Basketball miracles

Chapter 92 [It's the Era of the Young]

The dunk contest continued, and the other contestants' second dunks still lacked highlights, even though they were taking it seriously.

Xiao Tu felt that these people were just throwing out a few bricks to set off his own jade disc.

Xiao Tu has already triggered a butterfly effect; all five judges are no longer giving high scores to the others. Compared to Xiao Tu's dunks, their performances are utterly unwatchable. Giving these people scores above 45 is practically an admission that the scoring is rigged.

Wilkins' first dunk was very ordinary but scored 48 points. His second dunk was a little more difficult. He ran from the right baseline to the basket and dunked with a reverse back dunk.

Xiao Tu, watching from the sidelines, scoffed at the idea, saying it was far too simplistic.

Is this the pinnacle of cinematic cinema? This movie is sure to flop at the box office.

This is a move I've practiced in actual combat; the jump is higher and the folding is more pronounced, making it much more aesthetically pleasing.

In a parallel universe, the judges gave Wilkins 49 points for this move. Now, all five judges only gave it 9 points, and considered 45 points to be quite high.

Other players' second dunks also scored very low, with the highest being 45 points. Jordan's one-handed reverse layup also only scored 45 points; it lacked any creativity, and the only highlight was the height of the jump, as his head was still far from the rim.

Xiao Tu makes another appearance, and as usual, he starts by putting on a show.

He looked around, raised his arms to encourage the audience to cheer, and after creating a lively atmosphere, he dribbled the ball to the left side of the midfield.

He tossed the ball high into the air and then sprinted to catch up.

He took off at a 45-degree angle to the left, catching the ball with both hands while his head was already level with the rim, his left leg bent and his right leg straight, his body almost sideways. After a mid-air layup, he slammed the ball into the basket with his right hand!
Both the audience at the venue and those watching on television were completely stunned.

No one had ever seen such a spectacular self-alley-oop dunk. The arena fell silent for two seconds before the crowd erupted in cheers.

Heinson exclaimed, "My God, that ball bounced quite far back! When Shaw jumped, the ball was almost behind him, but he still managed to grab it. He scooped the ball back and dunked it – that's a move most people can't even do!"

Stockton said, "He does that all the time, his body is as taut as a bow when he dunks, it's incredible!"

Heinson said, "I think his goal is not only to win the Slam Dunk Contest, but also to get a perfect score on every dunk!"

Xiao Tu hadn't expected to execute it so well; the ball did bounce a bit too far back. He had intended to do an alley-oop windmill dunk, but ended up replicating Steve Francis's self-alley-oop dunk from the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest.

In 1985, this was practically an impossible feat for a human. His creativity, jumping height, and dunking form were all impeccable.

The judges, of course, gave them all full marks, and some audience members cheered and applauded, holding up scoreboards with a score of 10.

Rosamund Kwan watched the live dunk contest at home and was stunned along with her mother and brother.

She hadn't known how good Xiao Tu was at basketball before, but now he seemed like a martial arts master from a movie. He jumped as if he were suspended by wires, and no one in the movies could make such powerful moves.

Zhang Bingqian sighed, "Daughter, is he... is he particularly good in that area? Can you handle him?"

Rosamund Kwan nodded first, then shook her head. "He's not a normal person at all, he's terrifying."

Guan Shihua asked, "What are you talking about? What's so scary?"

"Watch your basketball, kid, don't ask questions," Zhang Bingqian said with a smile.

Jennifer Connelly and her mother were also watching the live stream in their hotel room, and they were equally astonished.

Jennifer's eyes sparkled.

He's so handsome! He's absolutely so handsome!

Unfortunately, his most handsome look was actually in Madonna's music video; he doesn't usually wear suits.

Ugh, when will I be able to finish filming and go back to Los Angeles?

Jennifer is unaware that her home has been "robbed".

Thinking about her career, Jennifer felt a little helpless. Although she played the lead role, she always felt the film was terrible. She knew from the start that it wouldn't do well at the box office, even before its release.

She can't get any decent scripts, when will she become a big star?
She wanted to keep up with Xiao Tu's pace, and even more so, she didn't want to be inferior to Madonna. As the third dunk of the first round began, the audience was still eager for more, thinking about Xiao Tu's previous dunk.

Nobody cares about the other players' dunks anymore; they're definitely no match for Xiao Tu, and that's certainly true.

