NBA: I am the god of basketball

Chapter 104 The preseason trip to Huaguo is very popular

41 points in the first game of the preseason was just the beginning for Wang Chao. In the second preseason game against the Grizzlies, Wang Chao played 35 minutes again, made 23 of 11 shots, scored 38 points and 4 rebounds .

During the game, Wang Chao still displayed a variety of scoring methods, and even made fewer shots from outside the three-point line.

Because both Wang Chao and the team's head coach Stan Van Gundy knew that the playing time in the preseason was a test of Wang Chao's ability. Van Gundy wanted to see if Wang Chao could shoulder the heavy burden of the team's offense with the ball. It will directly affect the tactical arrangement of the Magic during the regular season.

Judging from these two preseason games, Wang Chao is definitely qualified. Even if his offensive ability with the ball has not reached the top level in the league, it is at least first-class, and it is unmatched in the Magic team. Turkoglu is not as good as him, and neither is Nelson.

The unexpected harvest made Stan Van Gundy very pleasantly surprised, and he was even more sure that the results of the Magic in the new season will definitely rise with the arrival of Wang Chao.

Wang Chao scored high scores one after another in the preseason games, which also attracted a lot of attention in the league. Even if there is no confrontation in the preseason games, it is still at the NBA level. Wang Chao has shown in several games The improvement in offense with the ball has surprised many people.

You must know that when Wang Chao was in the Suns, he basically focused on offense without the ball. When he came off the bench, he occasionally played offense with the ball, and most of them were mid-range emergency stop jumpers after breakthroughs with the ball.

Layups with the ball, throws and even dunks, these things have not even appeared once in Wang Chao's previous game highlights.

"Is Wang Chao's offensive ability with the ball so good? I always thought he was a three-point shooter who can only play off the ball. It seems that we have all underestimated Wang Chao's true ability. From this point of view, he is indeed worthy. Renew the contract with the maximum salary."

"It seems that Wang Chao's choice to leave the Suns is correct. In the Suns, the ball will only be concentrated in the hands of Nash. Even when Nash is not on the court, Barbosa can play offense with the ball. Wang Chao There are not many opportunities to show your offense with the ball, but it is different in the Magic. The team's starting point guard Jamal Milson is better at shooting than breaking through with the ball. Turkoglu has the ability to attack with the ball But the efficiency is quite satisfactory, here Wang Chao has more opportunities to show his ability, and he can give full play to his talent."

Of course, if there are those who are sought after, there are those who will be disliked.

"Huh, what's so great about facing a group of substitute players to collect points in the preseason? No one is serious, and you are alone, don't you feel embarrassed?"

"Even if Wang Chao can score 100 points in a single game in the preseason, what's the point? Let's brag about it after he can play at this level in the regular season or even in the playoffs."

"Would anyone really think that after the Magic team gets Wang Chao, they will be able to become the top team in the league?"

All kinds of discussions arose, and the preseason continued.

Soon the time came to mid-October.

The Magic team boarded a plane to Macau, China, and set off.

In this year's preseason, the league specially arranged an interaction session between NBA teams and Huaguo. Two teams will go to Huaguo and play three preseason games.

These two teams are the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The specific arrangement is that on October 10th, the Magic and the Cavaliers will play a preseason game in Shanghai, and then the two teams will go to Macau to play a game with the Huaguo Men's Basketball Team. The team played another game in Macau, and returned to the United States after completing the entire schedule of the Huaguo trip.

Wang Chao was quite impressed with this NBA trip to China, because it was the first time the NBA arranged a preseason show in China. Since then, almost every year in the NBA preseason, one or two teams will come to China. Play games to give back to the fans of Huaguo.

And this time returning to China is, in a sense, Wang Chao's first return to China after crossing.

Having said that, he was still quite nervous.

Due to the incomplete memory inheritance, he still hasn't figured out the specific reason why the other Wang Chao was banned, but no matter what the reason is, it doesn't really matter.

