ebookland Chapter 575 The Master Baker
Chapter 575 The Master Baker
The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.
The starting lineup for the host team, China Men's Basketball Team, consisted of Art Mayork, Yi Jianlian, Zhai Xiaochuan, Jia Fei, and Zhao Jiwei.
The starting lineup for the Ivory Coast men's basketball team is Diabate, Aberjo, Eddie, Thompson, and Cohen.
With the addition of Jia Fei and Art Mayok, both Zhou Qi and Guo Ailun have moved to the bench. Chinese fans are amazed that their home team could be so fortunate, with two active NBA players joining the team, significantly elevating its potential and roster depth.
In the VIP section, Chairman Yao, who is over 220cm tall and weighs over 140kg, was chatting with a basketball association official with a smile. He was in a particularly good mood. The addition of Jia Fei made it more likely for the Chinese men's basketball team to get a ticket to the Olympics. Although this team may not be able to compete with the world's top teams, in Asia, this team is unbeatable.
Art Mayork and Cohen prepare for the jump ball near the center circle; the game is about to begin.
Although most Chinese fans have accepted Art Mayork as one of the naturalized players, watching him on the court still feels somewhat unfamiliar. Art Mayork is of pure African descent, and his skin color is not any lighter than that of the Ivorian players. In the eyes of many Chinese fans, he looks similar to those Ivorian players, and if it weren't for the fact that he was wearing a Chinese men's basketball jersey, it would be difficult to tell them apart.
The jump ball begins, and Art Mayork yells as he slaps the ball to Space Yi, giving the Chinese men's basketball team possession for the first possession.
Space Yi passed the ball to Zhao Jiwei, who is known as "Anshan Paul". Zhao Jiwei dribbled the ball across half-court and directed the attack from the top of the arc.
The opposing team's guard, Eddie, was defending Jia Fei.
Zhao Jiwei and Yi Jianlian set a screen, drove to find someone, circled around and came out again, which was an ineffective attack.
Anshan Paul passed the ball to Jia Fei.
As soon as Jia Fei got the ball, the crowd erupted in cheers, as if the game was already won.
Eddie stuck to him tightly and kept harassing him with his hands. Clearly, in the eyes of a non-NBA player like him, no matter how great Jia Fei was in the NBA or how famous he was worldwide, he didn't have that profound feeling. He would only think things like, "Is this guy overrated?" or "I could do that too."
Jia Fei feinted, then suddenly accelerated, leaning against his opponent and pushing forward.
Eddie couldn't stop himself from being pushed along. He didn't want to be controlled like this, so he lowered his center of gravity and then exerted force. But at that moment, Jia Fei suddenly spun around him, smoothly brushing past him!
A scream erupted from the crowd!
Jia Fei advanced the ball, encountered help defense, and passed it to Zhai Xiaochuan in the bottom corner.
Zhai Xiaochuan received the ball and attempted a three-pointer—but missed!
A collective sigh rippled through the crowd. Zhai Xiaochuan was utterly useless, squandering such a brilliant pass from Jia Fei.
Ivory Coast's men's basketball team is on offense. Diabate drives the length of the court and takes three steps for a layup...
Anshan Paul had already given up on defense, but suddenly!
Like a mantis stalking a cicada unaware of a oriole behind it, Diabate's layup was snatched away by Jia Fei in mid-air, just like picking up a package!
Immediately afterwards, Jia Fei delivered a long pass from the quarter post, finding Zhai Xiaochuan who was making a quick run down the frontcourt!
However, Zhai Xiaochuan panicked and dribbled the ball out of bounds by the time it reached his foot...
The Chinese fans at the stadium almost vomited blood. What the hell is going on? You can't even finish a layup, what are you doing in the starting lineup?
Zhai Xiaochuan also felt somewhat guilty. He apologized to Jia Fei, but the latter shook his head and questioned him to continue!
"Mr. Xu, were you too nervous about those two balls, Zhai Xiaochuan?" Yu Jia asked Xu Jicheng in the sports channel studio.
Xu Jicheng didn't adjust his glasses like Su Qun did, because he wasn't wearing glasses at all. He said seriously, "Xiao Chuan is probably a little nervous, but he'll be fine once he warms up. He might also be having trouble adapting to Jia Fei's passing style all at once. He hasn't had such good attacking opportunities before; they come too easily, so he might not be used to it!"
Fortunately, Ivory Coast's offense is indeed terrible. Thompson tried to dunk on Art Mayor, but was blocked by the latter!
Space gets the ball easily, and passes it to Paul from Anshan.
Anshan Paul dribbles forward and makes a breakthrough pass to Zhai Xiaochuan in the corner!
Zhai Xiaochuan didn't dare to shoot anymore, so he sent Jia Fei to the middle lane!
Jia Fei received the ball, faked a drive, and pulled up for a jump shot—but missed!
But! The fans at the scene suddenly noticed that Jia Fei grabbed the rebound himself, dribbled past the opposing center, and scored with a layup!
China Men's Basketball Team scored first!
Applause immediately erupted in the audience. Watching Jia Fei play against these players, it was as if they were not even in the same league; they were on the ground, while he was in the atmosphere.
Diabate challenged Paul Anshan one-on-one, shooting an arrow from horseback into the basket and retaliating!
2-2, both sides have scored!
Paul from Anshan brought the ball over and continued to run a pick-and-roll with Yi Jianlian. He drove in, circled around, and passed the ball to Zhai Xiaochuan in the corner.
Zhai Xiaochuan splits up with Jia Fei!
Jia Fei has the ball, and Art Mayork comes up to set a screen!
Jia Fei dribbled the ball inwards, then suddenly tossed it into the air...
Art Mayork understood immediately, leaped high, and slammed the ball into the basket over Cohen's head!
Wow--
The game started with two such brilliant goals, one from Jia Fei and the other from Art Mayork.
With two naturalized NBA players in such excellent form, how can fans not be excited?
Li Nan, the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, was applauding from the sidelines. He was very happy. If the team performed well, he would definitely get credit. Even if people said he was riding on Jia Fei's coattails, he was lucky to have the opportunity to ride on Jia Fei's coattails. What, are you envious and jealous?
Diabate organized an attack, trying to continue targeting Paul Anshan, but this time he failed!
The space-efficient retractable board was handed over to Jia Fei for advancement.
Jia Fei dribbled the ball forward, and with a Sam Gold move, he got past Cohen, causing a gasp from the crowd. Then, with a no-look pass reminiscent of Jay Chou, he passed the ball to Zhai Xiaochuan, who was making a quick run down the court.
Zhai Xiaochuan scores with a one-handed dunk, making it 2-6, with the Chinese men's basketball team leading by 4 points!
Another cheer erupted from the crowd. Jia Fei fed Zhai Xiaochuan a pancake three times in a row, and he finally ate one. It was really not easy!
"After Jia Fei joined the team, Coach Xu, have you noticed that our fast breaks have improved? We used to struggle with fast breaks, but with Jia Fei, that problem was suddenly solved!" Yu Jia exclaimed.
Xu Jicheng smiled and said, "This is probably the value of a superstar to our team!"
Diabate tried to make a run back for his teammate, but Jia Fei saw through his plan and intercepted the ball!
Jia Fei launched a counter-attack with the ball and continued to pass it to Zhai Xiaochuan, but was stopped by a foul from the opponent!
Jia Fei knew Zhai Xiaochuan's strengths: good off the ball and good at quick runs, but poor with the ball and in attack. This kind of player is a role player, meant to play off the ball, exploit transitions, but needs someone to create opportunities for him.