am i proud?

Chapter 254 Can't You Win the Three-Point Shootout Contest?
Immediately after the shooting star game, there was a skill challenge game, which was the only game that Wang Dalin did not sign up for that night.

Participating in the Skills Challenge were Baron Davis of the Hornets, the "bearded first generation", Stephen Marbury of the Suns, the "Lone Wolf" of the Suns, Earl Boykins, the starting point guard of the Tunneling Team, and Derek Fisher, the host's backup point guard.

The first player to play in the first round of the knockout round was Baron Davis. His layup and change of direction dribble were very smooth. He also succeeded in the most difficult ground pass, and his three-point shooting was also very smooth. The final time was only 28.7 seconds.

The second player was Marbury. His first few moves were very smooth, and he hit the ground and passed the ball very accurately. However, he encountered a little trouble when he shot a three-pointer. He made a decisive strike for the first time, and only successfully entered the frame for the second time. It took a little time, and the final time was 36.4 seconds.

The third player to play is Boykins. He is only 165cm tall, so the basic skills of dribbling and passing are very solid, and because of his height, his dribbling speed is a bit faster than others, but he also fell on the three-pointer.

The last player to play was Fisher. Fisher tried twice to hit the ground pass before succeeding. He also made two three-pointers, and the final time was 31.6 seconds.

After the first round, Boykins and Marbury were eliminated, and Davis and Fisher advanced to the finals to compete for the final championship.

In the final, Fisher was the first to play. He passed the ground pass twice before making the pass, and he also took three three-pointers before making the shot. It took 37.6 seconds in the end.

Fisher's poor performance gave Davis a chance. After he came on the court, he went very smoothly. Although there was some delay in hitting the ground pass, the subsequent movements were very smooth. In the end, he completed the game with a one-handed dunk in only 31.6 seconds.

At the awards ceremony, the "bearded first generation" smiled and raised the trophy, and also received a prize of 25000 US dollars.

The runner-up Fisher can also get a bonus of 15000 US dollars. As for Boykins and Marbury who did not enter the final, they only have a bonus of 5000 US dollars each.

Wang Dalin felt strangely uncomfortable... It was also an All-Star Weekend game, so why is the total prize money for the champion of the Shooting Star game only 30000 US dollars, while the prize money for the Skills Challenge is so high?
One point for him and two temporary teammates, each of them was worth 10000 US dollars, which was not as high as Fisher's runner-up bonus!

This can't be helped, the skill challenge competition is a single player competition, but the shooting star competition is a team competition, so the prize money is naturally different.

Fortunately, the upcoming three-point contest is also a single-player competition, and Wang Dalin has also signed up to participate.

He didn't sign up for this game last year, mainly because he felt that he was not in the mood to focus on the All-Star weekend.

This year is different. The Clippers are now in a state of waste, and any honor can bring more attention to the team. As the boss of the team, Wang Dalin is naturally duty-bound.

And this year the Clippers are not the only one who signed up for the three-point contest, but also Kyle Korver.

To be honest, Wang Dalin didn't care much about other people. Even a super pitcher like Peja was just his defeat at the beginning.

But Korver...he is not someone to wait for!
In terms of overall strength, the current Korver can't keep up with Peja... Even in his peak period, he is probably equivalent to the Joe Harris of later generations, and he is still not as good as Peja.

Korver's three-pointers are very accurate, especially the open three-pointers, which are so accurate... This guy once made 54% of his three-pointers in one season, and 49% in two seasons.

Of course, his shortcomings are also obvious, that is his defense... It can't be said that he is a defensive black hole on the court, at least it is still a little worse than the league average.

The unguarded three-pointer in the three-point contest happens to be what Korver is best at, while Wang Dalin is better at shooting three-pointers in high-intensity games... Unguarded, I always feel that something is missing!
Therefore, although Wang Dalin is very confident in his three-point ability, let him compete with Korver on the stage of the three-point contest, and he also thinks that the outcome is unpredictable.

Everyone was actively warming up before the game. Wang Dalin took a closer look at the contestants this year.