Under Dayao's lead, the ban on Wang Chao has been gradually lifted. During the playoffs of last season, CCTV Sports broadcast the Western Conference finals and finals live, and praised Wang Chao's role and performance on the field. There are also many discussions about Wang Chao on many domestic websites and forums. There are growing calls for him to join the national team and play in the Beijing Olympic Games.

Although he had some mental preparations, when the plane arrived in Shanghai and the Magic team came out of the boarding passage, Wang Chao was still shocked by the battle in front of him.

The outside of Modu Airport was almost packed with dark crowds. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a sea of ​​people.

Large banners were held up among the crowd, some in English and some in Chinese, expressing similar meanings.

"Welcome the Magic to Shanghai! Welcome Wang Chao home!"

When Wang Chao and others came out, cheers and screams erupted from the crowd. "Wang Chao! Wang Chao! Wang Chao!"

That scene was like a star chasing scene of a top star.

"My God... Wang, are you so popular in Huaguo?"

Howard was shocked by this scene, Huaguo fans are much more enthusiastic than Orlando fans.

Wang Chao was a little speechless for a while, and he was still a little moved. He stopped and waved to the fans with a smile, which caused more violent screams.

There were many reporters at the front of the fans, holding microphones and crowding outside the isolation zone pulled up by the security guards at the front, speaking loudly to Wang Chao.

"Mr. Wang Chao, excuse me for a few minutes, we will ask a few questions!"

After Wang Chao thought about it, he still walked towards them, because he saw that some of the microphones in the hands of these reporters were facing such as certain fox, certain goose and some domestic influential portal websites.

It's just a few minutes of delay. If you can spread some good images of yourself through these portal websites with relatively strong promotion efforts, it will naturally be a good thing to set up your personality.

Wang Chao from 2022 pays more attention to the maintenance of his personality than anyone else, regardless of whether the personality is true or not, whether it means that he really has such a character, as long as he can always maintain a consistent image in front of the public, then It's not human, it's real.

Seeing that Wang Chao actually came over, the eyes of these reporters lit up immediately, and they rushed to pass the microphone to Wang Chao.

"Mr. Wang Chao, this is the first time you have returned to China to play after landing in the NBA. May I ask how you feel now?"

"Happy, excited and touched." Wang Chao said with a smile: "I didn't expect that there would be so many fans who support me to welcome me, and after so many years, I can finally return to the land of the motherland to play. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to do honor to my country."

Hearing Wang Chao's words, the reporters became even more excited. "Wang Chao, will you represent the national team at the Beijing Olympic Games next year? What do you think of the two Chinese compatriots Arab League and Sun Yue who just landed in the NBA this year? Do they have a chance to become the league's All-Star players?"

Faced with these questions, Wang Chao didn't answer directly, just smiled, waved to the reporters who were still full of enthusiasm, and then followed his teammates to board the airport bus.

"Hey, Wang."

Sitting on the bus, Howard leaned over again with a mean smile on his face. "Come to Huaguo, this is your territory, what's interesting, take me to see it?"

When he said something fun, his tone was deliberately aggravated, and Wang Chao instantly understood what the little nightclub prince was thinking.

However, Wang Chao, who returned to China for the first time, still wanted to leave a positive and good character for the fathers and villagers of Huaguo. Naturally, it was impossible to fool around with Howard. His hope was about to be dashed.

……

After the Magic and Cavaliers arrived in Shanghai respectively, of course it was not as simple as just playing a game and leaving. In order to better promote the NBA in China, the league arranged a series of activities for the two teams, including meeting with fans Interaction on the court, autograph and so on.

Wang Chao, James and Howard are undoubtedly the three most watched players in the event. Wang Chao may not be as famous in the NBA as the last two, but in China, he has home court advantage and his popularity is the last two. Humans are completely incomparable.

It is worth mentioning that Bill Duffy, Wang Chao's agent, also came to Huaguo with Wang Chao this time, and he couldn't keep his mouth shut with a smile.

Wang Chao's return to China to participate in the preseason performance has already made many domestic advertisers smell some opportunities.

