Generation Z Artists

Chapter 225 It seems we really can't win head-on...

The MCI Center, the Wizards' home arena, was filled with thunderous cheers.

There was a very subtle change in the Wizards' entrance ceremony today.

As Sirius Black music played, Jordan was the second to last to run out of the player tunnel, waving to everyone with a broad smile.

"WOW!"

The audience suddenly became restless, and those who regularly watch football will understand what this means.

Sure enough, a short while later, a jade-white arm was raised high in the players' tunnel.

The music suddenly changed, turning into an extremely unfamiliar electronic symphony.

"Ta-da~ Ta-da~ Ta-da..."

Western audiences were bewildered yet impressed, holding their breath in awe, while domestic audiences seemed to recognize it, frowning and deep in thought.

Suddenly, a child screamed, "Dad, it's Journey to the West!"

This novice basketball fan, who had only been watching for half a month, suddenly realized: "That's right, it's Yun Gong Xun Yin!"

The melody of this piece is deeply etched in the hearts of every Chinese person, but after Fang Xinghe's second arrangement, it became exceptionally different.

Like a progressive rock symphony from the horizon, the keyboard and orchestra weave a storm, and the climax is extremely shocking. With the majestic entrance of the Milky Way above with its hands raised high, hundreds of millions of Chinese people seem to see a monkey about to charge at the heavenly gods and soldiers.

While Western audiences may not understand the meaning of the piece, they can still feel the emotions it conveys—a powerful declaration of battle expressed through music.

Before the narrator could even utter Fang Xinghe's name, a tsunami was immediately triggered.

"Fang, fang, fang!"

In Washington today, fans can pronounce his last name clearly, and veteran fans can even call him by his first name.

Therefore, you will never hear the abbreviation "SR" in the MCI center.

This is actually a form of cultural export.

Although it is just a name, when more and more black and white people start to tattoo "square", "star" and "river" as words on their bodies in conspicuous places, how can this subtle influence not be considered a result of the Tao?
On Mount Wudang, Master Zhong arrogantly glanced at his fellow Daoists from the three mountains, stroked his beard, and said proudly, "My disciple has already shown the demeanor of a grandmaster. Who among you dares to disobey?"

Few responded; all that remained was a bitter smile.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, a renowned music arranger surnamed Dai was so angry he cursed, "You bastard! You'd rather adapt Journey to the West than use 'A Man Should Be Self-reliant,' can't you even tell which one is more appropriate!"

On the island, F4 took a break from rehearsals to watch TV. The youngest member complained in a low voice, "Mom actually wants us to compete with this monster? She releases all sorts of ridiculous press releases every day. We're about to die laughing!"

In Japan, the future goddess Haruko clenched her fists and secretly vowed: "I will become the basketball team manager in high school, and I will become the star oppa Akagi Haruko!"

Huh? It seems like we've switched channels?
Never mind, that's not important. Anyway, it's the same in Japan and South Korea. Baby's breath dominates half of the young girls' world. There are countless little girls who dream about being intimate with our Brother Fang every day. Not to mention Haruko Akagi, there are countless girls who want to be Inuyasha.

As Fang Xinghe improved more and more, even releasing a historic bombshell in Game 1, his sense of honor as a member of the Stars grew day by day, finally leading to another qualitative change.

That crazy performance earned Fang Xinghe a full 4 points of Star Glory Value.

Speed ​​+3, Strength +1.
体质：力量93、速度99、耐力99、灵敏99、柔韧99
隐藏：协调99、感知90、恢复99、免疫90、健康90
From an offensive standpoint, the control and movement ability that one painstakingly trains to 93 points is simply insufficient to unleash such abnormal speed and agility.

If the coordination between the player and the ball is insufficient, even the fastest sprint speed will be wasted.

But from a defensive perspective...

Snapped!
The first steal was easily secured.

On the first offensive possession, Kobe continued to use his usual strategy to attack the weak side of the Star River.

Half-turn to protect the ball, elbow strike, stealthy slide step.

This strategy worked every time in Games 1 and 2.

As soon as today started, I felt something was wrong.

First, there was the shoulder collision. Fang Xinghe remained as steady as a mountain and even put pressure on Kobe.

Both Bajiquan and Xingyi Quan involve close-quarters combat, which is practically meaningless in modern combat rules, but seems like a godsend when used in basketball.

Caught off guard, Kobe stumbled, and Fang Xinghe immediately seized the opportunity, blocking his position and slapping the ball away with lightning speed.

"what?!"

Kobe was hesitant and chased after him for a couple of steps before giving up.

