From sparring to superstar

Chapter 308. 306. Chinese Derby
"Dolan sent the madman away and gave you pennies and the old Wolf King in exchange, tsk tsk..."

"I signed Ewing to be your trainer, and also asked Dameng to teach you your steps. Yo, the treatment is pretty good."

Listening to Li Ao's sinister tone, Yao Ming said helplessly: "Brother Xia, I really didn't deliberately imitate you to make you take the blame."

"You are the brother. You are older than me. How can I have the nerve to let you call me Brother Xia?"

"..."

Yao Ming's fists tightened.

But don't mention it, after being hurt by Li Ao for a few words, the inexplicable guilt he felt disappeared, and his mentality became more relaxed.

The Knicks' training for him is basically copying the Clippers' successful model, just like the Clippers copying their neighbors' work.

After he clashed with Madman, the Knicks put Madman on the bench to show their attitude.

When he returned from suspension and made 10 of 10 shots against the Shark-less Lakers, the Knicks management hired Gorilla and Big Dream to coach him.

Two days ago, on December 12, the Knicks and the Suns reached a deal. The Knicks sent out the expired contract of the crazy and season-ending Larry Johnson, and acquired Penny Hardaway and Gugliotta from the Suns. , the former has the experience of partnering with a giant center, and can also allow Alan Houston to return to a more comfortable shooting guard position. The latter has received treatment from Thomas Carter and adopted suggestions for adjusting his playing style. This season, he is in good health and has superb skills. , can serve as a substitute for Yao Ming, and can also guide Yao Ming's skills.

This training method is the way the Clippers have trained Li Ao in the past two years.

Copying the correct answer is a very correct choice for a rebuilding team.

But Li Ao's career started in a rather special way. Yao Ming's previous domestic image was that he belonged to Guang Weizheng's group, copying Li Ao's homework... and was hyped by the domestic media as a white lotus that was taught bad things by the evil Spider-Man.

Schwartz is not a nice guy like Bill Duffy. Li Ao's reputation is that anyway. He decisively added fuel to the flames and bought the manuscript to help promote it. In an interview, he also pretended to accidentally reveal that this was what happened...

He has been in contact with the flower garden basketball community for a long time, and he knows very well that a good gentleman will definitely be bullied by the people above him in the flower garden basketball community. Only by being a bad boy can he make those people worry. After all, who is to blame? Neither looks good.

Yao Ming and Li Ao have known each other for a while, and they know that Li Ao can yin and yang him like this, but they are not really angry, they just need to coax him.

Today is December 12th, Christmas Eve.

After the game between the Clippers and the Knicks on the 22nd, they both got two days of rest.

Today, Li Ao and his whole family celebrated Christmas early. The Knicks came to Los Angeles in the morning, and Li Ao called Yao Ming over to celebrate the holiday together.

Li Ao is already used to celebrating Christmas. Yao Ming has just arrived at Yingjiang's house and is not very fond of Christmas, but when he comes here, he still has to blend in. He learns how Li Ao's family celebrates the holidays and will spend Christmas in New York in the future. When you are in class, you can copy your homework.

Different from the original time and space, here there is the senior Spider-Man leading the way, Yao Ming has a clear direction, and there is Li Ao in front to resist the expectations of domestic fans. He is not under much pressure and can do whatever he wants.

He also wants to be the team leader like Li Ao!

...

Christmas is here on December 12th.

The NBA has only scheduled two Christmas games this year.

The Lakers played away against the Magic, OK combination VS combination.

The Clippers face the Knicks at home, Li Ao VS Yao Ming.

The Christmas Game, similar to the All-Star Weekend, is a stage used by the league to promote stars. Every year, it arranges a strong showdown and a showdown between talented new stars. Usually several games are arranged.

Only two games are scheduled this year. Stern has spent a lot of money in order to further develop the sports market of flower growers.

Kidd, Webber, Nowitzki, Iverson, Carter, Ben-Wallace, these stars who have been very popular among flower growers in the past two years, Stern has chosen to give up and mainly promotes the 'Chinese Derby'.

The florist's media focused on promoting the game between the Clippers and the Knicks.

Early this morning, Li Ao drove a pickup truck and took little Roy to the Staples Center to give gifts to his teammates.

