bookrandom Chapter 164 Keeping an Appointment
Chapter 164 Keeping an Appointment
With a loud bang, David Muoka easily scored two points.
This is the advantage of David Muoka playing as a center forward.
His speed allows him to participate in fast breaks, something that Yang Hansen and Yu Jiahao find difficult to do.
However, David Mullaka's screen quality is nowhere near that of Yang Hansen and Yu Jiahao.
The match was still going on, but the two sides showed very different styles.
The Rockets scored repeatedly inside, but whenever they missed, China was able to quickly launch a counterattack.
At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets led China 29-21 by 8 points.
Without Wang Xiucheng, or even with Wang Xiucheng on the opposing team, this score was perfectly acceptable for the Chinese team.
Back on the bench, Rockets coach Lucas patted Wang Xiucheng on the shoulder and said, "Take a rest in the second quarter."
Old Lucas knew that Wang Xiucheng would be playing for China in the second half.
There's no need to overwork Wang Xiucheng, after all, this is the Summer League.
If it weren't for the league's requirements, the Rockets would never have allowed Wang Xiucheng to play in the Summer League.
Neither Shen Jing nor Jalen Green played, and it was even less likely that Wang Xiucheng would play.
After a short break, both teams began rotating their players in the second quarter.
Especially on the Rockets' side, a large number of players signed 10-day short contracts, and Wang Xiucheng started playing with players he had never even met before.
The game also became somewhat difficult to watch.
These players almost all took matters into their own hands as soon as they got the ball, with absolutely no teamwork.
They only have 10-day short-term contracts, which are even worse than two-way contracts, so they have to seize every second to showcase themselves.
Especially today, because of the Hebei China Fortune team, there were quite a few scouts in the stands.
In contrast, Hebei China Fortune, which focuses more on teamwork, is much better. Both Zhao Weilun and Yang Hansen have a certain ability to orchestrate the ball.
Gradually, China managed to catch up in points.
It wasn't until the second half, when key players like Tariq Ethan and Jabari Jr. returned, that the score gradually widened again.
Replacing Wang Xiucheng on the court was "The Admiral" Knicks, a gem the Rockets discovered last season.
The Knicks, even without a specific "mission," actually possess the ability to organize the team.
Back in high school, he was a player who could go toe-to-toe with Jalen Green on the Knicks.
With the Knicks orchestrating the offense, the Rockets took a double-digit lead for the first time at halftime, outscoring the Knicks 64-52 by 12 points.
The players from both sides got up and walked towards the locker room.
As always, Wang Xiucheng walked at the back. Before entering the player tunnel, he saw Li Kaier sitting with Yao Ming.
Wang Xiucheng did not know that Li Kaier would be at the event before the competition.
He only discovered it after the show started.
"Hey, you're not even sweating, looks like the competition wasn't very intense."
Li Kai'er walked down from the player tunnel and hugged Wang Xiucheng.
Wang Xiucheng smiled wryly, "It's not that bad."
Wang Xiucheng only played one quarter today, didn't take a shot, and got 6 assists, so he wasn't really tired.
But it's a bit of an exaggeration for Li Kaier to say that he didn't sweat at all.
Yao Ming did not come with Li Kaier, knowing that the two might have some things they didn't want him to hear.
In fact it is.
"Yao Ming said these players were all personally recruited by you?" Li Kaier pointed to the Chinese team players who had already entered the player tunnel.
Wang Xiucheng shook his head in surprise: "No way, I only asked for six or seven people."
Li Kai'er looked astonished upon hearing this. "Aren't six or seven people enough?"
How many people are in the entire training team?
"Alright, that's enough. You should go back now. We'll talk after the match." Li Kaier patted Wang Xiucheng on the shoulder.
Wang Xiucheng nodded and then jogged into the players' tunnel.
Back beside Yao Ming, Li Kai'er said to Yao Ming, "He said he only specifically asked for six or seven people, but he doesn't admit that they were all the people he wanted."
"Didn't admit it?" Yao Ming sneered, taking out a piece of paper folded twice from his pocket.
Unfold the paper; a dozen or so names are written on it in crooked handwriting.
Yao Ming pointed to several names above: "Wang Xiucheng said these people must be recruited."
Then Yao Ming pointed to the names below, and Wang Xiucheng pointed to these names and said, "You guys decide what to do with these people."
Yao Ming looked at Li Kaier with a bewildered expression: "What do you mean, 'you guys figure it out'?"
Li Kai'er laughed. Wang Xiucheng is really brave.
And they really did what they said they would do.
