NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 107: Prove yourself in 2 minutes, beat Prince with 3 of 3 shots!

Prince nodded, feeling quite disdainful.

It is said that Wang Chong is the strongest rookie in the 03 class, is this it?

Prince has fought against both James and Anthony. In his opinion, the physically strong James is the most difficult to deal with. With his small body, he simply cannot hold the opponent, followed by Anthony. Anthony’s strength is not bad either, especially It's a post-up single with the butt sticking out, which is very troublesome.

On the other hand, although Wang Chong has a precise mid-range shot, his offensive methods are too simple. Through a large number of game videos, he can thoroughly analyze and formulate targeted defensive tactics.

In the first half of the game, Wang Chong, whose passing route was blocked, did almost nothing.

This can't help but make Prince have a mentality of looking down on the other party.

In his opinion, the reason why Wang Chong is able to perform as well as James and Anthony is entirely because there is an OK combination around him that attracts most of the defensive focus.

Normally, a player with excellent perimeter defense like Prince must defend the opponent's core player on the perimeter, which in the case of the Lakers is Kobe.

But Larry Brown paid special attention to Wang Chong, a rookie who could temporarily shoulder the responsibility during the regular season, and did not hesitate to arrange Prince to defend him, just to avoid unnecessary complications.

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The 15-minute intermission passed quickly, and the two teams returned to the field from the locker room.

The game restarted and the Lakers served from the baseline.

Larry Brown, who had just sat down, looked at the Lakers' lineup and immediately frowned.

For the Lakers, O'Neal and Kobe were actually sitting off the court at the same time.

How could this be?

Doesn't Phil Jackson know what it means when two core players leave the field at the same time? Even if it is necessary to give rest time to the OK combination, the two should take turns to take a rest, ensuring that at least one person is on the field.

"Could it be that……"

Brown's eyes couldn't help but turn to Wang Chong on the field.

At the same time, Wang Chong has come to stand at a 45-degree angle to the right three-point line, scanning the positions of the players on the field.

The next two minutes may directly determine the outcome of this game and even the entire series. He must prove his ability to the head coach!

After Fisher dribbled the ball past half court, he wanted to pass the ball to Wang Chong.

But Prince unexpectedly blocked the passing route of Wang Chong and Fisher.

If it were before, Fisher would find a way to pass the ball to Kobe or O'Neal in this situation.

But this time it was different. Seeing that the passing route was blocked, Fisher did not rush to pass the ball, but stood still and waited.

At the same time, Wang Chong also moved.

He bypassed Prince and accelerated towards Fisher. Prince was slightly startled. This was the first time in this game that Wang Chong took the initiative to catch the ball.

After being stunned for a moment, Prince immediately reacted and quickened his pace to chase after him.

Wang Chong ran past Fisher, who passed the ball hand-to-hand to Wang Chong.

After playing for more than ten minutes, Wang Chong received the ball from the outside for the first time.

But as soon as he held the ball, Prince immediately stood in front of Wang Chong and stepped forward to use his body to press Wang Chong, taking the initiative to press for a close confrontation.

This is Wang Chong's favorite move when defending, Death Coil.

Because of the Death Coil badge and his height and long arms, Wang Chong's pressing force is still quite strong even though his defensive ability is not very high.

He could clearly feel that Prince's ability to press closely was no worse than his own. Unlike himself who used his physical talents and badges, Prince relied more on his rich defensive experience and reaction ability.

If it weren't for Wang Chong's ability value rising sharply twice this season and his dribbling ability having been qualitatively improved, he might have been forced into a panic by Prince.

But it’s different now!

Wang Chong, whose dribbling ability value has reached 88, seemed to be able to face Prince's close pressing with ease. He put one hand up to protect the basketball from being taken away, and the other hand protected the basketball behind him while dribbling. It was a near-perfect defense. This leaves Prince without any chance to steal the ball.

But at this time, standing too close turned out to be Prince's mistake!

The basketball hit the floor. Wang Chong turned around, passed Prince, and accelerated towards the basket.

"So fast!"

Prince was startled and quickly turned around to follow.

Wang Chong's speed and explosive power far exceeded his expectations.

He himself is a relatively tall player among small forwards, so he knows very well that Wang Chong, who is probably 2 meters tall, will not be much more agile than him.

But he was proven wrong.

Wang Chong turned around and rushed out in one step, much faster than he expected.

