Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 198: Shining Mercedes (Part )

The time came to the 13th minute of the first half.

UCLA trailed by three points.

24: 27.

Chen Fang stood outside the three-point line on the left wing, with Armani Dodson defending him.

This was a muscular man with a height of 197cm and well-defined features. Chen Fang had tried to collide with him several times before. After measuring his strength, he chose to use movement to mobilize his opponent.

Because he found that the opponent's lateral movement was clumsy, just half a beat slower, and there was a weakness in the confusion of footwork reset.

Chen Fang is no longer a weakling. In the game, he can often see through the opponent's flaws in just a few minutes and exploit them.

Clearly, the time is right.

Chen Fang saw McLaughlin dribbling across half court. He first went to the baseline. He was not fast, and he caught Armani following him out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, he pretended to run back. His opponent's reaction nerves were very quick, and he immediately accelerated, but found that Chen Fang did not move. At this time, Chen Fang suddenly went straight into the inside.

McLaughlin had been paying attention to Chen Fang's movements. When he saw Chen Fang walking inside, he did not pass the ball immediately, but moved to the left wing.

Sure enough, Armani turned around and tried to chase back, but found that there was no one in his sight. Chen Fang's rush to the inside was still a fake move.

He took a step back and returned to his original position.

At this time, McLaughlin passed the ball to Chen, who had always had a very high hit rate when shooting in a wide-open space. Armani, who was unable to return to defense, could only watch No. 21 hit the target.

24: 30.

In the American commentary booth, Walton loved Chen Fang's running and pulling. He particularly liked the smart style of play, which he appreciated far more than using his body to crush the opponent.

"It was a very clever fake move. Chen used two consecutive counter-runs and Armani was completely stunned. NICE, an empty three-pointer. Chen shot without hesitation and hit the target. Now his hit rate is still 9%. 4 points, 4 assists and rebounds. Chen was very calm today. He was as good as ever in his first NCAA game. It seemed that the gap between college and high school did not exist at all. He jumped over it with one stride."

Long articles are not the style of old Walton. Vitale was a little surprised. Logically, Walton is a historical figure of UCLA, so his bias is inevitable. He had already prepared himself to be biased towards USC, but who knew that this old guy would go crazy today and actually brag about USC.

Vitale had to agree: "Compared to Armani's immaturity, Chen's performance is more like that of a senior, and he doesn't seem nervous at all."

"Yes, he has the innate style of a great general. I really don't know why UCLA chose Lonzo instead of Chen? Could it be that the management was blinded by the talk of his father, LaVar Ball?" Old Walton finally explained the reason, and Vitale suddenly realized it and laughed.

"This is the first time I've heard of this, Bill. Where did you hear this gossip from?"

"My channels are everywhere. You just need to know that this is true. Chen's first choice was UCLA, and the UCLA coach asked him, are you willing to be Ball's substitute?" Walton Sr. spread his hands.

"Fuck you, that's an idiotic answer. I really hope that in this match, Chen can prove with his performance that these guys' brains and eyes are broken."

With Walton's words, the post-game waves were inevitable, so people watching this opening game had one more thing to watch.

Chen Fang has already gotten into his own rhythm of the game. He was a little slow to warm up today because he needed to be more cautious. Not only did he need to find the real feeling of competing with his teammates through the game, but more importantly, he needed to understand the intensity of the university and how it would affect himself.

It was obvious that Chen Fang had an idea in mind.

On the strong side, McLaughlin made a three-person tactical cooperation with Elijah and Benny. Elijah cut sideways and went around the free throw line to the left side.

And the ball once again came to Chen Fang outside the left wing.

Chen Fang did not stand to receive the ball. Instead, he jumped up one step along the arc of the three-point line in the direction the ball was coming from.

The moment he caught the ball, he opened his legs and lowered his center of gravity.

Using a low distance, he held the ball with both hands and transferred it back to the outside of his right foot, then cut inward with his left foot and took a step forward, directly to a position parallel to Armani's left shoulder.

Armani's lateral sliding is slow, but his vertical retreat is fast. He immediately retreats to fill the position of the next dribbling route of No. 21, and is ready to use physical confrontation to disrupt the opponent's breakthrough speed.

When the familiar feeling reappeared, Chen Fang disappeared from his sight again, and he could only see a hint of red in his peripheral vision.

