Basketball miracles

Chapter 3 [Relying on the Waist]

In the first round, Xiao Tu unleashed his ultimate move! This was a combination he and Magic Johnson had practiced that morning, and the two celebrated with a high-five as they returned to defense.

When he caught the ball, his head was almost level with the rim, and his movement was incredibly fluid! After landing, he pounded his chest with his left hand and roared, carrying the entire court! He had already planned his celebration after the dunk, aiming to be the toughest inside player in the NBA!
I've got this! With that alley-oop dunk, I'm sure I'll become an overnight sensation!
Next year's Slam Dunk Contest, whether it's Jordan or Wilkins, will only be stepping stones for me!
The Lakers fans' cheers were deafening! The Lakers' first basket of the season was more spectacular than all of their baskets from last season! In NBA history, no more than five people have ever made a dunk like that, and only Xiao Tu has done it with such fluidity.

The Trail Blazers' offense followed the coach's pre-game plan, spreading out to create one-on-one opportunities for Bowie. Before the game, Coach Ramsey thought the 216cm player was a sure thing against the 206cm player, but now that's uncertain.

Bowie's strengths lie in his solid fundamentals and his mastery of many basketball techniques; his weakness is his physicality. If there's a significant difference in physique between him and his opponents, all his skills will be compromised.

After receiving the ball, Bowie's weakness in his lower body was exposed again.

Forget about getting deep into the paint; even receiving the ball with his back to the basket outside the restricted area was a struggle against Xiao Tu's push, leaving him barely able to stay upright. Judging from his wobbly dribbling style, everyone knew that even if he created a shot, his shooting percentage wouldn't be high.

Sure enough, Bo Wei dribbled two steps to the right baseline and forced a turnaround jump shot, but it missed again under Xiao Tu's serious interference, and Jabbar easily grabbed the rebound.

Xiao Tu is 206cm tall with a wingspan of 215cm and weighs 108kg. He is very strong, and his top-notch jumping ability can make up for his lack of height when defending against taller opponents.

He used the safest defensive approach: close-quarters combat, jumping to block the shot when the opponent turned and was about to shoot. Even if the opponent made the shot, he maintained his defensive position, keeping the opponent firmly in place.

When Powell attempted to avoid Xiao Tu's block, he leaned back slightly, resulting in a poor shooting rhythm. He's the type of inside player who's too soft to play center and too slow to play power forward. He's touted as having a jump shot, but his mid-range accuracy is inconsistent, and he lacks size and explosiveness when attacking the basket. He's essentially a standard bust.

Xiao Tu will be able to search for information online in the future, so that he can know himself and his enemy and win every battle.

He discovered that Bowie's shooting percentage was only slightly above 40% except for his rookie season, and he was also injury-prone. The Trail Blazers' scouts and general manager actually thought he had high potential—they were practically a bunch of basketball ignoramuses.

He really liked this opponent so much that he had to beat him to a pulp.

In the Lakers' half-court offense, Xiao Tu spread out, and Magic Johnson lobbed the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for a one-on-one against Michael Thompson.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dribbled a step from the low left post, turned towards the middle, and hooked the ball into the net with a smooth motion. 4-0.

Xiao Tu stood at a high post watching his teammates' offense, firmly believing that his defense was far superior to Thompson's. He often faced off against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in training, and had a significant physical advantage. As long as he didn't fall for their fakes, he could keep Abdul-Jabbar out of the paint.

Thompson didn't close in at all, allowing Jabbar to easily turn and enter the paint for a close-range shot.

That's it? This guy is actually the top scorer?
The Trail Blazers' interior defense is so weak it's practically nonexistent.

Ramsey is an offensive-minded coach, and the Trail Blazers' interior defense does indeed have obvious weaknesses. In an era where interior players are scarce, the Trail Blazers' interior lineup is already quite excellent; at least the combination of the number one and number two draft picks carries significant weight.

Xiao Tu's soul comes from a Chinese person born after 2025. His vision is nearly half a century ahead of others. He sees weaknesses in everyone, including the two superstars of his own team.

The NBA superstars who will lead their teams to championships in the future will have a very advanced playing style, quite different from what we have now. That style... it's like a maggot clinging to someone else, begging for food; nobody will play like that now.

Xiao Tu was daydreaming on the defensive end and lost focus, but he didn't become a defensive liability.

The Trail Blazers' perimeter players stopped passing to Bowie. They could all see that Bowie wasn't as strong as Xiao Tu, and his mid-range turnaround jumper wasn't his forte. Continuing to trust Bowie at this point would be foolish.

Michael Jordan's shooting percentage was low in his debut yesterday, but he can keep shooting even if he misses because his performance in practice was impressive and convincing. Bowie, on the other hand, gave the impression of being a bust in practice; nobody respected him.

Vandeweghe faced Worthy one-on-one and hit a pull-up jumper on the left side to open the scoring for his team. 4-2.

