Chapter 402
Breakthrough
Chapter 402 Breakthrough
This training session had no substantial content; it was more like the first class meeting before the official start of the semester.
The class monitor makes an appearance, gets acquainted with the class members, organizes two more activities to improve cohesion, and then the remaining time is for the homeroom teacher to supervise the struggling students.
The principal made the final decision on how to organize those two activities and to what extent, which was then left to the class monitor to decide.
Squad Leader Fang grinned mischievously and led them in a one-on-one match across all positions.
He chooses everyone himself.
……
The second day at the base.
After the warm-up, Squad Leader Fang clapped his hands, signaling everyone to look over.
"Don't rush to training. Let's have a one-on-one match today so I can get a feel for it and you can experience the weight of an NBA-class point guard."
Suddenly, a cacophony of noise erupted.
Fang Xinghe ignored their discussion and announced the rules on his own.
"11 points per game, best of three games. Attacks are initiated from beyond the three-point line. Guards can dribble a maximum of three times, while inside players can dribble multiple times. There are no restrictions on attack methods. If a player misses, possession is exchanged."
To prevent you from getting wiped out... I'll allow you to fight in shifts; I'll be on the field until the very end.
Grass!
That last sentence infuriated the group of self-important national athletes.
It was 2007 now, no longer 1997, and the core players of the CBA had already gained an understanding of the intensity of the NBA.
However, most of them only faced each other at the highest level of the Summer League, which is essentially a competition between NBA players.
Only three players on the national team truly understand what NBA-level talent means; the rest always feel that even if there's a gap, it's not like they can't compete.
Didn't we give the American team a hard time at the 04 Olympics?
"Damn, that's so arrogant, let's beat him up!"
"Exactly! If we can't beat the guards, surely Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian can too?"
"I'll go first! I'll help everyone get a feel for things!"
"Alright, I'll take care of the attrition. Xiao Yi, you can go later!"
In the midst of the public outcry, this group of people suddenly united, which was quite remarkable.
Seeing Liu Wei rushing forward first, team leader Zhang Xiong said with some worry, "Shouldn't we do something about it? What if Xiao Fang loses? Um, that wouldn't be good, would it?"
Coach Guo nodded in agreement. It wasn't that he lacked confidence in Fang Xinghe's abilities, but rather that the rules were simply too outrageous.
Even basketball legend Michael Jordan wouldn't dare to have a no-rules one-on-one match with Shaquille O'Neal, right?
With that big butt, he can back down the ball from beyond the three-point line. Who can stop those freakish centers?
Moreover, there are a total of 28 reserve players. After removing those who are injured, there are still 22 players who will fight Fang Xinghe in a series of battles. Once they are exhausted, no matter who Fang Xinghe is, he can easily defeat anyone.
"Let them fight."
Yu Zi stood on the sidelines, stroking her chin, her face full of excitement.
“It’s a good thing if SR loses badly; it would be even better if he could win.”
To date, he has not had any in-depth contact or communication with Fang Xinghe. He is still waiting and observing. He must be extremely cautious when dealing with such a superstar whose status is above that of the head coach.
And today, perhaps he will finally get the best opportunity he has been waiting for.
Liu Wei was the first to rush to Fang Xinghe, but he spoke very politely.
"Team Leader, this is point guard Liu..."
"Just give me your team number," Fang Xinghe interrupted. "Right now, I'm not interested in who you are."
Liu Wei, who has a very good temper, was successfully provoked into a rage, but... this is nothing yet.
"You kick off."
Fang Xinghe tossed the basketball to the opponent without even raising his hand, simply bending his body slightly as if he were ready.
"Come on, let me see how you differ from those lousy point guards in the NBA."
Grass!
Liu Wei was so angry that his eyes turned red. He looked up at Fang Xinghe, who was 1.5 meters away from him, and raised his hand to shoot a three-pointer.
Aren't you best at three-pointers?
Come on, watch the men's performance!
However, just as he raised the basketball to his chest and was about to jump, the 1.5-meter distance vanished instantly, and a hand appeared in front of him.
Snapped!
As the crisp sound of the ball being sliced rang out, Liu Wei's hand was still rising with inertia, but his eyes had already glanced down in horror, and he watched as Fang Xinghe stood half a meter in front of him, hands on his hips, a half-smile on his face.
Holy crap!
A gasp of surprise erupted from the sidelines.
"What kind of speed is that? It's fucking too fast!"
