NBA, Yao Ming is back!

Chapter 138 So you call yourself a Great White Shark? Three slaps and your eyes are clear now!

The game started as soon as the whistle blew.

Countless fans across the country were waiting for this match at noon.

"Let's take a look at the starting five on both sides."

"Oh, we see it over in Philadelphia, Yao Ming is already in the starting lineup!"

"The lineup they've put together is Yao Ming, Iverson, McGee, Witherspoon, and Ratliff."

"Let's take a look at the Lakers' starting five: Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, and Shaquille O'Neal."

"This team is no pushover. The Lakers have only lost 5 games so far, and they're ranked second in the entire Western Conference."

"Viewers might not be familiar with this game, but the opposing team has the most destructive low-post center in the entire history of the league. His nickname is Shaquille O'Neal." Zhang Heli, seeing the camera cut in to show O'Neal shattering a backboard, naturally continued the commentary: "His destructive power is like this collapsing hurdle. Currently, in low-post 1-on-1—no one can stop him."

"Coach Zhang, can this basketball hoop really be pulled down? Could it be that someone in the NBA cut corners?" Sun Zhengping was stunned when he saw this scene. He was not tall to begin with, and seeing this scene made him feel sweaty inside.

Zhang Weiping:

It's okay, you can ignore what Sun Zhengping said, just like Zhang Weiping did. Otherwise, your thoughts might be completely shattered.

So he continued, talking to himself, "I think Philadelphia brought Yao Ming in for this game specifically to defend against O'Neal."

"As Yao Ming just said, Larry Brown will have him guard one-on-one in this game."

Zhang Weiping was afraid that some veteran fans would criticize him for saying this.

Because no matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense.

Even putting these words together makes them seem rather niche.

In this shot, O'Neal looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Even if you don't understand football.

Just looking at its size makes you feel scared.

Many people in China, watching this scene, felt as if they had never watched basketball before.

"Wow, is this even human? He even pulled down the basketball hoop???"

"Is this what an NBA center looks like? Who can stop him?"

"Is this how basketball is played?"

"How can someone so fat play basketball? He must weigh 200 pounds, right?" (In those days, there were actually very few fat people in China, because it's hard to say that everyone could afford both material and spiritual support.)

Back then, 200 jin (100 catties) and 1.8 meters (6.8 meters) were the epitome of being very fat and very tall.

"Yao Ming—can he stop such a monster?"

Yao Ming actually played quite well in the early stages, which attracted a lot of attention.

The visual impact of such an inside player is probably much greater than that of Hakeem Olajuwon.

Shaquille O'Neal.

He changed everyone's initial impression of the center.

Almost everyone who watches basketball in this generation knows Shaquille O'Neal.

If you watch Shaq play too much, you'll develop a subconscious impression that centers should play like this.

You should post up, knock the defender away, and dunk with power.

In fact, no one knows that players like Shaquille O'Neal are actually quite unconventional in NBA history.

Not many people play ball like him.

O'Neal's playing style is not that of a traditional center.

His playing style is what you call unconventional.

Through these short videos, before the competition even started, the little bunnies in China had unknowingly developed a little bit of worry.

At this very moment, at the Lakers' home court.

It's not Staples Center yet, it's still the Westminster Forum.

Yao Ming stood on the center line, looking at O'Neal in front of him.

O'Neal was also sizing up Yao Ming; someone with such a high temper couldn't help but take a second look.

Especially since he's from the East.

However, he only glanced at it for a few seconds at most.

I lost much of my interest.

The main reason is that I think she's still too thin.

How much resistance can someone so thin have?

Yao Ming is similar to Bradley, whom he always manages to crush.

He even looks thinner than Bradley now.

Bradley weighs 125 kilograms, after all.

Yao Ming weighs less than 120 kilograms now.

It weighs only a little over 110 kilograms.

Yao Ming is now more like the Ralph Sampson of the past.

It's more like the shape of a thin bamboo pole.

O'Neal believed he had plenty of ways to deal with it.

There are plenty of ways to crush them.

"You're so fat, Shaq."

I thought this guy couldn't speak English, but he surprised O'Neal by opening his mouth and completely baffled him.

There's nothing we can do. Yao Ming has been able to speak English for a long time, but O'Neal has never paid attention to this player, and there isn't a very developed internet available now.

Not to mention now, in the early 21st century, Yao Ming was already conducting interviews in English, and Shaquille O'Neal didn't even know that Yao Ming could speak English.

This only shows that the player is not being followed.

Sometimes you wouldn't even know if he spoke English or not.

That's Shaquille O'Neal.

