Generation Z Artists

Chapter 216: Force the King
At the start of the third quarter, Fang Xinghe attacked the Nets' interior with extreme ferocity.

He was still being guarded by mosquitoes, and the guy was very nervous.

With just a simple probing step, Mosquito's expression instantly tensed up. Fang Ge had an idea, dropped the ball, and made a crossover from right to left.

The mosquito scurried away as if it had been pricked by a needle.

Fang Xinghe's left-leaning shoulder and center of gravity instantly sprang to the right like a spring, allowing him to sweep past his opponent in one step.

Next, he took two big strides to the free-throw line, jumped ahead of Nets center Todd McLoach, and launched himself into the air. He caught the ball, switched hands, and pulled the ball up behind the opponent's arms with a layup.

Swish! Beep!
The ball goes in and the whistle blows; penalty kick added.

"Fang! Fang! Fang!"

The audience chanted the commander's name enthusiastically, praising the visual feast he brought.

Barkley exclaimed dramatically, "Wow! Double Crossover! Fang Xinghe has pulled out another new weapon! Just how many moves does he have in his arsenal?!"

Kenny exclaimed, "Absolutely stunning change of direction! SR's ball control and ball control have improved dramatically compared to the beginning of the season, making his breakthroughs even more elegant and deadly!"

"Yes, Fang Xinghe is still improving. His peak is far higher than we see now. I really can't imagine how long he will dominate the league if this continues."

"No matter how long it takes, I'll love watching it! His movements are so beautiful, I absolutely love that feeling!"

Fang Xinghe pulled out a new move, which was Durant's double crossover dribble.

Of course, the theory is the same, but the actual structure is completely different.

Durant's crossover is characterized by extremely large movements combined with the rhythm deception created by his shooting threat.

Fang Xinghe doesn't have that kind of static physique, so he can't make large movements. Therefore, he can only rely on superb coordination to achieve the ultimate transformation between stillness and movement.

Still as a virgin, swift as a rabbit, quick to act and quick to stop.

Therefore, his feints possess a unique aesthetic, a momentary shift from motion to stillness, followed by a momentary shift back to motion... well, to use a photographic analogy, it's like a frame being lost in the middle.

As he has developed this control in greater depth, his technical movements now have a distinct personal style.

The moment of stillness when the ball is pulled back seems to freeze, instantly drawing the defender's full attention.

In this state, the defender's nerves are highly sensitive. Therefore, Fang Xinghe no longer needs to use extra feints to deceive. Often, just a slight change in his eyes is enough to lure the opponent's center of gravity.

Therefore, Durant's wide crossover dribble, when used by him, becomes a frame-by-frame burst of movement-stillness-movement.

Viewers, unaware of the underlying principles, are deceived by their own eyes—losing all the details and only seeing Fang Xinghe rising and falling, the static floating ball movements and the dynamic bursts of footsteps occurring without warning, creating a dreamlike and enigmatic scene.

"This is magic!"

When Fang Xinghe once again used the same method to get past Mosquito Bro, Barkley immediately shouted.

"SR hypnotized the opponent, poor guy, he's like a wooden stake!"

"Why not Chinese Kung Fu?" Kenny joked. "I highly suspect it's Tai Chi. Is that how it's pronounced?"

"No, no, no, it must be magic! Kittles' defense wasn't this weak in the first half!"

Dude, that's because Mosquito Bro is about to be crushed by the Wizards.

What kind of good person could stand being targeted like this all the time?

A key characteristic of basketball during the Stern era was that players viewed physical confrontation as a weapon.

When backing down an opponent, you need to engage in confrontation; when driving to the basket, you need to engage in confrontation. Whenever there is an opportunity, you should take the initiative to engage in confrontation.

The best way to deal with a marksman is to constantly engage him in combat throughout the game.

In the corners where the referees can't see the ball, they hug, hold, pinch, and grab each other, exchanging greetings with loud bangs, just like Kobe and Anthony did in the 09 Western Conference Finals.

