Champion, please stay!

Chapter 102, Question 100: We're all skinny as bamboo poles, can you talk about some basic principles?

At 8 p.m., the referee blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air. Amid cheers from the fans, Swift easily defeated Nick Collison to win the jump ball.

The Knicks took the first possession, and the whole team quickly pushed forward.

Upon entering the game, seeing that the opposing team had three starters – Durant, Desmond Mason, and Jeff Green – D'Antoni adjusted his starting rhythm.

Rush!
Curry advanced to the frontcourt and immediately passed the ball to Yi Shui.

As soon as Yi Shui received the ball, he felt that his shooting space was completely covered by Durant, who was in a defensive stance inside the right three-point line.

He had anticipated this. He was already 207 centimeters tall, but Durant was even taller than him, with a shorter neck, longer arms, and excellent shot contest awareness, so he would definitely have the ability to cover the shooting space... because he also had this ability against most forwards and guards.

Without pausing, he received the ball, immediately turned his body to face the right and made a direct run down the right flank!

Durant played exceptionally hard on defense tonight, pressing forward to block... The impact from his left side sent him spinning halfway around to face the basket.

He almost performed a spinning frontal fall on the ground by a two-meter-tall man!
Durant sprinted in after regaining his footing, but it was too late to catch up. He could only watch as Yi Shui jumped over Nick Collison and made a layup in mid-air.

Listening to the wild cheers of the fans, Durant looked at Yi Shui, who was retreating on defense and bumping shoulders and chests with his teammates.

He had heard that Yi Shui was very strong in combat, belonging to the type of power monster, and he had already prepared himself mentally, so he went all out when defending against attacks.

It's one thing to be knocked aside, but this guy's speed didn't decrease after the confrontation. He just charged straight to the inside like a speedy guard!

He recalled his rookie season against the Cavaliers, his matchups against James, how James would run him over like a heavy tank, completely ignoring his presence when he drove past him.

But the Yi River before me...

Backpack: We're all skinny bamboo poles, can you talk about JBF (boyfriend/girlfriend)?
BIG: Who said we're friends? I'm 3 centimeters shorter than you and 3 kilograms heavier! (According to data, Durant's draft weight was 97 kilograms. In 2009, when he was selected for the USA Basketball mini-camp, his publicly announced weight was 223 pounds, or over 101 kilograms. It is estimated that he weighed 100 kilograms at this point in time.)
Durant ran to the frontcourt and heard the fans in the arena shouting "Kevin".

He knew these people were just stirring up trouble and had ulterior motives.

The impact he just experienced made him realize the power gap between him and Yi Shui.

But after reaching the right side of the top arc, he still actively asked Watson for the ball!

Durant's future career is full of flaws, but there is one thing that fans love about him: on the court, no matter who he faces, he has never backed down. He always goes head-to-head and tries his best to defeat his opponents.

As for joining forces when you can't beat them, that's something that happens after you've faced them head-on.

But as soon as Durant received the ball, he was immediately marked by Yi Shui, who had come out of nowhere!

The rough contact caused Durant to instinctively dribble the ball, trying to maintain his balance by dribbling backward.

With quick reflexes, Yi Shui poked the ball away before Durant could react, then pressed forward, pushed past Durant, grabbed the ball, and launched a counterattack!

The two were facing off at the top of the arc, with no one in front of them. Amid cheers from the fans, Yi Shui rushed to the opposite free-throw line, jumped, and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand.

Durant tried his best to catch up, but he just couldn't get out of the way. By the time he reached the free throw line, Yi Shui had already jumped up and dunked.

Hearing the fans in the arena chanting "BIG" loudly, Durant was genuinely a bit stunned. They were stronger and faster than him!

While stunned, he also felt embarrassed and annoyed. He asked for the ball to go one-on-one, but before he could even turn to face the basket, the ball was stolen from him head-on. Basketball mecca! Live broadcast across the United States!
At that moment, Yi Shui's hateful voice reached Durant's ears.

"Can you handle the ball? Is dribbling and one-on-one your job?" Durant blinked as he watched Yi Shui run towards the backcourt. He picked up the ball, stepped back off the baseline, and passed it to Earl Watson, who was running back.

The Thunder continued their attack, and Yi Shui, who had retreated to the top arc, was ready to continue guarding Durant one-on-one. At this moment, Durant must have been furious, acting like a reckless fool who just wanted to take him down one-on-one.

But after Durant crossed half-court, he ran straight to the sideline!

'So calm and rational? You realize you can't win in one-on-one situations, so you immediately switch to an off-ball style of play?'

Yi Shui was surprised, but he immediately caught up with Durant and was then led by him.

What he didn't know was that this time his trash talk backfired.

Durant initially intended to go all out, but after hearing Yi Shui's trash talk, he immediately calmed down. He instantly realized—'Right! What's the point of me, an off-ball shooter, going up against a monster like him who's strong, fast, and can go one-on-one with LeBron James? I should move and shoot him!'

When Watson saw Durant start to move, he initiated a pick-and-roll offense with forward Jeff Green.

The Knicks' poor team defense was shattered by Jeff Green's drives to the basket.

Nick Collison, who had moved to the wing, seized the opportunity to block Yi Shui. When they clashed, he grabbed Yi Shui's abs, causing Yi Shui to almost cry out in pain.

Durant, with his long legs, accelerated past Yi Shui, received a pass from Jeff Green, and launched a three-pointer from the left 45-degree angle...

Yi Shui retaliated with an elbow to Nick Collison as he turned and circled around the cones, but by the time he reached Durant, the latter had already released the ball.

hit!

Yi Shui looked at Durant, who was retreating on defense with his arms raised amidst boos, and wanted to applaud him.

In his rookie year, he averaged 0.7 of 2.6 three-point attempts per game, for a 28.8% success rate. After being physically challenged, he couldn't make his outside shots.

It only took six months to overcome this deficiency!
During the offseason, Yi Shui saw reports about Durant's training. He also has a 7-year, $6000 million endorsement deal with the Swoosh, and there are a lot of promotional materials during the offseason.

The news report described Durant's main summer training routine: sparring with strong men and then practicing shooting.

At the time, we were actually ridiculed by the media and fans, who said they had never seen such training before.

As it turns out, Durant's choice was correct; at least for him, it was a good training method.

In the transition between offense and defense, Yi Shui received the ball again and drove hard, and Durant couldn't withstand it once more!

Yi Shui's strength is already a level above Durant's. He receives the ball and immediately breaks through. The 'Heavy Tank' skill grants an additional 1 point of strength. This obvious strength advantage triggers another effect of the 'Heavy Tank' skill—it is unaffected by contact when starting!
However, Durant started playing off-ball on offense, and the other Thunder players, who were originally prepared to grit their teeth and watch the two go one-on-one, immediately double-teamed him.

David Lee caught the ball, took a step, and made a close-range floater.

The Knicks have a poor defense, and the Thunder are about the same.

Durant was already used to it in his rookie year; no matter how well he contested outside shots, the team couldn't stop him, let alone tonight when he couldn't stop himself... So let's attack!

Run and catch the ball, then shoot like a madman!

But just as he reached the center line, he saw Yi Shui appear in front of him and charge towards him...

Backpack: Smash it out!
(End of this chapter)