Chapter 361 O'Neal Wants to Make a Feud with the Knicks

That night, the Knicks were in back-to-back games, and their players were not in good condition. The outside line that relied on touch was not accurate. They lost to Mosaic and suffered their fourth defeat.

The backcourt duo of Alan Houston and Francis combined to contribute 61 points, destroying the Knicks' perimeter.

Zhao Dong didn't exert all his strength. In these three games, what he wanted to win most was the Spurs and Lakers, not Western teams like Mosaic that had no threat to the Knicks.

The Knicks arrived in Los Angeles at noon on the 27th, and they will challenge the Lakers on the 28th.

When the Knicks landed, O'Neal accepted media interviews in front of his home.

"Shaq, how sure are the Lakers of beating the Knicks?" a reporter asked.

"One hundred percent." O'Neal blurted out.

The Knicks arrived at the hotel, got off the bus, and were surrounded by the media.

"Feilong, O'Neal just said that he was 100% confident in defeating the Knicks. Do you have anything to say in response?" a reporter asked.

"Does O'Neal's confidence come from his tonnage?" Zhao Dong complained.

"Haha..." Everyone laughed.

After settling in the room, Da Ben called and invited Zhao Dong to lunch.

"Ben, how are you doing here?" Zhao Dong started chatting while eating.

"good."

Ben seems content with his time with the Lakers.

"That's good." Zhao Dong smiled.

From Da Ben, he took away a check of two million U.S. dollars, which is the most money Da Ben can take out now.

Daben had too little capital before, and he didn't make much money during the two years when U.S. stocks soared fourfold. This time, he didn't give Daben any investment limit, so he could invest as much as he could.

After dinner, Zhao Dong was about to call home when Lindsay's call came first. The two cooked a big pot of porridge until Zhao Dong's two mobile phones and four electric boards were dead before hanging up the phone.

On the evening of the 28th, game day, the Knicks came to the Staples Center.

"Are they here?"

Outside the home team's locker room,

O'Neal asked a security guard furtively.

"Here we are, the bus is entering the No. 1 underground parking lot." The security guard said.

"OK."

O'Neal nodded excitedly and immediately left the locker room.

Ten minutes later, the Knicks parked the bus and the players were coming up from the underground parking lot.

O'Neill hid at the corner of a fork. Behind him was the safe passage of Parking Lot 2. It was a bit dark there and the crowds were dark. Old Nelson, who was walking at the front, didn't pay attention and walked directly over.

"Shaq, what are you doing hiding here?"

Zhao Dong from behind saw O'Neill and asked casually.

O'Neal said angrily: "I just came up from the parking lot and saw you coming up. I waited here to say hello to you. See what your coach did? Mr. Nelson went too far!"

Old Nelson heard the voices behind him, looked back, and saw O'Neill pointing his finger, a little confused.

"Does it have anything to do with me?" he asked blankly.

"You actually walked over like that, Coach Nelson, and you actually ignored me?" O'Neal looked sad and angry.

Old Nelson felt a bit toothache, what the hell, I didn't see you at all, you hid in that dark hole on purpose, right?

Zhao Dong said helplessly: "Shaq, the joke is over. Let's go now. See you on the court."

"Follow up and ignore this idiot."

As he walked forward, he waved to his teammates to follow.

"Ignore me and call me a fool, Feilong, you and I have become enemies. I'm going to change a basket for you tonight." O'Neill yelled strangely.

"Go ahead, come on, I'm trying to get you." Zhao Dong said without looking back.

O'Neal was stunned and couldn't help but shrink his neck. Shetter, have you played before? This damn dead snake changed several baskets for us last time, won't it come again tonight?

He returned to the locker room and once inside shouted, "Guys, do you know what just happened?"

"Shaq, what happened?" Kobe asked.

O'Neal said with a look of sorrow and anger: "I was kind enough to wait there to say hello to the Knicks, but they actually ignored me. Then Feilong called me a fool. We have a big feud. What do you think we should do tonight?"

The Lakers players in the locker room looked at each other, idiot, Feilong was indeed right, Shark, do you really want Feilong to change a few more baskets for us tonight?

"Come on, let's go shopping."

