Chapter 221 NCAA Final Four

Latest website: After changing the rebound, less than two minutes later, Zhao Dong was once again assisting in defense and blocked O'Neal again. O'Neal was so angry that he wanted to fight with him.

"This is the All-Stars, Feilong, what do you want to do when you stare at my hat?" Shark roared with great dissatisfaction.

"Are all-stars not allowed to block shots?" Zhao Dong said in surprise.

"..."

O'Neal was almost angry to death. He looked at the others and whispered: "You go and blame others, such as the postman. Don't stare at me alone."

"shark?"

The postman was on the side. When he heard this, he really wanted to wave his iron fist at O'Neill.

After the third quarter, the on-site commentator shouted excitedly: "You know? Today there will be a historical record, a historical moment will occur, someone will play 5*5 that no one has ever played in the All-Star Game... …”

"oh!"

The whole audience exclaimed.

At this time, Zhao Dong's data appeared on the hanging screen, accompanied by the on-site commentator's roar: "15 points...7 rebounds...7 assists...4 steals...5 blocks!"

"Flying dragon! Flying dragon! Flying dragon..."

"amvp! amvp! amvp..."

"Steal! Steal! Steal..."

All Knicks fans roared with excitement.

"Everyone, listen, stay away from him on the offensive end. He will definitely be staring at the ball in your hands like a wolf." O'Neal shouted.

"He must not be allowed to complete the fifth steal. We cannot be the backdrop." Postman Malone said angrily.

"I guarantee that if he completes 5*5, the league will edit today's All-Star Game into highlights and promote it all over the world. So, can I not play? I think I have played enough today." Gane Te said.

"I have something wrong with my foot, coach, can you let Stockton play?" Payton said.

There was a lot of chatter on the Western Conference All-Star bench.

Some of them put on their training uniforms directly, indicating that they were not ready to play.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the West attacked.

After three minutes of play, the Western Conference's offense all avoided Zhao Dong. Wherever he stood, the person who received the ball immediately passed it to him, giving him no chance to steal.

"Isn't the one who rides the horse just a 5*5?" Zhao Dong cursed.

Unable to get a steal, he began to work towards a triple-double, grabbing two consecutive rebounds and sending out two assists within two minutes.

In the sixth minute, it was time for the Western Conference to attack again.

Zhao Dong saw Stockton take the ball and Karl Malone came up to do a pick-and-roll, and his mind started to move.

In the high post, Stockton bypassed the postman who was building a wall and was about to break through to the paint area. At this time, his line of sight was blocked by Malone.

At this moment, Zhao Dong moved quickly, blocked in front of Stockton, and stopped first. The latter bumped into him, the ball lost control, and was snatched by him.

"It's over!"

The Western Conference All-Stars were dumbfounded.

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

All the fans stood up and cheered.

The on-site commentator shouted excitedly: "Steal, steal, steal! Feilong completed his fifth steal..."

Ten minutes later, the All-Star game ended perfectly in a warm atmosphere.

Following Jordan's first triple-double last year, Zhao Dong once again posted a historically unprecedented stat in this All-Star Game.

Played 33 minutes, made 8 of 11 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, and 3 of 4 free throws. Zhao Dong played the entire second half and had the longest playing time among all All-Stars. He scored 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, and 5 steals. Super luxurious data of 6 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.

"5*5, the first 5*5 in the league's history in an All-Star game, and a triple-double + 5*5. Congratulations to Feilong, you made history. You are the well-deserved MVP of this All-Star Game."

the commentator shouted excitedly at the end of the game.

"Pa bang bang..."

Stern is so satisfied with this kind of All-Star game, he really hopes it can be like this every time.

He wants to edit this game into a highlight reel, and then promote it to the world, letting everyone know that the highest palace of basketball is in the NBA.

Zhao Dong did not have any surprises. He won the All-Star Most Valuable Player. Holding the AMVP trophy presented to him by Stern, he said to the media:

"I am very happy to receive this award. I am even more happy to be able to show my abilities and basketball skills to all the fans around the world who love me and the NBA. Thank you, All-Star, for this is a great stage for superstars."

"Pa bang bang..."

Madison Square Garden erupted in applause.

"Aiweier, here you go."