"Oh!" Walton couldn't help but scream, and with his scream, the entire stadium was filled with a huge exclamation.

What did they see?
I saw Chen Fang actually used a turnaround jump shot just one step inside the three-point line.

When he broke through, his UCLA teammates, who had been instructed by the head coach to double-team No. 21, immediately came up to him.

Chen Fang then turned around and pulled the ball back, not only avoiding Armani's close attack, but also avoiding the double-team that appeared the next second.

He jumped up, adjusted his posture in the air, faced the basket, and shot with his wrist. Then the audience saw No. 21 hit a turnaround jump shot from such a long distance. The ball was so fast that Chen Fang had not even landed on the ground when the ball had already splashed the white net.

Because Chen Fang has a fast jumping speed, his jump shot always gives people the illusion of being frozen in the air, especially the moment he shoots, the feeling of suddenness is very strong.

As Chen Fang's somersault was a long distance, he increased the speed of pressing his wrist and the strength of flicking his fingers, so that the feeling of being suspended in the air became extremely ornamental.

A person flashed in the minds of countless people.

Kobe.

so similar!
Even old Walton had this feeling: "Wow, who do I see? Kobe? Why? Is this the basketball skill he has at this age? I don't think Kobe himself could do this kind of turnaround jump shot at the age of 18. It's so beautiful. Stupid UCLA, who did you miss!"

Seeing the ball hit the target, Chen Fang did not turn around, but instead stepped back. He shook his head slightly, as if he himself was a little surprised by the goal.

This goal not only shocked UCLA, but also scared his teammates.

Well, even Andy was amazed and kept looking at Tony next to him.

"Is this an accident?"

"Who knew? That's so cool." Tony was also impressed.

Yu Jia was so excited that he kept emphasizing that this was a technical move that Kobe made good use of after he turned 28 and changed from No. 8 to No. 24.

"He didn't struggle at all. You don't have to watch Chen Fang's dunk to see that this move is representative. It's the perfect combination of physical fitness and coordination. It's so beautiful. I can't imagine seeing this in an 18-year-old boy. This goal alone is worth the price of admission."

With this goal, Chen Fang felt himself getting excited. This is a good thing, but also a difficult thing.

But Chen Fang did not suppress himself. Instead, he relaxed his body and mind. His brain became much more flexible. With just one glance, he could predict what would happen next.

He liked this feeling, as if the world were open and allowed him to soar.

So, the last six minutes of the first half suddenly became Chen Fang's show.

He first passed the ball to McLaughlin, then went to the right side. After only one step, he suddenly changed direction and went straight through the wider gap in the pick-and-roll. As a result, the entire UCLA defense suddenly had a big flaw in the middle.

The middle road was wide open, and the inside players who were rotating and assisting in defense were all in the short corner area on the strong side. When they saw Chen Fang coming out, they were scared out of their wits. They were still turning their hips when they saw Chen Fang take a step forward and leap up.

It's just like a big falcon, soaring with its wings spread.

Chen Fang took a step toward the free throw line, rushed into the air, and before the defenders on the edge of the penalty area could react, he swung the basketball with his right hand, stretched the bow to its full length, pulled the string, and swung his arm.

"Bang!"

The sound of the basketball rim making an explosive sound almost made Yao, who was sitting in the VIP seat, stand up and cheer for it.

When Chen Fang landed on the ground, he was greeted with thunderous applause, and the cheers resounded throughout the Mercedes-Benz Center.

From Chen Fang's breakthrough to his dunk, the whole process took perhaps less than two seconds. It was so fast that everyone was shouting, clapping, and looking at the big screen. The director had already replayed the scene in slow motion, so the expressions of countless people became extremely vivid, with their mouths grinning, their teeth bared, their brows either frowned or raised. In short, this was an absolutely wonderful picture of all living beings.

"It started again!" Many people who were familiar with Chen Fang shouted.

Every time Chen Fang scored consecutively and delivered wonderful goals, it meant one thing: this kid was getting excited.

Because usually, he is like a well, shooting, breaking through, passing the ball, and most of the time, he is neither impatient nor anxious, and is very steady. But once he gets excited, he is like the tropical ocean, with strong winds and thunders like a dragon and a tiger meeting each other, and suddenly he becomes a wild hurricane and begins to sweep everyone away.