This is a true battle between men.

Mosquito Bro is a tough guy in terms of mentality, but he's actually too fragile.

Having been targeted until now, not only has his physical strength declined significantly, but he has also become overly tense. In the three rounds, for example, Xinghe made two crazy attacks, and in the last round, as soon as Brother Fang made a probing step, he subconsciously bounced back.

So Fang Xinghe took another half step forward.

This is a series of probing steps—the pivot foot remains stationary, while the probing foot touches the ground in different directions with varying amplitudes.

Just as Fang Xinghe lowered his center of gravity, Mosquito Bro completely collapsed, tripped, and fell to the ground in a sorry state, leaving a super wide-open three-point shot from the top of the arc.

Fang Xinghe collected the ball, stood still, and looked down at Kyrie Kittles.

Kidd was frantic, but dared not let go of Jordan, and could only shout something.

Van Horn abandoned Robinson and rushed over frantically.

Martin couldn't get into position in time, so he had to turn around and frantically rush towards the inside.

Fang Xinghe looked at the chaotic scene, a slight smile appeared on his lips, then he took a breath, stood on tiptoe, raised his hand, and gently threw out a three-pointer without jumping.

The orange basketball traced a beautiful arc in the air, freezing the terrified expressions on the opponents' faces.

The basketball had barely left the court when Fang Biwang turned around.

Close your eyes, open your palms to your ears, and tilt your head to listen.

Swish!
The crisp sound of a basketball hitting the net rang out at just the right moment.

"Fang! Fang! Fang!"

The fans' almost excited shouts followed immediately.

The stadium was as chaotic as a fire, with tens of thousands of believers passionately worshipping the fiery demon king.

Kidd stood with his hands on his hips, watching this scene with a furious glint in his eye. He took several deep breaths before finally nodding helplessly and raising his hand to signal to the bench.

Shortly after, the whistle blew.

In the first minute and a half, Fang Xinghe scored 8 points in a row, forcing the Nets to call a timeout.

A heated argument broke out on the away team's bench.

It doesn't seem to be targeting anyone in particular, just a clash of tactical approaches.

In short, after the timeout, the Nets completely abandoned their one-on-one defense against Fang Xinghe and began to double-team him at the edge of the three-point line.

Fang Xinghe smiled, protected the ball and retreated to half a meter to the left of the three-point line, then passed it across to Robinson at the top of the arc.

Robinson chuckled and slammed the ball to Danny on his right.

Danzi chuckled as well, bumped into Kidd with a thud, turned around and jumped back for a jump shot.

After the goal, the old rogue's trash talk was devastating.

"Are you kidding me? You think you can guard me one-on-one? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Kidd's head was buzzing, and he looked extremely frustrated.

This is wrong!

The Wizards today were fucking 7 against 5!
—Fang Xinghe can't be kept in check by one person, and neither can Jordan. We need two more teammates to fill the gap!

Everyone can clearly see the Nets' predicament.

Hubie revealed the secret in a single sentence.

"The Wizards with SR and the Wizards without SR are two completely different teams."

In the past, when facing teams with two star players, we would often use a pseudo zone defense and assign top help defenders to solve the defensive problems caused by the superstars.

Therefore, the best dual-core configuration must be a combination of one internal and one external core.

For example, Kobe and Shaq.

For example, a dream plus a glider.

A twin-tower interior lineup or a twin-guard perimeter lineup is not a good structure because the defender can close out both simultaneously with minimal effort.

Many basketball experts previously believed that the Nets' defensive system was the Wizards' nemesis, precisely for the reasons mentioned above—the Nets' fast-paced transition offense and suffocating defense were very effective against their perimeter duo. However, the Wizards, led by SR, easily dismantled the Nets' defensive system.

The reason for this is that SR has an extremely long attack range. He can hold the ball beyond the three-point line and shoot three-pointers in a variety of ways. His 45% three-point shooting percentage combined with his historic breakthroughs makes him unstoppable.