After the media interview, Zhao Dong came to the sidelines and handed the trophy to Lindsay.

"Feilong, I'll build you a cabinet just to put your trophies." Lindsay smiled.

"No, no, the cabinet is too small. You should prepare a big room so that I can put all my honors." Zhao Dong said with a smile.

Lindsay smiled and nodded repeatedly, saying that she would prepare the room when she got home and decorate it properly.

"Brother-in-law, let me and dad take the trophy and take a picture." Zhao Dacheng shouted.

"Well, here it is." Lindsay quickly handed it over.

She brought a camera and took pictures of Zhao Zhenguo and Zhao Dacheng.

At this time, Zhang Lili and Sun Zhenping came over, leading a photography team to interview Zhao Dong.

"Still broadcasting in real time?"

After Zhao Dong asked, he quickly pointed to his feet and shouted: "Come on, come on, take a photo of my shoes first and give me a close-up."

"...shoot it."

Sun Zhenping had no choice but to ask the photographer to focus on Zhao Dong's feet and take a picture.

"Zhao Dong, you are married now. When are you going to have children?" Sun Zhenping asked gossiping as the interview began.

Zhao Dong was startled, what are you asking?

"No hurry, no hurry..." he said quickly.

"Why are you not in a hurry? Your grandparents are old and they are in a hurry. They are still urging you this morning." Zhao Zhenguo shouted from the side.

"That's right." Zhao Dacheng agreed.

"Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Zhao Dong glared at Zhao Dacheng angrily and said, "You are the eldest son, and it is your task to carry on the family line."

"I'm only 22 years old, what's the rush?" Zhao Dacheng asked hurriedly.

"I'm only 20." Zhao Dong said dissatisfiedly.

"Who asked you to get married so early? You are very capable, so you should inherit the great task of passing on the family line." Zhao Dacheng said.

"Ha ha……"

At this time, everyone in China who saw this interview burst out laughing.

The day after the All-Star Game, Li Meizhu and others boarded the flight back to China.

They are not used to being here. They are used to living in alleys and courtyards every day. They are used to the excitement. Spending one day here seems like a year.

After the family left, Zhao Dong and Lindsay began to live in a world of two.

Silver Devil's sales in the United States continue to grow, word-of-mouth begins to ferment, and it begins to slowly carve its own piece of the cake among big brands such as Adidas and Nike.

In East Asia, sales in Japan and South Korea are also good.

In China, the sales of the Silver Devils generation are like the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, directly sweeping Li Ning's basketball shoes into the warehouse. Once they were launched, they began to dominate the domestic basketball shoe market.

Liu Yumin has promised Zhao Dong that as long as the sponsorship contract with Li Ning ends, the national team and CBA will sign a sponsorship contract with the Silver Devils.

On February 11th, there are only five days left before the trading window closes.

At 11 o'clock that morning, the Bulls and the Heat reached a deal. The Bulls used an unprotected first-round pick in 2000, a role player and 600,000 in cash to trade the Heat's backup small forward Tracy McGrady.

This is a deal brokered by Nike, which not only strengthens the Bulls' forward line, but also guarantees the Heat's strength to a certain extent with Jordan's first-round pick, killing two birds with one stone.

Originally, Nike wanted to move the Heat's main small forward Jamal Mashburn to the Bulls, but the Heat refused.

Pat Riley chose Mashburn over McGrady.

There was no problem with his choice. Even in 2003, Mashburn was one of the top ten small forwards that year, and was even the draft template for James LeBron and Carmelo Anthony.

Of course, by 2003, Mashburn could still maintain 21+6 data and was still at his peak. Unfortunately, the Hornets team doctor at the time misdiagnosed his right knee due to wrong treatment methods, which led to aggravation of the injury. In the end, he was there He chose to retire during the season, and he was only thirty-one years old when he retired at his peak.

Nowadays, after Pippen gets old, there are no stars at the small forward position. In this position, Mashburn would have the ability to dominate if it were not for Zhao Dong's bug.

The Bulls were strengthened again, but the Knicks' record faltered after the All-Star break, losing six games in February.

Billups struggled, unable to maintain a balance between his own offense and organizing the team's offense, which affected the team's offense.

