Basketball starts with breathing

Chapter 235 No, yes, stop? 【For subscription】

Lu Yu was sitting on a chair in the arena at Loyola University Chicago with a scouting report in his hand.

Here's a report from the Chicago Bulls scout on Yao Ming.

The draft report described Yao Ming as very tall, with good body control and balance.Soft touch, stable and reliable mid-range shots, difficult to block, and hooks reminiscent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Reliable passer.

Easy to accept guidance.

The defensive end can quickly block the opponent, but there are not many tricks in the frontal confrontation, and weight training is required.

Old fans who often watch Yao Ming's games are well aware of the above characteristics, but one point in the report is completely beyond the fans' expectations.

That's what the scouting report says: moving fast and very agile.

This is very different from the fan's inherent impression of Yao Ming.

Because Yao Ming has always given everyone the impression of being tall and strong, but he moves slowly, and his movements are solid but cumbersome.

In fact, Yao Ming, who first entered the NBA, is known for his fast movement and quick steps.

Judging from Yao Ming's game performance in the first two seasons, Yao Ming is indeed as agile in movements and footsteps as the scouting report said, and his moving speed is also very fast for this height.

But with the arrival of Van Gundy, he asked Yao Ming to continue to gain weight to become a heavy center and increase the ability to face confrontation in order to have a stronger dominance in the low post and the penalty area.

But with the increase in weight and confrontation ability, Yao Ming's movement speed and flexibility have been greatly reduced, gradually giving the impression of slow and cumbersome.

At the same time, injuries gradually increased, and he retired due to injury after only 8 seasons in the NBA.

Now that Yao Ming is under Lu Yu's agency, Lu Yu will not let the trainer suggest him to gain weight. This is the first point, the second point, Lu Yu will try to prevent Yao Ming from being selected by the Rockets.

Although that is the memory of Lu Yu's generation...

Lu Yu still remembers his previous life on June 6 this year.

In the crowded office of the CNN reporter station in Jianguomen, the capital, the only draft conference in the history of the NBA that opened a sub-venue for one person overseas was held.

The people present included Yao Ming, his parents, Wang Fei, the then men's basketball coach, and teacher Xu Jicheng, a basketball commentator who served as a translator.

On that day, at Madison Square Garden in New York on the other side of the ocean, NBA President David Stern announced to the world in a very recognizable voice:
"With the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft, The Houston Rocket select YAO MING from Shanghai China and Shanghai Sharks"!
Wang Fei in front of the TV, young Yao Ming, Fang Fengdi, Yao Zhiyuan high-five to celebrate.

In a flash, it was 20 years before Lu Yu crossed over.

In the past 20 years, Yao Ming is no longer a giant in a red shirt, but has been pushed into a female zodiac sign by time.

And Chinese basketball, from the days when it thought it was the beginning and the result was the peak, has become a throwing-ball nailer that is difficult to play in the Olympics.

At that time, the Rockets fans who pooled money to buy the "Basketball Pioneer News", ran home after class, ran to the Internet cafe, or watched a live text broadcast on a Nokia mobile phone for 10 minutes between classes, had already had a big belly.

In those years, every Yao Ming game, thousands of Chinese fans stopped to watch. As long as CCTV5 has a rocket game, the canteens of major schools at noon will always be crowded.

"Yao Shark War", "Yao Mai Group", "China Derby". These words are mentioned overwhelmingly in newspapers, TV and online media. It is really an eternal memory.

Brothers now, can no longer appreciate the unique sense of belonging that a class cheers for a team.

Thinking about it now, it is a luxury for a Chinese player to become a second-round pick. To be elected as the No. [-] pick in the NBA is really too awesome to describe in words.

Especially in that era and social background at that time:
At the beginning of the century, when China successfully applied for the Olympics and joined the WTO, we were like children who just woke up, opened our eyes and looked at the world in front of us ignorantly.

On June 2002, 6, the oriental giant from Shanghai was called The first pick
The champion of others may carry a city, while Yao Ming represents a country.

Even Lu Yu, with the advantage of being a traverser, only got second place.

A total of 28 teams came to today's trial training. Lu Yu and Krause represented the Bulls. There are 29 teams in the NBA. There are no Bobcats yet, only the Los Angeles Lakers have not come.

The Lakers, who did not come, became more and more interested in Yao Ming later.

But they have O'Neal right now, and they don't have a good draft pick right now.

