Basketball miracles

Chapter 223 [The Opening Match: You All Forced Me to Do It]

The Heat quickly finished their seven preseason games, winning all of them. Xiao Tu also recorded a triple-double in every game, shocking the entire United States.

The Lakers (the "F4"), Timberwolves (the "Three-Headed Monster"), and Mavericks (the "Five-Star"), all widely favored by the media and fans, had mediocre preseason records. The Heat's roster is insignificant compared to these three teams, relying mainly on two rookies, Eddie Jones, and Lamar Odom, who has never played in the playoffs.

Everyone who follows the NBA knows Xiao Tu, including many overseas fans, who have all discovered how incredibly strong he is.

After the preseason, the Heat's 14-man roster for the new season was officially finalized.

Centers: Lauren Woods, Brian Grant.

Power forwards: Udonis Haslem, Malik Allen, Samaki Walker.

Small forwards: Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Xiao Tu, John Wallace.

Shooting Guards: Eddie Jones, Rasul Butler.

Point Guards: Dwyane Wade, Rafer Alston, Bimbo Coles.

The Heat did not have a full 15-man roster and can sign short-term contracts to strengthen the team during the season based on player injury situations.

Xiao Tu remembers a parallel world where the Heat would sign Chinese center Wang Zhizhi.

Wang Zhizhi is currently not on the roster, and the management has no interest in him. This is because what the Heat need most is a big, blue-collar center who can protect the rim, not a free-roaming center like Wang Zhizhi.

Under Xiao Tu's leadership, the Heat primarily employ a run-and-gun offense, boasting formidable offensive power. Signing another defensively inept center who can only play in half-court sets and relegates him to the sidelines would be pointless.

The management did consider signing Battier in the summer, but abandoned the idea after gathering information. This Chinese center is really strong, but too slow; he can't keep up with the pace of the game at all.

Before the regular season began, American basketball experts still underestimated the Heat, believing they wouldn't go far in the playoffs. This was because their frontcourt roster was too weak; they couldn't even field a proper starting lineup and had to use declining power forwards as makeshift centers and struggling small forwards as power forwards.

With this level of interior depth, even if the Heat manage to break through in the East, how will they defend against Western Conference teams like the Lakers and Spurs who have strong interior stars?

The Heat's sixth man will be sidelined for some time, as Caron Butler sprained his knee during the preseason. The Heat will not field their strongest lineup in their season opener against the 76ers.

Regardless, Xiao Tu had already become famous before even playing a regular season game.

He is the most well-rounded player and has shouldered too many responsibilities in the team, which is not something he should be doing at his age.

The most amazing thing is that with such a terrible roster from the Heat, Xiao Tu still dared to shout about competing for the championship during an interview. That's too arrogant.

Major media outlets began to follow and report on Xiao Tu. They had never seen anyone consistently put up triple-double numbers like him. His performance was reminiscent of Oscar Robertson.

Xiao Tu was intentionally racking up triple-doubles; he needed a major attention-grabbing gimmick, and the Heat's current tactical system conveniently facilitated this. Riley's strategy of having him position himself on the baseline to protect the boards was crucial, as rebounding was his hardest stat line to rack up, especially offensively when he struggled to secure offensive rebounds.

Another reason for Xiao Tu's popularity is that people like to compare him to "the chosen one" LeBron James.

No better than not knowing, one is scared.

James also played seven preseason games, with a record of 2 wins and 5 losses. He scored less than double digits in three of those games, with his highest score being 19 points, which is less than Xiao Tu's lowest score of 24 points.

James' shooting percentage was abysmal at only 33%, a far cry from Xiao Tu's 54%.

Many media outlets publicly questioned James' status as the number one draft pick, condemning him for focusing too much on shooting commercials and showmanship, and mocking Nike for making a very bad decision.

Online fans have already made a definitive conclusion – the Rookie of the Year award is a foregone conclusion!

James' preseason stats are less than half of Xiao Tu's, how can he compete? His stats are even worse than those of another Heat rookie, Wade, who also had four games with 20+ points.

In light of this comparison, several sports brands began to raise their offers to Xiao Tu, but he hesitated to sign a contract.

Because his contract was still not as big as James', the reasons given by the several people in charge were surprisingly consistent: they believed that Xiao Tu's physical qualities were not good enough and his potential was not as good as James'.

Xiao Tu responded with trash talk: "Are you sure? I feel like even if LeBron James played his whole life, he wouldn't reach my current level."

Many people wanted to become Xiao Tu's agent, but he didn't sign any. Fans thought he was too individualistic.

