no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 103 Yao Xu Derby
The day before the Derby, Xu Yong drove Yao Ming to his home for dinner.

During the previous offseason, Yao Ming [banned] him. It was a courtesy, but now that Yao Ming has come to Chicago, he naturally has to do his best to be a landlord.

He also specially spent money to go to Chinatown to hire a Shanghainese chef and gave Yao Ming a luxurious meal.

"You are really brave." Yao Ming entered the house rented by Xu Yong, and his first reaction was surprise.

Although he has never stayed in Chicago, he has played in the NBA for so many years and knows how chaotic Chicago is.

This is the city center of Chicago. How dare Xu Yong rent this place and seem to live in a safe place?

"It's true that I have been thieves, but it's not bad now, maybe because I can play well?" Xu Yong said with a smile, he did not mention the matter of Brother Rose.

Yao Ming smiled awkwardly after hearing this. Xu Yong's character is so bad, but this can barely be explained.

"You are so polite, do you want me to be gentle tomorrow?" Yao Ming said with a smile as he looked at a large table of dishes.

In terms of pure strength, the Rockets are much better than the young Bulls.

"I haven't found a chance before. This is thanks to your help last time, the time T-mac taught me how to pull." Xu Yong explained.

Yao Ming nodded when he heard this, but the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

McGrady and the Rockets have had a lot of trouble lately.

That's right, McGrady didn't listen to Xu Yong's suggestion at the beginning, and the "7-minute viewing time" in history came as promised.

The matter itself is relatively complicated, and is very similar to the historical dispute between Leonard and the Spurs. Essentially, the team doctor could not detect the player's problem, and the player asked a doctor to perform surgery without authorization, resulting in the player being unable to be traded, and then the relationship broke down.

The Rockets also played the keyboard well. They gave McGrady 7 minutes, which not only showed other teams that McGrady can still play, but also did not give McGrady time to find his form. It also avoided the possibility of McGrady being injured. It can be said that all the tricks are exhausted.

But this actually means that McGrady's countdown to leaving the team is over.

"Where might McGrady go?" Xu Yong asked straightforwardly, and after asking, he signaled Yao Ming to use his chopsticks.

There is nothing to hide between him and Yao Ming.

And he was also curious.

In history, McGrady was traded to the Knicks in a three-way transaction, in exchange for Jordan Hill, the No. 2009 pick in 8, Kevin Martin, the subject of the transaction, and Jeffries, who was used to balance the contract. The Knicks in 2011 first-round pick swap, and a top-five protected first-round pick in 2012.

In this transaction, the Rockets also sent Landry, who averaged 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, to the Kings in the third grade.

This shows that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and Tracy McGrady's trading value is actually not low.

What makes him curious is that it is basically impossible for McGrady to change like this.

First, his appearance changed the trade meeting. The Knicks no longer have Hill, and the Rockets have Brooks and Lowry on the team, so they will not want Flynn.

The second is more important, Yao Ming is still there.

At the beginning, McGrady was equivalent to changing the "future" of Hill, but now, the Rockets definitely want the present more.

"I'm not very sure, but it's likely to be Detroit." Yao Ming said while eating.

Pistons?
Xu Yong thought for a moment.

This is really possible!

In fact, as early as two years ago, the Pistons were interested in McGrady. At the beginning, they proposed to replace McGrady with Billups and Prince's plan, but McGrady could still play at that time, and the Rockets did not agree.

Moreover, in history, McGrady went to the Knicks to finish his contract and also went to the Pistons as a free agent.

Even the Pistons are now in urgent need of a deal to free up capital space, because after signing Ben Gordon with a 5-year, 5500 million contract in the summer, the team originally hoped that Gordon and Hamilton would partner in the backcourt, but found that that did not work at all. It doesn't make sense, and the result is that Gordon has a multi-million contract to serve as a substitute, and a trade is imminent.

I just don’t know whether the subject of the Pistons’ trade will be Hamilton or Gordon, but no matter which one goes to the Rockets, it will be a reinforcement.

So if it really works, it will be a good thing for Yao Ming, at least he can continue to chase the championship.

"The grouping for the World Cup came out yesterday." Perhaps because he didn't want to talk about McGrady anymore, Yao Ming continued.

"Who are you grouping with?" Xu Yong hasn't paid attention to this news yet.

And the information before his rebirth is useless, because at that time the men's basketball Asian Championships lost to Iran, opened the prelude to the darkest chapter of the men's basketball, but now they are the champions, the division is different, the grouping is definitely different same.

"United States, Russia, Australia, Puerto Rico, Cote d'Ivoire."

"The group of death." Xu Yong used a very classic comment.

This grouping was much more difficult than the one he knew.

Especially in a group with the US team, there is naturally one less spot, and the overall strength of Russia and Australia must be stronger than them.

"Well, one fight counts as one." Yao Ming nodded.