If the Nets don't want to test SR's ability to kill them with three-pointers, they must focus their perimeter defense on him.

So what about Jordan?
Jordan was an unconventional perimeter player – he dominated the low post and was difficult to contend with, so he could be used as a semi-interior player.

In this way, the SM group is no longer restricted by conventional defensive systems.

When SR draws double teams on one side of the three-point line, MJ naturally gains space to post up on the other side.

Similarly, when MJ draws a double team, SR will also be able to torment the defenders from the other side of the three-point line.

At the same time, they even have Robinson!
As a power forward who is nearly 2.1 meters tall, Robinson can shoot three-pointers and is good at playmaking. When he stands at the top of the arc, the far-away SR and MJ are perfectly linked, which can even be considered an alternative triangle offense.

I heard that Robinson was SR's first trade target, which he insisted on and personally chose. What a wise team-building strategy!

Yes, now that we've played this far, we can be absolutely certain that no one is a better fit for this Wizards team than Robinson!
He is the most crucial piece of the Wizards' spacing strategy.

And the esteemed Commander Fang Xinghe had already laid the ultimate trap for all the strong defensive teams in the league—

Who exactly are you guarding against?

No team could simultaneously double-team and help defend SR and MJ in such a vast playing space!

No matter how talented a player is, whether it's Martin or Garnett, they can't do both!

This is what makes SM Entertainment so terrifying; they will change people's understanding of basketball tactics and write the ultimate answer to the new era of basketball system—space, space, and fucking space!

I know many die-hards still scoff at this.

That's alright, just keep your eyes wide open and watch!
Let's see how the Nets fared, then see who can stop SM's continued winning streak, and finally see if the strongest inside-outside combination in history, OK, can stop SM's triangular outside offense!

I dare say that no team in the East can stop SM's advance.

This year's finals will most likely be between OK and SM.

If this really happens, guys, do you know what that means?

That means the most brutal, bloodiest, most magnificent, and grandest NBA Finals in history!
That series will fulfill all our expectations for basketball!
The clash between Kobe and Fang, the duel between God and Shaq, the strongest inside and outside combination versus the best outside player and the best outside player, no matter who laughs last, will completely overturn the top five positions in NBA history!

If OK wins the championship, they will have the opportunity to step on the heads of the basketball god and the basketball martial arts saint to achieve the extraordinary feat of four or five consecutive championships in modern basketball!
With SM winning the championship, Michael Jordan will be firmly welded to the GOAT throne, forever residing in his divine position!

Fang Xinghe will also set a series of championship records, becoming an insurmountable uncrowned king!
It's really hard for me to share my anticipation and excitement with you. My soul trembled violently at that moment. It was a spectacle I had never even dreamed of. I have dedicated my life to basketball. Basketball is what keeps me alive.

And that scene…

Hubie wasn't an easily moved person, but at this moment, his eyes were even filled with tears.

His lips trembled, and his voice trembled as well.

He said, "This will allow me to die without regret!"

Superficial viewers couldn't understand why Hubie was suddenly so excited; they were simply deeply moved.

True fans, however, were already moved to tears.

They understood why Hubie was agitated.

To explain it using Chinese thought, it means seeing the essence of the Tao.

Fang Xinghe showed the basketball world not just his dazzling playing style and beautiful moves, but a whole new world of basketball.

Standing at the point in 2002, even the most daring experts could not have imagined how basketball would be played in the future.

The NBA under Adam Silver became less exciting, but that wasn't the fault of three-pointers or spacing; it was the result of drastically weakening defense, forcing calls, and favoring key players.

In fact, when the space is maximized while maintaining a certain level of defensive intensity, the basketball court becomes the most magnificent stage.

Tactical positioning, passing and cutting, face-up isolation plays initiated from beyond the three-point line, low-post moves when facing intense defense, passionate collisions under the basket, and desperate long-range three-pointers... all of these will be included!
Adam Silver destroyed the physicality of basketball with spinach, but when Hubie saw Fang Xinghe in 2002, he was dreaming of that ultimate, dazzling moment.