Out of freshness, after throwing his luggage in the visiting team's locker room, Zhao Dong took his teammates for a stroll here. The new arena is indeed good. The equipment and decorations in Madison Square Garden are outdated and no longer as luxurious as here.

After wandering around, he took a group of people and a dozen of his bodyguards to the home team's locker room.

"Hey, Fei Long."

Phil Jackson and general manager Jerry West were discussing something outside the locker room. When they saw Zhao Dong, they quickly greeted him.

"Hey Jerry, Phil."

After saying hello, Zhao Dong smiled and said: "Can we come and visit the new arena?"

"Of course." The two were startled, and West said quickly.

He pushed open the door to the locker room and shouted inside: "Hey, everyone, please pay attention, Feilong is here to visit."

"What's he doing here?" O'Neill screamed and jumped up.

"Take a tour, do you have any opinions?"

Zhao Dong walked in, looked at O'Neal with a playful look on his face and said, "Shaq, don't you have a grudge against us? Why don't we have a fight here first?"

"Impossible, basketball problems must be solved on the basketball court." O'Neal shouted quickly.

Zhao Dong looked around in the home team's locker room, and other Knicks players blocked the door and looked around.

"Boss?" Daben came to Zhao Dong's side.

"It's okay, let's take a stroll." Zhao Dong smiled.

"Feilong, Shaq was just joking, don't take it to heart." Phil Jackson said at this time.

"Of course, Shark is just a fool, I won't take him seriously." Zhao Dong nodded.

O'Neal said sadly and angrily: "Feilong, you actually called me a fool. This feud has become serious. I will definitely blow 50+ on your head tonight."

"Haha, your highest score so far is only 53 points, right? Are you so confident that you can score 50+ points on my head?" Zhao Dong laughed.

"Of course." O'Neill said harshly.

"How about making a bet?" Zhao Dong said.

"How do you want to bet? I'm not Jordan, I don't gamble." O'Neal said quickly.

Zhao Dong thought for a while and suddenly remembered the bet between Barkley and Kenny Smith, so he smiled and said: "If you don't hit 50+ in this game, you go and kiss..."

Having said this, he glanced at the players in the locker room, saw Big Ben, and said: "...Ben's ass."

"What?"

Daben jumped up, as if he had been molested, and instinctively covered his butt with both hands.

"..."

O'Neill was confused. This bet was so unexpected that he felt like vomiting.

"Then what if I hit 50+?" He said unwillingly.

"Me too." Zhao Dong said while holding back his nausea.

"Boss, you made a bet with my butt, did you consider my feelings? I just washed my butt the day before yesterday, and I don't want to wash it anymore in the past few days."

Daben said sadly and indignantly.

Everyone present looked at each other, this bet was indeed different.

"Pfft! Haha..."

I don't know who burst out laughing, and then everyone burst into laughter, except Zhao Dong, O'Neal, and Ben.

O'Neal looked at Big Ben, and then at Big Ben's butt hidden behind. He really felt like he couldn't take it anymore!

If you want to hit 50+ points on Zhao Dong's head, even with his dominance, the difficulty level is not high. He has played for seven or eight seasons and has only hit two 50+ points in total. What if he can't hit it today? What should I do if I get out?

"Don't gamble?" Zhao Dong asked.

After he said it, he actually regretted it. It didn't matter if he chose a beautiful woman. There were a lot of cheerleaders out there, so who should he choose?

"another……"

O'Neal looked at the others, seeing that he wanted to choose another ass.

With a bang, everyone dodged, including Phil Jackson and West. Some rushed into the bathroom, and some simply ran out of the locker room, fearing that their butts would be picked.

"Look, there are no butts here, it's not that I don't bet." O'Neill breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh well."

Zhao Dong just gave up. This bet was indeed a bit disgusting. He couldn't help but admire Barkley and Smith, and he was not as good as them.

At eight o'clock, the two teams announced their starting lineups.

Knicks: Zhao Dong, Fordson, Sprewell, Stackhouse, Ginobili

Lakers: O'Neal, Ben Wallace, Glen Rice, Kobe Bryant, Ron Harper

TNT broadcast the game live. Bill Walton analyzed: "In terms of inside, the offensive capabilities of the two teams are similar. Fordson's offense is stronger than Ben, but O'Neal's dominance at the basket is stronger than Feilong, and it can be a tie. .

