章節 58: Head-on Confrontation, Wang Chong vs. James!
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The first possession of the game was given to the Lakers' leader, as was expected. The Cavaliers, likewise, entrusted their initial attack to their own leader, Ricky Davis.
Yes, you read that correctly. The leader of the Cavaliers is Ricky Davis, who averaged 20+5+5 last season and led the team to win the No. 1 draft pick.
As for James, he was just a rookie. Didn't he come to the team to assist Ricky Davis?
No matter how others thought, at least Davis believed this to be true. From the first day James joined the team, he had seen James as his junior. Not only did he ask him to carry his bag, but he also expected him to pass him the ball on the court.
"I'll teach you how to play in the NBA, rookie."
Wang Chong wasn't quite sure what James thought about this.
But he was quite certain that the Cavaliers' management had probably already started looking for a new home for the clueless Ricky Davis.
How dare you treat my great King James as your little brother? Aren't you afraid of having your entire clan exterminated?
In the first few minutes, both Wang Chong and James were more like bystanders, hardly getting the chance to touch the ball.
James did receive two passes, but with Kobe guarding him and O'Neal protecting the paint, the chance for an attack wasn't great. Given James's personality, he naturally chose to pass the blame… No, he passed the ball to his teammates.
The result? After five minutes of the game, both James and Wang Chong still had no points on the board—zero points each.
But neither of them was in a hurry.
This was just a preseason game, after all. The main players wouldn't stay on the court for too long and would soon be subbed out for a rest. That would be their chance to shine.
As expected, when the Cavaliers' pass got disrupted and went out of bounds during an offensive play, both teams took the opportunity to make lineup adjustments.
The Cavaliers quickly substituted Ricky Davis out.
The Lakers went even further, replacing four of their five starters, leaving only Wang Chong on the court.
Seeing this, the Lakers fans, who had been somewhat drowsy, suddenly perked up.
To be honest, the first few minutes of the game between these two teams were quite dull.
The Cavaliers were almost entirely suppressed by the Lakers. Whether it was O'Neal or Kobe on offense, the Cavaliers couldn't muster an effective defense.
In just five minutes, the point difference between the two teams had already exceeded double digits, highlighting the huge gap in strength.
Now, the Lakers replaced their main players, leaving only Wang Chong on the court. The intention was clear and direct:
Wang Chong and James were finally going to face off!
"Come on, Wang! Beat that guy up! What a trash number one pick! He's nothing special!"
Even though it was just a preseason game, the atmosphere in Los Angeles was still quite lively.
James, however, wasn't in a good mood at the moment.
Ricky Davis had barely passed the ball to him, but what did the Lakers mean by subbing Kobe out? He didn't even get the chance to properly compare himself against Kobe.
What angered him the most was that the Lakers substituted all their starters except Wang Chong, clearly intending for him to go head-to-head with Wang Chong.
"You'll pay for your arrogance!" James's eyes were cold. "In that case, I'll completely dominate Wang Chong on the court and show everyone who the strongest player of the 2003 class really is!"
The Cavaliers had a sideline inbounds play.
This time, the ball finally landed in James' hands.
Standing at the top of the arc with the ball, James glanced at Lakers' backup forward Devin George, who was defending him. His brows furrowed slightly. He signaled for his teammates to set a pick-and-roll on the side.
After the pick-and-roll, the defense switched, and the person in front of James changed from Devin George to Wang Chong.
The two rookies from the 2003 draft class were officially facing off against each other for the first time.
Wang Chong was neither surprised nor nervous when he saw that James had chosen him.
The James in front of him wasn't yet the superstar he would become in a few years. In his rookie season, James still had a lot of weaknesses, and his overall ability rating was at best on par with Wang Chong.
Wang Chong's perimeter defense wasn't weak, and he also had a bronze Death Coil badge, making his defense quite solid, certainly better than a role player like Devin George.
More importantly, Wang Chong was very familiar with James's playing style.
Early in his career, James's offense relied heavily on driving to the basket. His mid-range and three-point shooting were inconsistent at best. His three-point shooting percentage was only 29% in the 2003-2004 season.
Therefore, Wang Chong had no intention of defending James's shot. His defensive stance was very far back, as if he was only trying to guard against drives rather than shots.
Seeing this, James hesitated for a moment, and his brows furrowed.
"Is this guy looking down on me?"
Without hesitation, James pulled up for a three-point shot.
Although his three-point shooting percentage wasn't great, James had always taken a lot of three-point attempts, including in his rookie season, where he averaged 2.7 three-point attempts per game—more than Anthony.