We really can't catch up.

If he hadn't taken the first step, Fang Xinghe would have been like a wild horse, ready to gallop all the way to the grasslands.

With a bang, a seemingly ordinary yet elegant dunk made the Wizards 2-0.

When the Lakers attacked again, Kobe became much more cautious.

When he gets serious, he certainly has the ability to protect the ball, but Fisher lacks this awareness.

Seeing that the attack was somewhat blocked, Xiao Yu came out from the bottom corner and went to the outside to receive the ball.

The moment the basketball was in his hands, Hamilton pressed forward and initiated a defensive play. Fisher naturally turned to protect the ball, but in the instant he lost his direct view, Fang Xinghe ducked down and, like a cheetah, suddenly leaped out.

"careful!"

His teammates' warnings arrived at the same time as Fang Xinghe's. Faced with such a sudden attack, Fisher instinctively raised the basketball to his waist, but it was too late.

Dro!
That muffled thud was the sound of Fang Xinghe's hand catching the back of the basketball with a karate chop.

The basketball slipped slightly from his hands, and then Fang Xinghe grabbed it with both hands and pulled it out of Xiao Yu's hands like pulling a radish.

Boo!
The cork was pulled off the bottle neck, and the little fish was lifted off the ground by both feet, before falling down in a sorry state.

"Fcuk! What a violent tackle!"

The commentators were shouting excitedly.

"Oh my god! This is a steal? No, this is fucking robbery!"

Fang Xinghe's sudden burst of higher-level agility and power plunged the entire stadium into a frenzy.

He still has the energy to spare!

Joe O, the Wizards' on-site host, shouted: "Our commander has never shown his true strength until today, when he's finally getting a little bit serious!"

This is pure bragging, but the audience is willing to listen and believe it.

On the contrary, Hubie and others analyzed in a serious tone: "Star River is in a period of rapid development. Compared with last year, his strength and agility have further improved..."

"Where exactly is his limit? It's unbelievable that such a genius could emerge from among people of Asian descent!"

The people of Asian descent found it very appealing.

Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore all take pride in gaining the approval of their American "daddies"... In fact, the Chinese are the same now. Brother Fang is too lazy to even criticize this phenomenon; it's too common and a waste of breath.

Hopefully, this will boost their morale a bit...

The bandit Fang Xinghe sped off with his spoils, and then delivered a spectacular 360-degree spin between his legs and a crossover dunk in real combat.

Handsome guys never miss an opportunity to perform.

After that steal, the Lakers' offense immediately became stagnant.

Solid point guards like Fisher and superstars like Kobe, when they're careful, are certainly capable of protecting the ball.

However, this made passing the ball a very energy-consuming and time-consuming task. They had to be on guard against Fang Xinghe suddenly appearing to steal the ball at all times, making their tactics very sluggish.

"IMHO."

Barkley commented: "Not including SR in the All-Defensive First Team is the biggest mistake in the league this year."

In the recent honors selection, Fang Xinghe was named to the All-NBA First Team alongside Kobe, Jordan, Duncan, and O'Neal, but lost to Kidd in the defensive lineup and was left out of the All-Defensive First Team.

At the time, no one thought there was anything wrong with it. Fang Xinghe's defense in the regular season was almost entirely limited to delaying the ball at the top of the arc, stealing a few steals and blocks each game. He didn't actually have the style of a defensive anchor on the perimeter.

But today, he sprinted inside and out, always managing to help defend and double-team at the most opportune moments, fully utilizing his speed and explosiveness during off-ball sprints, disrupting the Lakers' half-court offense.

"It's over! The Lakers are going to collapse!"

Although it's only the first quarter, Hubie immediately made the most pessimistic prediction.

This is how he explained it.

"As we all know, the Lakers' tactics are the triangle offense, with Kobe and Shaq as their two main offensive threats, and neither of them can be missing."

However, there is a very serious problem here: how to pass the ball to O'Neal.

This requires both effective outside penetration to disrupt the defensive formation and O'Neal to get deep enough into position to receive the ball and then attack the basket.

Because few players can withstand Shaq's positional play, teams with the resources often use fronting defense to limit his inside-outside combination.

But now, Campbell can briefly hold off the Big Shaq's key position, while the rest of the team are ready to cover and cut off passing lanes as their main objective.

SR, MJ, Jim, and Robinson all possess agile movement and excellent help defense awareness. Their combination of inside and outside play makes it extremely difficult for the Big Shaq to receive the ball.

They even displayed the same level of pressure and dominance as the 96 Bulls!