To be honest, Nelson is good at offensive tactics, Van Gundy and Thibodeau are good at coaching defense, and no one is good at training point guards. Billups did not get a better training environment here than the Heat.

Zhao Dong feels that if this continues, Billups might be wasted here.

In addition to Billups, Ben and Fordson's performance is also unstable and needs more time to hone, but the situation is better than Chauncey Billups, and it only takes time to develop.

37 wins and 18 losses, the same record as the Pacers, temporarily ranked first in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls second in the Eastern Conference, three wins behind the Knicks.

In the West, the Spurs' record has also declined. The Jazz, Lakers, SuperSonics, and Spurs occupy the top four, with the Suns fifth and Mosaic sixth.

Zhao Dong noticed that after Nash got more playing opportunities, his performance improved to a higher level than last season, surpassing his early performance in the previous life.

In addition, the Jazz's performance continued to be strong, and the black and white doubles pushed the Jazz's record to the first place in the league, surpassing the Knicks by two wins.

At the end of this month, Zhao Dong was still ranked first in the MVP rankings, and this month's best honor of the month went to postman Karl Malone.

Entering March, the first game is against the Lakers at home.

Ben performed well in this game. Under Van Gundy and Thibo's plan, they adopted a strategy of going around to defend O'Neal, forcing the Lakers to take a handball. Then Oakley helped defend in time, limiting O'Neal's performance and allowing him to make only 6 of 16 shots. , many mistakes.

After several months of strength training, Daben has developed a strong body of muscles. The tonnage is not large, but the muscles are extremely strong, like black iron.

His maximum bench press has reached 190 kilograms, which is close to the top level in the league, and he can carry and push in the low position.

The smaller tonnage allows the big instinct to maintain a faster movement speed. Whether it is assisting defense or fast break, it is more in line with Nelson's style of play. It can adapt to both positional warfare and fast break.

Danny Fortson's technical foul is no big deal. Just keep your mouth shut when you get on the court and don't talk until you get off the court.

But his fierce fighting for rebounds still caused him to maintain a high number of fouls, which affected his playing time. This still needs time to change. Years of habits are not easy to change.

But Nelson has already determined that when Oakley gets older, Ben and Fordson will be the Knicks' future inside combination.

The only shortcoming of the two is their offense. Neither of them has strong scoring ability, especially Ben. As his muscles become stronger and stronger, his scoring ability becomes worse.

In this way, the Knicks' scoring is completely biased towards the outside, attacking outside and defending inside, paying equal attention to offense and defense, and positional warfare and small ball play in parallel.

Nelson intensified the tactical changes in this regard, that is, switching offense and defense after grabbing backcourt rebounds.

Both Ben and Fordson are good rebounders. After grabbing the backcourt rebounds, they quickly pass to Billups. They quickly get down from the second and third positions. Zhao Dong, who has unparalleled impact, is the attacker.

In addition, because the inside line has no offensive ability, the efficiency of outside offense in positional warfare is definitely lower than that of the inside line. In view of the decline in offensive quality in positional warfare, Nelson also made tactical adjustments to this.

In positional battles, reducing three-point shots, increasing mid-range shots, and increasing breakthroughs are a tactical adjustment.

Another one is that when needed, Zhao Dong will enter the low post in positional battles. This is also what Zhao Dong and Nelson have agreed upon. In the playoffs, he will play more low posts to maintain higher offensive efficiency.

Of course, when he enters the low post, Ben or Fordson, who has no ability to stretch, will definitely have to change his position. Otherwise, there will not be enough space in the paint area, and there may be more help defenses.

Another point is that because Ben and Fordson are not strong in offensive ability, Nelson has added a lot of pick-and-roll tactics in positional battles. The inside has a heavy task of covering outside cuts or breaking through with the ball.

Because the team practices various tactics, the record continues to fluctuate. If they play well, any team can win, and if they play poorly, any bad team can lose.

Zhao Dong worked hard to carry the team, but in some games his teammates did not perform well and they really couldn't carry it. This made him understand that basketball is really played by five people, not one person.

On March 2nd, good news came from Dayao. Duke University entered March Madness. He invited Zhao Dong to watch his game.

"Okay, if you can reach the semi-finals, I will definitely come to watch the game." Zhao Dong said with a smile.

