The day before the derby, Xu Yong drove Yao Ming to his home for dinner.
During the previous offseason, Yao Ming [banned] him. It was a courtesy, but now that Yao Ming has come to Chicago, he naturally has to do his best to be a landlord.
He also specially spent money to go to Chinatown to hire a Shanghainese chef and gave Yao Ming a luxurious meal.
"You are really brave." Yao Ming entered the house rented by Xu Yong, and his first reaction was surprise.
Although he has never stayed in Chicago, he has played in the NBA for so many years and knows how chaotic Chicago is.
This is the city center of Chicago. How dare Xu Yong rent this place and seem to live in a safe place?
"It's true that I was robbed, but I'm doing pretty well now. Maybe it's because I'm not bad at playing?" Xu Yong said with a smile. He didn't mention Ross's brother.
Yao Ming smiled awkwardly after hearing this. Xu Yong's character is so bad, but this can barely be explained.
"You're so polite, do you want me to be gentler tomorrow?" Yao Ming said with a smile as he looked at a large table of dishes.
In terms of pure strength, the Rockets are much better than the young Bulls.
"I haven't found an opportunity before. This is to thank you for your help last time, when T-mac taught me the dry pull." Xu Yong explained.
Yao Ming nodded when he heard this, but the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
There has been a lot of turmoil between Tracy McGrady and the Rockets recently.
That's right, Tracy McGrady didn't listen to Xu Yong's suggestion at the beginning, and the "seven minutes of viewing time" in history came as promised.
The matter itself is relatively complicated, and is very similar to the historical dispute between Leonard and the Spurs. Essentially, the team doctor could not detect the player's problem, and the player asked a doctor to perform surgery without authorization, resulting in the player being unable to be traded, and then the relationship broke down.
The Rockets also played the keyboard very well. Giving McGrady seven minutes not only showed other teams that McGrady can still play, but also did not give McGrady time to find his form. It also avoided the possibility of McGrady being injured. It can be said that all the tricks were exhausted.
But this actually means that McGrady is counting down to leaving the team.
"Where might Tracy McGrady go?" Xu Yong asked quite directly, and after asking, he signaled to Yao Ming that he could use his chopsticks.
There is nothing to hide in the conversation between him and Yao Ming.
And he was curious, too.
In history, McGrady was traded to the Knicks in a three-way transaction, in exchange for Jordan Hill, the No. 8 pick in 2009, Kevin Martin, the subject of the transaction, and Jeffries, who was used to balance the contract. The Knicks in 2011 first-round pick swap, and a top-five protected first-round pick in 2012.
In this trade, the Rockets also sent third-year Landry, who averaged 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, to the Kings.
This shows that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and Tracy McGrady's trading value is actually not low.
What makes him curious is that it is basically impossible for Tracy McGrady to change like this.
First, his appearance changed the trade meeting. The Knicks no longer have Hill, and the Rockets have Brooks and Lowry on the team, so they will not want Flynn.
The second and more important thing is that Yao Ming is still there.
At first, McGrady was equivalent to replacing the "future" of Hill, but now, what the Rockets definitely want more is the present.
"I'm not sure, but it's probably going to be Detroit." Yao Ming said while eating his food.
Pistons?
Xu Yong thought for a moment.
This is really possible!
In fact, the Pistons were interested in McGrady as early as two years ago. They originally proposed a Billups-plus-Princes plan to replace McGrady, but McGrady could still play at that time, and the Rockets did not agree.
Moreover, in history, McGrady went to the Knicks to finish his contract and also went to the Pistons as a free agent.
Even the Pistons are now in urgent need of a deal to free up capital space, because after signing Ben Gordon with a 5-year, 55 million contract in the summer, the team originally hoped that Gordon and Hamilton would partner in the backcourt, but found that that did not work at all. It doesn't make sense, and the result is that Gordon has a multi-million contract to serve as a substitute, and a trade is imminent.
I just don’t know whether the subject of the Pistons’ trade will be Hamilton or Gordon, but no matter which one goes to the Rockets, it will be a reinforcement.
So if it really happens, it will be a good thing for Yao Ming. At least he can continue to chase the championship.
"The World Cup groupings came out yesterday." Perhaps because he didn't want to talk about Tracy McGrady anymore, Yao Ming continued.
"Who are you grouping with?" Xu Yong hasn't paid attention to this news yet.
And the information he had before his rebirth is useless, because at that time, the men's basketball Asian Championship lost to Iran, which opened the darkest chapter of the men's basketball team, but now they are the champions, the classification is different, and the grouping is definitely different. Same.
"United States, Russia, Australia, Puerto Rico, Cote d'Ivoire."
"Group of death." Xu Yong used a very classic comment.
This grouping was much more difficult than the one he knew.
Especially being grouped with the US team, there is naturally one less spot, and the overall strength of Russia and Australia is definitely better than them.