Especially with SR's explosive power, Kobe could no longer use any through balls to pass inside, unless he and Shaq were on opposite sides—but that meant Kobe was forced into isolation plays. However, his efficiency against SR was significantly reduced today. If this continues, the Lakers will definitely lose!

Against the Big Diesel, you can't expect a defensive center to hold him off indefinitely; that's unrealistic.

The truly effective method is always to cut off the ball's path, forcing him to repeatedly seek position, expend a lot of energy, and run around in a whirlwind, but with low productivity and efficiency.

In the past, the Wizards couldn't do this when Fang Xinghe held the top of the key and launched a full-scale counter-attack.

Now, he's been running around, helping out and covering, and the Wizards' perimeter defense has suddenly reached a new level.

From any perspective, Fang Xinghe is not suited to be a top-tier one-on-one defender. The disadvantages brought by his height and wingspan cannot be compensated for by dynamics—you can't jump for every feint from your opponent, can you? But he can be a top-tier assassin—he can leap two meters with a single step, his reflexes are incredibly sharp, and his swings are relaxed, fluid, and lightning fast.

Before the official timeout in the first quarter, he even pulled off another incredible move.

At the time, he was facing Kobe, and Robert Horry made a bounce pass from behind him. Logically speaking, Fang Xinghe had no vision of this pass.

However, he caught Horry waving out of the corner of his eye.

That was a standard push of the ball towards the floor.

In that split second, Fang Xinghe suddenly took a step back, still facing Kobe, and casually stretched out his right hand behind him.

Snapped!
After a crisp sound, something incredible happened—

Fang Biwang not only intercepted the ball, but also used his superb force-dissipating skills to firmly control the ball in his palm with one hand!

He didn't have hands as big as Jordan's, so this scene was particularly visually stunning.

The entire stadium erupted in gasps and screams, and every single commentator on the television set widened their eyes and clutched their heads.

“Oh my god!”

"what happened?"

"Guys, I have to stop hosting. I think I'm hallucinating!"

"No fucking way!"

The commentary booth was in complete chaos, as was the television broadcast booth, until the director showed a multi-angle replay of the scene, at which point the group finally calmed down and began to study it carefully.

After multiple slow-motion replays from various angles, everyone finally confirmed one thing—Fang Xinghe did not turn his head, therefore, he should not have had any vision.

This is terrifying, so shocking it leaves one speechless.

"A miracle! An unrepeatable miracle!"

"I highly suspect this was an accident."

"No, no, no, knocking the ball down could be an accident, but catching the ball can't be an accident!"

"YES, this is the ultimate combination of spatial awareness, distance perception, anticipation, and reaction speed. Bullshit accident!"

"A divine intervention!"

"Holy Grip!"

Xiao Xi Ba and Xiao Ri Zi are both excited and immature, lacking any professionalism, repeating the views of American media while adding their own descriptions.

Despite its outrageously embarrassing content, domestic audiences were absolutely thrilled...

In fact, Hubie's viewpoint is closest to the truth.

This is an ultimate combination of multiple qualities.

I caught a glimpse of Robert Horry's movement out of the corner of my eye, and my brain immediately recognized it as a bounce pass.

Next, determine the target of the pass.

It's not Kobe, no explanation needed.

It's not Fisher; the little fish is AFK in the bottom corner.

It wasn't O'Neal; O'Neal was battling in the low post on the other side, and the ball wouldn't get through.

So it could only be Lakers small forward De'Aaron Fox who just ran past him. This guy was executing the Lakers' drive-to-the-basket strategy, with the aim of drawing Danny away from O'Neal's double-team pressure.

Then, it's about predicting Fox's receiving position.

Based on the opponent's speed and the space on the court, judge roughly where he will receive the ball.

Fang Xinghe's spatial awareness and memory of the court positions made it easy for him to pinpoint the most promising spots.

It happened to be less than 2 meters behind me.

Finally, the ball speed should be judged, but Fang Xinghe skipped this step - he judged the position simply by the sound of Fox's shoes screeching as he stopped suddenly, and then blocked the ball at waist height in advance.

There was an element of gambling involved, but in fact, as the basketball, carrying a whistling airflow, was about to hit Fang Ge's hand, he sensed a very subtle message.

Airflow, rotation, sound, temperature...

So he made slight adjustments to the height and hand position.

It sounds mysterious, but it's actually the infinite extension of all the body's senses at a certain moment when a person is extremely focused.

This kind of thing happens to ordinary people often, but Fang Xinghe's case was just more extreme this time.