"Idiot!" Jonas shook his head and gestured to Coach Guo to speak.
Coach Guo immediately started yelling, "Do you even have a brain? You're a point guard, and you brazenly expose the ball to the NBA's single-season steals leader! Is this how I taught you?!"
Liu Wei blushed, his lips moved as if he wanted to argue, but in the end he just turned around and walked to the three-point line, unconvinced.
"I was careless just now, let's try again!"
"It's not carelessness, it's a bad attacking habit."
Captain Fang patiently corrected him and generously offered guidance.
"Your shooting is decisive, which is an advantage, but your shooting motion is too slow and you lack eye deception, so you can only bully opponents with poor defensive awareness."
If you've deliberately developed your three-point shooting ability in the CBA, then I suggest you avoid top NBA defensive players.
At the very least, don't act so recklessly in front of Kidd, Paul, Kobe, and Wade, unless you can speed up your entire routine by at least 0.3 seconds.
Liu Wei listened intently, and subconsciously asked, "If it were 0.3 seconds faster, could it be used on them?"
"of course not."
Fang Xinghe gave him a "you're dreaming" look and chuckled, "Don't underestimate their ability to interfere. 0.3 seconds can only guarantee one shot opportunity. How do you solve the problem of shooting consistency?"
There was actually another sentence, but Brother Fang was kind and didn't say it to his face.
—Taking the ball and making three-pointers isn't your job. Do your own thing and stop talking nonsense!
"okay, I get it."
Liu Wei gritted his teeth, pulled up his shorts, and assumed a horse stance, adopting a defensive posture as if facing a formidable enemy.
However... it was all for naught.
Fang Xinghe didn't use any fancy tricks; he just slammed the ball in, accelerated violently, and passed right by him in one step before scoring with a loud bang.
The basketball hoop groaned in pain, just as Liu Wei turned his upper body around.
"Focus your attention!"
Captain Fang was quite dissatisfied and spoke in a tone that was half a reminder and half a reprimand.
Weizi: ╥﹏╥
Why the hell can't I concentrate? But is this a problem with my concentration? Damn it!
The spectators on the sidelines were all dumbfounded.
"Wow...that speed..."
"That's a bit too perverted, bro..."
"Was he always this fast? In the blink of an eye, he was hanging on the basket in a flash..."
Amidst hissing and gasping sounds, Jonas frantically jotted down notes in his notebook.
The text above, written in English, states: "SR's ball control has made a huge breakthrough, and combined with even greater speed, it has matched or even surpassed the brilliance of Jordan's first step in history during his prime..."
Actually not.
Fang Xinghe's center of gravity was lower than Da Dan's when he broke through, but Da Dan's stride was longer. In terms of the ability to break through defenses in the first step alone, Da Dan was still stronger.
It's easy to understand. Danzi can clear the defender's position in just one step, making it difficult for the opponent to block him no matter how he moves. But Fang Xinghe needs one and a half steps. That's the insurmountable barrier.
Basketball is a sport where "model is everything".
If anyone has watched the game footage of Flying Squirrel during his peak, you will marvel: How could he be so much faster than Jordan, yet his offensive power was so far inferior?
It's actually quite simple: shorter people just need to put in more effort to break free from their current height.
This applies to Little Flying Squirrel, Iverson, and Fang Xinghe.
Fortunately, Fang Xinghe had more than just speed, so his subsequent demonstration was exceptionally phenomenal.
"You're too boring. From now on, just defend my shots."
As soon as he finished speaking, he moved the ball sideways and took a jump shot from beyond the three-point line.
Swish!
The basketball obediently went into the net.
The next shot: a triple threat stance, a forward step back, and a pull-up jumper.
Swish!
Another goal.
Including the chat, Fang Xinghe scored 5 points in a total of one minute.
The fourth shot was still a volley, a side step back, and a raised hand... a feint!
Liu Wei jumped recklessly to block the shot, but Fang Xinghe caught the ball and waited for him to fly out before easily tiptoeing to shoot.
Swish!
By this point in the fight, Fang Xinghe hadn't even broken a sweat, while Wei Zi was completely stunned.
He is the only guard in the Chinese men's basketball team who can steadily dribble the ball across half-court, possessing characteristics such as steadiness, tenacity, strength, and fearlessness in the face of contact. However, in front of Fang Ge... he appears as inexperienced as a child.
On the fifth shot, Fang Xinghe missed, and it was finally Liu Wei's turn to attack. But as soon as the ball landed, he slapped it away.
