no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 167 Yao Shark relay, "Superman" returns

Looking back, Turkoglu continued to hold the ball and play pick-and-roll with Howard. This time he lobbed the ball to Howard again.

But after receiving the ball, Howard didn't have many moves to face the shrinking Yao Ming, so he could only choose a small hook from close range.

However, compared to Yao Ming's previous hook, what stood out was that it was a toss-up that hit the basket hard.

Although the ball was luckily not blocked by Yao Ming, it hit the frame without any suspense.

And Yao Ming is really experienced in dealing with Howard. Basically, after Howard takes action, he turns around and blocks Howard from taking off.

So when the rebound popped out, Howard could only watch Yao Ming easily collect the defensive rebound above his head.

But the good news is that Yao Ming's collection of rebounds gave the Magic time to retreat, and the Bulls' defensive counterattack did not come out again.

Both sides entered into a positional battle of offense and defense.

Nelson's ball directly hit Rose's body, and he tried his best to prevent Rose from breaking through again.

After seeing this, Yao Ming took the initiative to move up to the high position to play a pick-and-roll for Rose.

Nelson was blocked solidly, and Rose took the opportunity to drive straight to the basket.

Nelson squeezed through the pick-and-roll and chased after him. Howard also found the right opportunity to block the shot.

Rose was eventually pinched into a meat bun, but he jumped up and found someone in the air to see Yao Ming, and passed the ball to him.

The ball was passed a little later, but Yao Ming moved quickly after receiving the ball and took a mid-range shot before Howard could make up the defense.

"Shh!"

Basketball hollow into the net.

Howard has no moves against this kind of ball.

The Magic were unable to open up the situation for a long time. Turkoglu could only signal to pull away and then handed the ball to Bass in the low post for singles.

The Magic's orthodox play style is one star and four shots, but the premise of that play style is that Howard can have an advantage in the inside. Not to mention the crushing level of inside singles, at least the attack after the pick and roll can directly lead to scoring.

But so far tonight, let alone these two points, Howard has been completely suppressed by Yao Ming on a daily basis.

So the Magic can only find other output angles.

Although Bass is short, he is strong, has strong confrontation ability and physical fitness, and has the ability to shoot accurately from mid-range.

Otherwise, with his height, he would not be able to start in a team of the Magic's level.

Buss singled out Artest...not impressed.

Artest is also characterized by his strength. He is 2 meters tall and weighs 01 kilograms during this period, which is about the same as Buss.

Buss tried to turn around and attack, but Artest's defensive experience blocked him early, which was called a missed opportunity.

In the end, Buss had no choice but to turn over and shoot a jump shot, which missed the basket due to Artest's interference.

The Magic's offense was completely misfired tonight.

Fortunately, Turkoglu only attacked tentatively, and had already called on his teammates to retreat, preventing the Bulls' defensive counterattack.

Both sides continued to fight for positions.

Rose saw Nelson still fighting with him, and directly called Yao Ming to the high post to continue the pick-and-roll.

Nelson consciously tried to avoid Yao Ming's pick-and-roll, but Yao Ming was so big that he still didn't avoid it.

Rose continued to break through Howard, but this time he was careful.

After seeing Nelson still chasing him, Rose returned the ball to Yao Ming before it became a meatball this time.

Howard was also prepared this time. When he saw Rose turning around, he rushed to Yao Ming.

After all, one cannot fall down twice in the same place.

Yao Ming raised his hand to shoot, and Howard pounced on him.

There was light in his eyes, and with his physical fitness, he had time to catch up this time.

As long as he meets Yao Ming, he has regained his position.

However, Yao Ming feinted a shot and dribbled the ball directly after collecting the ball.

At this time, the Magic's inside line was undefended.

"Oh!"

Yao Ming broke through and slammed the ball into the basket with a one-handed dunk.

The United Center instantly erupted.

0 is better than 8!

The Bulls are off to a fantastic start.

Except for Xu Yong's alley-oop dunk at the beginning, the remaining 6 points all came from Yao Ming!
When Howard saw this, two words stood out on his expression: helpless.

You'd rather go against Shaq than Yao Ming.

Yao Ming has all the abilities to defeat him, the height and weight on the defensive end, and the hook and shooting on the offensive end.

It was really like a wolf meeting a tiger, with no temper at all.

