132: 92.
This ti he took action with just as much determination!
(An extra chapter will be added for every 500 monthly passes) 132: 92.
This ti he took action with just as much determination!
(An extra chapter will be added for every 500 monthly passes) Watching Yao Ming on-site indulging in a ‘health drink,’ Zhang Yang felt satisfied and participated in the following filming segnt with the production team.
There were still scenes to be shot on Yao Ming’s side.
With Jordan making an appearance today, Chaotian Channel wanted to capture footage of both icons together, and neither of them declined—either fake dead or be dead for real.
During his first eting with Yao Ming, Zhang Yang didn’t have an in-depth conversation with him, just an acquaintance.
He’d wait until after establishing himself in the NBA, when Yao wouldn’t look at him with ‘benevolent eyes reserved for a Chinese kid playing in the NBA.’ There was no rush; they could always talk more later.
That night, Zhang Yang saw his photo on Chaotian Channel’s official website—the one of his O-shaped mouth agape in shock as he watched Yao Ming drink the ‘health drink.’ Chaotian’s reporters were really sly; didn’t they say the caras were off?
He hoped that netizens in the future who loved making emoticons wouldn’t co across this photo.
If they did, please ignore him in the background.
Training was interrupted for a day.
On the 29th, the training continued, and October 30th marked the day of the new season’s first ga for the Bobcats.
At 7:40 p.m., players from both teams entered the arena.
It was Zhang Yang’s first ti seeing the stadium filled with nearly twenty thousand people.
It was exhilarating, though not all fans ca solely for the Bobcats—so were there for Yao Ming and McGrady.
For a small-market team, it was only when stars like them ca to town that the arena would erupt with excitent.
Even before teaming up with Yao, McGrady was already a top star in the East with two consecutive All-Star starts and even the Eastern Conference All-Star vote leader in the ’02-’03 season.
Yao Ming, the All-Star vote leader of last season, even though the majority of his votes ca from his holand, was genuinely and deservedly crowned as such.
Unfortunately, the Rockets officially announced yesterday that McGrady would miss one to two weeks due to back spasms.
It wasn’t just the fans who were disappointed—Zhang Yang was too.
Back when he watched the live broadcasts on TV, he rarely got to see Yao and McGrady play together.
As he rembered, after Yao and McGrady tead up, the only season they were both healthy was their very first season together, the ’04-’05 season, with Yao playing 80 gas and McGrady playing 78.
After that, they both turned into ‘Glass n,’ plagued by injuries.
Zhang Yang looked at the group of players across from him.
Apart from McGrady in a suit and Yao Ming taking off his practice gear, the other players…
What had gone wrong with his brain back then for him to believe those dia stories that the Rockets were championship contenders?
But what the dostic dia hyped up was actually half true.
Juwan Howard, an All-Star power forward…
once upon a ti, spiked only in his sophomore year, then never touched All-Star level again.
He was rely a first-rate scorer averaging 15 with a diverse scoring approach, poor rebounding, and a defensive black hole.
By the ti he joined the Rockets after turning 30, he had deteriorated to re long-distance shooting abilities.
Derek Anderson, from the loaded draft class of ’97, picked 13th in the first round, touted as the college-educated Kobe Bryant…
If only his knee hadn’t suffered a serious injury in his second year, destroying his athleticism.
Eventually, he transitioned from an aerial style to a skill-based ga and finally got back on track during the ’00-’01 season.
However, poor team choices led him to accepting a 6-year, 50 million US dollar contract with the Trail Blazers, securing the paycheck but at the expense of his health due to the team’s dical staff.
This offseason, with 2 years and 18.83 million US dollars left on his contract, Paul Allen cut him outright, and he joined the Rockets for the minimum salary.
David Wesley, once among the league’s top defensive point guards…
from the ’90s, now long past his pri, one could say that there aren’t any players left in the league that the current David Wesley could still guard effectively.
Rafer Alston, the king of streetball…
that was indeed true, the most formidable streetball player.
However, the Chinese dia only praised his streetball prowess without ntioning that he epitomized the stereotypical disruptive behavior associated with so black athletes: dostic violence, assaulting waiters, drunkenly cutting soone in the street, faking injuries, ridiculing his forr ‘bros’ as paupers after landing a 6-year, 27 million US dollar contract, using US dollars to wipe his rear in the park…
So of the Great General’s unbelievable future decisions would be modeled after his actions.
There was also the legendary center Mutombo, who claims to be only 40 years old, Rick Barry’s son Jon Barry, and number two draft pick Swift…
When those dia hyped up this group of players, they cherry-picked only the flattering details, convincing the young Zhang Yang at the ti that the Rockets were indeed contending for the championship.
At 8:00 p.m., the regular-season opener between the Bobcats and the Rockets began.
Over at Chaotian Channel’s live broadcast, the comntators were, with their eyes closed, praising the Rockets’ offseason moves, constructing a ‘championship contender.’
However, to the Bobcats’ players, the Rockets had nothing to do with championship contention, aside from Yao Ming and McGrady.
The rest of the Rockets’ players weren’t even on par with their Bobcats.
This was an opponent they could take on!
Yet, after the ga started, the Bobcats players imdiately felt the terror of a 142-kilogram Yao Ming—it was like facing their demise!
Even Okafor, bulking up to 127 kilograms, and the 218-centiter tall Brezec couldn’t stop the fully-energized Yao at the beginning of the ga.
Zhang Yang watched Yao dominate the paint and thought of one word—dominance!
The weight gain had significantly increased the strain on Yao’s lower body, but it also gave him a sense of presence similar to that of O’Neal.
The Bobcats couldn’t stop Yao on defense, and their offense wasn’t faring any better.
With Jeff Van Gundy, who had inherited the tactical genius of the Iron Age, and building around Yao, along with Alston, Luther Hayes, Ryan Bowen, and Juwan Howard, they crafted an extrely powerful defense…
it was even better than last season with McGrady, who had gradually lost his defensive edge from 2002 onwards.
By the ti he joined the Rockets, he had beco one of the NBA’s leading examples of a player strong in offense but weak in defense.
Except when facing specific opponents and montarily reviving his defense, he usually couldn’t match the defensive capabilities of a role player.
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