Johnson and Xiao Tu executed a pick-and-roll to get rid of Valentine, and Johnson pulled up for a jump shot from just inside the three-point line on the right side. 6-2.

Heinson said, "Magic Johnson also found his rhythm, and the Lakers' offense was firing on all cylinders, making it incredibly fluid."

Stockton said, "Shaw also contributed to this play; his screen was of very high quality. Last season, nobody set screens for Magic Johnson; several interior players weren't good at doing that."

Xiao Tu took a firm stance, and the smaller guard Valentine slammed into him, feeling like he'd hit a wall. Bowie lacked awareness of switching on defense, relying on Valentine to chase down the 206cm Johnson, but even if he caught up, he couldn't block the shot. The Lakers created a series of easy scoring opportunities; the two 206cm players running pick-and-rolls made it difficult for the opponent to switch or not.

The Trail Blazers also ran a pick-and-roll. Drexler dribbled to the right, changed direction to get rid of Scott, accelerated, took three steps, and got past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar before driving into the paint and taking off.

Drexler's future nickname was "The Glide," referring to his exceptional jumping ability, allowing him to glide a distance in the air for a dunk. He knew Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was too slow to turn and retreat in time to block the shot, so he wanted to boost morale with a dunk.

In the blink of an eye, a person sprang up from under the basket; it was Xiao Tu.

As soon as he saw Drexler about to break through, he immediately left Bowie on the left low post to help defend. His biggest advantage as a power forward is his mobility; he's faster than many guards, unlike Bowie who can only stand still on the defensive end.

When Drexler saw Xiao Tu jump, it was already time to act. He couldn't change his posture to pass the ball with his right hand, so he could only slam it towards the basket.

With his body leaning forward, Xiao Tu accurately placed his right hand on the basketball and pressed down sharply.

Both slam dunkers used one hand to generate power, but Xiao Tu's strength completely overwhelmed Drexler, who was 201cm tall and weighed 95kg. He not only blocked the dunk but also caused Drexler to lean back, lose his balance on one leg, and land on his backside.

Xiao Tu landed steadily on both feet, as easily as a J-10CE shooting down a Rafale.

He felt a fire ignite within him; if this were a TV series called "Hot Shot," he would be "back up" by now, ready to play background music.

"Don't sleep here! Why are you crying like that? Who told you not to understand the difference between me and you? Yeah, I'm Superman! Yeah, I'm Superman! Yeah, I'm Superman! Yeah, you're a loser..."

Drexler was stunned by the block; his backside hurt, but his heart ached even more. He had never been blocked so badly before. Sitting on the ground, he questioned his existence and didn't quickly get up to return to defense.

The stands erupted in commotion, but the referee, with his whistle in his mouth, didn't blow it, deeming it a good goal.

Scott retrieved the basketball and passed it to Johnson to initiate a fast break. To everyone's surprise, Xiao Tu joined the fast break again, and when he got to the frontcourt, he was a body length ahead of Bowie, who had returned to defense earlier.

This isn't running for Bao Wei; compared to Xiao Tu, it's more like race walking.

Johnson used his physical advantage to force his way through the middle, squeezing past Valentine and drawing Thompson's help defense before passing the ball behind his back with his right hand to Xiao Tu, who was following up on the left. Thompson tried to turn and protect the rim, but it was too late.

Xiao Tu leaped into the air, arms outstretched, and slammed the basketball into the hoop. At the peak of his jump, his head was level with the rim, and he did a pull-up while gripping the hoop. He landed with a roar and a powerful right fist. 8-2.

This is Kenyon Martin's signature dunk and celebration move in the future, it's incredibly powerful!
Martin was the number one draft pick in 2000, a famous beastly power forward. Xiao Tu's jumping ability surpasses that of Martin at his peak, and this was back in the 80s. Nobody had ever seen anything like it; he seemed almost unreal.

Xiao Tu is a handsome guy, not Black, and his dunks are even more impressive.

Lakers fans went wild, clapping and cheering!
Heinson exclaimed, "My God, Shaw slammed it home again! He's absolutely incredible!"

Stockton said, "He looks more like the number one pick than Thompson, and he completely outclasses the second pick, Bowie. He's excellent on both ends of the court."

Thompson was intimidated by Xiao Tu's imposing presence and didn't jump at all. He was glad he hadn't managed to quickly step in front of Xiao Tu, otherwise he would probably have been dunked on.

Xiao Tu completely disregarded Thompson, only interested in dunking. In just a few possessions, he realized that his opponent was afraid of physical contact and was a softie.

He also wants to make all the teams that underestimated him and missed out on him regret it with a powerful dunk.

See that? Your scouts are full of shit! Your management is trash!

Yes, Trail Blazers GM, I'm not targeting you personally, I'm saying that all NBA GMs except the Lakers are trash!
Thinking of all this, Xiao Tu's smile was harder to suppress than an AK47, and he smiled in a wicked and arrogant way.

　Two chapters are updated every morning at 9 AM.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)