Chapter 7 VS Chinese Team

  On July 10, 2007, the two brothers finally saw a starter from their hometown team.

  Corey Maggette, the starting small forward of the Clippers, the second-in-command in the team after Elton Brand, was very cold to the two brothers when they first met, and didn't even bother to acknowledge them. Fortunately, he didn't make them carry his shoes or bags, otherwise, with that arrogant attitude of his, Ji Guo would have definitely given him a punch!

  Compared with Ji Guo's discontent, Ji Guo Chou didn't mind, most of them already have a core team and treat newcomers like this.

  Rookie players want to win the respect of veteran players, and they can only rely on their strength. Strength can only be demonstrated on the field, and as long as they perform well in the game, they will naturally be recognized by their teammates.

  This morning, Ji Guo Xi got up and immediately bought several newspapers. At the same time, he turned on his computer. As expected, neither the newspapers nor the computer said anything good about them.

  The New York Times

  "Chinese-descent twin big men made outrageous comments after yesterday's first summer league game, thinking they should have been picked in the top two and hoping it wasn't an early April Fool's joke."

  Los Angeles Times

  "This is a good example of being arrogant and proud, hopefully they can find humility just like their compatriot Yao Ming."

  Ji Guo Xiu glanced at the signature on the computer screen, "The New York Times" was written by a columnist named Da Ben Dan, while the columnist for "Los Angeles Times" was named Da Sabi.

  "What's with Da Ben Dan? What's with Da Sa Bi? What kind of relationship do these two bastards have?" Ji Guo Xi couldn't help but laugh and cry, was this a challenge to their names?

  Ji Guo Chou was in another room, but he had already shifted his gaze to Ji Guo Chi. The two men's gazes were the same, and he too saw these reports.

  "In fact, you don't need to read these newspapers, what they say is useless. Tomorrow we will be competing against the Chinese team, as long as we perform well, domestic fans will recognize us because of this, and we don't need to care about what foreign media says, our roots are at home." Ji Guoqiu finished reading the report, withdrew his gaze, and started practicing his strength in the room, having a heart-to-heart exchange with his brother.

  "Boss, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's match. I want to see how strong Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming are. Will they blow us away?"

  "I'm not that optimistic, your opponent is Tai Kong Yi, we all know what his abilities are, but the one I'm up against is currently the number one center in the league, how's that for strength?"

  Ji Guo had a grudge, just thinking about facing the 7'5" and 310-pound giant made his heart ache secretly. He himself was only 230 pounds and 6'11", how could he not be toyed with?

  "Don't worry, big brother. Tomorrow I'll help you defend against Yao Ming with my life, even if it means letting McGrady score high points easily. Besides, according to the news, Yao Ming's shoulder injury hasn't healed yet, and he'll be playing with an injury in the next game, so he may not be able to play at his best."

  Ji Guo Chi at this time seemed very righteous, deciding to sacrifice himself to help his brother.

  "No need, I'll use a defensive detour. I won't be able to withstand him, our arm span is the only chance. You don't have to help me, it's not shameful to be blown up by Yao Ming, but you must blow up Taikongyi, got it?"

  Ji Guo knew that even if he lost to Yao Ming, it wouldn't be a big deal. It's normal for rookies to get blown away by all-stars. But Ji Guo was different, yesterday's words put him in the spotlight, so he can't afford to perform poorly during this period of time. He must have an outstanding performance in every game, at least until this wave of controversy dies down.

  The two teams focused all their energy on the game against the Chinese team, and domestic media reports in recent days have been related to this game. There is no other reason, just because it is a civil war in China, there are two Chinese players in the Clippers, who are twins, and the gimmick is full!

  Domestic fans' understanding of the two is actually very limited. Most reports are from domestic media copied from foreign media, so most are not positive reports.

  However, Chinese fans are not stupid, they know that being selected by the NBA, and still in the first round, is also a bit of strength. Just like Sun Yue, who has played for so many years but is only a second-round show, Ji Zhe is 21st, which is the highest draft pick among Chinese players except for Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian.

  Domestic media reports are all copied, but they are also considered comprehensive, and at least the physical test data of two people can be found on domestic portal websites.

  Fans saw the physical test data of the two, and it's not hard to find that their athletic ability is obviously better than Yao Ming, especially their 228cm arm span, which is much longer than Yao Ming. If only considering physical quality, these two are more like Garnett, Gasol and other NBA stars.

  Domestic fans also attach great importance to the age of the two, compared with Taikongyi's 19-year-old, these two brothers grew up in an orphanage abroad, and their birth year cannot be faked, they are indeed 19 years old.

  After the first game of the two brothers, many people at home immediately became fans of the two. The reason is simple. China's first match in the United States was a complete loss!

  The Chinese team's first summer league game was against the Sacramento Kings, and facing such an NBA weak team, the domestic media were optimistic before the game, and the Chinese team was also very confident. However, the final result was cruel, and the Chinese men's basketball team created the lowest score record in their history in their first game in the United States, losing 47-73 to the Kings, who are at the bottom of the league, and what's more embarrassing is that the Kings did not play with their full main force.