After listening to Yao Ming's words.

There was a two-second silence.

The next second, O'Neal felt his subcutaneous fat.

Everything is burning.

"What did you say?!"

O'Neal was furious, and the referee had already lost possession of the ball. Yao Ming immediately jumped up and tipped the ball away.

O'Neal was almost furious.

"Alright, Philadelphia has the ball now. Let's see how F. Ferson passes it. Wow~ He's shooting right away?"

"This ball is not—"

"Hmm, this ball went in, but we can't play like this every time. We still need to pass the ball. Pass it to the inside first; the closer to the basket, the more consistent the scoring will be."

Zhang Weiping originally wanted to say that the shot was unreasonable.

But the ball is already in.

There's nothing more to say about that.

Because in basketball, there are always these kinds of illogical plays that still result in a basket.

In fact, how could someone like Fan Bingbing possibly defend against Iverson?

The score was 2-0 from the start.

Van Exel immediately bent down and caught the basketball. He slowly dribbled the ball across half-court.

He used his left hand to protect himself from being touched by someone.

His eyes were fixed on the 76ers' defense.

He's a star-level point guard, after all.

But we can't completely ignore it as a root vegetable.

Iverson immediately fell down, the two of them being only about 10 centimeters apart in height.

Iverson lowered his center of gravity to an extremely low position, his feet seemingly glued to the floor, and then began to move.

Van Exel suddenly accelerated and changed direction.

As a result, Iverson skillfully moved to the side and blocked his path.

Van Exel continued his strong attack.

The effect was not very good.

Iverson can be quite effective at defending against shorter guards.

Well, there was nothing he could do but raise his hand and pass the ball to Jones on the right.

Jones feinted, but found there wasn't much of a good opportunity.

Then the ball was passed back to them.

The ball was passed to Fan Fengzi on the right side again.

There was no way around it; all that fiddling around wasted a lot of time.

Van Exel lost his patience and shot the moment he received the ball.

I don't know if it was just the feeling of throwing the ball that made me feel good.

The shooter kept gesturing and didn't put the ball down.

It makes them appear very domineering.

The basketball flew out with a spin, grazed the net, and actually landed in the basket.

The ratio was surprisingly 2:3.

"Good shot!"

Someone on the Lakers' bench shouted something.

Alas, Ferson didn't say anything.

He received the serve and dribbled forward.

As Van Gundy spread his arms to defend, Iverson immediately swayed his left shoulder and darted past him like an arrow.

When O'Neal came over to help defend, Iverson wasn't afraid and even twisted his waist forcefully in mid-air.

You need to shoot the ball into the basket from the side of the backboard.

In the next offensive possession, Fan was still calling for the ball at the top of the court. He dribbled twice and then suddenly prepared to pull up for a jump shot.

With a whoosh, the basketball swished through the net once again.

Two consecutive three-pointers.

This helped the Lakers take a 4-6 lead at the start of the game.

Larry Brown frowned on the sidelines and gestured for his players to strengthen their perimeter defense.

Iverson dribbled the ball up the court again, this time Van Exel was even closer, almost colliding with him.

But how could his defense possibly stop Iverson?

After Iverson performed two consecutive crossover dribbles,

It suddenly started and stopped.

Unable to stop himself, Fan Fengzi charged forward.

Iverson took advantage of the open shot and launched a mid-range shot.

The basketball went smoothly into the basket.

"Alan is beautiful!"

Ben Wallace pumped his fist from the sidelines.

He didn't play, but he was diligently working as a human towel-waving machine off the court.

Even if you're not playing, you should still maintain your passion.

This is the blue-collar philosophy that Oakley told Ben.

Looking at Fan Fengzi on the court, this guy's three-point shot is incredibly fast, giving the defender no time to react. But apart from three-pointers, his other offensive methods are actually quite unremarkable.

Just now, he broke into the paint, but his layup went wide of the baseline when Rasref tried to help defend him.

In the next possession, Iverson broke through the paint and passed to McGee, who then passed back to Iverson. Iverson received the ball and drove into the paint again, even managing a layup over Eddie Jones's defense.

The basketball bounces back off the backboard and goes into the basket.

The skill of levering is still quite common in this era.

Unlike decades later, when even a simple lever can be a rare find.

Van Exel became anxious after seeing the score close. He received the serve, dribbled to the frontcourt, and shot without even looking at O'Neal.

If you get in, then forget it.

O'Neal didn't say anything.

But if you don't get in.

That's your problem.

Because you shouldn't shoot like that.

This time the basketball wasn't so lucky; it bounced off the back of the rim.

