The longest river

Chapter 77 Who is the prey?

Yang Shuai probably never imagined that he would one day be associated with the "businessman player".

If he were truly capable of navigating the business world, even if he obtained the Long River System, he would not hesitate to turn to business.

In this era of rapid economic development, the potential for success in business is far greater than that of playing sports.

However, his current mood is the same as when Scott told him before that the other members of the team were isolating him because the team traded Mark Jackson.

Richmond could have easily taken a stand against Ernie Johnson and TNT, but he chose to target him instead, which frankly means he thinks Johnson is the easier target.

This made him even more excited for the upcoming matches.

After improving his defense to All-Star level, he also wanted to know how he would perform against Richmond.

Because of the video recordings, Yang Shuai already has a good understanding of Richmond, even though they haven't played against each other yet.

While there was an element of deliberately creating buzz and sensationalism in Billas's remarks in "NBA Insider," there was nothing inherently wrong with what he said.

Judging solely from statistics and fame, Richmond, who was handpicked by Jordan and whose career season averaged no less than 20 points, can no longer be considered an All-Star in this era, but rather a superstar.

But no superstar has ever led a team to miss the playoffs for four consecutive years. Even Tracy McGrady, who lived in an "what if" world, could lead a group of ordinary players to the playoffs.

Moreover, the competition in the West during that era was much less intense than in the East.

From a technical perspective, Richmond is clearly not on par with true superstars.

The biggest difference is physical attributes. His explosiveness is not only not comparable to Jordan's freakish ability, but also not much better than Yang Shuai's.

Moreover, his barefoot height is only 1.93 meters, which is 5 centimeters shorter than Yang Shuai.

He's the kind of player who looks like a superstar at first glance based on his stats, but you can tell he isn't just a player after watching him play.

Of course, Richmond is clearly a strong team.

His three main weapons are three-pointers, post-up moves, and drawing fouls on drives.

His post-up game and ability to draw fouls on drives stem from his strong physique, which is also the source of his nickname "The Rock," reflecting his rock-hard playing style.

Moreover, he's not only very hard, but also very good at shooting.

Having debuted under Don Nelson's Warriors, he possesses a decent three-point shot and a strong desire to attempt three-pointers.

Last season, he averaged 5.2 three-point attempts per game, and this season it has increased to 6.4. Moreover, due to the shortened three-point line, his three-point shooting percentage this season is as high as 43.3%.

In summary, Richmond is definitely a challenging opponent for Yang Shuai right now, but he also has a real chance to stop him.

On the night of the game, the Kings' home arena, Arco Arena, was packed to capacity.

The Sacramento Kings have significantly improved their strength since acquiring Mark Jackson this season, giving them a good chance to make the playoffs, which has also boosted home attendance to around 80%.

The reason tonight's venue was packed is naturally because of Yang Shuai.

Both Bilas's comments and Richmond's evaluation made Yang Shuai the absolute focus of this match.

If Yang Shuai doesn't play well in this game, there will definitely be a lot of reports about him being a "businessman player" after the game.

When Yang Shuai's image appeared on the big screen during the pre-match warm-up, a chorus of boos erupted from the audience.

They didn't think highly of Yang Shuai when he was drafted, but his performance after entering the league proved them wrong. In order to prevent them from being slapped in the face even more, they naturally wanted to find ways to put psychological pressure on Yang Shuai.

Yang Shuai, however, seemed unconcerned in front of the camera, chatting and laughing with Robertson beside him.

A little while later, he even followed Robertson to the Kings' half of the court.

At first, the fans on the sidelines thought Yang Shuai was going to have some kind of conflict with Richmond, but they soon realized they were overthinking it.

Because they were there to say hello to Brian Grant.

This Grant is not "Cobra" Grant, but an Ohio player from Columbus.

Grant had long dreadlocks and looked intimidating, but he spoke very gently.

This immediately reminded him of "Aquaman" Steve Adams.

Yang Shuai had heard of Grant's reputation back in high school, and he was very polite when he met him in person.

After the pre-match warm-up, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Pacers: Robertson, Miller, McGee, Dale Davis, Schmitz
Sacramento Kings: Mark Jackson, Mitch Richmond, Walter Williams, Grant, Alden Polynes
After the game started, the Pacers quickly took the lead and dominated the game.

Robertson's arrival not only ensured the defensive strength of the starting lineup, but his playmaking and passing were also much better than Walkman's.

But most importantly, Miller was on fire tonight, hitting consecutive mid-range and long-range shots.

During this period, Yang Shuai also observed another technical weakness in Richmond.

Richmond is physically strong and has no problem with one-on-one defense, especially since most wing scorers in this era like to start with a back-to-the-basket shot.

However, someone who is too strong will inevitably be less agile. When he encounters an opponent like Miller who is good at using off-ball screens to shoot, he is easily blocked by the pick-and-roll.

Later on, the Kings had to switch to Williams to defend.

With five minutes played, the Pacers were already leading 12-6, and the situation looked quite favorable.

