บท 204: Chapter 204: The Chinese Derby
Huang Yu and Li Pei excitedly arrived in the United States.
One week later, the Suns flew to Chicago to face the Bulls on the road.
The Bulls were currently ranked second in the Eastern Conference.
Since returning to the U.S., Wade Dong had not seen Li Pei. It was quite surreal to meet his old friend again, this time on an NBA court.
Before the game started, as the players were warming up, Wade Dong saw Li Pei sitting alone on the sidelines and walked over to him. "Brother, long time no see."
"Big Brother!" Li Pei was excited but also a bit nervous upon seeing Wade Dong. "I've missed you so much."
Wade Dong asked, "Did you arrive the day before yesterday?"
"Yes!" Li Pei nodded, still looking nervous. He quietly said to Wade Dong, "I'm starting to regret it."
"Hmm?" Wade Dong looked at Li Pei, puzzled.
Li Pei hesitated before saying, "Yesterday, I participated in an intra-squad scrimmage. It made me realize that the gap between me and the NBA players is too big. Even the team's training staff could beat me."
Wade Dong shrugged, "That's normal."
Li Pei had improved a lot over the past year, but he was still at the level of a CBA player. He wasn't even a top player in China, so his skills were far from NBA level.
"What should I do now?" Li Pei pulled Wade Dong aside and asked, "I've already signed the contract with the team. If I want to leave now, do I need to pay a high penalty?"
"Why would you want to leave?" Wade Dong raised an eyebrow. "Signing you was their decision, but not being able to play is your issue. At worst, you can sit on the bench and learn for a year, making a few hundred thousand dollars without playing. What's not to like?"
Li Pei sighed in relief, "If you put it that way... I feel much better."
"Exactly~!" Wade Dong patted Li Pei's shoulder. "Focus on learning. Don't worry about being bullied. In this league, mentioning my name will get you respect anywhere."
After saying that, Wade Dong actually pulled Li Pei over to Rose and said, "This is my brother. Take care of him in the Bulls."
"No problem, Brother Wade's brother is my brother," Rose said, patting his chest to assure Wade Dong.
With Wade Dong's presence, Li Pei's nervousness and awkwardness disappeared. He became more confident and started shooting around on the court to warm up.
Taking advantage of Li Pei's warm-up, Wade Dong pulled Rose aside and asked, "I heard you had an intra-squad scrimmage yesterday?"
"Yes."
"How was my brother's performance?"
"Well..." Rose hesitated before saying honestly, "Very weak."
Wade Dong asked, "How weak?"
Rose said, "He's barely at the NCAA level. With his skills, he'll probably never leave the bench."
"Damn!" Wade Dong was surprised. "Then why did you sign him?"
Wade Dong had a dark thought: Did they sign Li Pei to limit Wade Dong on the court? After all, the two had a good relationship and were both Chinese. If they faced each other on the court, would Wade Dong go easy on him?
Of course, if that was their plan, they were greatly mistaken.
The game is the game, and brotherhood is brotherhood. Wade Dong understood this distinction very clearly.
Rose looked around and whispered in Wade Dong's ear, "There's a story behind this. I'll only tell you..."
"There's a conspiracy!" Wade Dong perked up his ears to listen to Rose's explanation.
Rose said, "Our general manager met a Chinese feng shui master. The feng shui master said that if we want to win the championship, the team needs a Chinese player."
"Hmm???" Wade Dong furrowed his brow but didn't interrupt Rose.
Rose continued, "The team originally wanted to bring back Yi Jianlian, but the feng shui master also said that signing a Chinese player is related to feng shui, and the player's individual ability is not important. Just then, we heard that your college teammate had sent a self-recommendation letter to the league. Our manager thought this must be a gift from heaven, so he signed Li Pei without hesitation."
"Feng shui???" "A gift from heaven???" These words stunned Wade Dong. Chinese culture had permeated so deeply that even NBA team general managers believed in feng shui instead of tactics?
Wade Dong asked, "Does Li Pei know about this?"
"He doesn't know," Rose shook his head. "We can't tell him. So far, including you, no more than five people know about this."
"That's crazy..." Wade Dong gave a thumbs-up. "Your team's general manager is truly amazing!"
"Hahaha..." Rose also laughed awkwardly and went back to the sidelines to warm up.
...
The game began.
The Bulls' starting lineup: Rose, Deng, Boozer, Noah, Hamilton.
The Suns' starting lineup: Wade Dong, Curry, McGrady, Green, Middleton.
Since the game against the Thunder, the Suns no longer hid McGrady, letting him start. This was basically the Suns' starting lineup for the playoffs this year.
Wade Dong and Boozer stood at the center circle, ready for the jump ball.
"Beep!!!"
The referee blew the whistle, and the ball was tossed into the air.
Wade Dong and Boozer jumped almost simultaneously, but Wade Dong's vertical leap was faster. He tipped the ball to Curry.
Curry dribbled to the frontcourt and immediately shot a three-pointer.
"Swish!!!"
The ball went through the net, and the Suns scored first.
However, on the Bulls' side, Boozer also made a mid-range shot off a pass from Rose.
The game started with both teams shooting very accurately.
The score remained close... until the sixth minute of the game, when Middleton missed two consecutive shots, and the Bulls pulled ahead slightly.
17:13!!!
The Bulls led the Suns by 4 points.
Kidd called a timeout, and Wade Dong immediately looked at the stats sheet. The Bulls had made 8 out of 11 shots in the first six minutes, with a shooting percentage of 72%.
"Could this be the effect of the lucky charm?" Wade Dong glanced at Li Pei, who was diligently handing out drinks and towels to his teammates, and wondered, "Should the Suns also find a feng shui master?"
Kidd was discussing tactics.
"Curry is the first option for offense. Whenever there's an opportunity, shoot decisively!"
"If the offense isn't working, find Wade Dong immediately and let him go one-on-one!"
"Don't double-team Rose. Limit the Bulls' inside game!"
...
The timeout ended.
The Suns also made substitutions, with Thompson replacing McGrady and Gortat replacing Middleton.
The Bulls were on a roll offensively!
According to the Suns' usual strategy, the first choice at this point was to go head-to-head with the Bulls.
So, as soon as Wade Dong got on the court, he drove past Hamilton's defense, used a Eurostep, and finished with a layup.
17:15!!!
The score was close in the first quarter, and Wade Dong's single offensive play narrowed the gap.
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