Prince wanted to catch up, but could only follow Wang Chong closely.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Chong had already rushed one step inside the free throw line and was about to enter the reasonable collision zone.

A dark and thick figure shot out from one side and stood in front of Wang Chong, with a fierce look on his face. Who else could it be if it wasn't Ben Wallace?

What Ben is best at is protecting the basket and assisting in defense. His excellent mobility allows him to make up for teammates who miss the mark at the first time.

If it were another player who broke through with the ball, facing Ben Wallace who looked murderous and averaged 3 blocks per game, he would be afraid and would not dare to attack easily.

But Wang Chong is different.

Ben Wallace looked too small in front of him.

Yes, it is small!

Wang Chong's height has reached 2 meters, while Ben Wallace's real height is less than 10 meters. When he stood in front of Wang Chong, he had no sense of deterrence or oppression at all.

Wang Chong's technical characteristics also determine that he will not stupidly run to the basket and engage in physical confrontation with Ben Wallace.

Stopping one step inside the free throw line, Wang Chong took off and made a jump shot.

Ben Wallace's reaction was already very fast. He immediately followed Wang Chong and jumped to try to block the shot.

But when he jumped up, he realized that he couldn't reach it at all. Not to mention blocking the shot, he couldn't even block Wang Chong's line of sight.

"Shh!"

Although it is not in the hot zone of the hot zone hunter, it is still in the mid-range. The mid-range shot ability value as high as 95 ensures that Wang Chong's mid-range shot is a stable hit.

When Phil Jackson saw this scene on the sidelines, his solemn expression relaxed slightly.

It seems that, just like during the regular season, Wang Chong is worthy of trust!

On the other side, Prince of the Pistons was a little confused.

<divclass="contentadv">During the halftime break, he had just praised Haikou to the coach. As soon as he came on the field, Wang Chong broke through and scored in front of him. Isn't it a naked slap in the face?

In the next round, Prince learned a lesson. When Wang Chong received the ball, he did not continue to press closely.

The match just now made it clear to Prince that Wang Chong is not a rookie who knows nothing. His dribbling skills are very good. If he wants to press close and force the opponent to make a mistake, it is unlikely that he will make a mistake because of his defensive position. Because he was too far forward, he was easily passed by the opponent.

However, since pressing close to the body doesn't work, then use regular defense. Although Wang Chong's speed is fast, it is not so fast that Prince can't react enough to keep up. He is still certain of guarding Wang Chong. !

Of course, this is just his own idea.

For Wang Chong, Prince's defense really didn't put much pressure on him.

If it were Prince at his peak, he might have caused some minor trouble for Wang Chong, but Prince in the 03-04 season was not at his peak. Prince, who entered the league in the 02 draft, was just a second-tier player at this time. He is just a rookie, with only one more season of game experience than Wang Chong, and his overall ability rating may not have exceeded 80.

This is no exaggeration at all. Originally, Prince’s overall ability score during his peak period was only around 82. A player who averaged 11 points and 4 rebounds per game in his career and only averaged 14+5+3 per game during his peak period could have a high ability value. Where to go?

Being selected to the All-Defensive Second Team for four consecutive years is basically Prince's crowning moment. He has never been selected to an All-Star in his career, and he only won one championship with the Pistons in the 03-04 season.

At this stage, Wang Chong's overall ability score is already as high as 89, and he has multiple badges to support him. How hard can it be to deal with a second-year rookie Prince?

The second round of the confrontation between the two was simpler and more direct. Wang Chong continuously moved the ball left and right, forcing Prince to retreat to ensure that he would not lose his defensive position.

But his retreat was exactly in Wang Chong's plan.

Seeing Prince retreating to a safer position, Wang Chong immediately took a step laterally and took a step-back jumper.

Between this advance and retreat, the distance between the two was nearly one meter. When Prince saw Wang Chong retreating, it was too late to step forward to defend.

"Shh!"

A solid two-pointer twenty-two feet from the basket.

Originally, Wang Chong wanted to follow Harden's example and step back to outside the three-point line before shooting.

But on the one hand, his step-back shooting skills are not yet perfect. On the other hand, Wang Chong's three-point shooting ability is 89, which is not particularly high. The current situation of the Lakers does not allow Wang Chong to try his own touch, so he still Choose your most confident and safe mid-range shot.