But it was at this moment that Richmond began to perform.

He first drove hard to the basket, contested Schmitz's shot, drew a foul, and made both free throws.

He then followed up with a mid-range shot after receiving a screen from Grant.

The last and most spectacular play saw him tightly marked by McGee, and by the time he received the ball, there was very little time left.

Finally, he chose to shake off McGee beyond the three-point line and force a three-pointer, which came down cleanly.

When that shot went in, the entire Arco Arena erupted. Yang Shuai was also amazed by the shot, because without the no-handcheck rule, it's very difficult to take a three-pointer with the ball on the perimeter in this era.

This is why even someone as good as Miller could only be a scorer who receives the ball off the ball, rather than shooting directly from a screen like Curry.

Richmond did this goal entirely thanks to his superior physical attributes.

Of course, it's also clear that McGee has weaknesses in one-on-one defense; his height greatly limits his lateral movement speed.

Right after making that three-pointer, Richmond turned his attention to Yang Shuai on the Pacers' bench.

That look in his eyes was like a hunter surveying his prey.

It's clear from Richmond's previous statements that, in his mind, both Ernie Johnson and Bilasna are on Yang Shuai's side because of Vaccaro's presence.

In other words, he felt that Yang Shuai, this rookie, was trying to gain fame by falsely accusing him, an established star player.

Brown didn't call a timeout, but instead had Robertson switch onto Richmond in the next possession.

Facing Robertson, Richmond opted for a post-up move.

Robertson's height and weight advantage made it difficult for him to stop Richmond's turnaround fadeaway.

Richmond scored 9 consecutive points.

At this moment, Brown recalled the terror of being dominated by Jordan in the opening game.

After Richmond made that fadeaway jumper, he raised his index finger towards the Pacers' bench, mainly Yang Shuai.

This is his signature celebration gesture, though he usually points to the air or the stands, signifying "This is me" or "I am the rock."

Now, his gaze was directed at Yang Shuai, and the implication was even stronger than before: Yang Shuai was his prey for tonight.

Yang Shuai's reaction was simple and straightforward; he gave Richmond the middle finger.

Richmond, who had been looking incredibly domineering just a second ago, was completely stunned. "How dare you?"

"Yang!"

Just then, Brown's voice came through.

Yang Shuai thought Brown scolded him because of his actions, and Richmond thought so too.

But Brown didn't pay attention to his actions, he just called him to come on as a substitute.

Yang Shuai quickly got up, and while taking off his training clothes, he didn't forget to keep his eyes on Richmond.

Richmond suddenly felt as if he were being watched by a wild beast, which sent a chill down his spine.

Yang Shuai was clearly his prey!

Schmitz drew a foul on a low-post shot and went to the free-throw line. Yang Shuai came on at that moment to replace McGee.

Yang Shuai's improved one-on-one defense is starting to show, and he is now Brown's first choice for one-on-one defense.

Schmitz made both free throws, bringing the score to 15-15.

Richmond moved into the attacking third, backed down against Yang Shuai, and reached out for the ball to back down the defender.

Although Yang Shuai is much taller than him, he is much lighter. Moreover, Yang Shuai is an Asian player, and he is prepared to use his strength to overpower his opponent.

The crowd began to boo.

What they loved to see most was Richmond devouring his opponents alive.

However, they soon discovered that the situation was not quite what he had imagined.

Although Yang Shuai was indeed at a disadvantage in the confrontation, he was not as badly outmatched as one might imagine.

Richmond also looked frustrated at this moment.

On the one hand, he hadn't expected Yang Shuai's strength to be better than he had imagined;

On the other hand, and more importantly, Yang Shuai was secretly using his elbow when he was headbutting him!
This meant that every time he thrust, his kidney would be throbbed.

If it were anyone else, they would have complained to the referee, but he is "The Rock," a synonym for toughness.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and turned around to face the basket, trying to use a change of direction to get past Yang Shuai.

However, he did not succeed.

Yang Shuai's lateral movement speed is now more than enough to keep up with Richmond.

As the shot clock ticked away and the crowd began to stir, Richmond finally opted to force a layup with the ball in his hand.

Yang Shuai was very experienced in dealing with this situation. He did not stick close to Richmond and give him a point of impact, but instead gave him some space and used his lateral speed advantage to maintain his defensive position.

After Richmond took two steps and entered the three-second zone, he realized that he hadn't managed to push Yang Shuai aside at all.

His feint to trick Yang Shuai failed, and he could only resort to a deep backflip shot after turning around on the spot.

At that moment, Yang Shuai, like a tiger that had been lying in wait for a long time, took a big step forward and pounced directly on Richmond.

The Richmond players saw Yang Shuai rushing towards them in mid-air and had no time to dodge, so they could only speed up their attack.

However, Yang Shuai's jumping ability was much better than he had expected.

"boom!"

Amidst the gasps of the fans and Richmond's horrified gaze, Yang Shuai pounced like a tiger, swatting Richmond's shot out of bounds!

(End of this chapter)