The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 51 Turning the Horse (Second Bonus Chapter, Please Vote)
When Tang Bei returned to the locker room, the atmosphere became a bit strange, with many teammates' eyes shifting back and forth between him and Larry Johnson.

"I reckon there's bound to be a boxing match between newbies and middle-aged women sooner or later."

“I’m betting $100 on this old lady; she’s a real professional boxer.”

"I heard that Rookie has also trained and fought in the CBA, and even knocked her out with one punch. He's afraid of killing an old lady, so he must be quite strong. I'm betting $100 on Rookie."

Hearing his teammates' whispers, Larry Johnson's expression darkened. He glared coldly at Tang Bei before heading to the bathroom in his shorts.

Tang Bei didn't care about Larry Johnson's attitude and just chuckled.

Tonight, his debut performance earned him the recognition of the coaching staff and teammates, which is the most important thing for him.

He grabbed a towel, soap, shorts, and other items, then went into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and used the hot water to wash his sweaty body.

What techniques from martial arts can be applied to feints in basketball offense?

He doesn't have many feints in his offensive technique yet, but his trainer has taught him that he needs to use some.

Certain power-generating techniques in martial arts can increase speed and explosiveness, such as the Tai Chi turn, so he prefers to study these.

Martial arts also emphasizes feints, specifically a fighting style that combines feints and real attacks. Feints refer to deceptive movements.

But this is basketball, so those playing techniques are definitely not applicable.

After much thought, he came up with the turning horse technique from Wing Chun.

The turning horse technique is a dodge technique in Wing Chun that involves shifting the center of gravity. It is also a feint technique that is both offensive and defensive. He believes that it has the potential to be applied to basketball.

"Tang, you'll be at the press conference with Larry, Kendall, and John," head coach Bristol said to Tang Bei as he came out of the bathroom.

As the second overall pick and with such a good performance, the team hopes that Tang Bei can quickly gain influence, which is a very good thing for the Hornets. The Hornets, who have only been in the league for four or five years, are currently lacking influence.

A short while later, Tang Bei and three others appeared in the press conference hall.

"Crack, click, click..."

The flashes of more than thirty reporters and photographers immediately went off.

"Larry, did you and Don have a verbal altercation on the field?" the first New York Times reporter asked.

"of course not."

Larry Johnson isn't stupid; even if it were true, he wouldn't admit it.

"Larry, what do you think of Don's performance tonight?" the reporter asked, not getting the answer he wanted.

"He's not bad."

Larry Johnson was unhappy, but that was all he could say.

"So do you think he should be given a higher tactical role?" the reporter immediately followed up.

Larry Johnson was now truly impatient and said curtly, "You should ask him that question."

"Don?"

The reporter immediately turned his gun on the reporter.

Tang Bei said, "I'm just a rookie right now and don't have any tactical status. I hope to gain some tactical status and have more tactical support."

"Humph!"

Larry Johnson gave a muttered snort.

"Larry, do you support Don's idea?" The reporter wouldn't let Larry Johnson off the hook and went after him again.

Larry Johnson was quite helpless; he couldn't openly oppose it, so he could only say, "As long as he has the ability, he will get a tactical position." Seeing that the reporters only asked about Larry Johnson and Don, Kendall Gill was also indignant and extremely helpless.

He felt he might not be destined to become a star player, lacking in media attention. The media would rather interview a rookie than ask him questions, and even if he put up good stats, it was difficult for him to appear in media reports.

The situation in the team is completely different now than last season. With Larry Johnson's growth, his ball possession and shot attempts will definitely be greatly affected, and it is unlikely that he will become the team's leading scorer again.

In addition, the rookie who dared to ask the head coach for a shot and clashed with Larry Johnson in his first game will further suppress his ball possession and shot attempts.

In this environment, his stats will definitely not be as good as last season, and it will be very difficult for him to compete with Larry Johnson for the leadership position.

"It's difficult!"

Feeling immense pressure, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, feeling somewhat lost and disappointed.

After the press conference, Tang Bei did not take the team bus, but drove himself back to his residence, which was not far away.

Eric Fleischer said, "Don, don't worry, you're the second pick, the team will definitely invest a lot of resources in you."

"Playing time, ball possession, shot attempts, tactical role—everything will be there. I will also maintain communication with management."

"Ah."

Tang Bei nodded.

Fleischer added, "Today, Tom Gugliotta was injured by you, which is enough to raise your rating by a notch."

In the game against the Cavaliers on the 8th, both of the Cavaliers' two main big men are All-Stars. The Hornets have a losing record against the Hornets, so you need to be careful. If you play well, you'll definitely get good reviews.

But the game against the Magic on the 10th is more crucial. As long as your performance is no worse than Shaquille O'Neal's, the media's evaluation of you will definitely change, and the "bust" label will be gone forever.

"I will play well."

Tang Bei nodded heavily; he really wanted to beat Shaquille O'Neal to a pulp.

Firstly, he was a competitor; secondly, after learning the meaning of the term "cleanser," he really didn't have a good impression of O'Neal.

Fleischer said, "There's a Player of the Week award that's announced every Sunday. If you keep playing like this tonight, you have a chance."

At this point, he added expectantly, "If your performance can outshine O'Neal, that would be great, because it's a matter of your commercial value."

“Eric, I’m not American. No matter how well I play, I probably won’t have much commercial value, right?” Tang Bei said.

Fleischer quickly shook his head and said, "No, the United States is still very inclusive. As long as you play well, you can gain a lot of fans in the United States. People will be willing to watch your games and buy your jerseys and other merchandise. That is your commercial value."

"Oh."

Tang Bei nodded, seemingly understanding.

He didn't know how inclusive the United States was, but he knew that another world superpower had just collapsed at the end of last year, and that the United States was now the most powerful country in the world, filled with pride and confidence from top to bottom.

The following day, the media commented on the performances of many rookies from the previous night.

O'Neal's mediocre performance drew ridicule and criticism from the media, with some even calling him a bust, which infuriated him.

Timberwolves' Alonzo Mourning, who will miss several games at the start of the season due to injury, has not received much criticism.

Gugliotta, the sixth overall pick who was injured by Tang Bei, suffered a back muscle strain and will miss two weeks of games, earning him the nickname "glass man".

As for Leitner, he didn't play last night.

Tang Bei was the best performer among all the rookies and received a lot of praise from the media, but some critical media outlets, out of some ulterior motives, nitpicked at him in various ways.

Overall, there was more praise than criticism.

(End of this chapter)