Miami fans believe the Heat will have a good record in the new season and truly have the strength to contend for the championship; this isn't just Xiao Tu bragging. However, among all the championship contenders, the Heat's roster is definitely the weakest.

On the other hand, the Cavaliers have star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and power forward Carlos Boozer performed exceptionally well in the preseason. With Ricky Davis and LeBron James on the perimeter, they give the impression that they won't make the playoffs.

Xiao Tu's performance has subtly overshadowed James'. After a comprehensive comparison, fans have found that James' only advantage over Xiao Tu lies in physical attributes; his true talent remains to be realized. The Heat will play on the first day of the regular season, and in the earliest game. The Cavaliers will play on the second day, so the comparison between the two will continue.

On the 27th, the Heat players traveled to Philadelphia to prepare for the game.

On paper, the 76ers have a slight advantage. However, Philadelphia media outlets are hesitant to predict a 76ers win their opening game, given their preseason slump against the Heat.

Experts predict the Heat will win the game, unless Sebastian Shaw has an off night; otherwise, the Heat are certain to win.

Before the game, in the away team's locker room, Pat Riley found that he didn't need to give any morale-boosting speech; everyone was confident of winning.

Xiao Tu only said two sentences, but he made everyone feel very relaxed.

"Everyone, try your best to get into open spaces during counterattacks, and I will definitely pass the ball to you when the opportunity arises."

"When you don't know how to play positional warfare, just give me the ball."

Riley had a premonition that Xiao Tu would become the greatest star in Heat history. He was only in his rookie season, but he looked more reliable than Alonzo Mourning at his peak.

Mourning is just brave, but he can't lead his teammates.

The visiting team players went out first, with Xiao Tu coming in last. As soon as he ran out of the player tunnel, the 76ers fans gave him the loudest boos.

No matter how strong Xiao Tu is, he is not the star of the 76ers; he is the enemy that must be defeated today.

Xiao Tu remained unmoved, and with a smile on his face, he jogged back to his own team.

Wade asked, "Aren't you nervous? There's so much booing here."

"What's there to be nervous about? They're afraid of me, so they're booing me. Even if they cheered for Iverson the whole time, Iverson's shooting percentage would still be less than 40%." Xiao Tu's voice was loud and inspiring.

"D. Wade, don't be nervous, you can beat him." Xiao Tu then looked at the others and smiled, "Even if Wade is too bad today and can't defend, allowing Iverson to score 50 points, don't be nervous, I guarantee I'll score more than him."

Riley offered no morale-boosting words, so there was no need for him to say anything more. Everyone became relaxed, ignoring the pressure from the away fans, and simply waited to see Xiao Tu's performance.

After the players warmed up, the starting lineups for both sides took to the field.

The Heat's five players are: Dwyane Wade, Eddie Jones, Shawn Dwight Howard, Lamar Odom, and Brian Grant.

The 76ers' five players are: Eric Snow, Allen Iverson, John Salmons, Kenny Thomas, and Derrick Coleman.

Both players are 208cm tall, but Odom's jumping ability completely outclassed veteran Coleman, and he easily won the jump ball.

With their preseason experience, the 76ers players were quick to retreat on defense, and the Heat settled into a half-court game.

Grant followed the play, pulling out to the three-point line in the middle to screen for Salmons. Xiao Tu dribbled to the right, took a step to the right, and pulled up for a three-pointer.

Coleman stayed in the corner and didn't come out at all. He was a lazy pick-and-roll defender in his younger days, and now he's even less inclined to come out. Xiao Tu's jump shot was uncontested, his touch was soft, and the ball swished through the net. 3-0.

After Xiao Tu scored, the 76ers fans booed him, and something outrageous happened.

When Xiao Tu returned to defense, he raised his left hand, making a gesture of listening attentively, with a smile on his face.

Allen Iverson has a classic move that came to life in November 2004 at the Wizards' home court. With only 3.3 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 114, Iverson stole the ball and then scored a layup to end the game.

The Wizards' home arena was muted. At that moment, Iverson raised his left hand and put it to his ear, seemingly listening to the cheers of the fans, or perhaps showing defiance to the home team's fans.

Now, Xiao Tu made this gesture beforehand after scoring his first basket in his NBA career, which is of great significance.

Seeing Xiao Tu's provocation, the 76ers fans booed even louder.

That's incredibly arrogant! I've never heard of such an arrogant newcomer before.

Xiao Tu returned to defense without a care, his smile widening.

Let the boos come even louder.

I didn't want to follow in Iverson's footsteps or steal his signature moves; you guys forced me to.

(End of this chapter)