Chapter 389 Where the Dream Begins
When Stein and Yang Mo reached a consensus, the Knicks' team strategy was basically determined. To put it nicely, it means maintaining the old tactics without changing them. To put it bluntly, it means throwing the pot into the ground!
If the Knicks led by Yang Mo are the top dark horse this year, then the second dark horse must be the Chicago Bulls. And unlike the Knicks, who have mixed reviews, they have a very resounding title: the Young Guards. The banner they hold high is even more high-sounding: complete the legendary revival of the Bulls.
The media gave all the praise to the Bulls, and also gave Derrick Rose countless tolerance. In contrast, although Yang Mo lives in the spotlight every day, New Yorkers treat him much more harshly. Unlike Chicagoans, everyone regards Rose as a city hero.
There is no doubt that God gave Ross the easy mode, while Yang Mo the difficult mode.
Everything Rose has was already arranged, but Yang Mo fought for it all by himself. Even though his statistics are higher than Rose's, the team he leads also beats the Bulls in terms of record. However, it is still Rose who gets more applause and flowers.
Sometimes, the world is so unfair. Fortunately, Yang Mo didn't take the praise from the basketball circle seriously. He has countless times more fans than Rose, although it has nothing to do with basketball. But the numbers in the bank card are real. Although Adidas gave Rose the highest sponsorship contract in history, it is really weak compared to Yang Mo directly becoming a Nike shareholder. Not to mention Yang Mo's big entertainment empire!
Of course, although the comparison between the two is objective, there is no gap between them. They are close friends. Yang Mo has only a few friends in the league, and Rose is one of them. In addition, Eric Gordon is doing well in the Clippers. Westbrook is also doing quite well. Although he is not a big threat to Kevin Durant's leadership position, people now try to use the word "dual core" when talking about the Thunder.
Obviously, these four guys who stirred up the storm in the 2008 draft are doing well now, at least they .
The night before the game, Derrick Rose played the role of a good host and took Yang Mo to a bar in Chicago. He showed Yang Mo his tricks for picking up girls. Although Yang Mo tricked him into doing this, he really figured it out and was quite sharp and successful.
What Yang Mo didn't expect was that when people around him learned of his identity, he, who was supposed to be a guest, instantly became the host. Many people began to rush over to ask for autographs or photos, and Yang Mo satisfied them one by one at the beginning, but as more and more people came, the situation became more and more out of control, and he had to let Derrick Rose take him out through the back door.
On the way back in the car, Derrick Rose joked with Yang Mo: "You really are a movie star. So many people are crazy about you. And more than half of them are men. It's abominable. You have stolen all my limelight. You must give me some compensation."
"Okay." Yang Mo smiled and said, "How about I give you two blocks tomorrow night as compensation?"
"Go to hell. I won't be blocked by you!" Rose said confidently.
"The best way to avoid being blocked by me is to not challenge my restricted area."
"That's impossible."
"Then you will definitely be caught!"
Yang Mo actually laughed out loud during the argument, but he didn't really mean it. After all, they were brothers, so Yang Mo didn't use the trash talk he used against his opponents to attack Derrick Rose. If they really started to talk nonsense, even ten Roses tied together wouldn't be Yang Mo's opponent!
Rose laughed for a while, calmed down a little, and suddenly said: "By the way, can you let your crazy fans vote for me too? I am also an All-Star candidate this year."
"No problem, leave it to me." Yang Mo patted his chest and agreed immediately.
In the Eastern Conference, which is surrounded by enemies, it would be great if a brother could enter the All-Star Game to help him pass the ball. At least he would not be as isolated as last season's All-Star Game.
NBA officials have been trying to create the concept that Derrick Rose and Super Yang are a pair of "lifelong enemies", but it is obvious that this concept will never become a reality because from the beginning, the two have been on different paths.
The next night's game, every seat in the United Center had a temporary owner. A large number of them came for Yang Mo. After all, watching a home game also depends on the opponent. If an opponent like the Bobcats came, unless you are a die-hard fan or a season ticket holder, who would be willing to watch a group of strangers play?
In terms of popularity in the entire NBA, Yang Mo is naturally the most famous. And as the basketball team of the world's largest city, the Knicks naturally have the highest attention.
The game that night did not disappoint the more than 20,000 fans in the stadium. Yang Mo scored a goal in the fifth second of the game. He broke through Luol Deng with a change of direction, then cut straight into the penalty area and made a powerful slam dunk.
Although Luol Deng is not bad at defense, he is inferior to Iguodala in both technique and physical strength. So using him to defend Yang Mo will only result in Yang Mo scoring easily.
And in fact it was true. That night, Yang Mo directly entered the extreme offensive mode and used all kinds of moves that he had not used before. The vast majority of the attacks were mid-range back-to-the-basket singles.
When Yang Mo's heavy body came at him like a tidal wave, Luol Deng could only be pushed away like a piece of duckweed, and then watched Yang Mo make a fadeaway jump shot like Michael Jordan.
Although Yang Mo's hit rate is not too high, he still has the demeanor of getting whatever he wants. His complicated offensive skills directly gave a loud slap in the face to the experts who had previously questioned Yang Mo's offensive ability: It's not that I can't shoot from mid-range, I'm just low-key.
Different from Yang Mo who directly switched to a violent offensive mode, Derrick Rose took on the role of threading the needle from the very beginning, constantly breaking through and passing the ball to his teammates to deliver bombs.
But for some reason, the Bulls players were not able to get into the game and missed .
As a result, the Bulls once again brought Yang Mo's shooting percentage back up. The rhythm of the game gradually became a game of mutual misses.
Amid the sound of missed shots, the two teams took turns to lead in a very tense situation. Until the fourth quarter, Yang Mo, who was tired of playing, began to pull the battlefield back to the three-point line and the paint area, which he was most familiar with. When the battlefield switched, Yang Mo's hit rate quickly increased, whoosh! whoosh! whoosh!
Three three-pointers directly widened the gap that had been tense for a long time. By the time Derrick Rose realized it and continued to attack the penalty area, it was too late. It is worth mentioning that Derrick Rose made a very wonderful single-handed cut, but was caught by Yang Mo from behind.
This block directly broke the Bulls' last-ditch resistance.
In the end, the Knicks defeated the Bulls 86:78. Yang Mo scored 34 points in the game, but his shooting percentage was only 16 of 35. Apart from 3 of 5 three-pointers, his mid-range shooting touch was almost freezing. But it also proved that Yang Mo was not without other scoring skills, his other scoring skills were just not as accurate as three-pointers.
After the game, the Bulls coach said helplessly: "If we can win with a field goal percentage of no more than 40% and 5 of 17 three-pointers, then the opponent must be worse than us. But unfortunately, Super Yang ended us."
The helplessness of the Bulls coach was a thing of the past for Yang Mo. She ignored the media's subsequent sarcasm and ridicule. You guys will complain anyway, as long as the record shows victory, you can say whatever you want about whether the game was ugly or not, or whether the style of play was selfish or not!
What Yang Mo is actively preparing for now is the upcoming opponent, the Miami Heat.
To be fair, Miami is not a tough team, but it is where Yang Mo's NBA dream began after all! !