In terms of forward money, the 32-year-old Glen Rice averaged 17.5 points per game last season and 15.9 points per game this season, which is far inferior to the 26.8 points in the 96/97 season at his peak. On the one hand, his condition has declined, and on the other hand, because Kobe's growth, Kobe is the person the Lakers want to train, and his shots have been seriously affected.

Compared with the three Knicks guards, he is definitely better than the rookie Ginobili now, but he will not have an advantage against Madman and Stackhouse, and his height advantage of 201 centimeters is not big.

On the back line, Ron Harper is also getting old, and his scoring ability has been limited since the Bulls. This season he came to the Lakers and averaged 7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. He still has the strength, but he should not be able to keep up. Three Knicks guards.

Kobe is averaging 25 points per game this season, his scoring ability has begun to explode, he has performed well on both offense and defense, and he has a bright future.

Compared with the Knicks' three guards, he is definitely better than Ginobili, and he should have certain advantages overall against Madman and Stackhouse.

In short, compared to the perimeter, the Lakers and Knicks should be about the same. "

Matt continued: "Bill, you mean, the overall strength of the Lakers and Knicks is 50-50?"

"Yes, the benches of the other two teams are average, because the main lineup takes up most of the salary space, and even the main lineup of these two teams exceeds the salary cap, so they mainly rely on the main lineup. It's hard to talk about a game," Bill Walton said.

Matt nodded, introduced Kobe again, and said: "Peter Pan Kobe has been training in the offseason for three consecutive seasons, and his strength has improved very quickly. He and O'Neal have already made a name for themselves as an OK combination in Los Angeles. very popular."

At half past eight, the game starts.

"Feilong, I don't want to jump the ball with a role player. I want to jump the ball with you. You come up. If you don't jump, I will let Ben jump with him."

Seeing Fordson coming up to jump the ball, O'Neal quit.

"Then let me jump." Zhao Dong said nonchalantly.

"..."

When O'Neal saw that Zhao Dong didn't take the move, he really stopped jumping. He waved angrily and asked Ben to come up and jump the ball.

When Kobe saw his boss's childish behavior, he cursed in his heart, "You idiot, aren't you giving up the right to attack first?"

In terms of jumping ability, although Big Ben is good, he is still weaker than Fordson. Fordson touches the ball first and the Knicks attack.

Zhao Dong came to the left wing, his position was more than two meters away from the left line of the paint area, about two steps away, and under the dotted line of the free throw line, avoiding the restrictions of Flying Dragon Law 136.

The Lakers did not let O'Neal follow out, but switched defenses and asked Ben to follow Zhao Dong.

This is one of the benefits of introducing Big Ben, who makes up for the weakness of the Lakers' interior defense.

Especially when Zhao Dong and O'Neal are facing each other, just like now when he is pulled outside, if there is no big Ben, once O'Neal comes out, Zhao Dong will definitely rush in and fight, just like the Spurs Twin Towers, O'Neal has no chance at all If the defense goes back, the Lakers' penalty area will be directly reduced to rubbish.

Da Ben's moving speed is pretty good. After all, he is not tall and is a few centimeters shorter than Zhao Dong, but his speed is still not as good as Zhao Dong. So when he came to the latter, he immediately started to get close to him and clamped his arm with his arm. Don't let him move around.

His upper body strength is now very strong, more than 200 kilograms, ranking first in the league, a little stronger than the postman. After Zhao Dong's arm was clamped by him, it was difficult to get rid of it instantly.

As long as Zhao Dong's first step is lowered, he will have a chance to keep up with Zhao Dong's movement.

He has too much experience in defending Zhao Dong, because he often faces off during team training and knows how to defend Zhao Dong.

Of course, Zhao Dong would not be easily guarded by his younger brother. After struggling twice, he got rid of Ben's arm, and then used faster movement and continuous counter-running to get the opportunity to catch the ball in an open position.

However, after catching the ball, Ben was guarding him again and put a hand on his body to prevent him from rushing forward.