"Well, let's take it one step at a time." Yao Ming nodded.
"Actually, this is good, because I don't have high expectations. As long as we reach the top eight, wouldn't it be a surprise?" Xu Yong said.
Yao Ming was stunned for a moment, and then smiled awkwardly.
The truth is naturally like this, but if the group ranking is low, you have to beat the other group ranking high. It is the most difficult to advance from 16 to 8.
However, Xu Yong's character is considered conservative even if he is not mentioned in the semi-finals.
…
The next night, at the United Center in Chicago, the China Derby was a highly anticipated event.
Not only was the venue full of attendance, but also a considerable number of Chinese fans came.
In the media box, the number of TV stations broadcasting the event has also reached the point of "crowding".
Because Zhang Weiping and Yang Yi represented Yang Wu, they were assigned a seat with a good view, but they came an hour early to avoid being occupied by others.
And they also started their warm-up commentary early.
They will naturally mention the Yao-Yi Derby, because that game was so classic. Yao Ming had 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Yi Jianlian had 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.
But in fact, anyone who watched that game could tell that both teams intended to let the two of them play more.
Before the players entered the stadium, Stern, who arrived in the audience as scheduled, was shot.
You don't need to guess that this situation will definitely continue to happen tonight.
However, Xu Yong is now averaging 19 points per game. How much does he expect to be raised?
There is still half an hour before the start of the game, and players from both sides are entering the stadium one after another.
The scene was the first to show split shots of Xu Yong and Yao Ming, the two absolute protagonists tonight.
After the warm-up, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.
The regular five players on the Bulls side: Rose, Xu Yong, Deng, Gibson and Noah.
On the Rockets side, Aaron Brooks, Battier, Artest, Scola, Yao Ming.
Yao Ming moved the ball back to the Rockets half, and the Chinese Derby, that is, the Yao-Xu Derby, officially kicked off.
Without Tracy McGrady, the Rockets' main attack point will naturally be Yao Ming.
This season, Yao Ming averaged 18.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. His scoring is a new low in the past six seasons, but his assists are a career high.
On the one hand, this is because he has appeared at the free throw line more often after losing weight. On the other hand, it is also because Adelman's Princeton system will increase the number of times the center can handle the ball, and the assists will naturally increase.
At this moment, Yao Ming was at the free throw line. After Artest cut in to attract the defense, he raised his hand and took a mid-range shot.
"Uh-huh!"
Just take action.
Yao Ming's mid-range is a skill that Embiid will never learn in his lifetime. What stands out is that he is ridiculously accurate.
Noah's defense against Boozer was only average at first, and he was a bit weak against Yao Ming's high shooting point.
"Hey, this ball was played reasonably, which reflects Dayao's core position in the team." No, Zhang Weiping came to life right from the start.
The Rockets took the lead. Looking back, Rose organized with the ball and then gave the ball directly to Xu Yong.
What stands out is the harmony within the team.
This scene made Stern in the stands amused.
Which joke says that you have to choose between the fish and the bear's paw? Isn't this everyone happy?
Of course, if the opportunity is given, it depends on Xu Yong himself whether he can seize it or not.
As an opponent, and the Rockets are also competing for playoff rankings, it is absolutely impossible to let go.
Even Yao Ming will never show mercy if he has the opportunity to cover Xu Yong.
And the person guarding Xu Yong is the defensive master Battier, who was on the second team defense last season.
Not to mention Artest, a sweeping help defender.
Many people have overlooked that this is also the most challenging game for Xu Yong since he joined the NBA.
Xu Yong held the ball with one hand. First, he signaled Deng to pull to the weak side corner with his assistant hand, and then pulled Artest to the far end. Then he dribbled under the crotch to widen the distance between him and Battier, and then directly used his right hand to Dribble the ball and take a long step with your left foot to the right.
How could Xu Yong not be familiar with Shane?
Inventor of the blindfold defense, offensive foul-making machine, and the saying "People with high IQs win basketball games, and people with good physical fitness win track and field competitions."
Battier's characteristics are defensive experience and skills, and his shortcomings are speed and lateral movement, so Xu Yong will not get too entangled with Battier on static offenses such as post-up play. What he wants is dynamic breakthrough.
In other words, Battier is the best person to test his training results over the past month.
Battier is very experienced. He has been keeping an eye on Xu Yong's movements and did not leave the ground. Instead, he turned his hips and turned half to the right. This allowed him to adjust to the best defensive position with the lowest change of center of gravity.
But at the moment he did this, Xu Yong pulled back his right foot and turned his whole body to the left.
Shane was stunned and felt something disappear from his eyes.
The fans at the scene were also stunned.
Because just now, they couldn't tell whether it was Xu Yong or Ross who was breaking through!
"Bang!"
Fortunately, they figured it out after Xu Yong broke through to the inside and smashed the ball into the basket, swinging around the basket.
Because of Rose, he never hung up.
(End of chapter)