The basketball bounced to Ratliffe, who grabbed the rebound and made a long pass to F. Iverson in the frontcourt. Iverson immediately shook off the defender and then made a quick layup.

After the basketball went in.

Philadelphia is now leading 8-6.

Less than four minutes into the game, Iverson had already scored four goals.

Fan Fengzi gritted his teeth.

He received the ball at the top of the key again, and this time Iverson was right in his face. Van Gundy made a move but didn't shake him off, yet still chose to force a shot.

That shot was way off target.

"Wow, this is great iron!"

Big Ben waved the towel and shouted passionately.

This guy's only real weapon is his three-pointers; those two shots he just hit were so far off target they could have hit the stands. Honestly, he might as well just shoot all threes.

What Ben imagined has now become reality.

This season, the league changed the three-point line back to 7.25 meters, and many shooters' shooting percentages dropped significantly. But Van Gundy managed to maintain a three-point shooting percentage of nearly 39% even with an average of five or six attempts per game.

This is already quite remarkable.

However, his overall field goal percentage was only 41% despite such a high three-point field goal percentage.

So it seems that it would be better to replace all his pork with three parts.

It's a pity that with the way the game is played in this era, he would never have a chance to play.

In fact, I can now shoot so many three-pointers.

This was already because the Lakers' interior was very crowded with Shaquille O'Neal.

Therefore, they have more three-point opportunities.

Let's switch to another team.

Don't even think about taking that many three-pointers.

Do you think you're Reggie Miller?

Philadelphia called a timeout because Iverson was the main force on their offense, so they needed to use all the timeouts to allow him to recover his energy. Iverson then walked off the court and accepted a towel and drinking water from a staff member.

After wiping away the sweat, I opened a bottle and took a swig.

"Well done." Larry Brown patted Iverson on the shoulder. "Keep this pace, your..."

My opponent, Van Exel, doesn't have much to offer besides three-pointers. Just don't let him easily receive the ball and shoot threes.

Iverson nodded in agreement.

He looked towards the Lakers' bench, where O'Neal was standing and talking to Van Gundy.

Say?

That's exactly what I was saying.

He was just short of getting a good scolding.

Harris saw that O'Neal had already said what he wanted to say, so he sat calmly, as if in a meditative state.

Despite their playful banter on the training field, their relationship is actually quite unstable.

Before O'Neal arrived, Van Exel had a higher tactical status in the team. After O'Neal arrived, resources would definitely be tilted towards O'Neal.

This made Fan Fengzi somewhat unhappy.

But he doesn't seem to realize that with his pitiful shooting percentage, what good would it do if you gave him the majority of the shot attempts?

It's not that high scores weren't given out, but rather that they weren't given out at all.

In the 2001-2002 season, he averaged more than 20 shot attempts per game.

In reality, he only scored 21 points per game.

Unless you're saying he didn't get a single free throw.

But how is that possible?

In fact, his scoring efficiency was so low it was practically nonexistent.

His career field goal percentage in the playoffs is only slightly over 30%.

So, it's not that the team isn't giving you opportunities; it's just that everyone can see that you can only shoot so many shots, and you can't carry the workload.

This is the same as what Master Pi did.

That's all you can output.

It's not that giving you the boss position and unlimited firing rights will significantly increase your score.

The "Neurotic Knife" is Fan the Madman's final destination.

The best solution is actually to try playing a position similar to the sixth man.

Just steal a few three points during the transition phase.

It's best not to think about the rest too much.

Secondly, O'Neal really wants to prove himself to be the best center in the league. Hakeem Olajuwon, who is currently giving him the biggest headache, is also getting old. But when O'Neal wants to fight, guess what? Van Gundy doesn't want to fight.

For example, after the Lakers were eliminated by the Jazz in the playoffs, the only thing he and Eddie Jones talked about after the game was going on vacation to Cancun, Mexico.

This incident directly angered O'Neal.

They concluded that he lacked the will to win the championship.

I had no intention of playing the ball.

They are simply not suitable to compete for the championship with me.

Yes, this actually means that Shaquille O'Neal's "Happy Shaq" phase is over.

Shaquille O'Neal is now feeling the pressure due to the pressure and his advancing age.

If it had happened before, we could have been friends.

That wouldn't work nowadays.

Besides, you can make even a happy shark feel like they have no fighting spirit.

It's hard to imagine how this happened.

And since he hadn't played well, Silver Fox Harris naturally acquiesced to O'Neal doing this.

As a result, Van Exel was practically sprayed with spittle.

After coming back up, the ball was finally passed to O'Neal.

This made Latrib's heart tighten.

I originally intended to come and help with defense.