细数两人过往的14次交手，姚明战绩上12胜2负，场均23.5分10.2篮板2.2盖帽，霍华德场均却只有12分9篮板1.5盖帽。

This is really a real nemesis.

About nine minutes into the first quarter, the score on the field was 9-9, and the two sides began to rotate.

Although Thibodeau still uses a ten-man rotation after the playoffs, the main players' playing time is constantly increasing.

For example, in the first quarter, he only replaced two players. Gibson and O'Neal were replaced by Battier and Yao Ming.

The Magic rotated normally, with Arenas, Redick, Anderson and Quentin Richardson coming off the bench one after another.

However, Howard remained on the court because there was no substitute.

This period is generally an excellent time to travel during off-peak hours.

After the substitution came back, the Magic team's offense started with Arenas and Anderson playing a pick-and-roll. After splitting, he shot a three-pointer from the outside.

Before "The General" was injured, he averaged nearly 7 three-pointers per game. This is a very high number in this era, almost at the same level as Ray Allen.

The difference is that what he is better at is this kind of three-pointer with the ball.

"when!"

But as I said, that was before the injury. After being traded to the Magic this season, his three-point shooting percentage was less than [-]%.

Fortunately, the ball was a long rebound. Howard had excellent rebounding sense and judgment. He jumped up and grabbed the offensive rebound, and then directly attacked the frame a second time.

Yao Ming is gone, he has to do a lot!
But how could O'Neal do what he wanted? He moved his body and rushed over with his hands raised.

There was a head-on physical confrontation between the two, and Howard was forced to stop the ball and directly buried his head and shoulders, trying to push away O'Neal like an iron hammer.

But O'Neal was too heavy. Although he was pushed back at the first blow, he quickly came up again. After the confrontation, Howard could only manage to hit the board.

"when!"

The basketball misses the hoop.

He couldn't score a single goal tonight.

Fortunately, the referee's whistle sounded, signaling O'Neal's defensive foul, which saved Howard.

O'Neal turned around and looked at the referee motionless, feeling full of pressure.

The referee did not change the penalty.

Obviously, even if you were once a superstar, as long as you are not at the level of Jordan, you will inevitably become a supporting role when you grow old.O'Neal's expression suddenly darkened.

good!good!That’s how you play it, right?
Howard made two free throws from the free throw line.

His free throw shooting rate so far in this playoff is over 70%, which is surprisingly accurate.

And these two free throws finally helped the Magic's score break 10 and reach 11 points.

In the Bulls' offense, O'Neal reached the frontcourt and took the initiative to get down low and reach for the ball.

Rose quickly lobbed the ball in.

The biggest difference between O'Neal and Yao Ming is that he does not have the ability to shoot from mid-range. In addition, as he gets older, his movement speed decreases and his pick-and-roll effect is not good. Therefore, during this period, when he comes on the court, he must either contain him in the paint or feed him the ball.

O'Neal caught the ball, and there was no double attack on the Magic's side.

Gibson has a stable mid-range, and the Bulls still have a lot of offensive space on the court. The Magic can either choose to give other Bulls shooting opportunities, or choose to let Howard and O'Neal go one-on-one inside.

Van Gundy chose the latter. Although Howard was beaten by Yao Ming, dealing with an old O'Neal is still not a big problem.

Howard obviously thought the same way. He was forced to stop the ball just now and took a shot. If he really started to move, O'Neal's current ability may not be able to stop him.

O'Neal held the ball and dug in, and Howard also focused on resisting.

The confrontation between the two has the flavor of a classic center.

O'Neal suddenly turned around after the second shot, but Howard was already there.

It is difficult for ordinary insiders to get back up when their weight is too heavy, but he is a "superman".

Almost the moment O'Neal turned around, he had already advanced his center of gravity, and then aimed directly at O'Neal's shot.

This movement is like a rabbit running away, like thunder, and it is about to perform a flying hat.

But who would have thought that O'Neal just made a move from Xu Huang, turned around quickly, and then quickly wiped the board and sent the ball into the basket.

Howard hit the air with all his strength, and was a little dazed when he landed.

The United Center has once again been filled with cheers from fans.

Just now they thought that O'Neal was going to be hit, but it turned out that he was still too old!

After O'Neal scored, he gave Howard a look of disdain.

My athletic ability has declined due to old age, but what kind of athletic ability is needed to beat someone like you?
Howard also became angry when he saw O'Neal's look.

I can't beat Yao Ming, and I can't beat this old guy like you? !