Yao Ming saw the cart of gifts prepared by Li Ao last night and felt that he should also give gifts.

But, he has no money...

In order to buy out the contract with Class A, half of his rookie contract salary has to be given to the Blue Association and the Sharks. This aspect is actually not bad. With Schwartz's negotiating ability, only the rookie contract will be sucked by the Blue Association, and the rookie contract ends. After that, the buyout was completely completed, and he has indeed been trained by the Magic City Blue Association since he was a child. His contract with the Sharks and the Magic City Blue Association has not yet ended, so he will be given what is due.

The main reason is that the endorsement aspect has not been finalized yet.

There was no problem with those small endorsements, and the money was obtained, but for that part of the money, he followed Schwartz's advice and bought a house in Manhattan Island.

The bulk of the endorsement deal, the sneaker contract, is still being negotiated.

Hook and Adi were both greedy for his commercial value, but O'Neal had learned from his mistakes. The contracts given by both parties were very conservative. Schwartz was not satisfied, so he delayed it.

Yao Ming also didn't expect that he couldn't even afford a decent gift with a salary several times higher than before...

At 7 p.m. Eastern time, the Lakers' Christmas Day game against the Magic started first.

Li Ao watched one quarter in the lounge. The two teams played wonderfully. He stopped watching the rest and focused on warming up and preparing for the game.

The main audience for the Christmas Day battle between the Lakers and Magic is Eagle fans.

This game started too early. It started at 7 a.m. in the flower garden. The attention was not bad, but the ratings were average.

But on Yingjiang's side, it is the main game, with a viewership rating of over 20%.

After 2 hour and 26 minutes, the game was over.

科比疯狂出手40多次，40投19中，其中三分球7中2，加上4中4的罚球，拿到44分6板4助攻4抢断2盖帽；奥尼尔22投9中加上6中3的罚球拿到21分15板6盖帽。

But except for the two of them and Fisher, who scored 11 points and 4 assists, the rest of the Lakers only scored 19 points in total.

魔术队那边，邓肯24分20板3助攻4盖帽、麦迪16分10板6助攻3抢断1盖帽、卡塞尔28分5助攻，三人力扛鲨蛇鱼。

加上迈克-米勒的10分、克利福德-罗宾逊的7分4板4助攻1抢断2盖帽，强压OK组合一头，以101比95强势击败湖人队。

After the battle between TT and OK, fans focused their attention on Angel City.

At Yingjiang's house, although the 'China Derby' did not receive as much attention as the game that just ended, the Christmas season is here and the ratings are not much different.

Li Ao is very topical. This is the first time that the God of Basketball has played as a substitute in the Christmas game. Fans of the Yingjiang family have an extraordinary love for the big center. Many fans who have never watched Yao Ming's game have the impression that Yao Ming is the second tallest player in the league, top in weight, and has the highest score. The big center who was the first Rookie of the Month was also interested.

Among flower growers, the attention of this game is far greater than the previous one, it is quite popular!

Many students and migrant workers skipped classes and stayed in front of the TV.

It is conservatively estimated that at least hundreds of millions of people will watch this game. It is one of the most watched Christmas games since the NBA game was broadcast live.

At 7:40 pm Los Angeles time, the Knicks were the first to enter the arena at Staples Center.

There were many Huajia fans and overseas Chinese at the scene tonight. When Yao Ming entered the stadium, he received a lot of cheers.

The Clippers don't have much hostility towards the Knicks, and they weren't the ones who were defeated...except for Kurt Thomas, who was booed all over the place when he entered the court.

The attitude of domestic fans towards Kurt Thomas is also very complicated. Many fans still remember the vicious offense that Kurt Thomas committed against Li Ao.

However, Kurt Thomas is strong and is Yao Ming's second best teammate now. Only Alan Houston on the Knicks is stronger than Kurt Thomas.

This season, with Yao Ming at the basket and Alan Houston on the outside, Kurt Thomas averaged 14 points per game, a career high, and a team-high 10.4 rebounds per game. Not only did COSCO shoot accurately and rebound well, he also defended well. He is very strong, averaging 1 steal and 1.2 blocks per game. He does all the dirty work inside. Yao Ming can even be like O'Neal, just defensive rebounding and blocking the position.

