jdhmnovel Chapter 45: A dunk over Cunningham, his hang time terrifies the top draft pick.
Chapter 45: A dunk over Cunningham, his hang time terrifies the top draft pick.
When did this kid become so popular?
Stone looked up and saw that not only Chinese fans, but also American fans were clapping.
American fans are notoriously picky, and there aren't many international players who can earn their approval.
Moreover, some of the home fans are already wearing jerseys with the number "12".
Stone felt as if he had been walking for half a year, not half a month.
The game begins again.
Green deliberately stood at the baseline to serve the ball to Wang Xiucheng, and then started running forward.
After Wang Xiucheng received the ball, Cunningham on the opposite side maintained a distance of more than an arm's length.
Now the entire league knows that to avoid falling for Wang Xiucheng's feints, they need to maintain a certain distance.
Thus, Wang Xiucheng slowly crossed the halfway point, while Cunningham fought and retreated.
Stone frowned on the sidelines. Shouldn't Cunningham try to intercept the ball? Why is Wang Xiucheng being allowed to cross the halfway line without any pressure?
Moreover, $8000 is no small sum.
This is especially true for these rookies who have just entered the league.
Green and Theis set a screen and switched defenses outside the three-point line, and Green instantly accelerated and shook off the defender.
Snapped!
Jalen Green, who had just positioned himself in the corner, received a pass from Wang Xiucheng.
Before the opponent could get close, Green jumped up and shot.
Swish!
Three-pointer, in!
Green deliberately ran past Cunningham, shouting, "Come on, number one pick!"
Green is a very ambitious player. Although the two have known each other for a long time and have won almost every international championship at every age level together, Green has never thought that he is weaker than Cunningham.
Green believes he should have been the number one draft pick.
It's not about the money; it has nothing to do with money. It's about saving face.
So Green is going to prove something today.
I'm better than you!
Cunningham didn't look at Green, but instead looked at Wang Xiucheng, who was walking back.
What an understated pass.
But the timing was perfect; a little earlier and Green wouldn't have arrived, a little later and the defender would have been there.
Stone nodded at this moment, but unlike Cunningham, he looked at Green.
Green's shot was both decisive and accurate; it seems his previous missed shots were simply due to a lack of shooting touch.
A good player needs the ability to adjust himself, like Green, who can quickly get back into form.
Pistons are on offense. Cunningham dribbles forward, and Wang Xiucheng uses close defense.
Others dare not stick to him, but he dares to stick to protect himself from others.
However, Cunningham, who is two meters tall and weighs at least 200 kilograms, knocked Wang Xiucheng away with his shoulder several times.
It's true that his role model is Luka Doncic; at least in terms of height and weight, the two are very similar.
Reaching the three-point line, Cunningham turned his back to Wang Xiucheng and slowly drove in, then suddenly passed the ball to Grant.
Grant rallied for Theis, scored two points, and then got fouled by Theis, earning him a free throw.
Unfortunately, the free throw missed, and Theis grabbed the rebound and passed it to Wang Xiucheng on the outside.
This time, after receiving the ball, Wang Xiucheng accelerated immediately and launched a long, high lob from the backcourt.
Cunningham instinctively reached out but couldn't reach it; the basketball flew directly to the frontcourt and landed right next to a red figure.
It's Jalen Green.
After receiving the ball and dribbling once, Green took off and unleashed a powerful windmill dunk.
The entire stadium erupted in applause for the play.
Cunningham slowly returned to receive the ball, then directed his teammates to make runs.
Green walked past him again, his face full of provocation.
Upon reaching the frontcourt, Cunningham set a screen with his teammate, drove into the paint, and scored a long two-pointer.
Bang!
The ball missed, and Theis and Stewart battled for the rebound, sending it flying towards the baseline.
The referee ruled that Stewart touched the ball last, and the Rockets gained possession.
Theis clapped in approval of the referee's call, then took the basketball and saw Cunningham guarding Wang Xiucheng, so he passed it to Green on the other side.
Wang Xiucheng suddenly accelerated at this moment. Cunningham, who was behind him to prevent Wang Xiucheng from receiving the ball, only turned around and found that Wang Xiucheng had already crossed the halfway line.