In a game, he can protect the ball by turning to the side, but now it's a one-on-one situation where he has to launch an attack within three dribbles, which exposes his weaknesses.
After two rounds, the score was 22-0. Fang Ge cruelly shaved his head twice, completely demoralizing the guy.
As she left the field, she ignored everyone, muttering to herself like a broken record: "I only knew he was strong, but I didn't realize the gap was so big... Isn't this bullying a child?!"
Well, more or less. Nobody in the backcourt got off easy; they were all bald.
Against guards under 1.9 meters tall who aren't top-tier athletes, Fang Xinghe doesn't even need to break a sweat; it's like child's play.
After four consecutive wins, the eyes of the guards have completely changed, showing excitement, fear, confusion, and even admiration.
The gap is so large that no one can compete anymore; they can only submit.
The biggest weakness of the Chinese men's basketball team has always been its guards. Forget about playmaking and outside shooting; they even struggle to get past half-court.
In this respect, Liu Wei was already the best player. As for the other guards, Commander Fang didn't even bother to scold them.
Not to mention their mediocre athletic talent, they don't work hard to hone their bodies, and their basic skills are terrible. I don't know what these clubs' training groups are doing.
After all the guards had finished, Fang Xinghe declared on the spot: "You don't need to participate in tactical training anymore. In the next year, you should focus on improving your basic skills, then build muscle and lose fat. If you can't do that, you're all out. There's no need to drag a bunch of you into the guard line!"
That was a very blunt remark, but he was also disappointed in its lack of ambition.
Chen Jianghua has decent talent, but his physical strength is really poor. He gets all wobbly and weak at the slightest touch. How can he play?
Fans always try to defend him, saying things like how he would have been so much better if he hadn't been sidelined by injuries. But the thing is, even a god can get injured if you don't work hard to build muscle!
When Danzi weighed 84 kilograms, she was still quite tough, but after gaining weight to over 95 kilograms, she became incredibly resilient.
Playing basketball is not good if you're too heavy, and it's even worse if you're too light. Building muscle and reducing fat, strengthening your core, working hard to improve the muscles around your joints, and constantly improving your power generation method are the keys to reducing injuries.
……
After crushing the defense and giving them a good dressing down, Fang Xinghe began to face the forwards.
Wang Lei, Zhu Fangyu, Li Nan, and Wang Shipeng's models can all cover Fang Xinghe, but beating them only requires a little more effort.
Like Wang Lei, all he has is his physique; he can hit a target with a single sway.
The real trouble is Sun Wukong.
This guy is 205 meters tall, with a wingspan of at least 206 cm. He is agile in lateral movement and has outstanding defensive awareness. He is a natural counter to speedy small guards in one-on-one situations with three dribbles.
The listless, dejected-looking man placed all his hopes on him, looking at him as if he were his father.
"Can Etsuko do it?"
"Specified line!"
"He certainly can't keep up with the team in terms of speed, but he doesn't need to keep up completely in terms of big defense against small; maintaining a semi-coverage is enough."
"No problem!"
"Don't worry, guys!" Sun Yue patted his chest. "Kyrie Irving, Paul Iverson, they're all trash in American one-on-one!"
He didn't add Fang Xinghe's name to the list, but that's what he was thinking.
Then, full of confidence, I went on stage.
And then... he was beaten into a monkey by Buddha Fang.
Phantom attack + super speed + unstoppable shooting; even peak Jordan would be terrified.
The most annoying thing about this combination is that when Fang Xinghe takes his first step, the defender has to move their center of gravity accordingly.
If you don't move, he'll take another half step and slip past you.
If you move, he can pull back and connect with a feint within 0.3 seconds. If you can't keep up with the speed, everything you do will be wrong.
The least error-prone approach is to preserve the opportunity to jump and disrupt, avoid being pinned to the ground, and use your jumping ability and wingspan to disrupt the opponent and reduce their accuracy.
However, this conservative defensive strategy is practically useless against Fang Xinghe.
You give yourself time to react, but he can reach the highest point in 0.1 seconds, with a release height of at least 2.7 meters.
This height itself is not hopeless. Jordan's shooting height was usually parallel to the rim, about 3.05 meters, and Durant's was even more exaggerated, easily reaching 3.10 meters.
Fang Xinghe's despair-inducing quality lies in his ability to easily create distance while maintaining a precise timing for his attacks.