Yao Ming's running and shooting were very smooth in the trial training, but during the one-on-one, due to the fatigue of the journey, the jet lag did not reverse. The state was not very good, and the physical confrontation was not strong. The basketball reporters watching on the side shook their heads.

At the end of the trial training, reporters surrounded the coach in charge of the event, Callesimo, and asked him what he thought of Yao Ming's prospects in the NBA. Coach Ka replied very seriously: "He can make the All-Star!"

The reporters were taken aback, how did the coach see it?

Yao Ming is struggling to play a player on the edge of the draft like Christopherson. How can he hang with the All-Star?
Coach Ka showed the expression "You really don't understand the ball" and gave an answer: "Have you not seen that Yao Ming is so tall that he can not only shoot, but also run, what are the conditions, don't you understand? "

Among the senior team members who came to watch, there was an old man with gray hair, Rockets general manager Dawson.

Dawson is an expert in training centers, and Olajuwon's dream footsteps were trained by the old man.

So the reporters saw Dawson appear and asked him to express his views on Yao Ming.

"If we can get the No. [-] pick, we'll seriously consider picking him," Dawson said.

Lu Yu frowned slightly. He didn't know if the Rockets would get the No. [-] pick, but he really didn't want Yao Ming to go to the Rockets. Of course, if he was really selected by the Rockets, as long as he didn't gain weight, it wasn't impossible.

Except for the Rockets, there are many teams in the league that are better at cultivating rookies.

The result of not gaining weight may sacrifice Yao Ming's achievements in the past few years, but it can prolong Yao Ming's career, and it is not worth it at all in order to fight against the inside muscle man.

Gasol has played for so many years without gaining weight?
Isn't Nowitzki just a little heavier than he just entered the league?
Lu Yu expected that so many teams were optimistic about Yao Ming. Even the general manager of the Bulls, Klaus, sighed after watching Yao Ming's performance: "I knew we would be rotten this year..."

Lu Yu: "???"

I managed to lead the team to the playoffs, can you tell me if I knew it was rotten?
In fact, before the trial training, Yao Ming had already made a certain reputation in the international arena. At the age of 18, he easily cleaned up Tyson Chandler in the training camp.

Years later, Yao Ming recalled: "I'm not turning over the old accounts, I can beat him at will!"

Including the talent shown in the Sydney Olympics, when the reporter asked after the game, "Do you think you have the strength to play in the NBA?"

Yao Ming only answered firmly: "Yes!"

In his previous life, Lu Yu often saw a discussion: "When will the Chinese men's basketball team have the next Yao Ming? In other words, what level of player Yao Ming is now."

First of all, Lu Yu does not agree that if Yao enters the NBA 20 years later, his pick will only be around 18th. Lu Yu feels that Yao Ming's talent level is still among the top three candidates.

We can't just think it's a small-ball era and he might not be able to adapt.

First, if you have enough ability, no matter what era, I think you can do very well.

Second, if you think Dayao is a clunky center, you are wrong, and the slow movement is the result of weight gain.

Third, Yao Ming rarely shot 3-pointers at that time, but his touch was practiced, and there was no problem at all.

Fourth point, any big center with excellent skills will not be low in the draft, no matter what version of the NBA you are in.

The fifth point, which Lu Yu recognizes the most about Dayao, is that he has the qualities that a top athlete should have: toughness and ambition.

He knew where his shortcomings were and put in hard work.

At the beginning, the ability to fight was not good, and then he took O'Neal hard.

Although not necessary, O'Neal can't play for a few years.

It is a pity to retire at the age of 31.

But in Yao Ming's words, there is no regret, because he did not waste a second.

When Yao Ming retired in 2011, when he knew his athlete career was over, he said: "I can finally eat fried chicken."

Innate ability, expression ability, self-discipline and many other factors are combined together to create Yao Ming, the most successful yellow-race athlete in the NBA world.

Lu Yu still remembers Yao Ming's hook and mid-range shot, his back-to-back change, the scene of his injury in the locker room passage at the Staples Center, or his dejection after being eliminated by the Jazz and the Mavericks.
Lu Yu will miss the voice that came from the TV in his previous life. It was his secret happiness.

Although he was still a student at the time, he couldn't tell whether they were talking about "Yao Ming" or "death"...

After the trial training, Lu Yu took Yao Ming home. Yao Ming lived here for the past few days.