  Taoye's opponent is Garcia, who is only 2.01m tall, but Taoye only made 2 of 14 shots, scoring 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 turnovers in the whole game.

  The national team's defeat has disappointed fans who care about this China men's basketball US tour. Although Yao Ming did not participate in the game due to a shoulder injury, facing the Kings with an incomplete main lineup and only rookies and substitute players should not have resulted in such a performance.

  Looking at the two brothers of the Ji family, in the first game they both had excellent performances, with Ji Guo Chi even scoring 25 points, outperforming champion Oden and runner-up Durant.

  The stark contrast in results led many domestic fans to temporarily shift their hopes onto the two brothers, and some fans who were disappointed with China's performance even wanted the two brothers to teach the underperforming Chinese team a lesson.

  On July 10th, Yao Ming announced he would play in the game between China and the Clippers.

  Domestic fans now know that the Chinese team will no longer lose so badly, with or without Yao Ming, it's a completely different team, even if Yao Ming is playing injured.

  July 11, local time in Las Vegas, at 7:30 pm, Beijing time at 9:30 am, this match, which was exceptionally watched by domestic fans, was held at the "Cox Pavilion" stadium. This stadium, which can hold 20,000 people, is fully seated today, and at least 5,000 Chinese fans are present on site. At first glance, it seems like a game in China.

  In this game, the Chinese team sent out: Sun Yue, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu, Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming as the starting lineup. This basically gave Yi Jianlian a starting position, after all, in the United States, considering that Yi Jianlian was just selected by the Bucks this year, it would be inappropriate to have him come off the bench, so they could only sacrifice Wang Zhizhi.

  The first match against the Kings, if there is anyone on the Chinese team who has performed impressively? That would be 30-year-old Wang Zhizhi.

  Lao Deng Liwei also announced the starting lineup in the locker room: Smush Parker, Quinton Ross, Corey Maggette, Ji Zhe, and Ji Zhou.

  "Today, 'brother' adopted a defensive strategy around the front. That 310-pound big guy is not something you can withstand. 'Brother' has the opportunity to envelop and Corey pays attention to their No. 6 rookie."

  Lao Deng Livi knew that Ji Guo Chou could only limit Yao Ming by using a detour.

  On the Clippers, their teammates and coaches also couldn't tell them apart, and they couldn't remember their nicknames either, so they just called them "older brother" and "younger brother" to distinguish between them.

  The two brothers looked exactly the same, which had its advantages and disadvantages. Apart from the enemy being unable to tell them apart and getting confused, their teammates also had the same problem. Sometimes they couldn't even tell by looking at the jersey numbers, and it was easy to pass the ball incorrectly. To make matters worse, the two brothers' techniques were worlds apart, so if the ball was passed to the wrong person, the entire tactic would fail.

  Today, CCTV-5 will broadcast this match live, and fans have been eagerly waiting to see the "Chinese Derby" battle on the inside line.

  Ji Zhe + Ji Zhong VS Yao Ming + Yi Jianlian, fans are excited just thinking about it!

  Before the match started, Ji Guoqiu actively went forward and greeted his compatriots.

  "Hello, Yao, I'm your basketball fan."

  Ji Guoqu walked up to Yao Ming and said in polite Chinese, although he had been in Canada and the US for several years, his Chinese was still very standard.

  Yao Ming was somewhat surprised and didn't expect this overseas Chinese to take the initiative to greet him, he reacted quickly and hastily stretched out his hand politely.

  "I've read your reports and thought you grew up in an orphanage and couldn't speak Chinese, but I didn't expect your Chinese to be so good."

  "In Vancouver, if you speak Chinese, you won't get lost. In the orphanage where we grew up, more than half of us were Chinese."

  After exchanging a few words, the Chinese team's players also gathered around, apparently finding it refreshing to see a compatriot player abroad.

  Ji Guo's speech is elegant and refined, completely different from Ji Guo's shame. His words are humorous and witty, leaving a good first impression on the Chinese national team players.

  Yao Ming curiously asked: "Where's your little brother? Why didn't you bring him over for me to meet?"

  "He's a man who can't speak properly, every time he speaks, he offends people. The other day, he boasted that he was better than Auden and Doolittle. Now I don't dare let him go out alone."

  Ji Guo sneered on the other side of the field, thinking to himself: "Obviously you didn't let me pass, worried that I would offend someone. Are you trying to join the Chinese team? Do you want to participate in the Beijing Olympics?"

  Although the two are spiritually connected, when they don't use telepathy, both still have their own independent thinking, and only when using telepathy can they know each other's thoughts.

  "That's right, I want to participate in the Olympics. We were originally Chinese, and these two bodies are also of Chinese descent. Once we reach a certain level, we'll change back to our Chinese nationality. So don't cause any trouble, make your moves clean, and the opponents will be our teammates in the future."

  Ji Guo Chou secretly acknowledged his own thoughts, he knew that his younger brother's playing style was not very clean, and specially instructed Ji Guo Chi not to make enemies with the Chinese team players, lest they cause unnecessary trouble.

  "Alright, you're the boss, whatever you say goes." Ji Guo Xi replied indifferently.