In addition to him and Korver, Peja also played again, as well as Rockets' "Old Cat" Cutino Mobley, Nuggets guard Voshan Leonard and Sonics' Rashard Lewis.

Wang Dalin heard from Yao Ming before that the "Second Brother" Billups would also sign up for the competition, but he heard that Wang Dalin also signed up this year, so he resolutely dismissed the idea.

It seems that when he was in the Pistons, the "fourth brother" Wang Dalin's three-pointers left a deep impression on the "second brother", so that he was completely unable to give birth to the idea of ​​fighting against it.

In fact, in the 2001-2002 season, Wang Dalin's three-point shooting was far worse than it is now. Even if the addition of the S-level star skill "Hao Zhi Long Shot" is not included, the three-point ability alone is much better than then.

Soon the players finished warming up, and the three-point contest officially kicked off.

The first was the preliminaries, and "Old Cat" Mobley was the first to play.

Maybe it's because he didn't find a good touch during the warm-up just now, or maybe it's because of the pressure of being the first to play, "Old Cat" behaved quite hip-stretching, and only shot 13 points.

Mobley's face was full of frustration when he left the field. He also knew that he had almost no hope of entering the final round with this result.

Korver was the second to play, and his performance was much more normal. He scored 21 points with ease... If nothing else, 21 points will almost certainly advance to the final round.

Leonard of the Nuggets played third. He only shot 18 points and was a little dejected when he left the field.

In previous years, the score of 18 points would have a high chance of entering the final round, but this year... there are Peja and Wang Dalin behind, as long as they perform normally, there is no reason to score less than 18 points.

Lewis made his fourth debut. He made all five shots at the first point, and only missed one goal at the second point. He scored 11 points in the first two points, which can be described as a very strong start.

But the good times didn't last long. He only scored one of the five balls at the third point, and only two at the fourth point, and he failed to make any flower balls.

Even if he scored all five goals in the last point, he could only score 20 points in the end, which is still 1 point less than Korver. With Wang Dalin and Peja not yet on the court, 20 points is not safe.

What's more, he did not reproduce the glory of the first point, and only scored three goals in the last point, and finally scored 18 points like Leonard.

Peja finally debuted, he was last year's three-point contest champion, this year's goal, of course, is to defend the title.

But it is more important to defeat Wang Dalin, the "strongest three-pointer contest champion in history", so that he can become the strongest in history in this field.

Maybe it was because of too much pressure on his body. In the first point, his performance was not good. He only made two out of five shots, and he also missed the flower ball.

However, he adjusted his state immediately, and returned to normal from the second point... He is indeed a historical super pitcher, and he is not as good at adjusting as another person.

In the end, Peja scored 23 points, 2 points higher than Korver. Even if Wang Dalin scored a higher score, he had already entered the final round ahead of schedule.

Finally it was Wang Dalin's turn to play.

On this stage two years ago, Wang Dalin broke the record with an astonishingly high score of 26 points in the first round, and even scored 27 points in the final round, breaking the new record he just set.

Amidst the cheers of the audience, Wang Dalin walked to the left corner... Just like two years ago, he did not take off his jacket in the first round.

Barkley, who was commenting on the sidelines, couldn't help laughing. He turned to the guest commentator Larry Bird and said with a smile, "Larry, compared to saying 'Are you all here to fight for No.2' in front of the contestants, it seems that Darling-Wang's silent style is cooler, right?"

"Bi Wang" couldn't help laughing: "Indeed, he seemed to be saying to them—'You are all done voting, now it's my turn to perform! I'm sorry, I don't even need to take off my coat to deal with you!'"

Smith sang a counter-tune at the right time: "You two are talking so lively, if Darling-Wang is eliminated in the first round, it will be good!"

"Impossible!" Bird and Barkley said in unison.

"Well... With Darling Wang's three-point shooting ability, it is impossible to be eliminated in the first round!" After a slight pause, Bird added.

Barkley also laughed and said, "Based on what I know about him, maybe he will break his own record this year... After all, 27 points is not a full score of 30 points, and it doesn't mean that he can't surpass it!"

