The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 23 Elbow Strike
At this moment, O'Neal and Mourning prepared to jump the ball.

The two were not in the same conference in the NCAA and never played a game together; they were only known by name.

However, because they are both exceptionally talented centers, they are often compared by the media, and O'Neal's reputation and evaluation have always been superior to Mourning's.

This made Mourning resentful and he was holding his breath. Now that the opportunity had come, he wanted to prove that his talent and strength were no less than O'Neal's.

"Snapped!"

At this moment, the referee tossed the ball high into the air.

Mourning jumped with all his might, but he was shorter than his opponent, and despite having an equally impressive wingspan, O'Neal tipped the ball away first.

O'Neal came to the left wing and positioned himself in the low post to receive the ball. Randy Woods, a traditional small point guard, saw the ball in the low post and immediately passed it in.

After receiving the ball, O'Neal first faked upwards, then faked downwards, making a very smooth up-and-down step before driving to the basket.

Mourning's defense was excellent; he wasn't faked out and even kept up with the defensive rhythm. However, the size difference was too great, and he was pushed aside by O'Neal.

"boom!"

O'Neal leaped into the air and delivered a powerful one-handed dunk, slamming the ball into the basket.

In the following games, O'Neal and Mourning faced off time and time again.

Both players performed very well, but overall O'Neal was stronger.

Shaquille O'Neal's physical and dynamic talents were too strong, completely outclassing Alonzo Mourning, and his center skills were also quite good.

Whether it's scoring, shooting percentage, rebounds, or blocks, O'Neal wins every time. Mourning has a hard time stopping O'Neal's offense.

Of course, even when it comes to mistakes, O'Neal made just as many, which was his only weakness, but as a rookie, it wasn't a big deal.

Mourning was very disappointed; he felt he wasn't in good form today and hadn't performed well.

Fortunately, there are five games scheduled, so he still has a chance to match up against O'Neal.

O'Neal's performance excited all the general managers, especially those of the teams with the best chance of getting the number one draft pick.

In comparison, the performances of other rookies, including Kristen Laettner, were much less impressive.

Players who didn't perform well were quickly substituted. In the first quarter, 17 rookies had played in 8 minutes.

Tang Bei did not play; he was still waiting for his chance.

He noticed that O'Neal's feints and turns were very agile. He could dribble once or twice when turning, and his explosiveness and speed were very strong, enabling him to launch fast breaks.

He has a decent hook shot, excellent low-post offensive skills, good rebounding ability, and outstanding shot-blocking ability on the defensive end.

In comparison, his skills are far inferior to O'Neal's.

Even though his jumping ability was better than O'Neal's, he lacked defensive experience and his shot-blocking ability was far inferior to O'Neal's.

Fortunately, after the experience of the CBA playoffs and a month of training, he has improved his basic skills and techniques.

However, after the first half, O'Neal played for another five minutes in the second quarter, but he didn't get a single second of playing time.

After a 15-minute break, the third quarter begins.

The staff members were arranging the players on the court with the rookie roster. When they read out the white team's name, Tang Bei finally heard his name called.

"Tang, seize the opportunity."

"Remember this: the NBA values ​​talent. As long as you show your talent, those negative impacts are nothing."

Eric Fleischer clenched his fists, much more nervous than Tang Bei.

"Damn Chinamen!"

Wearing a red jersey, Christine Leitner glared at Tang Bei, vowing to teach this guy who dared to slap him a lesson in the upcoming game.

Tang Bei put on his white jersey with the number 30 and ran excitedly toward Leitner.

But he dared not be careless, because Lightner's abilities were very well-rounded, capable of both inside and outside attacks, and he had to be careful in dealing with him.

Although he vowed to teach Tang Bei a lesson, Lightner still felt a little scared when he actually saw Tang Bei running towards him. Those few loose teeth gave him a psychological shadow over Tang Bei.

He can play both power forward and center. Since the Red Team currently lacks a center, he will play center, which will be a good matchup against Tang Bei.

Some general managers were not very concerned when Tang Bei took the stage, because Tang Bei had performed poorly in yesterday's test and did not meet their requirements.

Meanwhile, the general managers of teams such as the Rockets, Mavericks, Nuggets, Heat, Hornets, and Timberwolves have all perked up.

As for Tang Bei's negative news these past two days, as professional managers, who cares unless it's murder or arson?
"Di!"

The referee blew his whistle, signaling for the white team to serve.

"You bastard, just wait and you'll embarrass yourself."

Leitner trash-talked as he went around to defend.