Moreover, although Kurt Thomas was full of hostility towards Li Ao and often dissed Li Ao in front of the media, he also cared about his teammate Yao Ming. When someone provoked Yao Ming, Kurt Thomas was the first to rush forward to prevent Yao Ming from being sent off... …

The old Knicks players have long wanted to beat Kuangren. Kuangren stood there and did not dare to move, seriously hurting the feelings of his teammates. Yao Ming's slaps not only did not offend the old Knicks players, but also won their support. Good impression.

After the players from the two teams finished playing, there was no communication between them. When they went to take photos with the celebrities on the sidelines, they were all doing their own thing.

Yesterday Yao Ming went to Li Ao's house to celebrate the festival, but today Yao Ming stood with his teammates.

In this regard, Li Ao felt that Dazhugan was very smart and it was the right choice. Schwartz stayed in New York for a long time in the past two months and taught well!
Pence, who had a good relationship with Li Ao, stopped chatting with him before the game when he joined the Knicks. If New York fans like Spider-Man, players must dislike Spider-Man, at least on the court.

The pre-match preparation time is over, and the two teams start to play.

The Knicks sent out a starting lineup of Howard Isley, Alan Houston, Pence, Kurt Thomas, and Yao Ming.

The Clippers sent out a starting lineup of Bibby, Li Ao, Gerald Wallace, Te'Lon Hill, and O'Neal Jr.

Matt Halprin is still injured. Clippers fans previously complained that Tyron Hill, a backup power forward, was paid $660 million, which is about the same as Ben Wallace and more than Joe Smith. Gao, I don't feel like I'm at a loss now. Matt Halprin can't play, Te'lon Hill is completely capable of replacing him, and the rotation of the power forward position is not as stretched as it was last season.

Li Ao came to the field and stood with Pian Pian and received the task prompt.

"The arrival of the little giant, a welcome ceremony for the little giant:

Goal 1: The host needs to complete one block or dunk against Yao Ming in this game.

Goal 2: Win the game.

Reward: 2000 achievement points for each goal. If both goals are completed, the reward will be doubled and the tasks related to the 'Besieged City' level 4 skill upgrade card will be opened. "

Yao Ming stood in the center circle, looking at O'Neal's hostile look and not knowing why. He didn't know that O'Neal looked like this to everyone on the court. He wondered if he had done something wrong and offended this talented high school student... No. I'm afraid, but I think I can do more things to offend this guy, and make this talented high school student lose his cool on the court, and he will have a chance to perform better.

He learned this from watching Senior Brother Xia.

Suddenly, Yao Ming felt a chill on his back and noticed a malicious gaze. He turned his head...looking down, Spider-Man was staring at him, his eyes seemed to be glowing with invisible red light!

Yao Ming suddenly thought about the news he often saw when he was an NBA fan last season - Spider-Man bullying a certain rookie.

Oops!His big bamboo pole is also a rookie now!
...

At 8 p.m. Los Angeles time and 11 a.m. Imperial City time, the NBA’s first China Derby begins.

The two teams kicked off the game with an attack.

Knicks head coach Don Cheney is a star of the Celtics. He coached the Clippers and Rockets in the 80s. He was a relatively famous offensive coach in the 80s. The Clippers averaged the highest points per game in team history. , which this one got during his coaching period.

By the late 90s, Don Cheney's coaching ability declined and he could not adapt to defensive basketball. However, he was still able to find a job because he was very good at training rookies, such as Olajuwon, Grant Hill, Marcus Camby, etc. The period when a person grows the fastest is during the period when he is coaching.

He has a very good grasp of the two contradictory matters of reusing rookies and reducing the pressure on rookies.

Yao Ming has played 20 games this season, and each game has time to show off his talents, but the pressure of the game is not high. The ones who really bear the pressure are Alan Houston and Kurt Thomas.

首节阿兰-休斯敦暴走，5投3中，其中三分球2中2，加上4中4的罚球，狂飙12分，带领尼克斯队以33比27领先快船队6分！
Don Cheney's offensive coaching skills are indeed good, but in the second quarter, the Knicks' offensive performance plummeted, scoring only 21 points in a single quarter.