Under the entanglement of Ben, Zhao Dong dribbled with his left hand to the left side of the paint area. O'Neal did not guard him, but small forward Glenn Rice double-teamed and blocked him.

"squeak!"

Zhao Dong suddenly braked and pulled the ball back with his left hand. The moment after the sudden stop, he took a step back and then jumped up.

Because he saw teammate Glen Rice double-teaming him, the boss Feilong had no breakthrough channel, so the ball had to be shot, and Ben was already ready to block the shot.

But when Zhao Dong suddenly stopped and pulled back for a jump shot, he still failed to react enough. By the time he took a step forward, Zhao Dong's ball had already flown toward the basket.

This is because Zhao Dong's series of technical movements are too fast and smooth. At the same time, his own explosive power is not enough, his bullet speed is average, and his step speed is even more average, and he cannot keep up with Zhao Dong's rhythm.

"Uh-huh!"

The water splashed and Zhao Dong hit the first ball.

"Ben, are you confident that you can guard against me? Don't cry if I blow you to pieces."

After Zhao Dong succeeded, he retreated while leisurely trash-talking Da Ben.

"..."

Big Ben rolled his eyes, Boss, as long as you don't bet my ass, you can talk trash any way you want.

Coming to the Lakers' frontcourt, O'Neal squeezed directly to the basket, extremely domineering.

His weight reached 145 kilograms at the beginning of the season. After the same month, he is estimated to have weighed several hundred grams more. Neither Zhao Dong nor Fordson can handle it alone, so they adopted the method of off-ball The double-teaming tactic used a big man with no shooting ability.

Fordson intercepted the pass in front, and Zhao Dong defended from behind, making O'Neal a sandwich.

"Pfft!"

Zhang Li burst out laughing when he saw Zhao Dong desperately defending O'Neal from behind.

Su Qun couldn't help laughing as he explained: "O'Neal is 216 centimeters, 11 centimeters taller than Zhao Dong. Zhao Dong squatted down behind to defend, and he looked even shorter. The top of his head did not reach O'Neal's armpits, and he looked like a little kid. It’s kind of funny like a dwarf versus a giant.”

Under double teams, it was difficult for O'Neal to catch the ball. Ron Harper, who was holding the ball, did not dare to pass the ball, so he could only pass it to Kobe who wanted the ball on the right wing.

When Kobe got the ball, he was facing a madman.

Kobe's small hands are a natural weakness. After receiving the ball, he can only hide the ball with both hands under his right ribs. It is not as convenient as grabbing the ball with one hand, and it is also inconvenient to make fake moves.

If Zhao Dong and Jordan grabbed the ball with one hand and suddenly raised it upward, they might send the madman flying, but Kobe couldn't do this fake move.

"Bang bang..."

Kobe began to dribble, and his feet also moved slightly, either forward or backward, and the madman also continued to move and adjust his defensive position.

"squeak!"

Kobe broke through and made a pendulum pass, past the madman and into the right wing.

In his previous life, he had a weakness in breakthrough, that is, his first step was not fast enough, and he was sloppy when breaking through, and was unable to completely get rid of the defender.

Many times, when he takes a shot after a breakthrough, he takes off close to the defender.

Of course, he has the league's top ability to stay in the air, aerial confrontation ability, aerial dodge ability, and mid-air body control ability. Even if he takes off close to the defender and takes a shot, his shot threat is among the best in the league.

In this life, he intentionally strengthened his first step training. Zhao Dong observed that his first step was obviously faster than in the previous life.

With this step, he completely got rid of the madman, took two steps to the right wing, and then made a jump shot.

Without a defender, Kobe's jump shot is a joy to watch. The movement is very comfortable and has a very high sense of beauty. The wrist raised high is like a swan's neck. He gently pushes forward and the ball flies towards the basket.

"Uh-huh!"

The water splashed and hit two points.

"This is unfair, Feilong, we didn't use an off-ball double-teaming tactic against you. You can't do this to me." O'Neal, who was unable to catch the ball, shouted to Zhao Dong dissatisfied.

"You can use it!" Zhao Dong said.

"..."

O'Neal's mouth opened wide. The script shouldn't be written like this. You shouldn't say, okay, you don't have to, and I don't have to either. Only in this way can you appear to be strong?