my golden age

Chapter 13 China Derby
The black player has a lively personality. During the bus ride, Odom sat and danced, which made everyone laugh.

Gao Fei sat in front and continued to listen to the English conversation, shielding the noise from his teammates.Relatively speaking, he prefers to be quiet.

There are huge posters of Yao Ming and McGrady on the front of the Toyota Center, and there are dense crowds in the square below the posters.They didn't get a ticket and got together to watch the game.

The driver of the bus stepped on the brakes, and the bus let out a feeble gasp, and stopped outside the player entrance channel.

Gao Fei pressed the stop button on the tape recorder, put it back in his backpack, and followed his teammates into the locker room.

The conditions in the away locker room are incomparable to those at home. There are no chairs, so you have to sit on the equipment box to rest.

Gao Fei was more adapted to the rhythm before the game than in the first game. He changed into a purple gold-rimmed away jersey, put on a purple warm-up suit, and waited to enter the field.

Director Zhang will not serve as a commentator for this game, but will be responsible for interviews, and first came to the home team's locker room.

Yao Ming was sitting on the physical therapy bed, joking with McGrady, when Director Zhang entered the room, interrupted the conversation, and waited for an interview.

"Dayao, tonight is another Chinese derby, do you have any special feelings?" Director Zhang handed the microphone in front of Yao Ming.

"I have met Dazhi and Daba in the NBA before, and I feel very cordial every time. This time is a bit different. Gao Fei is the Lakers starter and will be on the court most of the time. For domestic fans, it should be a good thing. Something to be happy about."

"I talked with Yu Jia in private, and I think you and Gao Fei will become the core inside and outside of the Chinese team. I will interview him later. Is there anything you want to say to him?"

"In the last game he dunked the big shark. I hope I won't be dunked tonight." Yao Ming said with a smile.

Director Zhang has watched Gao Fei's game highlights, and he can be called a dunk maniac. It is a bit difficult to make him give up dunking.

After interviewing Yao Ming, Director Zhang came to the visiting team's locker room and called Gao Fei, who hadn't been interviewed in the previous game, to his side.

"Gao Fei, first of all congratulations on your start in the NBA, and your amazing performance in the fourth quarter." Director Zhang was polite first, and then asked, "But it seems that you haven't found your shooting touch, is it Have you encountered any problems?"

Gao Fei replied truthfully: "I have been training with Tim Grover for a period of time. He pointed out my shooting problems and is trying to correct them."

Director Zhang was a top player in China when he was young. He knew that what Gao Fei was doing was changing his muscle memory, and he was surprised: "Isn't changing the shooting posture now the same as practicing from scratch?"

"It's not changing the shooting posture, it's a connection problem. The new movement is smoother, but it really takes hard work to get over it."

"It is estimated that during this period of time, your shooting will become worse." Director Zhang is a sensible person.

"No way." Gao Fei said, "It's better to change now than to restrict development due to shooting problems in the future."

"It will take some time for this kind of effort to be effective. Regarding tonight's game, Dayao asked me to tell you something."

"What did Brother Yao say?"

"He told you not to buckle. Of course it's just that, I don't think you will listen."

Gao Fei said with a smile: "The situation on the court is changing rapidly. If the opportunity comes, I will not give up."

Director Zhang chatted for a while before leaving the locker room.

Ten minutes later, the Lakers set foot on the full Toyota Center.

Gao Fei has often watched Rockets games in recent years and is very familiar with this stadium. Relatively speaking, he is more relaxed than when playing at home.

Many domestic fans came to the scene, holding signs in Chinese characters, supporting the two local players.

Before the shooting warm-up began, Gao Fei walked to the center line and greeted Yao Ming.

Yu Jia and Yang Jian acted as on-site commentators for the game, saying: "The two players who lived in the United States finally met."

"Both of them landed in the NBA after winning the CBA championship and the MVP of the finals, and they both started. I hope they can have a good career."

"The focus on this game is to hope that both sides will contribute enough exciting performances." Yu Jia returned to the topic.

Dan Crawford served as the referee of the game, and after the introduction of the players, he stood on the sidelines with the two linesmen.

The game ball is selected by McGrady, half of the surface particles are worn away, and the friction is relatively small.

When the starting players shook hands with the three referees, the sports channel released the starting list for the game.

Rockets: Alston, McGrady, Derek Anderson (196CM), Juwan Howard, Yao Ming!
Lakers: Goofy, Kobe, Luke Walton, Odom, Kwame Brown!
Gao Fei saw Yao Ming's ability value when he was flying the national team, but this kind of data is not static. Turn on the system mode to observe the two cores of the Rockets.

McGrady: SSS ball sense, SSS athletic talent, explosive power S+, physical strength A+ (risk of injury), single defense A, co-defense A-!

Yao Ming: SSS in height, S+ in touch, S+ in strength, A+ in single defense, B+ in co-defense, and B in wingspan!

Goofy noticed Dan Crawford walking towards the middle circle, turned off the system mode, and stood next to Alston.

Yao Ming and Kwame Brown stood on both sides of the center circle, sinking their weight, ready to fight for the first possession of the ball.

Kwame Brown is valued by Jordan. He suffered too much pressure at the beginning of his career, but now he lacks confidence.The Lakers pin their hopes on the double guards. He has no extra pressure and is much easier than before.

Yao Ming jumped higher and gave the racket to Alstom.

Goofy no longer had any psychological burden, opened his arms and blocked Alstom's passing route.

Alston didn't expect that Gao Fei's defense was impenetrable, and he dribbled behind his back to avoid it, and was suddenly defended close to him.

Goofy's core strength was even stronger than Kobe's. Alston couldn't stand the fight and didn't control the ball.

Phil Jackson saw that Gao Fei had no abnormalities in the opening game, and knew that he was more adapted to the game than the first game.

McGrady was nearby and rushed over to pick up the dropped ball.

Alston ran to the right corner and opened up the defense.

McGrady has a long wingspan, holds the ball with a straight right arm, and faces Kobe sideways for close defense.

Kobe and Tracy McGrady were good friends in high school. Both of them were quite talented. They faced each other head-on, and neither wanted to lose to the other.

McGrady dribbled the ball with his left hand, took the first step super fast, and led Kobe, who was defending on the side, to make a strong breakthrough.

Yao Ming and Kwame Brown are stuck in the penalty area.

Kobe clings to Tracy McGrady without giving him any space.

McGrady took off in the paint area, evaded Kwame Brown's defense, and pulled the stick with his left hand for a layup.

The basketball spins and hits the board!
His movements are stretchy and elegant, adding a touch of beauty to a simple drawbar.

The fans at the scene were mesmerized.

Lakers 0-2 Rockets!

Goofy is the point guard, taking the ball to the frontcourt and passing it directly to Kobe on the right.

McGrady has scoliosis and hardly has a heavy heart when defending. With his jumping, height and wingspan, he can perform talent suppressing defense.He followed Kobe closely, also not giving space.

Kobe took off sideways and leaned back to the limit!
The basketball flew past McGrady's fingertips, and hit the front of the basket with a bang.

McGrady stretched out his right hand and said with a smile, "I just touched the ball."

Kobe saw Yao Ming take the defensive rebound, slapped McGrady's butt, and retreated with a smile.

McGrady knew that Alston couldn't deal with Gao Fei, so he took over the ball control and slowly brought it to the frontcourt.

(End of this chapter)