Wang Chong scored two goals in a row, and Prince's expression management was a little out of control.

"How could this be?"

I originally thought that Wang Chong was only good at fixed-point shooting, and attacking with the ball was no big deal, but now he was succeeded by Wang Chong in two consecutive attacks with the ball. You can imagine his dissatisfaction.

But what made him even more unhappy was what lay behind.

When the Pistons attacked, Prince ran out of the open space with the help of his teammates' off-ball screen, received a pass from Billups and raised his hand to shoot.

But Wang Chong immediately got rid of the pick-and-roll screen and rushed over, successfully interfering with Prince's shot. The basketball missed the frame and Malone protected the rebound.

It's the Lakers attacking again, Wang Chong is here again!

This time Wang Chong chose to hit Prince on the inside.

Prince, who is 2 meters tall, weighs only 06 kilograms, about the same as Kobe. This makes his physique look like a thin bamboo pole, very much like Durant in his rookie season.

Although Wang Chong used Durant's growth template card, his physique did not completely follow Durant's growth trajectory. After all, before binding the Durant template card, his weight had already reached 105 kilograms. You can't go back in weight just because Durant's growth template card is bound to it, right?

Entering this NBA season, with the improvement and growth of his personal abilities, Wang Chong's weight has now reached 107 kilograms, which is nearly 10 kilograms heavier than Prince.

At the same time, Wang Chong's strength value has also reached 61. Although this strength is not worth mentioning among forward players, far inferior to James and Anthony, it still has an advantage compared with Puslin.

Therefore, when Wang Chong pushed his butt towards the inside after turning his back to ask for the ball, Prince used all his strength but was unable to withstand Wang Chong.

Wang Chong leaned against Prince and exerted a sudden force, causing the latter to stumble back. Wang Chong took the opportunity to directly turn over and hit a fadeaway jumper.

Larry Brown finally couldn't sit still anymore and stood on the sidelines calling for a brief pause.

In the three rounds of the third quarter, Wang Chong succeeded in all singles against Prince, scoring 3 points in a row on 3-of-6 shooting.

Relying on Wang Chong's offense, the Lakers almost recovered their disadvantage in the first half!

On the other side, there was cheers on the Lakers bench.

Whenever Wang Chong scores a goal, O'Neal and others will stand up excitedly and wave towels desperately to celebrate.

Phil Jackson also had a smile on his face.

He gave Wang Chong 2 minutes, which was definitely a huge risk on a stage like the finals.

Fortunately, Wang Chong lived up to his expectations. It didn't even take 2 minutes. After three rounds, it only took about 1 minute and 40 seconds in total.

Just then Larry Brown called a timeout.

Phil picked up the tactical board and the first thing he said was to Wang Chong.

"King, well done!"

Then he said to his other teammates. "In the next third quarter, we used Wang Chong as the main point of attack and used more pick-and-roll cooperation between Wang Chong and Payton to disrupt the opponent's defensive rhythm... If the Pistons adjust their defensive focus, we will have a chance to hand the ball over. Attack Shaq inside!"

Obviously, Wang Chong has conquered the head coach with his performance in this 1 minute and 40 seconds.

The other Lakers players had no objections to the coach's arrangement.

Only Kobe had a dark face and said nothing.

In the first half of the game, Kobe made 14 of 5 shots and completely fell into the Pistons' defensive trap, resulting in low efficiency.

But obviously Kobe himself doesn't think so. In his opinion, as long as he continues to take shots, his touch will gradually pick up and help the team win.

The Black Mamba will not give in easily.

But at present, he is probably the only one in the team who thinks so.

After the timeout, the Pistons changed their defensive strategy. Prince no longer guarded Wang Chong, and the player opposite Wang Chong was replaced by Rasheed Wallace.

When Wang Chong faced Prince, he had an absolute advantage in height, wingspan, and weight.

But when the opponent was replaced by Rasheed Wallace, his advantage was obviously not that great.

Rasheed Wallace is 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 08 meters. He is an absolute big man in the inside.

More importantly, Rasheed, who often competes with other teams' centers in the paint, has a better confrontation ability than Prince. As a well-known technical foul expert in the league and a master of trash talk.

The first time he stood in front of Wang Chong, Rasheed Wallace started to spray.

"Hey - rookie, don't think you can score as easily as before in front of me, let's see how I beat you!"