Therefore, there is no need to exert full force at all; simply jump to your maximum height and launch yourself slightly.
After playing in the NBA for a year, he was blocked only 7 times, and none of those were jump shots.
Sun Yue's prized defense was completely shattered by Fang Ge's combination of drives and shots.
"This can't be... Damn, I'm so bad at this..."
The child was muttering to himself as he left the field, looking a bit dazed.
Next, they attacked the inside, and everyone thought that this time it would be a close game, right?
The result was even more amazing—they were all bald!
There's no need to worry about breaking through; it's that simple—just push forward and engage your upper body!
Du Feng and Da Zhi are no match for Fang Ge in terms of mobility and weight; they have height but struggle to even get the ball down.
For a typical power forward to attack Fang Xinghe, the only way is not to back him down, but to drop his shoulder to create contact, then pull up and shoot.
Yes, that's the Melon-style playing style.
Otherwise, relying solely on their weight of 100 or 115 kilograms, if they could only manage to penetrate Fang Xinghe by one centimeter in an hour, then their weightlifting wouldn't have been in vain.
Soon, Dazhi and Du Feng were beaten to the point of questioning their existence.
who am I?
where am I?
What am I doing?
In the end, only two proud aces remained—Yi Jianlian, the ceiling of comprehensive quality among people of Asian descent, and Yao Ming, the Great Wall of China.
Lianmei is far from her peak this year. She weighs 110 kilograms, her back-to-the-basket game is average, and her front-court dribbling is terrible.
After Fang Ge managed to steal the ball twice in a row, Lian Mei learned her lesson and started arching her back.
As a result... he couldn't budge it either.
The best way to back down a smaller opponent is with a fadeaway jump shot; you don't need to treat the defender like a human being at all.
However, if you are not good at jump shooting, then a power guard with a very low chassis will become a small mountain, making it extremely difficult for others to shoot.
I'm talking about you: A mountain in Puerto Rico!
Fang Ge wasn't as strong as Baliya, but his strength was far greater, making Lian Mei feel like she was dying.
Finally, Lianmei could only pin her hopes on a fadeaway jumper near the three-point line... a wild fadeaway shot.
Wave after wave, until you're bald.
After 21 rounds of matches, everyone was stunned.
Good heavens, from 1 to 5, it was all 11-0, only Yao Ming wasn't beaten?!
The brothers all stared at Yao Ming, whose face was utterly bewildered. He thought to himself: "Am I supposed to be a 2.26-meter-tall guy like you, sitting in a squad leader's chair and ramming in?!"
Is this right? Is this acceptable? Is this even readable?!
But they can't not score, right? Domestic players under the CBA system have to score at least one goal, right?
Damn it, what kind of mess is this!
Just as he was struggling with the decision, Fang Xinghe threw the ball away, clapped his hands, and said he was quitting.
"I'm out of energy, let's stop here."
The group stared at his chest, which was only slightly heaving, for a moment, and then suddenly leaped up.
"Squad, come on, have some water and take a break!"
"The formation is awesome, we're impressed!"
"Yes, yes, take a break. You've worked hard today!"
Regardless of what they were thinking, they all kept their mouths shut.
Even after being beaten, they were grateful that Fang Xinghe hadn't gone too far and had left them with a last fig leaf.
Otherwise, even if Yao Ming does manage to get in, it will only make things more awkward for everyone.
"Alright, let's start training."
Captain Fang took a sip of his energy drink and turned to walk towards the coaching staff.
"Everyone knows which aspects we need to strengthen, right?"
The coaches nodded vigorously, like chickens pecking at rice, without saying a word.
Today's one-on-one match not only demonstrated Fang Xinghe's absolute authority, but also exposed everyone's greatest weakness.
Those who need to build muscle should do so, and those who need to improve their fundamentals should do so. The gap is comprehensive, but the most important task over the past year has been to address the biggest weakness.
If you can't fill the gap, you don't deserve to be on the roster, because your presence on the field will only create weaknesses.
"Alright, I'm leaving now. Let me know in advance for the next training camp. It's time to have some real competition."
Fang Xinghe waved goodbye, leaving without a trace, thus ending his training camp trip ahead of schedule.
They still have to endure two more days of hardship, waiting for the coaching staff to assign them tasks.
This time, however, no one complained. They cooperated obediently and were also building up their hopes for the gold medal.
Only after truly witnessing Fang Xinghe's strength did these people dare to believe that winning the championship was not just a fantasy.
(End of this chapter)