Smith smiled noncommittally: "Then let's wait and see!"

……

With the sound of a whistle, Wang Dalin grabbed the basketball and threw it out. With a sound of "dang", the ball hit the iron directly.

The next two balls also struck iron, and the audience couldn't help but let out a burst of exclamation, and Wang Dalin couldn't help but frowned—"Why is my hand feeling so sluggish tonight?"

Grabbing the fourth ball, Wang Dalin took aim for a full second before making a shot, only to hear the sound of "Dang", and hit the iron again.

Smith couldn't help laughing out loud. He was just about to say something to make fun of Barkley and Bird when Wang Dalin made the last shot from the first point. The basketball drew a beautiful arc and plunged into the basket.

This is a flower ball, which means that Wang Dalin scored 2 points in the first point.

"Finally got in!" Barkley was sweating on his forehead.

Including the season when he was teammates with Wang Dalin, Barkley never lost confidence in Wang Dalin, but just now seeing him miss four shots in a row, he was really a little anxious... In fact, until Wang Dalin hit the flower ball, his heart was still in his throat and he didn't dare to put it back in his stomach.

At the second point, Wang Dalin sped up his attack speed a little bit. Just now, he was delayed a little longer at the first point, so he had to speed up the pace a little bit.

"Shua... Shua... When... Shua... Shua..."

At this point, he made four out of five shots, and he finally recovered a bit of the demeanor of "the strongest three-pointer contest champion in history".

Then there is the third point at the top of the three-point arc. This point is also the position where Wang Dalin usually takes the most shots in the game, so his self-confidence when shooting is naturally stronger than other positions, and the shooting speed is also a little faster.

"Shua... Shua... Shua... Shua... Shua..."

Sure enough, he made all five shots at this point, and he has scored 13 points after shooting three points.

"Shua... Shua... Shua... Shua... When..."

The fourth point is also good, but it is a pity that the last bouquet failed to score, otherwise he would have scored 19 points after this point, and now only 17 points. Even if the last point is all scored, he can only be equal to Peja's 23 points.

Sometimes the more you want to hit the ball, the more you can't hit it. This is the case with Wang Dalin's fifth point. He missed the first ball.

Fortunately, he took a deep breath in time, and his subsequent shots finally returned to the normal state of the past. After a wave of four consecutive hits, he finally scored 22 points.

Barkley pursed his lips and muttered: "Darling is a bit out of order tonight, why is he so good?"

Smith yelled: "You think 22 points is too little? If I could shoot this score when I participated in the three-point contest, I would have won the championship!"

Bird said lightly from the side: "Well, 22 points is indeed not low, but...if your opponent is me, you still can only fight for No.2!"

"Hahaha...that's right!" Barkley laughed, "Kenny, if you compete with Larry on three-pointers, no matter how many times you compete, you will definitely lose!"

Smith wanted to refute, but he always had no confidence, so he could only perfunctoryly say: "Uh...Look, the final round is about to begin!"

Wang Dalin's 22 points were 1 point lower than Peja's and 1 point higher than Korver's, so Korver was naturally the first player to play in the final round.

Seeing that his "little brother" was about to start his final round, Wang Dalin walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't think too much, just cast well, believe in yourself, you can do it!"

Korver raised his head and smiled at Wang Dalin: "Darling, you don't have to worry about me, I've always been very relaxed!"

Although Wang Dalin entered the NBA three years earlier than Korver, he is actually one year younger than Korver... Let me add that Korver was born on March 1981, 3, which is the same day as Wang Dalin's birthday, so he is just one year older than Wang Dalin!
There is no other way, who made him participate in the draft after four years of college?
And older rookies who have stayed in college for three or four years before participating in the draft are almost always considered to have "exhausted their potential", so Korver's and Duncan's experiences are completely different.

Although "Deng Daida" also studied in college for four years, he became famous all over the world as early as his sophomore year. At that time, "LOGO man" Jerry West predicted that Duncan would become the No. 1995 pick in [-], but he never participated in the draft.

In 1996, if Duncan participated in the draft, the 76ers holding the No. [-] pick would never have chosen Allen Iverson.

