Yang Shuai based on his ability.

He could only reach out and pull Yang Shuai, trying to forcibly stop Yang Shuai from dunking.

However, just as he did that, Yang Shuai followed up with his signature move: an elbow pole vault dunk.

Because Russell isn't an inside player like Oakley, there's a height difference between the two.

Yang Shuai's elbow hit Russell squarely in the face!
Last year in the Finals, he was pushed by Russell, which caused him to be seriously injured and he was out for six months. That was a whole six months.

Moreover, if he hadn't been lucky enough to avoid damaging his soft tissue, his entire career might have been ruined.

Although Jermaine O'Neal beat up the other guy for him, things won't be over so easily.

He kept provoking Russell, not only to gain points, but more importantly, to anger him and find an opportunity for revenge.

He seized the opportunity.

Russell was hit hard in the face and lost his balance, falling to the ground. He tried to grab Yang Shuai to protect him but couldn't.

"boom!"

Amid the gasps of the fans, Russell's back made direct contact with the floor.

The dull thud of the impact was clearly audible, and even the photographers under the basket couldn't help but gasp.

"Oh!"

Yang Shuai also completed a dunk, and he managed to steady himself by hanging on the rim with both hands.

Russell's pulling action was actually quite dangerous, but fortunately he was decisive enough this time.

Yang Shuai steadied himself and jumped down, but Russell was unable to get up from the ground.

A short while later, the Jazz team doctor, and then the stretcher, arrived.

At this moment, a chorus of cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd.

Before the game, Russell boasted that he would make Yang Shuai go back to bed. Well, Portland Hospital welcomes you now.

(End of this chapter)