He weighs only 107 kilograms and knows that head-to-head defense won't work, so he plays quite cleverly, but this still allows Tang Bei to easily get to the basket. After reaching the basket, Tang Bei uses his left elbow to push outwards, easily pushing Laettner aside and gaining space under the basket.

The white team's point guard was Jon Barry. After approaching the top of the key, he suddenly unleashed a three-pointer despite Sprewell's defense.

After this period of training, Tang Bei has gained some experience in anticipating rebounds, and his rebounding ability has improved significantly.

As the basketball slid down from its highest point, he judged that the ball was a little short and would bounce, landing directly in front of the rim.

He immediately moved a step in front of the basket, simultaneously extending his left elbow out to block Christine Laettner on his left side.

"Go to hell!"

Leitner's face turned sinister, and in the midst of the close entanglement, he slammed his right elbow into Tang Bei's left lower back.

Just as Tang Bei was about to counterattack, the basketball slammed against the rim with a thud and bounced back. He quickly jumped high and caught the ball with both hands.

His explosiveness was too great; even Leitner's left hand, which was gripping his jersey, couldn't stop him from jumping.

However, Christine Lightner did not stop her underhanded tactics. As Tang Bei landed, she quietly extended her right foot.

Unfortunately, Tang Bei, being a martial arts practitioner, had some habitual protective movements when landing, which prevented his little trick from succeeding.

For example, if you haven't completely lost your center of gravity, then separate your feet, sink your hips the moment you land, and switch to a low horse stance.

This movement can instantly stabilize the center of gravity, reduce the impact on the knee joint, and allow the lower limbs to generate power immediately upon landing, ready for a counterattack.

If you lose your balance completely in the air, you must roll to dissipate the force upon landing, while using the rolling motion to dodge and look for opportunities to counterattack.

Kyrie Osman taught him that the NBA is very competitive, especially in the paint, where elbowing is a very common form of physical contact.

He even taught him some elbowing techniques, how to elbow someone without getting called for a foul by the referee.

Therefore, when Tang Bei landed after grabbing the rebound, he found Leitner close to him, so he immediately spread his elbows outwards and lowered his left elbow.

"what!"

The next instant, Lightner screamed, covered his face, staggered back two steps, and then fell to the ground.

However, the referee did not blow his whistle, but instead pointed his right hand towards the white team's baseline, signaling the white team to continue their attack.

Tang Bei landed in a low horse stance, and in the next instant, ignoring Robert Horry in front of him, he pounced like a tiger.

"It's over!"

Robert Horry jumped to block the shot, but as soon as he jumped, it felt like he was hit by a giant rhinoceros. His 100-kilogram body was directly slammed into the ground and he fell to the ground under the basket.

"Di!"

The referee blew his whistle because Robert Horry's right hand struck Tang Bei's right forearm.

"boom!"

With a heavy slam of Tang Bei's hands, a loud crash resounded as the basket was smashed.

As his body swung forward, the huge and sturdy basketball hoop suddenly sank a full foot and a half, as if it were about to topple over, startling some reporters under the basket who screamed and ran away.

"Crack, click, click..."

As they focused on Tang Bei on the basket, reporters like Lin Xiaoyan excitedly pressed their shutters, capturing the moment with their cameras.

Meanwhile, Christine Lightner and Robert Horry on the floor became the backdrop.

"Pretty!"

Eric Fleischer and John Liu roared excitedly.

O'Neal, who was sitting on the bench, suddenly stood up, his face showing surprise.

Tang Bei's unreasonable dunk seemed to remind him of himself and also brought to mind Tang Bei's nickname in the CBA: Severe Fear.

This incredibly powerful dunk drew everyone's attention to Tang Bei in the stadium.

Prior to this, only Shaquille O'Neal, the top draft pick, had ever delivered such a ferocious dunk.

This dunk also gave a jolt to the general managers who hadn't paid much attention.

Even Jerry West's gaze returned to Tang Bei; he simply couldn't ignore Tang Bei's performance.

On the floor, Christine Lightner felt a splitting headache. When he let go of his hand, he saw that it was covered in blood, and he was immediately filled with anxiety and anger.

Urgent! He's injured and might not get a chance to play today. It will also lower his performance and affect his draft prospects.

The anger stemmed from the fact that his petty actions not only failed to harm the Chinese man, but also backfired, leaving him humiliated and suffering a great loss.

He elbowed me.

He quickly got up, pointed at Tang Bei, and roared loudly.

(End of this chapter)