When Li Kai'er first heard about Wang Xiucheng's plan, her immediate reaction was that Wang Xiucheng had gone mad.
But he still agreed to go crazy with Wang Xiucheng once.
As a result, they succeeded temporarily.
Yes, it's only temporary.
Only when you actually achieve certain results can you be considered truly successful.
They have done all they can.
The rest is beyond their control.
Yao Ming put the paper away and crossed his arms again.
He is looking forward to seeing what kind of chemistry Wang Xiucheng and Li Kaier would have if they played together.
Wang Xiucheng plays point guard, but can also play shooting guard without the ball.
Lee can play both the small forward and power forward positions.
Furthermore, Lee Keir also has the ability to deal cards from the top of the arc.
With Wang Xiucheng and Li Kaier on board, Yao Ming is already looking forward to this scene.
And he believes that this scene won't be long before he sees it.
The second half of the game started soon.
Wang Xiucheng changed his clothes and took the field for China in the second half.
Perhaps they hadn't gotten used to Wang Xiucheng being on the other side yet, because the Rockets didn't score a single point for the first four minutes of the game.
Jabari Smith even instinctively passed the rebound to Wang Xiucheng after grabbing it once.
Wang Xiucheng was stunned and too embarrassed to dribble the ball, so he passed it directly to Cui Yongxi.
Then Choi Young-seok dunked, scoring two points.
Despite the rocket's repeated misses, China launched a series of successful counterattacks.
In just four minutes, Wang Xiucheng delivered four direct assists, allowing China to score 10 points.
With Wang Xiucheng scoring a putback dunk, securing the first point of the game, China Fortune went on a 12-0 run, tying the score.
On the sidelines, Lucas put on his reading glasses, wondering if he had misread the score.
Having no other choice, he called a timeout, and old Lucas was so angry that he shook his head and spat as he spoke.
The timeout was useful; when the game resumed, the Rockets finally got back into form.
Jabari Smith hit a three-pointer, scoring the Rockets' first point of the second half.
However, the Chinese team's firepower remained undiminished.
Yu Jiahao started in the second half, but he couldn't keep up with Jabari, allowing him to hit consecutive three-pointers.
But Jabari Smith Jr. couldn't stop Yu Jiahao's inside penetration.
Yu Jiahao weighs over 240 pounds.
When fighting positional warfare, the skinny Jabari and Holmgren of the Thunder suffered similar fates and simply couldn't hold on.
With Zeng Fanbo and Zhang Zhenlin occasionally hitting open three-pointers, the Chinese team gradually began to take the lead.
When the third quarter ended, the Chinese team scored 36 points in the quarter, taking a commanding 88-82 lead over the Rockets by 6 points.
Wang Xiucheng did not play in the fourth quarter.
In Guo Shiqiang's view, there is no need for Wang Xiucheng to appear again.
The facts prove that with or without Wang Xiucheng, the Chinese team is essentially two different teams.
Or rather, just like the Rockets, the presence or absence of Wang Xiucheng makes all the difference for China.
Today's game is the last summer league match for the Chinese team. In the final quarter, more players should be given the opportunity to play and gain experience.
In just three matches, the Chinese team has gained a great deal.
Regardless of whether they won or lost the match, Guo Shiqiang knew that Wang Xiucheng had secured his position.
He had anticipated this.
But precisely because of this, Guo Shiqiang was somewhat worried.
Wang Xiucheng is a definite member of the national team.
Judging from Wang Xiucheng's behavior and personality over the past month, he will definitely want to be the "boss".
Would the current "big brothers" of the national team agree to that?
They've been in the national team for over a decade, and you, a kid who's not even 20, think you can replace us right away?
Even a fool could tell that this matter would be very troublesome.
Thinking of this, Guo Shiqiang looked at Yao Ming, who was chatting with Li Kaier in the stands.
"What are you going to do about this?"
Guo Shiqiang shook his head, deciding to put those things aside for the time being.
Picking up the tactics board, Guo Shiqiang began to plan the opening tactics for the fourth quarter.
CCTV Sports.
Yu Jia and Su Qun were no longer concerned about the match; instead, they started talking about Wang Xiucheng.
"We all know that there will be a Basketball World Cup next year, and only the team that wins the Asian championship can directly qualify for the Paris Olympics."
"But with this team right now, only managing three points in a quarter, do we really have any hope?"
"Since it's already this bad, why not just change it?"
"The saying goes, 'No destruction, no construction.' We can't get any worse, can we?"
The fourth quarter had already begun, but Yu Jia had stopped commentating and was speaking earnestly.