Before Fang Xinghe appeared, no point guard had ever used three-pointers as his main offensive weapon. He took 18 shots per game, half of which were three-pointers and half were in the paint, either scoring or killing.

The collapse of mosquitoes was not an accident, but an inevitability.

Kidd's collapse was not an accident, but rather another inevitability.

No team in the league has the resources to simultaneously shut down both Fang Xinghe and Jordan. The Nets' seemingly strong defensive system is nothing more than a plaything for Fang Xinghe.

In the third quarter, they experimented with different defensive strategies back and forth.

Ultimately, he chose the least lethal-looking glass of poison from among several.

—Kidd was assigned to defend Fang Xinghe, with Richard providing help defense; Martin was assigned to defend Jordan, with Van Horn providing help defense.

What about Hamilton and Robinson?
Let them swipe!

Then they blew the Nets apart.

Han got a total of 6 open mid-range shot opportunities and made 5 of them.

罗宾逊空位三分4中2，面框急停中投2中2，两人在第三节比赛里贡献20分。

With Fang Xinghe's 13 points, Jordan's 8 points, and Campbell, Jim, and Tyronn Lue's 6 points, the Wizards went on a scoring run of 47 points in a single quarter!
Total score...

113: 70!

"With this kind of gap, are they really teams of the same level?"

More than one basketball commentator has raised this question.

The Nets players sat dejectedly on the bench, the head coach spitting at them furiously, but no one looked up. The whole team exuded a lifeless, hopeless, and demoralizing atmosphere.

The director focused the camera on the Nets' bench, and Kenny remarked, "Just by adding one more SR, the Wizards have become so unstoppable..."

"The Wizards' starting lineup is in such hot form today, it's definitely not the norm."

Barkley did a rational analysis for a while, then suddenly grinned mischievously.

"Of course, the Wizards are really scary after the commander returned to the team. I bet a lot of head coaches are having trouble sleeping!"

The Zen master, who was watching the game, snorted: Who? Who can't sleep? I'm fucking sleeping soundly!
As the fourth quarter quickly turned into garbage time, Fang Xinghe and Jordan chatted and laughed on the sidelines. The Zen Master turned off the TV, went straight to bed, and then spent the entire night staring blankly into the distance…

His mind was filled with thoughts: Damn it, we can only beat the Nets by a maximum of 20 points, how did that kid Fang Xinghe manage to do that?
His stats weren't particularly explosive...

Fang Xinghe's stats weren't that impressive. By the end of the third quarter, he had 30 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block. Kidd really wasn't shooting, and Fang only managed to steal a block from a mosquito.

From any perspective, this isn't a particularly impressive statistic, but the competition itself was truly breathtaking.

Fang Xinghe hit several three-pointers, drove into the paint for a 360-degree layup, and entangled Kidd in the frontcourt, and then the Nets collapsed.

At least half of the viewers across the United States and even the world did not understand the cause of the avalanche.

Only Kidd knew that this was a pure intellectual crushing defeat.

Throughout the fourth quarter, the substitute players were locked in a fierce and close battle, while Kidd looked distressed and chewed on his fingernails, his mind preoccupied with how to face the media's post-game interviews.

Before the match, did I make any boasts?

He tried to recall, then was horrified to discover... the wind had blown by.

The Nets' previous "massacre" of Jordan made them extremely arrogant, and everyone boasted to reporters, with him being the most boastful.

What was the original quote?

Oh, roughly: Forgive my bluntness, but the Wizards aren't a team of our caliber. Beating them wouldn't make me feel anything special; it's just a regular season game.

Oh, right, there's another line: SR? SR's presence or absence makes no difference. What I mean is, stop exaggerating his magic for newspaper sales. I'm the best point guard in the league right now, and I'm tired of you all always comparing him to me…

Kidd broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of the interview that was about to begin.

Thinking about the interview later, Fang Xinghe revealed a strange smile.

(End of this chapter)