"Actually, this is good, because I don't have high expectations. As long as we reach the top eight, wouldn't it be a surprise?" Xu Yong said.

Yao Ming was taken aback for a moment, and then smiled awkwardly.

The reason is naturally like this, but if the group rank is low, it is necessary to play another group with a higher rank. 16 to 8 is the most difficult.

However, Xu Yong's character is considered conservative even if he is not mentioned in the semi-finals.

……

On the second night, the China Derby at the Chicago United Center was highly anticipated.

Not only was the venue full of attendance, but also a considerable number of Chinese fans came.

On the other side of the media booth, the number of broadcasting stations has also reached the [crowded] level.

Because Zhang Weiping and Yang Yi represented Yang Wu, they were assigned a position with a good viewing angle, but they also came an hour in advance, fearing that others would take it.

And they also started their warm-up commentary early.

他们自然会提到姚易德比，因为那场比赛太经典了，姚明28分10板3助攻3盖帽，易建联19分9板2抢断1盖帽。

But in fact, anyone who watched that game could tell that both teams intended to let the two of them play more.

Before the players entered the field, the scene showed Stern, who came to the auditorium as promised.

It doesn't take much guesswork to know that things like that will continue to happen tonight.

However, Xu Yong is now averaging 19 points per game. Isn't this expectation directly raised by a few levels?

There is still half an hour before the start of the game, and players from both sides are entering the stadium one after another.

The scene was the first to show Xu Yong and Yao Ming's cutting shots, the two absolute protagonists tonight.

After the warm-up ended, the starting lineups of both sides were released one after another.

The Bulls have the regular five tigers: Rose, Xu Yong, Deng, Gibson and Noah.

On the Rockets side, Aaron Brooks, Battier, Artest, Scola, Yao Ming.

Yao Ming moved the ball back to the Rockets half, and the Chinese Derby, that is, the Yao-Xu Derby, officially kicked off.

If McGrady doesn't play, the Rockets' main attacking point is naturally Yao Ming.

This season, Yao Ming averaged 18.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. His scoring was a new low in the past six seasons, but his assists were a career high.

On the one hand, this is because he has appeared at the free throw line more often after losing weight. On the other hand, it is also because Adelman's Princeton system will increase the number of times the center can handle the ball, and the assists will naturally increase.

At this moment, Yao Ming was at the free throw line. After Artest cut in to attract the defense, he raised his hand and took a mid-range shot.

"Shh!"

There is a shot.

Yao Ming's mid-range is a skill that Embiid will never learn in his lifetime. What stands out is that he is ridiculously accurate.

Noah's defense against Boozer was mediocre at the beginning, and he was a bit helpless when he met Yao Ming with such a high shooting point.

"Hey, this shot is played reasonably, which reflects Dayao's core position in the team." No, Zhang Weiping came to life at the beginning.

The Rockets took the lead. Looking back, Rose organized with the ball and then gave the ball directly to Xu Yong.

What stands out is the harmony within the team.

This scene made Stern in the stands amused.

Which joke says that you have to choose between the fish and the bear's paw? Isn't this everyone happy?

Of course, the opportunity is given, it is up to Xu Yong himself whether he can seize it.

As an opponent, and the Rockets are also competing for playoff rankings, it is absolutely impossible to let go.

Even Yao Ming will never show mercy if he has the opportunity to cover Xu Yong.

And the person guarding Xu Yong is the defensive master Battier, who was on the second team defense last season.

Not to mention Artest, a sweeping help defender.

Many people have overlooked that this is Xu Yong's biggest challenge since he entered the NBA.

Xu Yong held the ball with one hand. First, he signaled Deng to pull to the weak side corner with his assistant hand, and then pulled Artest to the far end. Then he dribbled under the crotch to widen the distance between him and Battier, and then directly used his right hand to Dribble the ball and take a long step with your left foot to the right.

How could Xu Yong not be familiar with Battier?

Blindfold defense, offensive foul maker, inventor of the saying "people with high IQs win basketball games, and people with good physical fitness win track and field games".

Battier's characteristics are defensive experience and skills, and his shortcomings are speed and lateral movement, so Xu Yong will not get too entangled with Battier on static attacks such as back-up play. What he wants is dynamic breakthrough.

In other words, Battier is the best person to test his training results over the past month.

Battier is very experienced. He has been keeping an eye on Xu Yong's movements and did not leave the ground. Instead, he turned his hips and turned half to the right. This allowed him to adjust to the best defensive position with the lowest change of center of gravity.

But at the moment he did this, Xu Yong pulled his right foot back, and his whole body made a movement of turning to the left.

Shane was stunned and felt something disappear from his eyes.

The fans at the scene were also stunned.

Because just now, they couldn't tell whether it was Xu Yong or Ross who was breaking through!
"Oh!"

Fortunately, they figured it out after Xu Yong broke through to the inside and smashed the ball into the basket, swinging around the basket.

Because of Rose, he never hangs the basket.

(End of this chapter)