Sure enough, after UCLA's next round of attack failed, Chen grabbed the rebound. One of them suddenly accelerated, and he changed directions continuously without slowing down. He fought his way out of the pursuit and blockade of the retreating UCLA players, and finally used an air walk and a pull-up shot to avoid the last blue figure who rushed up from behind to block him, and then he made a small one-arm spin facing the basket and hooked the ball into the basket.

"No one can stop Chen Fang from charging. He is Bolt on the court. With a height of 201cm, he has the explosive speed of a top sprinter. The most terrifying thing is that he is one with the ball. The last move is like Zhang Fei embroidering, exquisite and perfect. This ball is like the water of Penglai, which only exists in the sky and should not flow to the earth!"

Yu Jia was moved, and he fell into a vicious circle. Whenever he was commentating on Chen Fang's games, he couldn't help but become a poet, and the rich emotions made him sing loudly.

But Chen Fang's performance continued, and UCLA felt that it was about to be unable to hold on.

Lonzo knows this feeling best. He has experienced it several times. He didn't expect it to happen again today. It's really damn annoying.

He knew that he couldn't be stopped even if he was replaced, but he really hoped that his teammates could come together to help him and work together to suppress him.

But the falcon has taken off, and the sky is his limit.

Chen Fang suddenly changed to playing without the ball. He went along the baseline to the opposite corner, received the pass from his teammate, and fired a shot from the bottom corner.

He raised his hand and swung the knife, hitting again.

This also increased his score from 2 points to 16 points.

The explosive scoring ability immediately made the audience, who were originally slow to warm up, fall into a frenzy.

The fans and spectators who were struggling to hold up the posters and banners could not sit still and were shaking constantly. The entire 18,000-seat stand was rising and falling violently like the waves.

Seeing this scene, Yao couldn't help but fall into fond memories. Once upon a time, he also enjoyed this grand scene. Countless people were crazy about it and cheered for his every goal, score and wonderful performance.

This is the infectious power released by a purely personal person. Until now, Yao has been certain that Chen Fang is the next generation of China's future.

Without a doubt!

His playing style is too comprehensive, and I can’t figure out how to restrain him.

There is not only one person to guard and bite the ball, but also one or two people to fill in the position to assist in defense and double-team at any time.

This is the difference between basketball and football.

Football can kill many attacks by committing unlimited fouls, as long as the action is small and the ball is run, but basketball cannot do that. Accumulated fouls and running towards the person are directly counted as physical violations. The foul tactics are only applicable to the big shark. For guards, all you can do is to exhaust the opponent with all your strength to weaken the opponent's offensive ability.

Chen Fang was very suitable for this tactic, so he transformed himself and became the axis.

From the wing to the elbow area, this was a tactic Andy tailored for him.

As long as Chen Fang hangs in this area, this side will be emptied, and the other four people will all go to the strong side, each doing their own job, waiting for the ball to reach Chen Fang's hands, and then the dealer will deal the cards to decide the offensive options for each round.

Walton was surprised at first, then questioned, and then immediately turned into popcorn and started to praise.

Wow, haha, GOD, these exclamatory tones kept coming out of his mouth, leaving Vitale next to him no chance to speak. It became completely the stage for old Walton alone.

The first half ended with Chen Fang attracting a double-team and assisting Benny to score.

35: 49.

UCLA trailed by 14 points entering the second half.

Chen Fang led the team with 16 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

As a direct opponent, Lonzo's 10 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds seemed very shabby.

During the halftime break, cheerleading, folk performances, and interactive games took turns on stage, but they could not stop the 18,000 audience members from discussing Chen Fang.

They all knew more or less that Chen Fang, the 18-year-old boy, was a little strong, but when they arrived at the scene, they realized that he was not just a little strong, he was ridiculously strong.

This also proves that Chen Fang's 48 points against Australia in the Olympics was definitely not a breakthrough, but just depended on whether he wanted to score.

Yao and Cai have been communicating with each other all the time. As compatriots and related to basketball, when Chen Fang turned out to be, they naturally had a direction to combine.

"Yao, what do you think is the chance that Chen Fang will make it to the NBA?"

"There are almost no surprises. It all depends on whether it is a lottery or not. Just based on today's performance, if we give it a 30% discount and keep it up, there will be no problem in the green room."

"So what surprises will there be if the Nets choose him?"

“First of all, the attention, market value, and various aspects will all increase.”

"We already have Lin now, and I don't see much change." In this regard, Boss Cai expressed doubts and confusion.