Lu Yu wanted to use Yao Ming as a training tool while he was there. Anyway, Yao Ming would go back to the national team's training camp in a few days.

Lu Yu also received the national team's training camp notification, but he and Wang Zhizhi are still playing in the playoffs. It is estimated that some of the domestic training camps will not be able to participate. They will meet when they go to the United States for training camps.

The reason why Yao Ming was used as a training tool was because Lu Yu discovered a problem in the first-round series with the Magic.

During this period, McGrady liked to play Lu Yu in the penalty area.

Tracy McGrady's style of play is more similar to that of a small, flexible power forward. Every time he hits, Lu Yu's chest feels stuffy. , Lu Yu is really not good at defending Maddie.

This also made Lu Yu discover a difference. After each impact, the progress bar of the Breath of the Rock would jump on his system panel.

So Lu Yu guessed, is the Breath of the Rocks related to confrontation?
And this kind of confrontation is not the kind of confrontation between the lines when defending on the outside. It should be more similar to the collision when the center hits the back. After Lu Yu found this, he could not wait to fly to Los Angeles to find O'Neal to try it.

After thinking about it, it is still a matter of life.

Now that Yao Ming is here, it's a perfect fit. Yao Ming is a center and is good at playing inside, so he doesn't need to go to Miller and Oakley in the Bulls.

Try Yao Ming first.

Yao Ming was stunned when he saw the mansion where Lu Yu lived: "Lu Yu, do you want to be so rich?"

"No, I rent it."

Lu Yu smiled and suddenly saw Charlize coming from next door: "Let me introduce, this is my neighbor, Charlize Theron."

Yao Ming and Charlize greeted each other.

After entering the house, Lu Yu closed the door and shut Charlize out.

Yao Mingcai asked cautiously, "Are you missing her money? Why does it feel like she looks at you like she's going to eat you up?"

Lu Yu sighed.

Charlize wanted to eat him, but that kind of eating...

……

On the other hand, the Detroit Pistons and the Philadelphia 76ers are in full swing, and the big score is tied 2-2. The winner among them will have a second-round match with the Bulls.

The Nets with the first record in the East was almost overturned by the Pacers in the eighth place and played a black eight. Fortunately, Kidd played a brave last game and took the Nets out of danger.

The Nets defeated the Pacers 3-2 and advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference.

The game between the Hornets and the Celtics was beyond everyone's expectations. No one expected that the Boston Celtics would be beaten by the Hornets after winning the first game, and they would be directly eliminated by the Hornets.

The Hornets also advanced to the second round early, and their next opponent is the Nets, the No. [-] team in the East.

The situation in the West has also become clear. Like the East, only one group of teams has not yet decided the winner.

The Spurs and the Sonics were tied 2-2 and they will decide the winner in Game [-].

The Kings defeated the Jazz 3-1. Compared with the smooth offense of the Kings, the two elders of the Jazz Xuanming may be really old. Whether they are pick-and-roll offense or defense, they are no longer as brilliant as they were at their peak.

The Mavericks beat the Timberwolves 3-0. Like the Bulls, they started to rest early. Their opponent in the next round is the Kings with the first record in the Western Conference.

The Lakers also beat the Blazers 3-0.

Kobe and O'Neal are waiting for the winner between the Spurs and the SuperSonics. Whoever wins will be the next opponent of the Lakers.

And no matter who wins, the Lakers are not afraid at all.

The first round of the game has gradually become clear here, and now only three teams have swept their opponents in the first round, namely the Lakers, Mavericks and Bulls.

Of these, only bulls are in the east.

The Bulls fans are very satisfied with the team's ability to play to this level. At the beginning of the season, they thought that they could not count down, but they did not expect to make the playoffs.

Later, I thought that it would be enough to make the playoffs, but I didn’t expect it to be in the second round.

This feeling of happiness made the Bulls fans shout: "Enough is enough, it's almost enough, it's over all at once, what about next season?"

At this time, in the training hall of the Bulls, all the Bulls players of Artest, Richardson, Chandler, Oakley, Crawford, Miller, Mercer, Hassel, Fezel , They all stared at the two people in the stadium in stunned eyes.

A little giant over two meters.

The other one was hit and screamed, and at the same time spoke Chinese, the pronunciation seemed to be something——

do not stop?
　There is only one update today, [-] words. I was holding a computer code in the hospital, and I felt a little socially scared. I felt that the nurses looked at me a little weird...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)