Basketball miracles

Chapter 117 [The Number One Ranking Member]

On March 5th, Xiao Tu could no longer calmly watch Larry Bird's drama unfold. He discovered that he wasn't invincible and could also get hurt.

In the game against the Washington Bullets, Xiao Tu twisted his ankle when he stepped on the foot of blue-collar center Rick Mahon with his left foot while grabbing an offensive rebound in the third quarter.

The entire Lakers team was on edge. Fortunately, Xiao Tu's injury was just a minor sprain after a check-up. He was placed on the injury observation list, and the coaching staff did not allow him to travel with the team to the away game, causing him to miss two games.

Mahon has been added to Xiao Tu's blacklist, surpassing Larry Bird to become the number one on the list.

Xiao Tu knew very well that stepping on other people's feet might just be an accident, but stepping on Ma Hong's feet must have been a setup.

In a parallel universe, Mahone was able to make his mark on NBA history because of his dirty playing style.

He was technically rough, but tenacious and ruthless, often getting into fights with his opponents on the court. Wherever there was conflict, Ma Hong was there, which made his reputation very bad.

He was already a notorious bad boy when he was with the Bullets, and after transferring to the Pistons, he became the worst of the "Bad Boys" and was known as "Black Devil".

What's most disgusting is that Mahon isn't a particularly good player; his abilities in all areas are just average. If someone gets fouled out of a match against him, the opponent is almost always the one who suffers.

Xiao Tu was angry not only about his sprained ankle, but also because missing two games meant losing two bronze chests. Furthermore, he only played 20 minutes against the Bullets before resting, resulting in a drop in his stats.

Los Angeles fans were dissatisfied but could accept it, at least Xiao Tu wouldn't miss home games. If he didn't play, ticket buyers would feel they'd lost out big time.

There was good news too: the powerful aerosol spray from the treasure chest was very effective. Xiao Tu sprayed it twice that night, and his ankle stopped hurting the next day. He didn't suggest forcing himself to fight; the coach wouldn't let him take the risk.

He has two bottles of this aerosol now, which will last him a long time.

With Xiao Tu out, everyone realized his crucial role; his offense was decent, but the Lakers' interior defense deteriorated.

The seemingly invincible Lakers have suffered two consecutive losses, falling to the Mavericks and the Rockets in quick succession. Although the point differences between the two teams were not large, both by single digits, this marks the Lakers' first losing streak of the season.

The Mavericks continued with their small-ball strategy, with the 206cm tall Sam Perkins playing center against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and performing exceptionally well, racking up a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. His ability to stretch the floor is a headache for Abdul-Jabbar.

201cm power forward Jane Vincent delivered an exceptional performance, scoring 30 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He dominated Kurt Rambis, who was making his first start of the season, and hit a crucial shot in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

Lakers fans were speechless after watching the game. If Xiao Tu had been there, he would have easily crushed Perkins and Vincent.

The Lakers' loss to the Rockets was similar; they couldn't defend their interior, and their power forward position was a complete mess on both offense and defense.

Ralph Sampson racked up 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, dominating Rambis and McAdu. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also struggled against Hakeem Olajuwon, resulting in a back-and-forth scoring affair but with Kareem being outrebounded.

In the two games, the Lakers lost the rebounding battle by 10 and 16 respectively. They could have won if they had conceded fewer defensive rebounds, or if Rambis had scored in double figures.

Lakers fans are used to seeing Xiao Tu dominate opponents, but then they see the performance of pseudo-starter Rambis... what a piece of trash is he?

Rambis lacks height and shot-blocking ability on defense, and is often left wide open on offense. His only decent rebounding efficiency is nothing compared to Xiao Tu's. Because his offense is so poor and he can only pick off loose balls, Riley can't play him for long periods, and his defense is even worse when McAdu is on the court.

Larry Spriggs, a 201cm tall, 104kg black strongman on a minimum salary contract, also played the power forward position briefly. He was also poor offensively and had no rebounding ability, even worse than Rambis.

Media reports on the game focused on Xiao Tu's irreplaceable role with the Lakers. The Lakers, who were poised for a dominant record, have now added two more losses to their tally.

Although the Mavericks and Rockets are playoff teams, their chances of winning when Xiao Tu plays are practically zero. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has fallen out of the latest MVP rankings; experts believe his defense is terrible.

On the defensive end, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was terrible at rebounding, and he wasn't proactive in helping out against guards who were driving to the basket; he basically never jumped.

When Xiao Tu was on the court, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attracted the defense and his passes created easy scoring opportunities, allowing him to rack up assists. In the last two games, when he was double-teamed in the low post, his passes to teammates posed little threat, while Rambis stood idly in the high post, showing little initiative in his cuts.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still an All-Star caliber center, but he is indeed getting old. Without Xiao Tu, the Lakers can still achieve a decent record, but they will never break the regular season record, and they may not win the championship.