Yao smiled and patiently explained, "Lin and Chen are completely incomparable. As long as Chen is put in the NBA, even if he is a marginal figure, his attention will be far more than Lin's."

“This is the sense of substitution, which cannot be changed.”

Boss Cai fell into deep thought. He realized that Yao was not joking and he did overlook some underlying logic.

"But with all due respect, with the Nets' current roster, this year will be difficult, so the Nets have a chance to get a high draft pick next year."

"But our first-round pick is in the hands of the Celtics." Boss Cai suddenly felt regretful.

(In 2013, in order to get Garnett and Pierce, the Nets traded several future first-round picks to the Celtics, including the first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018, and the right to swap first-round picks in 2017. The Nets had a very poor record in the 2016-2017 season, and their draft picks were very valuable. In the end, the draft pick was used by the Celtics to select Jayson Tatum. Therefore, it is a difficult choice to bet on the future now or live in the present.)
Yao has already left the NBA, so he naturally has no idea about this, and he also understands why Boss Cai is in a low mood.

But as for where Chen Fang will end up, Yao actually does not recommend that he go to the Nets. This would be very stressful and not conducive to the rookie starting his NBA career, but he certainly would not say this.

(Just a two-way contract for Cui has attracted so many haters and ridicules. It can only be said that the national conditions have determined that people cannot accept nepotism. The emotions of hatred and jealousy are serious. No other team would have such criticism on the Nets.)
He simply said: "Being a good manager is the first step to becoming stronger."

"Of course I know this. I need more time to clean up. Believe me, the Nets will soon transform from a bottom-ranked team into a playoff team!" Boss Cai's eyes sparkled with strong self-confidence.

But Yao didn't say anything else. In the NBA, it has never been a place where the rich have the final say.

Power and tradition have always been the core competitiveness of NBA teams. In fact, many people in the United States have money.

With the start of the second half, the conversation ended in due course. The two of them tacitly focused their attention on the game. Watching the game had never been their goal, but just a piece of red cloth to cover their inner goals.

After the halftime adjustment, UCLA began a tighter defensive strategy and more traditional offensive options. All their players became juniors and seniors, and even Lonzo was replaced.

Andy didn't care at all. He didn't let Chen Fang play, but continued to rest. With a 14-point advantage in hand, he played with ease.

The arrival of these veteran players brought about new changes.

They have fought each other many times. It is easy to make enemies but difficult to resolve them. No one will give in. Often a small matter, over the years, will become a lifelong feud.

But the hatred between the two schools is not about basketball, but about football. It started nearly a hundred years ago, in 1921, when the two schools had their first football game, with USC defeating UCLA 75-0. Since then, they have had a relationship.

But what turned the rivalry between the kings of Los Angeles into hatred was that six USC students sneaked into UCLA in 1941, stole the UCLA "Victory Bell" and hid it for a year. This bell is of great significance to UCLA and is one of their spiritual totems. Whenever the football team scores, the cheerleaders will ring this bell.

This incident became an important symbol of the feud between the two schools.

From then on, the rivalry between the two schools spread from rugby to all sports, even to the competition for Olympic medals.

The four universities in Los Angeles are the main force in training various sports in the Olympic Games of the United States. The Pacific Alliance uses the money from profitable sports such as basketball and rugby to distribute the money to unpopular projects, thus supporting the world's strongest Olympic competitors.

Every Olympic Games is a good opportunity to ridicule each other.

Compared with Tsinghua University and Peking University, which give special admission treatment to Olympic champions to highlight the school's achievements in sports, it seems very ridiculous and like a clown.

Back to the topic, when a group of juniors and seniors play a derby, the intensity rises immediately, the number of fouls keeps rising, and under the physical confrontation, the scoring efficiency of both teams also plummets.

Afterwards, Benny's layup was pulled down by the opponent. In anger, he subconsciously swung his elbow. Although the opponent dodged this move, it immediately sounded the clarion call for dispute.

Players from both teams gathered on the field. Even with the referee and staff trying to stop them, they couldn't stop the fight completely. They verbally abused each other face to face and their physical movements escalated, causing the person in the VIP seat who was hosting the Chinese game to turn pale and fly into a rage.

Just when the situation was starting to take a turn for the worst, the furious Shaq Kun was about to raise his fist, but was held back by someone.