There is no need to doubt, the fact is like this... From his sophomore year, as long as "Deng Daida" participates in the draft, it is impossible for him not to be the No. [-] pick!

Many people in later generations said that the "thirty-year-old man" James played just like he did in his rookie season, and he hadn't made any progress in the past ten years.

可是仔细看一下数据，詹姆斯新秀赛季场均20.9分5.5篮板5.9助攻1.6抢断0.7盖帽，而他整个职业生涯的场均数据则是27.1分7.4篮板7.4助攻1.6抢断0.8盖帽……哪儿就“出道即巅峰”了？

邓肯才是真正的“出道即巅峰”，他新秀赛季场均就可以轰出21.1分11.9篮板2.7助攻0.7抢断2.5盖帽，和他巅峰时期的数据相比也没差多少。

Therefore, even though Duncan participated in the draft after graduating from university, he was still defeated by many teams. Who wouldn't want this kind of "full rookie number"?

In the original time and space, Korver was not selected by the Nets until the 22nd pick in the second round, and was immediately traded to the 76ers. In the final analysis, it was because the NBA uniforms were not optimistic about his potential.

Now that he has come to the Clippers and became Wang Dalin's teammate in this life, his rookie season has naturally gone more smoothly than in the original history. He is currently averaging 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage is as high as 44.7%. He has become an indispensable member of the Clippers' rotation.

Korver was not nervous at all after he came on the court. He shot very confidently every time he took a shot, and his shooting percentage was naturally very high. After the first four points, he only missed four shots in total, and he didn't miss a flower ball.

If the fifth point still performs like this, he can finally score 25 points... This score was the record in the three-point contest two years ago!

However, Korver has made more and more shots, and the fifth point came directly to a wave of all-in, and finally scored 26 points.

Wang Dalin and Peja, who hadn't played yet, involuntarily looked at each other, and they both saw a trace of tension in each other's eyes.

Smith couldn't help exclaiming: "Kyle is too good, isn't he? 26 points is the highest score tonight. Even Darling and Peja...it will be very difficult for them to surpass this score!"

Barkley also frowned: "That's right! Darling might have been able to perform miracles two years ago, but judging from his performance in the first round tonight, his hand feeling is obviously not very good!"

Bird smiled lightly and said, "Am I the only one who likes Darling-Wang? 26 points is really high, but I don't know why, I just think Darling-Wang can score higher... If you don't believe me, why don't we make a bet?"

When they heard about the bet, Barkley and Smith immediately cheered up and asked, "How do you bet?"

Bird laughed and said, "I bet King Darling will beat Kyle tonight and win the three-point shot contest. Let's not bet too much... If I guess right, how about each of you losing $10000 to me?"

Smith added: "If Darling-Wong doesn't win tonight, you lose $10000 to each of us, right?"

Byrd nodded, "That's right!"

Smith slapped the table and said with a smile, "Okay, I bet!"

Barkley hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said: "Okay, I bet too!"

……

Wang Dalin, who played later, was under a lot of pressure. Although he scored 26 points two years ago, and even scored a record 27 points, his family knows his own affairs... This state does not happen all the time!
What is the three-point ability of the "primary school students" of later generations?

When he won the three-point contest championship for the first time, he only shot 27 points... You must know that the total score of the three-point contest at that time was already 34 points!

It is conceivable that when 30 points are the perfect score, how difficult is it to exceed 26 points?
Wang Dalin has done it before, but it doesn't mean he can do it tonight. Shooting is not the same as dunking...it needs touch!

Standing in the bottom corner on the left, Wang Dalin took off his jacket a long time ago... To be honest, his results in the first round were indeed a bit of "pretending to be aggressive but getting slapped in the face".
"beep……"

The referee whistled, and Wang Dalin quickly grabbed the basketball on the rack and threw it without any hesitation.

I saw the crimson basketball draw a high arc, one end... hit the neck of the basket and jumped out a long way.

Wang Dalin couldn't help feeling tense.

"No way? Could it be that the champion of tonight's three-point contest...I really can't hold it anymore?"

(End of this chapter)