Starting well and then falling behind has been the norm for the Knicks in the past two years.The rules are too conducive to defense. The Clippers did not sit idle in the first quarter and frantically challenged the Knicks on the flanks. In the second quarter, they began to move early and flank Alan Houston. Alan Houston's teammates on the wings could not make a shot when he passed the ball.

Don Cheney's offensive tactics worked well in the first quarter, but by the second and third quarters they faltered.

But the Knicks played pretty well defensively in this quarter!

In a game with such high domestic attention, Yao Ming wants to perform well. He respects and is grateful to Spider-Man, but his ambition to defeat Li Ao and become the strongest in the country has never been concealed.

Seeing the decline in offensive performance of his teammates, he played very hard on the defensive end. Together with Kurt Thomas and small forward Clarence Witherspoon who came on the bench, he prevented the Clippers from getting only one goal in the second quarter. 20 points.

After halftime, the Knicks led the Clippers by 54 points, 47-7!
This score made the New York fans in front of the TV very excited. They had not beaten the Clippers in two years. Are they going to win?

Yes, they are cheering for their opponents at home, but of course they are happy if their team can win.

Defeating Spider-Man allowed Spider-Man to see that Yao Ming's talent was much higher than that of O'Neal, and he was attracted to Yao Ming... A beautiful picture emerged in the minds of New York fans...

Back from the intermission, the Clippers sent out a combination of Yalic, Li Ao, Jordan, Odom, and Campbell.

Without Matt Halprin, the Clippers are without their strongest offensive and defensive lineup. In tonight's crucial third quarter, Gentry's choice is to continue to play defense.

The Knicks sent out a combination of Howard Isley, Alan Houston, Witherspoon, Kurt Thomas, and Yao Ming, and they also struggled defensively.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the Knicks took the lead.

Yao Ming leaned on Campbell to catch the ball in the low post, turned around and cut in with a fake move, then turned around to catch the ball and retreat...

This beautiful step made the fans at the scene exclaim.

Is this an action that a player with a height of 220+ centimeters can do?
Then the exclamations turned into wild cheers.

Li Ao, who moved ahead of schedule, jumped high and slapped the ball away when Yao Ming stepped back and just threw the shot!
The sudden big hat startled Yao Ming, and he heard joking sounds coming from below.

"Little giant, the shot-blocking king is staring at you, be careful!"

Looking at Li Ao who turned around and ran towards Alan Houston, Yao Ming felt angry in his heart. No one was being criticized or ridiculed, and he would be in a better mood.

But the little giant...are you talking about him?Oh, by the way, he remembered that when he first met Li Ao, the other party called him Little Giant.

He has heard that Spider-Man likes to give people nicknames. He also likes the nickname Little Giant. It sounds much better than Big Bamboo Pole...

The game continued, the Knicks continued to attack, and there was not much time left. Witherspoon received the ball and attacked... but was interfered by Campbell + Jordan's inside defense, and Jordan protected the defensive rebound.

In the transition between offense and defense, the Clippers' lineup focuses on the triangle offense, and the Knicks' frontcourt combination defends well. Jordan distributes the ball to the wing, and Jaric responds with a long two-point shot... It's ironic.

It's the Knicks' turn to attack, and Yao Ming's pressure suddenly increases!

After being blocked once, he was now very concerned about Li Ao's movements and felt like he was being blocked!

With Campbell on the inside, it's not impossible for him to attack hard, but he won't be able to resolve the battle so quickly. Jordan can attack at any time.

When he faced Campbell in the first half, he always chose to take away shots, and he played very well at that time.

As a result, in the third quarter, his move was seen through by Li Ao and he was marked.

He tried to catch the ball and attract Li Ao to double attack and then distribute the ball, but the Clippers' Yaric and Odom did a good job of catching and intercepting Alan Houston.

At this moment, he deeply felt how aggrieved he was by his own lack of ability...

Li Ao's words, 'I'm watching you', echoed repeatedly in Yao Ming's mind. Occasionally, he actually had a chance, but affected by these words, his actions became hesitant.