It was Chen Fang. He hugged him forcefully, then yelled at the other team members: "Everyone, take five steps back. Not a single step less!"

His face was blood red, his hair stood up, and his furious expression like a lion shocked not only his teammates, but also the opponent.

His voice was so loud that it almost deafened Shaq Kun next to him. God knows how he could make such a high-decibel voice.

First Elijah stepped back, then McLaughlin, then Nick Rakocevic and Chimezi Metu.

The referees and staff quickly formed a line in the middle, which turned into a cordon.

"Guys, this is my home. It's too embarrassing for me to continue like this. That's why I'm angry. Can you imagine how you would feel if you invited me to your home and then I fought with your guests?"

Facing Chen Fang's words, everyone showed guilty expressions, even Shakkun, who was at the top, covered his face.

In the commentary booth, old Walton continued the live broadcast.

"Chen shocked everyone. The players began to step back and calm down. Oh my god, he prevented a disaster. It is hard to imagine how many Chinese would laugh at us Americans if the NCAA opening game was held in the East."

“How should all the media comment on this competition?”

"Thank God, Chen showed up just in time. He is only a freshman now, but he already has the qualities of a leader. Well done. Congratulations, Da Falcon."

On the Chinese commentary side, Su Qun calmly narrated the relationship between the two teams. He cited the relationship between the Lakers and the Celtics to help the public quickly understand the root cause of the conflict at the moment, and also to weaken the strong resentment of the conflict.

"Chen Fang was very calm. We saw him rushing to the court quickly. We thought he was going to start a fight and be the first to do it, but surprisingly, he was the one who stopped the conflict. At this moment, he was not a falcon, but a white dove. Although this description does not quite fit his current image, in fact, he did it."

"Both players returned to the bench, the coach was trying to calm the players down, and Andy hugged Chen Fang, perhaps to express his gratitude for his decisive action at that moment."

But this is just the commentator's wishful thinking. Andy is asking: "I thought you were going to fire, and I was about to go up and kill him with you."

"Are you sure?" Chen Fang asked suspiciously.

"Of course, but I don't have that much money to pay the fine. Well, thank you, young man, you did a great job!" Andy told the truth and gave Chen Fang a big hug.

Then, he said to the five people who had just clashed, "Don't say anything. Let's celebrate when we get home. Now sit still. Don't smile. Keep that angry expression. This is a global broadcast. Don't embarrass the Trojans."

Then he said to Chen Fang: "It's your turn to end this game."

"Okay, sir!" Chen Fang nodded.

The head coaches of both teams did the same thing. They replaced the players who were in conflict, and the game actually became less important at this point.

Chen Fang led the players, and in the last ten minutes, they not only defended the counterattack but also widened the score.

Three-pointers, fast breaks, rebounds, blocks, his outstanding performance drew the attention of nearly 20,000 people in the stands back to basketball.

When the final buzzer sounded, Chen Fang led the entire team to express their warmest thanks to the audience in the stands. The climax of the game was when Chen Fang took off his jersey, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it hard into the stands.

Everyone was envious of the lucky guy who got the jersey, and after the game, this became a hot news.

Someone offered 100 million yuan to buy the jersey, but unfortunately, the lucky guy was a boss himself and rejected the offer without any hesitation. He also posted a photo of the jersey in a frame and hung it in his magnificent living room.

The photo of Chen Fang, with his upper body exposed and his muscular lines as if carved by a knife, also became the front-page photo used by major media.

A fan left a message: If the national team all have this body shape, how can the results be bad? It is said that Asians do not have muscle genes, so what is this?
The headlines of major media outlets are similar, which can be summarized in one sentence: China showcases, shining in NCAA.

Chen Fang started his NCAA career with a triple-double of 27 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. This was destined to be an epic prologue. When everyone looked back at this scene, they all thought so.

　Let me explain what happened yesterday again.

　　I have no problem with the general plot, but the competition does require stronger concentration and emotions, so my original plan was to write a big chapter yesterday, but I was unable to create satisfactory text due to my migraine, so after thinking it over and trying for an afternoon, I had to give up.

　　I don't mean to use my physical problem to gain sympathy or votes. I haven't stopped updating. I'm just explaining the reason why the update time has been extended.

　　I would also like to thank many book fans for their advice. My migraine is an old problem that I have had for 20 years. It occurs every few years and lasts for about a month, so please don’t worry. I believe I will recover if I persist.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)