With Dayao's Yuzhu in front, many domestic companies have realized that the endorsement effect of top-level athletes is no worse than those of stars, especially Wang Chao, who has excellent appearance and looks no less than the domestic popular niche stars, signed them to endorse Ads are absolutely perfect.

It's just that Wang Chao was blocked before so that they didn't dare to sign an endorsement contract with him easily. What's the point if the advertising endorsement that spent a lot of money couldn't even be put on the TV station?
But it’s different now. Since even the officials have begun to let go and accept Wang Chao, it means that their opportunity has come. They can grab Wang Chao’s endorsement rights one step ahead of all competitors, and they will definitely be able to compete in the fierce commodity competition. Get a head start in the competition!
As Wang Chao's manager, Bill Duffy did almost nothing, and his phone calls were almost ringing in the past few days. A large number of Huaguo enterprises and manufacturers contacted him, hoping to negotiate and cooperate with Wang Chao's endorsement.

Bill Duffy has never been so busy. Although he is Dayao's agent, all of Dayao's domestic business cooperation is in the charge of Yao's team leader Zhang Mingji and Chinese agent Lu Hao. He is only responsible for Dayao's business cooperation abroad.

"It seems that I have to find a time to talk to Zhang, they are more experienced than me in this area..."

……

The preseason game between the Magic and the Cavaliers will be held in the Shanghai Stadium one day later.

In front of the fans of Shanghai Magic City, this game is even more of an exhibition game. Both teams follow the principle of how to play beautifully, just like the All-Star Weekend. The defensive end is basically weak. James and Howard and the two frequently showed their best physical fitness, ravaging each other's basket.

Even Wang Chao felt a little itchy, and dunked two goals in the game, which successfully aroused the cheers of the audience.

Wang Chao's dunk ability is not strong, but with a height of 2 meters, a jumping ability value of 06 and a dunk ability value of 67, he can dunk in a decent manner without interference from anyone. Brilliant, beautiful dunk with perfect visual sense of violent aesthetics.

The game finally ended with 105:97, and the Magic beat the Cavaliers.

詹姆斯得到14分4篮板5助攻，霍华德则有17分8篮板2封盖入账。

The playing time of the main players of both sides is about the same as that of ordinary preseason games, and they both played for more than ten minutes before leaving. No one would take this kind of performance game seriously, it was just a symbolic fight.

As a local star, Wang Chao played for a long time, played 27 minutes, scored a game-high 26 points, and led the team to win the game, which satisfied the fans who came to the stadium to watch the game.

Two days later, the Magic and the Cavaliers arrived in Macau, and played a friendly match with the Huaguo men's basketball team in Macau, and finally played a rematch in Macau on October 10.

In the friendly match with the Huaguo men's basketball team, there is actually nothing to say. The two sides are not at the same level at all, especially the Huaguo men's basketball team lacks major players such as Dayao, Ah Lian, Dazhi, and Sun Yue. Although there are also Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng, etc. The backbone players of the national team, but the strength gap with the NBA team is still obvious.

But this game allowed Wang Chao to get acquainted with the teammates of the national team first, which was a little helpful for participating in the 08 Beijing Olympic Games with the team.

As for the rematch between the Magic and the Cavaliers, they once again defeated the Cavaliers 108:84 and double-killed their opponents in the preseason.

The outcome of the preseason will naturally not be taken seriously.

In an interview, James praised the trip to Huaguo.

"This is a magical and great country. It's a pity that we have traveled such a long distance to come here and only played three games. The fans here are very enthusiastic. If I have the opportunity, I hope to contribute more to them. Great game."

And when it comes to Wang Chao, James always praises him.

"Wang Chao is an amazing player. You all know that last year in the finals, my Cavaliers team lost to the Suns. Wang Chao was one of them, and he made a relatively large contribution."

"This summer, after Wang Chao's contract expired, I suggested that the Cavaliers management provide Wang Chao with an offer. I am looking forward to working with such an excellent player. It is a pity that he finally joined the Magic. We're going to be playing against each other for a while, and I think he's going to be one of my toughest opponents in the East."