Senior Brother Xia is really the shot-blocking king!Two terms in a row!
This year, Xia Ge is out of the running for the shot-blocking title, because instead of competing for the shot-blocking title, he went to compete for the steals title.

O'Neal on the bench can completely understand Yao Ming's mood at this moment.

Players like them who take the traditional center route often encounter this situation before their strength reaches its peak.

Their rich offensive skills allow them to have many options to choose from, but the strength of their skills does not reach the level where they can do everything...

Yao Ming was choked out by Li Ao + Jordan's defense at this point. The Knicks could not maintain their basic offense and only scored 17 points in the third quarter.

The Clippers' triangle offense itself wasn't very good, but they had strong personal abilities. After a few rounds, Li Ao, Jordan, and Odom started to attack, relying solely on their personal abilities and tactical coordination to get rid of them.

The three of them, plus Bibby and O'Neal who came on the bench in the second half of the quarter, were the only five to score in a single quarter, scoring a combined 5 points.

After three quarters, the Clippers led the Knicks by 72 point, 71-1.

李敖单节6分1板1助攻1抢断3盖帽，其中1次抢断和2次盖帽是在姚明头上拿到的！

At the end of the quarter, the Clippers continued their style of play in the third quarter, focusing on their personal abilities, scoring 26 points in a single quarter and preventing the Knicks from scoring only 18 points.

At 10:24 p.m., the final whistle blew.

中投王今晚20投9中，其中三分球8中4，加上7中7的罚球，拿到全场最高的29分。

科特-托马斯拿到12分14板，姚明拿到14分8板1助攻2盖帽3失误。

Li Ao made 25 of 12 shots, no three-pointers, and not many free throws. He made 3 of 3. Yao Ming paired with Kurt Thomas. It was difficult to rush inside. He relied on his shooting ability and singles ability to score 27 points, plus 7 rebounds and 4 assists. 3 steals and 5 blocks, facing the little giant boy boots, he tried his best tonight.

乔丹拿到19分、毕比12分7助攻、小奥尼尔10分11板3盖帽……

98 to 89, the Clippers defeated the Knicks with a 9-point advantage, continuing their unbeaten record against the Knicks after Li Ao joined!

...

The mission 'Little Giant Arrives, Welcome Ceremony for Little Giant' was successfully completed. Li Ao got 8000 achievement points. The system prompts that the next time he plays against the Knicks, he will start the 'siege' task related to the defensive inside skills.

First play at home and then play away from home. With this schedule, Li Ao supports Stern to never retire!
When playing the Knicks away from home, the 'bullying mode' can be activated without any conditions, and the probability of completing the task will be much higher.

This opponent was more difficult to deal with than Li Ao expected.

It can be said that the Knicks management is poor, but it cannot be said that they are not working hard.

The Knicks management has been working hard to rebuild and recruit. Those old players are either sent away or directly retired to free up their positions. New players are introduced at any cost. The depth of the lineup is nearly US$[-] million. Not as good as the Clippers, Trail Blazers, and Mavericks, but better than any other team.

Even if Camby didn't renew his contract because he was worried about the impact on Yao Ming's development, there would still be Osela Harrington, a backup center who averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds per game when he started, and Kurt Thomas, who averaged [-] points and [-] rebounds per game. Double-double power forward.

Li Ao defeated the Knicks early, which also helped Yao Ming's career start. In the past two years, Dolan has been selling off the old players in the team like crazy. The current Knicks are not as sluggish as they were in the past few years.

Although the Knicks management's operational level is limited, Yao Ming's start to his career is still much happier than before.

At the beginning of Yao Ming's career here, the team's strength was definitely not as strong as in the original time and space, but the room for growth was better. The boss had money and was willing to spend money, so he might not be able to build a good team, but he was not as tired as he was in the original time and space.

After the game, Li Ao accepted an interview with domestic media. When asked how to evaluate Yao Ming's performance tonight, he was completely rude - "The little giant is still far away..."

...

Li Ao did not praise Yao Ming's performance after the game, which caused a stir in the country.

But this fits his image, so Yao Ming's fans just complained.

The most popular title in China is the title "Little Giant". Overnight, this title became Yao Ming's new nickname.