Thus, this world-class masterpiece was born.

He drifted back, reached out, grabbed the ball, pulled back slightly to absorb the force, and finally swept past the stunned Kobe.

Even after everything was over, Fang Biwang's face remained expressionless, calm and indifferent, as if he had only done something insignificant, ordinary and unremarkable.

Haha, to tell you the most serious truth: a mere 2 points, how can they be as important as being handsome?
Fang, the king of arrogance, has made fans all over the world swoon with his coolness.

Non-fans, such as female fans, may not understand the difficulty of the ball, but they are particularly captivated by his charisma and have almost lost their voices from cheering.

The official timeout came right after that, and the commentators focused on that play, talking about it for ages, using all sorts of flattery to elevate Fang Xinghe to the pinnacle of ball interception.

During the break, a funny little thing happened.

Princess Anne Hathaway followed Fang Xinghe to the Wizards' home court and sat behind the Wizards' bench, her face flushed and her voice very shy as she chatted with him.

Brother Fang had only one comment: his tea-making skills were superb.

Hollywood is different from the domestic entertainment industry. In China, there are truly generations of pure and innocent actresses, from Chen Xiaoxu to Zhang Zifeng. There are plenty of people who don't rely on scheming to make a living.

Even extreme examples like Gulnazar, who is incredibly stupid, still have a second-tier position.

Hollywood actresses are different; they're all cunning and calculating. Anyone who manages to gain even a little fame has been through a lot of hardship.

What can make them blush?

Big productions, big projects, big figures.

The six major Hollywood studios extending olive branches to Fang Xinghe finally gave him another compelling reason to attach himself to, in addition to his status as an international superstar.

But Fang Ge was unwilling to be pleased by any Hollywood beauties.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm not in the mood to make friends right now."

Faced with Annie's adoring declaration, Fang Xinghe chose to ignore her repeated phrase, "I am your loyal fan."

Are you kidding me? A thin layer of green, where is the loyalty?
Fang's aloofness instilled a sense of awe in his teammates.

“Commander,” Robinson muttered under his breath, “you’re terrifying…you’re a monster who lives only for victory.”

"Yes! That's Anne Hathaway, the American princess!"

Everyone was chattering away, expressing their envy, but Fang Ge silenced them all with a single, cold look.

"Shut up, you idiots! I don't want to drag the game to Staples Center again! Get your act together!"

"It's not a big deal to drag it out for one more game..."

Da Dan said sourly, "Seriously, don't you really want to give her a good beating tonight? I bet she'll kneel down and fuck you!"

Damn it, a bunch of lust-driven bastards!

Fang Xinghe coldly replied, "She's old, ugly, and has rough skin. Why do you think she's worthy of me? Hurry up and finish off the Lakers. I don't want to punish you physically after the game, and I'm sure you don't either."

A group of black men were trembling with fear.

No one can withstand such overwhelming pressure.

But they were indeed inspired with a strong fighting spirit, and their defensive focus became even more intense.

In this game, the Wizards really beat the Lakers with their defense.

O'Neal's true shooting percentage was still 58.4%, which was very aggressive, but he only scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Wizards' multi-layered, three-dimensional defense, led by Danny Davies, arguably the greatest defensive shooting guard in history, and Fang Xinghe, arguably the greatest help defense guard in history, only allowed Shaquille O'Neal a mere 18 shot attempts.

Furthermore, only 10 of them were depth-dependent.

The rest of the Lakers players didn't play very well either, so Kobe had to go on a crazy one-on-one game all game, but his efficiency against Fang Xinghe was only enough to keep them alive, not to revive them.

If the Wizards won Game 1 with their offense, then they won Game 3 with their defense.

After Fang Xinghe effectively shut down Kobe Bryant beyond the three-point line, he deliberately gave Danny the most opportunities. Danny rampaged through the empty mid-range area, ultimately scoring 48 points, bringing tears to the eyes of countless fans who exclaimed, "My youth is back!"

Jordan was named MVP of the game, unleashing his full offensive potential.

The media lavished praise on the genius and divine SM group, showering them with flattery. But eventually, some realized that even the efficiency and maximum output of a god were nothing more than that, far weaker than a divinely ordained genius.

This was a fatal contrast, and a fatal defeat.

Back at his hotel, the Zen master was bewildered.

They can't win by attacking head-on.

You can't win by defending.

Two head-on collisions resulted in complete defeats, with only G2 managing to pull one back thanks to a sufficiently lenient approach. How will they win the remaining matches?!

(End of this chapter)