The amount of information revealed by James’ words is still quite large. When Wang Chao’s contract renewal negotiations with the Suns reached an impasse, the Cavaliers offered Wang Chao a maximum salary offer. This is not a secret in the league, and some media in Huaguo have done it Related reports.

But no one thought that the Cavaliers' offer was actually suggested by James, who wanted to team up with Wang Chao.

Although he only played four seasons in the league, James has quickly become one of the most well-known top stars in the NBA. Especially last season, the single-core team led the team to the finals. Won many championships.

Even he is optimistic about Wang Chao, which shows how popular Wang Chao is in the league.

Of course, what James said is nothing more than fans, and Wang Chao will definitely not believe it.

As a player, James is indeed a very great player. Looking at the only player in history who has the opportunity to achieve the 411 project, it is really an extremely rare existence.

But personally, James is an extreme egoist. Every word he says and every action has a purpose, and all the choices he makes also prioritize maximizing benefits.

This matter is actually true, Wang Chao himself is considered an egoist, and people do not punish heaven and earth for themselves, this is not something worthy of criticism.

Many people often use this to criticize James, thinking that he has a problem with his character, but they don’t know that James is a good family man in life. He has been with his wife for more than ten years. There is almost no scandal, and there are not many people who pop up every now and then. The illegitimate child is called Dad, and Jordan, the basketball god worshiped by people, openly cheated in his first marriage and then abandoned his wife and son. Kobe also had the Eagle County incident and Shaq, who said the classics handed down from generation to generation, also did it.

James has many flaws, but such flaws can be found in anyone. It is somewhat unfair to magnify his flaws infinitely and even use it to attack his character.

The topic is far away, because of James' egoism, Wang Chao doesn't think he is telling the truth in front of the media.

In fact, Wang Chao has already sensed that James doesn't like the way he looks.

This is not difficult to understand. On the one hand, Wang Chao’s choice to join the Magic instead of the Cavaliers is equivalent to rejecting James’ solicitation. The phrase "the future is yours" that he said to James is indeed a bit of hatred.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence for Duncan. He is a two-time regular season MVP, holds four championship rings, and has a stable status in the world. You can use the tone of a senior to say this to James.

Which onion are you, Wang Chao?Why are you pretending to be 13 with me here?Is it true that my emperor does not hold grudges?
But there was no way, Wang Chao really couldn't help himself in the situation at that time, and couldn't hold back.

But if you don't like it, don't like it. Wang Chao doesn't need James to like him, he doesn't like men.

Anyway, Wang Chao, who plays for the Magic, is very likely to meet James' Cavaliers in the playoffs in the next few years. At that time, the opponent will only hate him even more.

……

The China trip of the Magic and the Cavaliers ended in this way. After the two teams returned to the United States, they took a short rest and the regular season was coming.

The opening game of the regular season of the Magic was held at their home court on October 10. The opponent of the game was the Milwaukee Bucks, which is the team of the United Arab Emirates.

This can be regarded as a Huaguo derby, the derby between Wang Chao and the United Arab Emirates.

This kind of game naturally attracted the attention of many people in Huaguo and even the alliance.

The success of Dayao and Wang Chao in the NBA has made the league pay more and more attention to the abilities and potential of Chinese players.

As a player with a height of 2 meters and a wingspan of 13 meters, UAE has excellent static talent and good dynamic talent, and also has a certain shooting range. His ability can only be judged by his performance in the CBA arena, but there are still many people who believe that Ah Lian is very likely to become the third All-Star in the NBA after Dayao and Wang Chao. level players.

And this game is the best mirror.

Coincidentally, Wang Chao happened to be the team's starting power forward in the lineup list arranged by the Magic. Although Turkoglu was 2 meters tall, slightly taller than Wang Chao, his speed and confrontation Ability, but slightly worse than Wang Chao.

Therefore, Stan Van Gundy decided to let Wang Chao try at the power forward position first. If the two are not suitable, they can be replaced at any time on the field.

In this way, Wang Chao became the player who faced the UAE in his first show.

Magic starting five, point guard Nelson, shooting guard Bogans, small forward Turkoglu, power forward Wang Chao, center Howard.