In the transition between offense and defense, Howard directly asked for the ball in the low post on the right side. After receiving the ball, he faced O'Neal and hit O'Neal.

He made a direct feint, then walked along the baseline and hit the basket.

O'Neal couldn't keep up, and Howard broke into the paint.

"Oh!"

Howard smashed the ball into the basket with a violent two-handed attack.

After the dunk, Howard was very excited. Not only did he beat his chest and roar, but he also performed Superman's iconic flying action right in front of O'Neal.

Here I have to briefly mention the history of grudges between O'Neal and Howard.

Howard actually respected O'Neal very much from the beginning. As a center who grew up watching O'Neal play, he always regarded O'Neal as his idol and was eager to get O'Neal's recognition.

But since the 2008 Dunk Contest, O'Neal has publicly complained about Howard because of his Superman nickname.

Yes, those were the words he had muttered to Xu Yong.

After that, O'Neal was unhappy with Howard and publicly criticized Howard for his rough skills and so on.

Although O'Neal is very funny, he is still a bit narrow-minded in nature, otherwise he would not have been so troubled with Kobe in the first place.

So the idol of the past is no longer there, and Howard is holding back his energy to prove himself in front of O'Neal.

With this ball just now, Howard could be regarded as earning face for himself, so he was trying to kill someone, and he just wanted to talk trash about the old O'Neal's retirement.

O'Neill's face was terrifyingly gloomy.

In transition between offense and defense, he continued to ask for the ball in the low post.

Rose also continued to feed the ball in. O'Neal had just scored a goal, so there was no reason not to continue feeding it in.

Richardson wanted to shrink his defense, but Howard called him back.

The two continued to play one-on-one in the paint.

O'Neal's style of play at this time was obviously different from the previous round. After turning his back, he hit hard with all his strength.

Howard also showed no signs of weakness. To back down at this time would appear to be a coward.

O'Neal finally turned towards the free throw line, then made an obvious stop and power move, and finally stood up against Howard.

Like an erupting volcano that could not be stopped, Howard was thrown away.

"Oh!"

Then, there was the first powerful two-handed dunk.

The huge figure instantly bent the basket a lot.

There was an exclamation at the scene.

In a trance, fans seemed to go back in time ten years ago, the era when sharks were ravaging the league.

At that time, O'Neal was nicknamed the "Basket Inspector" and it was common for him to dunk the rim, or even knock down the entire rim.

It was also at that time that O'Neal was nicknamed "Superman" by fans.

What's even more terrifying is that O'Neal remained expressionless after completing the dunk.

Obviously, what Howard did just now cannot be solved with a dunk.

At this time, the time has come to the last attack of the first quarter.

"Defense! Defense!"

The emotions of the fans at the United Center have been aroused by O'Neal's dunk just now, and the cheers at the scene were overwhelming.

Howard was still very tough and did not flinch after being dunked. On the offensive end, he continued to hold the ball and beat O'Neal head-on.

At this time, we have to talk about the importance of idols. The kneecaps of rising stars such as O'Neal and Kobe are still very hard.

Howard repeated his old trick, but this time O'Neal shrank to the basket early.

He knows that Howard's hook technique is relatively clumsy, so he just needs to prevent him from dunking.

Facts have proved that O'Neal's choice was very correct. Howard rushed to the basket and was blocked. He wanted to use force to knock O'Neal away but was unable to do so. He could only use the turning and board-wiping technique that he was not good at before time expired.

But the moment he took action, O'Neal suddenly jumped up from the ground.

It's hard to imagine that the 39-year-old O'Neal can still jump like this.

But it seems that since the last round, the remaining energy in O'Neal's body has completely burst out.

"boom!"

In the stunned eyes of the fans again, O'Neal staged a buzzer-beating pinboard directly in front of Howard!
The United Center just exploded.

Xu Yong also ran inside at this time and had a passionate chest-to-chest collision with O'Neal.

With dunks on the offensive end and nails on the defensive end, the 39-year-old O'Neal staged a real "Return of Superman" in front of the 25-year-old Howard!
It's just pitiful for Howard. He was pinned to the ground by Yao Ming and rubbed for most of the quarter. When he thought he could finally travel at the wrong time, he was shocked to be taught by the old O'Neal again.

This is really the Yao Shark relay, mixed doubles, and giving you a complete career!
(End of this chapter)