After all, isn't this how everyone defends against O'Neal these days?

But he saw the number 11 on the team wave at him.

He immediately stopped and simply followed the person beside him.

If you're worried, then all you can do is worry.

Because we can't let Horry go easily.

If this guy gets going with his three-pointers, they're deadly. He's 2.08 meters tall, and if you dare to leave him open, he'll just pull up and shoot you to pieces.

Therefore, Yao Ming really can't let Ratliff come over to help.

Horry has already won two championships with the Rockets and was a well-known shooter back then, so the tactics need to focus on defending him.

Actually, the Lakers have a pretty strong roster; there aren't many players who can shoot three-pointers these days.

Look at these guys, their three-point shooting percentage isn't bad at all.

Even Fox was sixth in the best defensive vote last year.

He is a rare 3D player in this era.

In this situation, the Lakers did have some ideas.

It was designed specifically for O'Neal's characteristics.

Unfortunately, the fat guy is simply impossible to manage right now.

Yao Ming was absolutely certain that what O'Neal had just shouted was absolutely, "Pass that damn ball to me!"

The audience in Philadelphia right now, and countless fans across the ocean.

Because I just got bombarded with O'Neal's powerful highlight reel.

Right now, everyone is worried about Yao Ming.

Seeing that a scrimmage was about to break out between the two teams, and no one was even coming to help on defense, Zhang Weiping couldn't help but speak up: "Why aren't you coming to help on defense? This defensive setup is so unreasonable. Larry Brown calls himself a defensive master, but I think he's just—"

When it comes to protecting his own people, Zhang Weiping goes to great lengths.

Just as Zhang Weiping was criticizing Larry and Brown, O'Neal, after getting the ball, was already planning what trash talk he was going to unleash later.

He's just the same kind of guy as Bradley.

Average quality goods, average quality goods.

Let me tell you, the name "Great White Shark" isn't just something you call it.

This alliance —

There's only one big shark.

O'Neal, relying on his reputation as one of the league's top centers, completely underestimated this young center. In '97, there were few players in the entire league who could reliably stop his low-post attacks. He simply thought of the person in front of him as Bradley, just a bit taller and skinny.

Recalling his experience of relentlessly attacking Bradley, Shaq's mood undoubtedly relaxed a bit.

Then, with casual steps, he would use his weight to crush the basket.

He planned to use his physical advantage to push past his opponent and dunk directly at the basket.

Yao Ming, meanwhile, kept his foot firmly inside the penalty area line at this moment.

He didn't rush forward to receive the ball; his eyes remained fixed on the opponent's wrist as he held the ball.

Just as O'Neal raised his arm to exert force, his long arm suddenly shot out, precisely touching the lower half of the basketball.

The ball was immediately struck by a lateral force.

It bounced straight towards the flank edge.

O'Neal's jump was abruptly halted in mid-air.

It was all for naught.

After losing his balance, he could only stagger back to the ground. This was Yao Ming's first block on the Big Shaq at the start of the game.

"O'Neal is on offense, let's see how Yao Ming defends him—"

"O'Neal drives to the basket, ready to jump, oh dear, blocked—blocked!"

"Well done!"

Unfortunately, the block wasn't very powerful, so after a spin in the air, the ball fell back into O'Neal's hands.

O'Neal didn't expect the shot to be blocked.

Now he has the ball again.

Then so.

Let's do it again.

This time, O'Neal deliberately kept his position low when holding the ball.

Instead, he used a side-step back strike to probe and make a collision.

This is an attempt to change the rhythm, push past the defense, and then find space to shoot.

Yao Ming then used the force of the opponent's thrust to slightly retreat and deflect the force.

At the same time, a safe distance was always maintained.

O'Neal adjusted his center of gravity and prepared to turn over and lift the ball.

The moment my gaze shifted to the basket.

Yao Ming then jumped again, stretching his arms.

The palm pressed heavily down onto the surface of the ball.

The basketball changed direction due to the force of the impact, slammed into O'Neal's forearm, and bounced out of the restricted area.

Needless to say, the second block came.

"They covered it again?!"

I wonder if Carmelo Anthony possessed this ball.

Okay, Gua Ge is still a high school student.

But these traits do indeed resemble those of Anthony.

There's no way around it. Yao Ming's weight is a huge disadvantage right now, so when he blocks a shot, his bodies are in direct contact, and he can't really exert much force.

If it weren't for my core development training from a young age...

This will push it open.

If it weren't for such a strong wingspan.

To reach the level of such strong combat power as it is now.

That would probably push them out of their positions immediately.

