Chapter 8: The Confrontation of Insiders

  In the last game, the Chinese team was led by Yi Jianlian, and ended in a humiliating loss to the Kings. The recent barrage of criticism from domestic media and fans has put tremendous pressure on this successor to Yao Ming.

  Domestic media have tried to downplay this crushing defeat, but the fans' criticism has still put No. 6 in the spotlight. Today, the Chinese team welcomed Yao Ming's early return, and if Yi Jianlian still performs like he did in the last game, scoring only 2 out of 14 shots next to the Little Giant, it's imaginable how intense the media and fan criticism will be after the match!

  "In fact, Tai Kong Yi is quite pitiful. He didn't say he wanted to be a savior, but the fans' expectations of him are too high. Why not put these concerns on me instead? I'm not afraid of this pressure." Ji Guo Chi thought to himself as he looked at Tai Kong Yi's serious face before the game.

  "Then defeat him, and you can take all his fans away." Ji Guo Qiu replied as he stood at the center circle for the jump ball.

  With Ji Zhe and Yao Ming standing in the center circle, the game began, both teams jumped for the ball...

  Ji Zhi VS Yao Ming.

  "In the CCTV live broadcast room, hostess He Qiong introduced the players: "Now playing with Yao Ming is Ji Guoqiu, the older twin brother, wearing No. 6 jersey. If you can't tell them apart, just remember their jersey numbers, the smaller one is the older brother and the bigger one is the younger brother."

  Football fans in front of the TV heard it and felt even more confused.

  The coach reasonably estimated that he himself would be uncomfortable hearing this, and after a pause continued to say: "Qi Guoqi is 216cm tall and weighs 230 pounds. It's said that his vertical jump can reach 80cm when he's in top physical condition, which is an excellent data among inside players. Everyone knows the monster Dwight Howard, whose vertical jump is only 95cm, and Garnett's peak was probably around this height as well. If 19-year-old Qi Guoqi can really jump to 80cm, then after one or two years of training, at his age he should still be able to improve, I believe he can increase to around 85cm."

  It's no wonder that a professional and reasonable teacher like Lian Ji Guo can even calculate the bounce of two years ago, leaving Sun Da Shi with no room to interject.

  The game has started, and Di Guo Chou is like proving his bounce, rushing before Yao Ming, first jumping up, 228cm arm span makes him lead the small giant two palms high, first flicking to the basketball.

  "Wow, he's jumping really high! Look at that arm span, even Yao Ming, who is 10cm taller than him, can't match it." The reasonable teacher couldn't help but praise Ji Guoqiu's arm span.

  Ji Guo Qiu's dunk also made fans who were watching him play for the first time in the country shocked and amazed: "This jump height is indeed higher than domestic players by a big margin, too easy to say that he jumped 85cm from a standing start, I don't know if it's true? Wouldn't that be even higher than Ji Guo Qiu?"

  The fast break team attacked first, Parker brought the ball to the front court and accelerated. He had already shaken off Sun Yue, but on his first attack, he didn't choose to take it himself, instead passing the ball to Maggette.

  Maggette got the ball and Ji Zhe took off to block, taking advantage of the cover, Maggette accelerated and passed Wang Shipeng.

  Yao Ming was helping on defense in the paint, his foot speed couldn't keep up with the outside, he could only defend the three-second zone, otherwise the basket would be empty.

  At this time, Maggette chose to make a sudden stop in the middle of the shot, and Yao Ming was powerless. Perhaps it was because he lacked confidence in his own mid-range shooting, Maggette's forte is still breaking through. His finishing ability is very strong, and his ability to force fouls is outstanding. Even when facing Yao Ming, he dares to attack the basket.

  McGrady jumped high against Yao Ming, dodged Yao's block in mid-air, changed his shooting posture while gliding, and altered the shooting angle. After this series of aerial operations, McGrady reluctantly released the ball.

  This is a typical showy dunk, with an incredible degree of difficulty. Although the basketball was thrown out and not covered, it's only natural that it didn't go in.

  Ji Guo Chi was entangled with Taikong Yi under the basket, making it impossible for either of them to jump up. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched, but Ji's arm span advantage allowed him to touch the ball first. He directly used his fingertips to tap the ball back into the hoop, and then accurately dropped it into the net!

  The live audience applauded, including 5,000 Chinese fans who supported the Chinese team, but if the Clippers had twin brothers on their side, they would not have been stingy with their applause either.

  Tai Space easily lost the defensive rebound, his face didn't look good, he had confidence in his own bounce, these two twins should not be his opponents, but the opponent did not give him a chance to jump, and he was inferior to the other two in terms of arm span.

  After scoring the goal, Ji Guo didn't celebrate too much. He still remembered his promise to Ji Guochi before the game not to provoke the Chinese team's players, just to give his brother some face. Today he decided to try to keep a poker face. Although in his heart he thought his brother was being patriotic, others might not appreciate it, and he didn't want to end up slapping himself in the face.

  Quick defender, Ji Guo decisively made a detour to the front, his footsteps moving swiftly. He stood between Sun Yue and Yao Ming, his hands spread wide, raising his elbows to interfere with Yao Ming's line of sight, ready to intercept the pass at any moment.

  Ji Guo's defensive skills are quite suitable for guarding Yao Ming, and he also has the potential to be a threat. His long arms can effectively interfere with passes, and his jumping ability is excellent. Even if Kidd were here, it would be difficult to pass the ball to Yao Ming. With his agile footwork and good defensive awareness, although his strength is not yet fully developed, these advantages are already enough to have a significant impact on Yao Ming.