Green barely stopped the ball; upon receiving Theis's serve, he immediately passed it to Wang Xiucheng.
Facing Stewart standing outside the three-point line, Wang Xiucheng did not slow down at all and arrived in front of Stewart almost instantly. Then, Wang Xiucheng dribbled between his legs and turned around, swooping in like a gust of wind.
Then Wang Xiucheng jumped up with the ball, held it above his head, drew his bow fully, and smashed it down.
Bang!
Tomahawk dunk!
The entire stadium rose to their feet again, cheering and applauding. This game was just so damn exciting to watch!
Pistons head coach Dwane Casey paced the sidelines, and seeing Cunningham's unperturbed expression, abandoned the idea of calling a timeout.
Wang Xiucheng's appearance did bring about a change for the Rockets, mainly on the offensive end.
However, defensively, Devin Casey doesn't think he can help the Rockets.
As long as Cunningham is on the court, the Pistons' offense will not stagnate.
Bang!
As Devin Casey was thinking, the Pistons' three-pointer missed.
Theis, positioned under the basket, grabbed the rebound again.
Pistons' starting center, Stewart, is only 2.03 meters tall. Theis hasn't encountered a center of similar height to himself in a long time.
Seeing Wang Xiucheng asking for the ball, Theis protected the ball and waited for Wang Xiucheng to come and take it before running forward.
This time, Wang Xiucheng was no longer in a hurry and slowly dribbled forward, but Cunningham still did not reach out to try to steal the ball. Although he really wanted the $8000 from O'Neal and Barkley, he did not think he had the ability to do so.
Stone sat in the audience, secretly relieved.
Before the draft, the Rockets had always wanted to draft Cunningham, and even tried to trade for the number one pick with the Pistons, but the Pistons refused to trade.
Now it seems that Cunningham is just so-so, no better than the unselected talent, Xiu Cheng.
Even in terms of the game itself, Wang Xiucheng's organization of the team is better.
However, Stone still believes Porter Jr. is better defensively.
He spoke with Silas yesterday and suggested that Wang Xiucheng could play more minutes, but Porter Jr. will still be a starter, and that cannot be changed.
Stone believes that given enough time to develop, Porter Jr. will be the team's first All-Star, or even a superstar.
Just then, the situation on the field suddenly changed, and Stone subconsciously stood up.
Wang Xiucheng had just crossed the center line when, without any warning, he threw the ball into the penalty area.
No one knew what Wang Xiucheng was trying to do; this shot was very likely to be a mistake.
The basketball was flying very high and was likely to go directly out of bounds, so everyone gave up on the idea of jumping to intercept it.
But strangely enough, the basketball hit the timer right in the middle!
Then the basketball bounced back onto the court.
By the time everyone realized what was happening and rushed to grab the rebound, they discovered that the person wearing the number "12" jersey had already leaped high into the air and was catching the basketball with one hand.
Cunningham, who had been feeling something was off, suddenly remembered a few "coincidental" passes from Wang Xiucheng, so he moved to the inside in advance.
At that moment, he was right in front of Wang Xiucheng. Without even thinking, Cunningham jumped up and grabbed the basketball with one hand.
With a loud thud, both hands slammed into the basketball almost simultaneously.
It's like everything has stopped for a moment!
Everyone was watching this scene!
Everyone wanted to know who would get the ball.
Cunningham was full of confidence. He was confident in his strength and did not believe that this man, who was only a little over 1.9 meters tall, could defeat him in terms of strength.
This confidence comes from spending 5 hours a day in the gym.
However, Cunningham's originally determined gaze changed almost instantly.
He noticed that Wang Xiucheng was getting taller and taller, and had already surpassed him by a head!
No, it wasn't Wang Xiu who ascended; it was Wang Xiu who landed!
Cunningham was already descending, but Wang Xiucheng was still suspended in the air!
"impossible!"
Cunningham almost shouted it out; he couldn't believe anyone could stay airborne for so long!
As Cunningham's body fell, he lost control of the ball.
In mid-air, Wang Xiucheng slammed the ball into the basket with one hand, over Cunningham!
A loud bang!
The whole place was in an uproar!