Chapter 75: Christmas Battle, Classic Yao vs. Shaq Showdown
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The NBA schedule averages a game every two days, with half the season's games on the road, flying across the United States, so time passes quickly.
In the blink of an eye, Wang Chong had already been playing for the Lakers for more than a month.
After nearly twenty games, Wang Chong has gradually become familiar with and adapted to the rhythm of NBA games.
Wang Chong has had an easy time playing for the Lakers. After all, he wasn't the team's core player. The "OK" combination—Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant—handled most of the team's offensive work and, accordingly, also bore the responsibilities when the team fell short.
During this process, Wang Chong has also experienced a cold streak, shooting only 2-for-10 in one game and with a shooting percentage below 30%. But such games are few and far between. In most cases, Wang Chong's shooting percentage has remained above 50%, making him the most stable and efficient perimeter offensive option for the Lakers.
As for rookie Wang Chong, both the media and the team's fans have been more forgiving than critical. After all, as a rookie selected 13th overall in the first round, Wang Chong's current performance has already been quite surprising, so much so that people are hesitant to expect too much from him.
Currently, Wang Chong's average stats per game are stable at 18.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, with a shooting percentage of 51%. He is the third-highest scorer for the Lakers, trailing only Kobe's 22.4 points and O'Neal's 20.5 points.
In the original 2003-2004 season for the Lakers, Kobe and Shaq's regular season averages were supposed to be 24 points and 21.5 points, respectively. Obviously, the arrival of Wang Chong has taken some of the ball-handling and scoring opportunities away from the two, impacting not only them but also other players.
Gary Payton's average points per game are now only 10.8, and Karl Malone's average has dropped dramatically from 20.6 last season to 9.4 points.
Although the data of the Lakers' F4 (Fantastic Four) combination differs greatly from media predictions before the season started, Wang Chong believes this is a good thing.
Payton and Malone are not reliable on their own. Both are at a stage where their fame exceeds their ability. This was evident from their poor performances in the Finals, where their shooting percentages barely crossed 30%. Instead of relying on these two players, the team might as well gradually start relying on Wang Chong himself. At least Wang Chong is confident he can perform better than these two in the Finals against the Pistons' defense.
In fact, Wang Chong's role for the Lakers has been increasingly evident at this stage of the regular season.
As the regular season progressed into mid-December, the Lakers were at the top of the league.
On December 24th, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 101–99 at home, bringing their record to 20 wins and 3 losses.
In this game, Carmelo Anthony finally showed his prowess in front of Wang Chong, scoring 24 points on 8-for-17 shooting.
After a mediocre start to the season, both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony gradually adapted to the NBA's pace and began delivering standout performances, improving their personal stats. Currently, in terms of scoring, both James and Anthony have reached the 20-point mark, surpassing Wang Chong.
However, in terms of scoring efficiency, there is still a significant gap between them and Wang Chong. Anthony's shooting percentage is only 42%, while James' is even lower, just over 41%.
Compared to Wang Chong's extremely high shooting percentage of 50%, which is second only to O'Neal on the entire Lakers team, the difference is evident.
As for the two surpassing Wang Chong in scoring, it didn't cause much reaction. Not to mention that the gap is only 2 points, the ball possession and number of shots between them were completely different.
Wang Chong does not have many shooting opportunities on a star-studded team like the Lakers. It is remarkable that he has become the most stable scoring option behind the "OK" combination.
In sharp contrast to Wang Chong is another player who joined a strong team in the league, Darko Milicic, who was highly anticipated in the draft and even ranked higher than Anthony.
Milicic, who joined last season's runner-up team, had a miserable time with the Pistons. He played for less than 5 minutes per game and averaged only 1 point and 1 rebound, fading into obscurity.
Even the Pistons, known as a "blue-collar" team, are this way; let alone the Lakers, who only deal with superstars?
This further showcases Wang Chong's excellence.
Wang Chong's popularity is increasing, especially in China, far across the ocean. Even though news is relatively limited due to the times, many people who don't know much about basketball have already heard of a Chinese American in the NBA who plays better than Yao Ming. After all, Yao Ming, at this point, is only averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds per game.
On December 25th, during the traditional American holiday of Christmas and the NBA's customary Christmas game, the league presented a great show for Chinese fans: The Lakers versus the Houston Rockets at home.
Although the regular season has been ongoing for two months and both the Lakers and Rockets are Western Conference teams, they have yet to meet this season until now.
The league clearly wanted to capitalize on the matchup between the "small giant" Yao Ming and "big shark" Shaquille O'Neal, but unexpectedly, Wang Chong's recent rise added a twist to the narrative. Now, a pseudo "Chinese derby" could be hyped alongside Yao Ming.
Speaking of which, although Wang Chong and Yao Ming have not yet faced each other, they already know each other.
This is mainly thanks to Wang Zhizhi.
After the Summer League, Wang Chong and Wang Zhizhi exchanged contact information. Later, Wang Chong's emergence in the league naturally caught Yao Ming's attention. Yao Ming then obtained Wang Chong's contact details through Wang Zhizhi, and the two became acquainted.
Yao Ming's idea was quite simple. Being a stranger in a foreign land, even though Wang Chong wasn't Chinese in the strictest sense, they had the same skin color and hair, both with Chinese blood running in their veins. Yao Ming had also read interviews with Wang Chong and knew that he could speak fluent Mandarin, so he naturally felt closer to him.
At that time, Yao Ming was only 23 years old. He wasn't yet the future cornerstone of Chinese basketball, nor did he have the image of a big brother. He and Wang Chong got along quite well.
However, in this game, which can be regarded as a high-profile matchup, both sides showed no mercy and delivered a highly thrilling Christmas game for the fans.
Of course, Wang Chong and Yao Ming wouldn't directly compete against each other. The focus of this game was the duel between Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal.
Yao Ming, who was still a rookie last season, was unilaterally beaten when facing O'Neal. The two had met twice in the 2002-03 season due to injuries and other factors.
O'Neal scored 31 points and 13 rebounds and 39 points and 5 rebounds in those two games, respectively.
Yao Ming only managed 10 points and 10 rebounds and 6 points and 10 rebounds in those two games. He was completely outmatched.
However, despite being badly beaten, Yao Ming still had his moments, particularly when he blocked O'Neal several times during their matchups.
A season later, the two met again, but the situation was entirely different.
Tomorrow more (patreon.com/Chuga320 (Have more than 10 additional chapters))
End of this chapter
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