  Yao Ming was immediately in a bad mood as soon as he was surrounded, the small giant's most hated defensive way is to surround him, especially now that his shoulder is injured and his ability to grab positions has decreased greatly.

  Ji Guo Chou Ka was in front of Yao Ming, his long arms waving up and down, his eyes fixed tightly on Sun Yue, while Ji Guo Chi was on the other side helping him pay attention to Yao Ming's movements behind him. The two men's lines of sight were combined, it was as if he had placed a surveillance camera behind Yao Ming, not only could he see the dynamics in front of him, but also the scenery behind him was unobstructed, it can be said that there was no blind spot in front or behind, completely without any worries about what's behind.

  Sun Yue operated outside the three-point line for nearly 10 seconds but couldn't pass the ball out, and finally had to give up directly passing to Yao Ming, passing the ball to Wang Shipeng in the bottom corner.

  Yao Ming continued to move towards the bottom corner, but Ji Kuoqiu's footsteps were faster. After seeing Yao Ming's movement from his brother's line of sight, Ji Kuoqiu again took a step ahead to grab the advantageous position and still tightly blocked the passing route. Although the force transmitted by Yao Ming from behind made him very laborious, he knew that Yao Ming did not dare push him, otherwise it would have become a foul.

  Facing Ji Guo's defense, even Sun Yue, the point guard, couldn't pass the ball out, let alone Wang Shipeng.

  The Clippers' Quentin Richardson was responsible for guarding him, the team's perimeter defense specialist who is usually used to guard the opponent's primary outside player. Although his body is weak and often bullied by opponents, when the defensive object became Wang Shipeng, he suddenly became the physically dominant side, plus his originally fast footsteps, Wang Shipeng wanted to break through but found that there was no chance at all, and the attack time was already limited.

  Wang Shipeng forced a shot, which was heavily biased. At this time, Ji Guochu used his flexible footwork to get around the basket and firmly block Yao Ming. Ji Guochu also blocked Taoye Yi, and both of them grabbed the advantageous position at the same time.

  Basketball fans were amazed, two brothers on both sides of the basket, as if they had used a split-body technique, the visual shock was particularly strong!

  The basketball didn't even touch the rim, it hit the backboard and bounced right down, landing in the direction of Ji Guo's shame...

  "Mine!" Ji Guo Yi leaned back into the air, using his superior jumping ability to get a head start, and stretched out his long arm to easily grab the rebound.

  The outstanding performance of the two brothers in these rounds allowed Lao Deng to put his mind at ease, sit back on the substitute bench and watch the game steadily.

  The game started, and he was unsure what kind of performance the two brothers would put up against Yao Ming. Especially considering that Ji's opponent was Yao Ming, this little giant is not someone that the 6th rookie can compare to, in the entire NBA, no one can defend against this 226cm tall giant center.

  But the two brothers worked together very well, especially Ji Guoqiu, who defended Yao Ming. His fronting made Lao Shuai applaud in his heart, even their main center Chris Kaman couldn't do such excellent fronting defense. Ji Guoqiu is just a 19-year-old rookie, his potential can be seen at a glance, not as low as the 21st pick, he is a buried pearl.

  Ji Guo's performance was also excellent, although it was only one round. Lao Deng could see that he had temporarily gained the upper hand in his confrontation with the new rookie in the 6th position.

  Both performances have exceeded Old Deng Liwei's expectations, but the game time is still too short, and it's too early to conclude now. It's uncertain whether they can continue to perform like this.

  The fast break team attacked, and Parker passed the ball to Ji Guozhou on the free throw line, who organized the attack from a high position.

  Yao Ming's large size made him only dare to defend the free throw line, otherwise he would be broken through and couldn't catch up in time.

  Ji Guo glanced at the basket, he is now standing at a high position, this distance is also within the shooting range, but the hit rate is not high, his best is still 15 feet or less, beyond 15 feet and he starts to feel powerless.

  Ji Guoqi started running from the left bottom corner, suddenly accelerated on the baseline, got rid of Taikongyi, quickly ran from the left bottom corner to the right bottom corner, and Ji Guoqiu's pass also arrived at the same time.

  Taiyang Yi couldn't keep up with Ji Guo's speed, the latter's starting speed and absolute speed were not inferior to those of an ordinary No. 3 player. When the opponent received the ball and prepared to shoot, he was still two steps away, and his block was completely non-threatening.

  "Whoosh!"

  Ji Guo's shooting posture is very elegant, the action is beautiful, and the line looks especially comfortable. The basketball falls into the net cleanly and neatly!

  Three minutes into the game, the two brothers clashed with China's interior line in the first half, gaining the upper hand on both offense and defense.

  The Chinese team's interior line, which was once proud, now looks mediocre.

  The rational teacher was very into the live broadcast, and when Ji Guo threw a three-pointer, he couldn't help but excitedly shout: "Ho~he actually dared to shoot! Ah, it actually went in!"

  Sun Master also sighed: "I didn't expect that in a foreign country, there would be two such excellent Chinese players. The two of them cooperate with each other so tacitly, they must often play together."

  The fans in front of the TV all had a black face: "Isn't this nonsense?"

  Ji Guo was humiliated at the start, losing five points in a row. Tai Kong's face couldn't hold up anymore. As the 6th ranked show, how could he lose to a 30th ranked latecomer? He began to plot his counterattack...