"Brother Dong, it's a deal." Dayao said with a smile.

On March 15th, good news came from Dayao again. Duke University successfully reached the semi-finals.

"Brother Dong, the semi-finals and finals are scheduled to be in New York, right at your home court." Dayao called and shouted excitedly.

"With which team?" Zhao Dong asked.

"On the 19th, with the University of Utah." Dayao said.

"Utah?" Zhao Dong suddenly thought of the Jazz.

He can't remember which school won the NCAA championship in 1998. He only knows that the future superstars who participated in this year's draft, such as Carter, Pierce, etc., did not win the championship. In other words, the school that won the championship this year in the previous life , there shouldn’t be any influential guy.

On the 19th, Madison Square Garden Center ushered in the NCAA Final Four, Duke University versus the University of Utah.

In this era, the NCAA is more popular than the NBA, and it's the same in New York.

When the semi-finals begin, NBA games will all give way.

The Stony Brook University that Zhao Dong attended before was so weak that it couldn't even win the division, let alone March Madness, so it didn't get much attention.

But the attention of this semi-finals game has exceeded that of the NBA playoffs.

In the past few days, the New York media has also turned its attention from the NBA to the NCAA.

As one of the semi-finals, Duke University is also an absolutely famous school in the NCAA and has received great attention.

The team's main center, Dayao, is naturally the center of attention. He has become the most watched Chinese basketball player after Zhao Dong.

This season, he averaged 18 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game. He is known for his flexible pace, absolute height, and good shooting touch, and has received widespread praise from the media.

The New York media are even hyping Dayao's draft prospects, generally making predictions about being a lottery pick.

Hu Weidong has also played for more than half a season, but the attention he has received is far less than the amount of attention Dayao has received these days.

The Knicks played three away games in the Western Conference in the past five days. Zhao Dong returned to New York at noon on the 19th and went to the hotel where Duke University stayed in the afternoon.

"Brother Dong, here we come."

Dayao was waiting at the door of the hotel. When he saw Zhao Dong, he immediately ran up with a smile.

"Let's go and meet your coach K. I'll treat you to dinner later. I've already made an appointment with coach K." Zhao Dong smiled.

"Okay." Dayao smiled.

"Hey, this is a gift for you."

Zhao Dong casually handed over a pack of game consoles he had brought.

"Wow, awesome!"

Dayao was very happy when he saw this bag of stuff.

Now Dayao is less than 18 years old and very immature. The game console is a very good gift for him.

"Hey, Coach K."

"Hey, Fei Long."

After getting out of the elevator, Zhao Dong turned around and saw Coach K walking towards him in the corridor.

"Mr. Coach, you should thank me. I think Duke should have a chance to win the championship this year. There is no absolute strong team this season."

After shaking hands, Zhao Dong smiled.

Coach K laughed, looked at Dayao next to him, nodded and said: "Yes, I really should thank you for recommending Yao to me. Thank you very much."

"What do you think of his career prospects?" Zhao Dong asked.

"He will have a great career prospect." Coach K said without hesitation.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Zhao Dong asked again.

"He is not yet 18 years old. I think there should be no rush to enter the NBA. He should lay a good foundation at Duke."

Coach K said cautiously.

Zhao Dong nodded and said with a smile: "I think so too. He will have to stay at Duke for at least three years to develop all the center skills. I think he will have a peak rookie season when he debuts."

When Dayao heard this, he scratched his head and smiled modestly.

"Ha ha……"

Coach K laughed, but nodded: "I agree with you."

Looking at Dayao, he added: "He has an absolute advantage in height, but it does not affect his flexibility. More importantly, he also has the best touch. By the way, you told me that I hope He learned Olajuwon's way of playing, and that's how I thought and raised him."

"Thanks!"

Zhao Dong said seriously: "Our basketball environment in China is far inferior to that in the United States. It is not easy to produce a good young talent. If you train Yao well, you will be thanked by Chinese fans. There are tens of millions of fans there."

"Oh, it's hard to imagine how many people there are." Coach K laughed.

Next, Zhao Dong met Battier and others, all of whom were destined to enter the NBA. He also chatted with them, communicated with them, and went to Madison Square Garden together after dinner.

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