The starting five for the Bucks are point guard Maurice Williams, shooting guard Michael Reed, small forward Desmond Mason, power forward Alian, and center Bogut.

When the Magic's on-site DJ introduced the starting players of the Magic, Wang Chao was arranged to appear second to last, and Howard was the finale. This also shows Wang Chao's status in the Magic at this time.

Ah Lian sat on the bench and watched the DJ shouting Wang Chao's name loudly. With the stadium lights flickering, Wang Chao calmly ran out from the player tunnel, causing the fans in the audience to cheer wildly. Can't help showing a look of envy.

As a Huaguo player who has just landed in the NBA, although Ah Lian is the sixth overall pick in the first round, he has a much higher starting point than Wang Chao, a player who was only selected in the second round, but at the same time, the pressure he bears is far greater than that of Wang Chao. Wang Chao is more.

It's good to say that he can perform well in the NBA. Once his performance is not good, the verbal criticism he will encounter is simply unimaginable.

In fact, the first half of Ah Lian's career was spent in the disdain and disdain of most fans in Huaguo.

"If he can't make it in the NBA, and then returns to the CBA to abuse food, his level is just like this."

"When Dayao retires, what will the Huaguo men's basketball team do? Ah Lian is not worthy to succeed Dayao as the leader of the Huaguo men's basketball team!"

Who would have thought that a few years later, when the Huaguo men's basketball team really entered the darkest period, the UAE would actually become the only backbone of the Huaguo men's basketball team?
At this time, Ah Lian, who was still very young and in his prime, looked at Wang Chao, who appeared on the stage like a superstar under the spotlight, and besides envy, there was also a hint of anticipation in his heart.

"It won't be long before I will be welcomed by many fans like Wang Chao!"

……

After a short warm-up, the game will officially begin.

Before his debut, Wang Chao took the initiative to come to Ah Lian and hugged him.

This scene made many Huaguo fans sitting in front of the TV watching the derby couldn't help but smile.

"Come on, play hard, my defense is not very good, if you have the opportunity, hit me with the ball more to score points." Wang Chao patted Ah Lian on the back and said softly.

What he said made the United Arab Emirates a little embarrassed. Egoists like Wang Chao who have traveled from 2022 and put everything first in data are relatively rare in this era. The common concept of most professional players is to play for the football. For the team to win, everyone has to make sacrifices on the field. It doesn't matter whether they score or not.

A real basketball game, indeed.

But the NBA is not the NBA, which is essentially a commercial league. Personal heroism often means everything.

Even if he is as strong as Curry, while his personal ability is extremely outstanding, he is also willing to make sacrifices for the team's victory. As a result, he, who has three crowns and two MVPs, is still ranked below Durant, who has two crowns and one MVP. After winning another championship in 22 years and finally winning the FMVP, he overtook Durant in the rankings who had done nothing after leaving the Warriors.

So Wang Chao doesn't believe this at all, and will give the same advice to Ah Lian.

As a time traveler, Wang Chao certainly knows the follow-up experience of the United Arab Emirates. In his rookie season with the Bucks, he averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He was not selected for the best rookie team and was regarded as a failed investment by the Bucks He was traded to the Nets in only the second year.

Wang Chao didn't know if his appearance would change the fate of Ah Lian, just like he didn't know if Dayao had heeded his advice.

Anyway, he has done the right thing, and there is no need to deliberately force it in the end.

The starting players from both sides came on the stage, and the two center champions, Howard and Bogut, jumped the ball, and there was no suspense about the result.

Although Bogut was the No. 05 pick in the 04 draft, in terms of physical fitness, he is not at the same level as Howard, the No. [-] pick in [-].

Howard won the jump ball almost effortlessly, the Magic got the ball, Nelson got the ball and drove quickly, and the rest of the players fell.

After a month of preseason games and training, Wang Chao has already integrated into the Magic team, and he habitually went directly to the position outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the left.

Ah Lian didn't dare to neglect in the slightest, and followed closely beside Wang Chao.