This caused the ball to spin and return to O'Neal's hands. Seeing this, O'Neal knew the ball was destined to go in.

If you can score after your shot is blocked, you can at least salvage some pride.

He was still in a state of imbalance after landing, his feet were not firmly planted, and his center of gravity was teetering on the edge, but the basket was right there.

A perfect opportunity for a putback is right in front of you.

Based on his experience, O'Neal felt that...

My footing is not yet secure.

But the other side is also not on a stable foothold.

That would also be an opportunity.

He was unwilling to waste such a fleeting opportunity to attack, nor did he want to launch another full-court back-to-the-basket attack and wait for the team to move in again.

Being blocked twice in a row filled O'Neal with a sense of frustration, making him eager to redeem himself with a basket.

So, before his body had fully recovered, he grabbed the basketball and hastily began to bend his knees and exert force.

This is to take advantage of the remaining airborne posture to raise the hand and complete a close-range putback.

He believed this was a second attack.

No one can stop him.

Because this distance is only a few feet from the basket.

Ordinary players simply don't have time to jump again to cover.

Yes, that's generally the case. O'Neal's anticipation and basketball experience are actually not a problem.

There's only one problem now, and that is—

He underestimated Yao Ming's defensive tenacity and defensive energy.

When Yao Ming landed lightly during his first block, his toes barely touched the ground before his body instantly began to gather momentum.

There was not a single pause or hesitation throughout the entire process.

As O'Neal continued to put up the basket, he almost simultaneously performed a tiptoe jump.

Yes, it's just tiptoeing.

This is his strategy, inspired by the future Viktor Amar'e of the Spurs.

As long as you can reach a high enough point while standing still.

Then you don't actually need to bend your knees to jump.

Just jump on your tiptoes.

It doesn't matter how high you jump.

There's a faster way to reach out and block a shot.

A move to intimidate the opponent.

That's enough for a guy of that height.

Often, there's absolutely no need to make that extra jump.

O'Neal didn't choose to stabilize his position and then immediately dunk.

Instead, he opted for a putback layup.

He did this because he thought it would be faster.

The goal was to catch Yao Ming off guard.

Although the release point wasn't high enough, it was enough to create a time difference.

He believed that was enough to appease Yao Ming.

There wasn't enough time to block the shot.

His idea was quite good, and in fact, it made sense. If the player had to bend their knees and jump, there simply wouldn't be enough time.

But it's a pity that Yao Ming didn't need to jump.

Because his standing reach is already over three meters.

With just a slight movement, it can go over the rim, a whole hand's width.

This interferes with most shots taken near the basket.

That's more than enough.

In addition, the level of physical comfort continues to rise.

An extremely long arm tremor can instantly cover the entire area under the basket.

There were no unnecessary movements; Yao Ming simply stood on his tiptoes.

The large hand had already firmly covered O'Neal's shooting angle.

Shaquille O'Neal never expected this; the guy didn't even jump, he just tiptoed.

Damn it, I covered myself up.

This is the third big hat.

O'Neal never expected to get blocked three times right at the start of the game.

What does that make him think?

His grand pronouncements seemed laughable at this moment.

Iverson finally got the ball this time.

He pushed forward quickly, drawing a defensive foul from Eddie Jones.

This offensive surge also excited the fans at the Great Western Forum.

Of course, there were viewers on the other side of the ocean, separated by a live broadcast signal.

Each of them reached a climax.

According to an incomplete statistic, at this very moment...

Quite a few people broke things.

They were either glared at by their parents or yelled at by the cafeteria ladies.

In short, this moment has been forever etched in the minds of countless teenagers who watched the game.

"Shaq, here's a little-known fact: the earliest shark fossils were unearthed in the East."

Yao Ming deliberately mentioned a little-known fact here, just to distract O'Neal.

"Your Western world appeared 70 million years later than ours."

O'Neal: ? ? ?

Why do I feel like I've been lectured twice in one go?

My body was given a lesson.

Then I felt like my brain had been educated all over again.

Shaquille O'Neal is actually quite intelligent, and he could have had a very high level of education in the future, but unfortunately...

Yao Ming came prepared.

No matter how high your academic qualifications are, your knowledge in this area will never be as solid as your own.

Do not fight a battle you are prepared for; avoid the enemy's area of ​​expertise.

Even if you have a master's degree or a doctorate, it won't matter.

Because you can only pursue a master's or doctoral degree in your specific field.

This isn't something related to your field of expertise.

You were just as clueless.

itch!

It's so itchy!

Damn knowledge.

It's assaulting my poor brain.

For some reason, O'Neal always felt that his eyes were as clear as when he returned to elementary school.

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