Magic Johnson is the most upset. Without Xiao Tu, the team immediately reverted to last season's tactics. He has to create his own driving and shooting opportunities, relying on his individual skills to lead his teammates, and is frequently double-teamed. No one doubts Xiao Tu's ability anymore; the Lakers can't do without him.

Some people who liked to criticize Xiao Tu, saying that he could only play off-ball and that he became famous by riding on Magic Johnson's coattails, have completely fallen silent.

The media didn't report extensively on Xiao Tu's sprained ankle because it wasn't serious. In terms of injuries, the Knicks' Bernard King stole the spotlight.

Bernard King suffered a severe ligament tear in his right knee during a game against the struggling Sacramento Kings, ending his season.

The Knicks had a terrible record, with Bernard King being the only bright spot. He averaged 32.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 53% from the field. He was incredibly unlucky; he suffered a serious injury early in his career and then began to decline.

With Xiao Tu's return, the Lakers became an invincible team again, winning three consecutive games by a large margin. He consistently contributed double-doubles in each game, making him the league's strongest double-double machine.

In the most outrageous game, the Lakers defeated the Kings 153-130 in regulation time, with seven players scoring in double figures.

The Lakers players blatantly slack off on defense, allowing the Kings' guards to drive and shoot freely, clearly not wanting the game to become garbage time too early.

Magic Johnson played 38 minutes, racking up a double-double of 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 17 assists. In the latter half of the regular season, the Lakers coaching staff began devising tactics to help Magic pad his stats, hoping he would win the MVP award without any controversy.

Other teams felt helpless; the three superstars combined were more than three, with an incredibly high shooting percentage. Xiao Tu averaged 6 offensive rebounds per game—he was simply too dominant.

After the All-Star game, Xiao Tu also started practicing his fadeaway jump shot, which improved his skills.

This move isn't difficult to learn. He mainly focused on getting familiar with the power generation method for turning and jumping and connecting it to the shot, which led to rapid progress.

In the future, most of Jordan's fadeaway jump shots will be mid-range shots, and some will be long two-pointers. Xiao Tu doesn't need to run that far to receive the ball; with his strength and jumping advantage, he can attack strongly in the low post. He's strong enough to position himself deep in the paint to receive the ball with his back to the basket, then have two options: a layup or a fadeaway jump shot.

During team practice, Xiao Tu struggled to shoot past the 218cm Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the low post with a fadeaway jump shot, but his shooting percentage against other players was very high, and he didn't have to worry about being blocked at all.

For people with average physical abilities, the fadeaway jump shot is useless; even if they learn it, it doesn't have much power. But for Xiao Tu, it's a divine skill. He can turn quickly and jump high; he just needs to practice more to improve his accuracy.

Ironically, when Xiao Tu practiced this move diligently, Jabbar actually got jealous.

He only found out when he asked that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thought he was imitating Wilt Chamberlain. Both were using low-post isolation techniques, but instead of asking Abdul-Jabbar for tips on the hook shot, he had tried to figure out Chamberlain's signature move on his own.

"What? You look down on my Skyhook, kid?!"

Xiao Tu explained, "I didn't look down on the skyhook, I just couldn't learn it and my shooting percentage was too low. Besides, I had no idea that the fadeaway jump shot was Chamberlain's signature move, and I've never seen Chamberlain play."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talked about NBA history, and Xiao Tu learned that as early as the 60s, Wilt Chamberlain had already mastered the fadeaway jump shot, and most of his points came from this move.

This is a little-known fact about the NBA. Many casual fans believe Chamberlain was a dominant center who excelled at dunking. Xiao Tu also thought Chamberlain primarily scored in the paint because of his abysmal free-throw percentage, which didn't seem like he could hit a mid-range shot.

Dude, didn't you say you were stronger than Shaq and had a maximum bench press of 250 kg?
If you have such superhuman strength, why do you avoid fighting? Why not just knock your opponent aside and drive to the basket for a dunk?

Don't you like it?

It's certain that Chamberlain liked the fadeaway jump shot; he took a lot of jump shots. His fadeaway jump shot form was quite beautiful; you'll be able to find videos of it online in the future—it's almost unbelievable for someone with his tall and thin physique.

Xiao Tu lied; he wasn't interested in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's hook shot technique, nor had he practiced it intentionally.

The best technique is the one that suits you best. In the future, many players will use the hook shot, but no one will use it as their primary scoring method.

Some skills are not "lost" at all, but outdated; the cost-effectiveness of learning them is really low.

(End of this chapter)