He had watched a lot of videos of Wang Chao's games last season, and was amazed at the accuracy of Wang Chao's shots from beyond the three-point line, so he didn't dare to give Wang Chao any shooting space.

But Wang Chao couldn't help smiling when he saw this scene.

"Don't be nervous, you can't guard against me anyway, just don't act too embarrassed."

Compatriots belong to compatriots. On the field, Wang Chao was not prepared to show mercy.

As soon as Nelson passed halftime, he immediately passed the ball to Wang Chao.

In the preseason games, Wang Chao attacked with the ball a lot. Stan Van Gundy wanted to test Wang Chao's ability to attack with the ball. In the preseason, Wang Chao's performance did not disappoint him. He averaged 33 minutes per game. Under certain circumstances, you can get 30+ points, and the scoring efficiency is very high.

But that was only the preseason. The opponents and defensive pressure Wang Chao faced were completely different from those in the regular season. Therefore, Wang Chao's offensive ability with the ball still needs to be further tested in the regular season.

At this time, the UAE's position was too close, and Wang Chao didn't make any extra moves after receiving the ball, and directly held the ball to accelerate the breakthrough.

"So fast!"

Ah Lian was startled. Wang Chao's speed was completely beyond his expectation. Although it can be seen from the game video that Wang Chao's speed is not slow, the video and the actual experience are completely different concepts.

As an inside player, Ah Lian was relatively confident in his speed. Originally, his selling point was that he had good speed and explosive power as an inside player.

But Wang Chao passed most of his body in just one step. When Ah Lian turned sideways to catch up with Wang Chao, the opponent had already rushed towards the inside basket.

Seeing this, Bogut, who was standing on the inside of the Bucks, stepped forward subconsciously to help defend, and then he saw Wang Chao throw the basketball in a certain direction behind him.

Behind him, Howard jumped up, caught the basketball in the air and scored a dunk with both hands.

"boom--!"

The opening game was a beautiful alley-oop slam dunk, which directly made the Magic's home fans cheer loudly with excitement.

Wang Chao and Howard's inside and outside partner is the scene they are most looking forward to this summer, and they did not expect to see it so soon!
Stan Van Gundy nodded slightly. The two cooperated quite tacitly. After all, they had practiced together for a period of time during the offseason, and they often cooperated together in daily training in the past month.

Wang Chao's passing ability value is currently 65. Compared with the earliest 47, he has made a great improvement unconsciously, but the passing ability value of 65 is not very good. The extent to which the ball can be passed to a teammate without serious interference.

But if it's an empty pick, it's not that difficult.

The alley-oop is different from ordinary passing. You don’t need to consider the posture of your teammates to catch the ball, and you don’t have to worry about being intercepted. You just need to throw the ball towards the direction of your teammates close to the basket. The ability can kiss the spring monster of the basket, and you can completely judge the landing point of the basketball by yourself, then choose the height and angle of the jump, and take the initiative to cater to the ball.

As long as the strength of the pass is normal and the angle is not too tricky, basically you can grab the basketball and use its outstanding ability to stay in the air to adjust your posture and pour the basketball into the basket.

Of course, this is not to say that the alley-oop pass has no technical content. With Howard's ability, even if the pass is a little higher or slower than the normal alley-oop, he can handle it.

After completing the dunk, Howard got down from the basket and excitedly gave Wang Chao a high-five to celebrate.

"Beautiful pass, brother!"

The Milwaukee Bucks are not considered a strong team. Last season, the regular season record was only 28 wins and 54 losses, ranking third from the bottom in the league. There is a high probability that they can get the No. 6 pick, but they got it because of bad luck A No. [-] pick.

Although the Magic team is not very strong, they finally made it to the playoffs last season, and under the coaching of Stan Van Gundy, the Magic team's defensive system has gradually been established. At the same time, Howard has also become stronger and stronger. Ability is becoming more and more apparent.

The Bucks had the ball. Mo Williams used the speed to get rid of Nelson and rushed to the basket, but the layup was successfully interfered by Howard who was defending. The latter turned around and pressed Bogut to protect the defensive rebound, showing the dominance of the basket force!
(End of this chapter)