"Take Australia, for example, which made us lose face. That's not the real Australian team at all; it's just a second-string team at best."
"If we can't even beat a team like this, how can we expect to go to Paris?"
Su Qun remained silent.
This is CCTV, after all, not a web platform like Tencent where you can say whatever you want.
Su Qun knew that the Yu family must have received instructions from above to dare to say such things today.
This "above" likely refers to Yao Ming, or perhaps the Chinese Basketball Association.
The higher-ups are paving the way for Wang Xiucheng!
What could be more effective than CCTV's words?
Su Qun could already foresee that the Chinese men's basketball team was about to face an unprecedented storm!
……
The game ended quickly, with the Chinese team winning 106-102 against the Rockets.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the young men of the Chinese team rushed onto the field one by one, celebrating wildly.
They won one out of three Summer League matches.
The fact that they won in the final quarter without Wang Xiucheng makes the victory all the more impressive.
Yao Ming and Li Kaier in the stands also applauded the group of young men.
This trip to Las Vegas was a complete success.
Based on these three matches alone, when Wang Xiucheng was on the court, the Chinese team was the stronger team most of the time.
If Wang Xiucheng were to leave the field, Hebei China Fortune team would indeed expose many problems.
In other words, with or without Wang Xiucheng, the Chinese team is a completely different team.
Guo Shiqiang intentionally let Wang Xiucheng play the entire quarter, and then rest for the last quarter, which made Huaxia's problems more obvious.
In this way, even an ordinary fan will notice the problem.
And that's exactly what Yao Ming needs.
The Summer League has ended, and the Chinese team will not return to China immediately. Instead, they will fly to New York for a few days of rest before taking a chartered plane back home.
After all, these kids have come all the way to the United States, and some of their families have come along too, so it's like a vacation.
But not everyone went to New York. Yao Ming took a plane that very night and left Las Vegas, flying back to China.
The Summer League has ended, but the Chinese team is about to start the Asian Cup, and he still needs to go back to oversee the team.
Otherwise, it would be too biased.
Wang Xiucheng also left Las Vegas. He, Ma Wei, and the Wu Di-Wu Jia brothers went directly to Los Angeles on Jenner's plane.
He promised Jenner that he would go with her to see her sisters after the Summer League ended.
Although Wang Xiucheng really didn't want to go, Jenna was already eight months pregnant, and Wang Xiucheng dared not refuse Jenna at this time.
An hour later, Wang Xiucheng got off the plane, and Jenna, who was already heavily pregnant, stood in the Los Angeles night, waiting for him.
Wang Xiucheng was somewhat helpless. Although he had told Jenna not to pick him up, she obviously hadn't listened.
He quickly walked over to Jenna, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said with a hint of reproach, "I told you not to come, but you wouldn't listen. Even if you came, couldn't you have waited in the car?"
“No.” Jenna’s eyes were filled with tears as she grabbed Wang Xiucheng’s hand and pressed it to her stomach. “I want to tell you myself that it’s a daughter.”
Wang Xiucheng was stunned for a moment, then chuckled foolishly.
I never expected my first child to be a daughter.
That's good. If it's a daughter, then it'll be easier to explain to her parents.
Although she had already told her parents about this, Jenner's child could not return to China, and Jenner would definitely raise the child herself.
Wang Xiucheng's parents verbally agreed, but his older sister told him that his parents still had some complaints.
Upon seeing Wang Xiucheng's appearance, tears finally welled up in Jenna's eyes.
She was afraid that Wang Xiucheng didn't like girls, since, based on her limited understanding, Chinese people seemed to value boys more.
"Why are you crying again?" Wang Xiucheng said helplessly, wiping Jenna's face with his hand.
"You guys pack your luggage and take that car back. We'll go first," Wang Xiucheng said to Ma Wei and the others who were carrying their luggage.
"Okay, brother. You and your wife go back first. We'll catch up with you soon," Ma Wei said, placing a suitcase in the car and looking up.
Upon hearing Mawei's address, Jenna finally stopped crying and started laughing.
Wang Xiucheng had to give Ma Wei a thumbs up, saying, "It's all thanks to you, you sycophant!"
……
A mansion in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
Kim Kardashian is on the phone with Khloé.
“Listen, Kim, my time is precious. Kendall hasn’t seen us in ages. She just said she was pregnant and then disappeared for months. Now she’s saying she’s bringing that man to see us?”
Khloé scoffed, "Don't think I don't know what she's thinking. I will not agree to just any random man entering the Kardashian family."