Wilkins scored the second-highest number of points, with a simple windmill dunk after a run-up on the left baseline, his head about a head and a half from the rim, and the move was a bit awkward, but he only got 45 points.

Jordan's one-handed reverse dunk, a running start from the right baseline with his head turned back, is commonplace. Many players can pull off this move in a game; the key is the timing of the jump, not the height.

Xiao Tu's final shot was another new trick, showing he was well-prepared.

He tossed the ball high up on the right side, the ball bounced under the basket, he jumped up, flicked the ball with his left hand towards the backboard, it bounced again, and caught the ball with his right hand for a powerful dunk!
His movements were fluid and seamless, completing the task in one go, and the stadium erupted in cheers once again.

Stockton exclaimed, "Perfect score! That's another perfect dunk, no doubt!"

Heinson exclaimed, "That was such a brilliant play, and Shaw dunked it beautifully! In a real game, he could probably do that with an offensive rebound and putback dunk."

Stockton laughed, "Today isn't a game, it's Sebastian Shaw's personal dunk show! No one else's dunk can compare to his."

The results of the first round are in. Drexler scored 117 points, Griffiths 120 points, and Stansbury 125 points, and they were the first to be eliminated. The advancing team consists of Jordan with 126 points, Wilkins with 138 points, and Xiao Tu with a perfect score.

The audience felt that the scores of the other two who advanced were inflated, as they got high scores by simply dunking.

The atmosphere became even more heated as the second round began. But all the contestants knew they were merely supporting characters for Xiao Tu.

There's no comparison! Absolutely no comparison!
Some even suspect that the sneakers Adidas provided for Xiao Tu contained some kind of cutting-edge technology, with springs inside the soles.

As before, the others went first, with Xiao Tu as the last. Including Larry Nance and Dr. J Irving, who went directly to the second round, the first dunk of the four was unremarkable.

Their creativity and jump height are nothing special; these are the kind of dunks that shouldn't be seen in a dunk contest. It's just a regular alley-oop, a regular layup, the only difference being whether it's done with one hand or two.

Dr. J's poor performance is understandable; he is 34 years old this year and his jumping ability has obviously declined.

Nance's casual dunk seemed devoid of any fighting spirit and extremely perfunctory, drawing boos from the fans.

His listless demeanor made it seem as if he had won the Slam Dunk Contest last season and no longer cared about the game. This kind of behavior wasn't pretentious at all; it only annoyed the fans.

Before the game, the media also hyped up Nance, with Xiao Tu's matchup against the previous year's Slam Dunk Contest champion being a major selling point. If Nance doesn't work hard, he's essentially giving up his chance to be promoted. With his current skills, if he doesn't attempt many free throws, his ceiling is just over 20 points per game.

Xiao Tu made his first dunk in the second round, walking behind the right backboard with the basketball in his hand, and the audience stared at him intently.

What does he want to do?
Is he going to jump out from behind the backboard to dunk? Is such a move even possible?
Xiao Tu tossed the ball towards the backboard with his right hand from behind, bounced it off, took a running start, jumped forward to catch the ball with both hands, dodged the backboard with his head, jumped to the front and made a windmill move, then slammed the ball into the basket with his left hand!
He lost two marks but still got a perfect score.

The judges all became Xiao Tu's fans, their expressions were priceless, they never expected that he could dunk like that.

The cheers from the fans in the stadium continued for a long time, and Xiao Tu smiled and waved to everyone around him.

This is the grand spectacle he wanted, a stage that belonged only to him, with everyone else merely playing a supporting role.

Jordan's face turned incredibly grim. Both players' signature shoes have "Air" in the prefix, so comparisons are inevitable. Xiao Tu's shoes will definitely sell out after the All-Star Game, severely impacting his shoe sales and potentially reducing his future income.

Stockton exclaimed, "Shaw had another perfect dunk, and he also pulled off a windmill dunk today, which is completely different from Wilkins' windmill dunk."

Heinson said, "Shaw is the youngest of all the contestants, and his mind is full of brilliant ideas. Is that the advantage of being young?"

When other players dunked, the arena fell silent again; the audience felt it wasn't very interesting. Mainly, there was a lack of creativity; they were all doing ordinary dunks, with the frontal reverse layup considered fancy.

For Xiao Tu, a time traveler, getting a perfect score with nine dunks is not a difficult task.

Dr. J's second dunk only scored 42 points, and he sighed deeply as he left the court.

He's old, you can't deny it.

It's the era of young people now.

(End of this chapter)