When Li Ao was reading domestic news, he saw Yao Ming's fans complaining that he didn't know how to take care of his juniors. He couldn't complain - I am one year younger than him and he has played longer than me. No matter how you look at it, I shouldn't be the one taking care of him. ?
Cursing, he put the matter aside and focused on other news.

The Christmas game is over, this season has entered the mid-season stage, and voting for the All-Star starting lineup has also begun.

Currently, each team has played 27 to 28 games.

The Magic occupy the first place in the league with 24 wins and 4 losses.

活塞队21胜6负排在东部第二，篮网队21胜7负东部第三，步行者队19胜8负东部第四。

In the West, the Mavericks are ranked first with 23 wins and 5 losses, and the Clippers are second with 22 wins and 5 losses.

The Lakers' record surprised Li Ao. After losing to the Magic, the Lakers still had a record of 20 wins and 8 losses, ranking third in the Western Conference, beating the 17-10 Timberwolves and the 17-11 Trail Blazers. .

Thinking of the Lakers' poor lineup of role players... I can only say that the OK combination is awesome!
The effect of O'Neal's self-discipline in the offseason is also obvious. Although he plays in and out and misses 28 of 9 games, he is the league's number one center as long as he plays.

If the Magic just acquired Cassell and didn't spend more chips to trade back the highly paid veteran Clifford Robinson, they really might not be able to beat the Lakers.

The Timberwolves and Trail Blazers are both in misfortune. One of them failed to recruit, and one of the point guards collapsed at 30...

The Kings struggled in the early stages and were plagued by injuries. I don't know if they can get up later.

These three teams show what happens to teams that have talent, good coaching, and hard-working players but cannot make it to the end.

In terms of individual player performance, Kidd ranks first in the world.

场均20.9分8.2板9.2助攻2.4抢断，44.2%的投篮命中率、37.3%的三分命中率、84%的罚球命中率，三项命中率均是生涯新高。

His previous season with the highest field goal percentage was 99% in the 00-44 season, and the season with the highest three-point field goal percentage was 96% in the 97-37 season. His free throw percentage has been improving year by year, from just over 6% in his rookie year. Now he has become a solid free throw expert.

On the defensive end, Ben Wallace has been dragged down by his teammates this season. His personal performance in primary defense is still good, but the team's performance is not enough to support him to compete for more things.

With Cassell and Clifford Robinson, the offensive pressure was reduced and Duncan, who did not have to do so much on the defensive end and could be more engaged, became the best defensive player in the early season.

In the scoring list, Kobe Bryant leads the way, averaging 30.3 points per game, the only player averaging 30+ points per game.

No. 2 Iverson averaged 28.1 points per game, and No. 3 O'Neal averaged 27.6 points per game.

李敖打到现在，场均25.5分7.4板3.3助攻2.6抢断2.3盖帽，得分排在联盟第6。

He didn't deliberately want to score high points. His playing style will affect a person's mentality towards data. He likes high scores, but he won't deliberately pursue high scores on the court. It's because the team needs him to take more shots in December, so he will naturally improve. Got up, a sign of improved hard power.

In the rebounding list, Ben Wallace, with the help of iron king Billups, dominates the rebounding list with an average of 16 rebounds per game, a full three points higher than No. 2 Garnett and Duncan.

In terms of assist ratio, Andre Miller averaged 9.6 assists per game, beating Kidd. The two are the only players averaging 9+ assists per game this season. As teams become more accustomed to the new defensive rules, it becomes more difficult to increase assists. It's very difficult.

In the steals list, Iverson and Artest averaged 2.7 steals per game, and Li Ao averaged 2.6 steals per game. The competition between the three is fierce.

In the blocking list, Spider-Man has retired. Ratliff, Ben Wallace, and Camby compete fiercely, all averaging 3.5 blocks per game. Ben Wallace is helpless when encountering these two brushes, and Duncan averages 2.8 per game. Blocked shots twice, and is outside the competition for the shot-blocking king.

The structure of the current league is very different from Li Ao's impression, so you can refer to the strength of the stars... and the discrepancies are also quite large.

But he doesn't rely on that. He plays the game by himself. It's the critical mid-season. He must strive for the home court advantage in the playoffs. The mid-season is very critical!
(End of this chapter)