But there was no other choice. James was different from Anthony; his offensive skills were limited, and his mid-range shooting was worse than his three-point shooting. When he couldn't drive to the basket, his only option was a step-back three-pointer.
This was also true for James at the end of his peak. Once the game entered the later stages and he was too fatigued to continue driving, he could only rely on those awkward moves and pull-up three-pointers from beyond the arc.
As James pulled up for the three, Wang Chong just raised his hand slightly to make a defensive gesture.
Then, just as he expected, the basketball hit the rim with a loud "bang."
As expected, James missed the three-pointer.
The Lakers secured the defensive rebound and quickly transitioned to offense.
Fisher, who had come on as a substitute, dribbled past half-court and decisively passed the ball to Wang Chong.
Fisher, known for his high basketball IQ and EQ, had average skills. His only career highlight was the buzzer-beater against the Spurs with 0.4 seconds left. Other than that, there weren't many classic moments. However, his ability to read the situation and adapt was second to none.
A prime example was after the 2004 NBA Finals when the Lakers fell apart, Shaq left, and only Kobe remained.
Seeing the Lakers' decline, Fisher quickly chose to leave and joined the Golden State Warriors.
Later, after short stints with the Warriors and Jazz, Fisher sought a buyout with the Jazz under the pretense of needing to care for his daughter's medical condition.
But immediately after being bought out, he re-signed with the Lakers.
This move—using his daughter's illness as a pretext to secure a buyout and return to the Lakers—was indeed cunning.
However, Jazz fans were not ones to be trifled with.
After this incident, whenever the Lakers played in Utah, Jazz fans would cover their eyes and shout "cancer," referencing Fisher's daughter's retinoblastoma.
As they say, "misfortune shouldn't be extended to one's family." The Jazz fans' attacks on Fisher in this way were certainly low-class and beyond acceptable behavior, but we're not here to judge who was right or wrong.
Fisher was smart and knew how to adapt to different situations. He knew exactly what the fans in the stands and coach Phil Jackson on the bench really wanted to see. That's why he immediately passed the ball to Wang Chong.
After receiving the ball, Wang Chong found himself facing James, just as the fans wanted.
Although James had missed his previous three-pointer, he wasn't about to let Wang Chong score easily.
"Come on! I heard your mid-range is pretty accurate? Let's see it!"
James challenged Wang Chong.
"Alright, watch closely!"
Wang Chong's lips curled into a slight smile, and he instantly accelerated.
"Huh?"
James was taken aback.
Wang Chong's speed was much faster than he had imagined, especially his first step. His burst was quite impressive!
This wasn't surprising. Wang Chong's speed, agility, and explosiveness were all close to 80. While not at an elite level, he was definitely not slow. And with those long legs, he could cover a lot of ground with just one step.
With one stride, Wang Chong managed to get half a body length ahead of James.
"You think you can get past me that easily? You're too naive!"
James reacted quickly, adjusting his pace to catch up.
In terms of speed and explosiveness, although Wang Chong was good, there was obviously a significant gap compared to James.
James immediately adjusted his pace and didn't lose his position. Instead, he caught up with Wang Chong and used his strength to push him away from the basket.
But Wang Chong had no intention of going all the way to the basket.
After one step inside the three-point line, he was already in the hot zone hunter's range.
He switched the ball between his hands with a bounce, suddenly stopped, and immediately pulled up for a jump shot.
After the drive, he followed up with a quick stop-and-pop jumper!
James quickly stopped as well and leapt to try to block the shot.
To his credit, James followed very closely, almost without losing a step, and his defense was effective. Even with his leap, his palm managed to cover Wang Chong's entire line of sight.
Except…
"Swish!"
The basketball went through the net with a clean sound!
"Damn it..."
Turning his head to look back at the basket, James frowned.
His defense had been solid, but Wang Chong's height and length were still beyond his expectations.
He had intended to give Wang Chong a full-on volleyball-style block from the front.
But when he actually jumped, he realized he couldn't reach the ball at all, resorting instead to a blind contest.
But even then, it couldn't stop Wang Chong from making the shot.
What James didn't know was that the position where Wang Chong had taken his shot had triggered three shooting badges simultaneously.
The badges of "Mid-Range Maestro," "Hot Zone Hunter," and "Rhythm Shooter" were all in effect. Coupled with Wang Chong's 94 mid-range shooting stat, how could he miss?
End of this chapter
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Chugamc
Chugamc Hi guys this is Chuga. If you read this far and liked it you can leave comments, stones and reviews which is very important for a new translator / author.
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