Chapter 172 This is a monster!

At this time, the score was 8:14.

McGrady actually followed what Kenny Smith and Barkley said. After the pick-and-roll, he focused on Nash and made two of three attacks, including a three-pointer. He scored 5 points alone.

Unfortunately, even though McGrady was extremely brave and beat Nash, he could not do it alone.

He Zhongqiu blasted Drew Gooden in the paint and scored 5 points in a row, including a two-plus-one. With Nash assisting Alan Houston to make a mid-range shot, the score difference widened.

The Magic called their first timeout.

Rick Carlisle told Wells and Nash to pay attention to defending pick-and-rolls, while also asking others to strengthen their defense of Nash's position.

He said to Wells: "Bunchi, don't let McGrady get rid of you easily, use your size and strength, which is your advantage on the outside.

Once they run a pick-and-roll again, it will be very easy for you to force your way past Tyronn Lue and break their pick-and-roll.”

He Zhongqiu stared at Wells and said in surprise: "Little Fatty, so you didn't try your best?"

Being stared at by He Zhongqiu's knife-like eyes, he panicked and quickly explained: "No, Boss, how dare I not try my best?

McGrady moved very fast, and when I got around Tyronn Lue, I was already left behind. "

He Zhongqiu said unhappily, "You weigh 95 kilograms, and McGrady also weighs 95 kilograms, but your center of gravity is lower than his, and your strength is greater than his. Tyronn Lue weighs less than 80 kilograms, so which one of them can't you squeeze out?"

Wells quickly assured, "Don't worry, Boss. Next I will break their pick-and-roll tactics by squeezing them apart."

"Work hard, or come back to the locker room and I will teach you a lesson. Rub your back for a month first." He Zhongqiu said.

"Got it, boss."

Wells's face turned bitter. The amount of exercise of scrubbing Wolverine's back was no less than half a game. He quickly said very obediently.

Time was running out, and seeing Wolverine had finished teaching his younger brother a lesson, Rick Carlisle quickly said to him: “Wolverine, you are our defensive core, you have to stand up.”

"Don't worry, coach, leave it to me." He Zhongqiu said "shamelessly".

Rick Carlisle and Tom Thibodeau smiled, but of course they didn't believe everything He Zhongqiu said.

They know that He Zhongqiu's current level of assisting defense can make him the Knicks' low-post defensive core, but he cannot support the entire defensive system, which means he cannot take into account the outside line.

But they believe in He Zhongqiu's potential because He Zhongqiu has made many wonderful defensive contributions on the outside, and in the playoffs.

That's why they put pressure on He Zhongqiu, just hoping that he could grow up as quickly as possible under greater pressure.

Based on He Zhongqiu's performance, the two of them have evaluated that in two or three seasons at most, He Zhongqiu can become Garnett on the defensive end.

They even think he will be more terrifying than Garnett because Wolverine is faster and more athletic.

In just a few preseason games, they not only found that the Wolverines' offensive skills had greatly improved, but also found that the Wolverines were faster and more explosive than before.

This is consistent with their assessment of Wolverine, who is fulfilling his talent and potential.

After the timeout, the game continues.

McGrady continued to focus on Nash, but Bonzi Wells was as fierce as if he had taken an aphrodisiac. He repeatedly broke his and Tyronn Lue's pick-and-roll tactics, forcing him to choose to force shots from the outside.

But he missed shots continuously due to Wells' physical confrontation. Three minutes later, the score difference widened to 12 points, and he had no choice but to break through.

This time, he got the ball on the left wing three-point line, grabbed it with one hand and quickly threw it up.

Although Wells' defense is fierce, this is his defensive style. His defensive talent is actually average, and his center of gravity was lifted up due to the shake.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, McGrady rushed forward in one step.

Magic power forward Juwan Howard has been active on the right wing, and Drew Gooden, who has mid-range shooting ability, quickly moved up and cleared the basket.

He Zhongqiu did not stay under the basket. Instead, he quickly moved up one step and turned around, two meters in front of the left side of the basket and only one meter away from his left waist.

He turned his back to Drew Gooden who was moving below the free throw line, cutting off the passing route between McGrady and Gooden, while facing McGrady who was rushing towards him.

McGrady rushed to the left waist position like a galloping horse, and facing Wolverine who was eyeing him in the penalty area, he suddenly changed direction downward, widened the distance between him and Wolverine, and rushed into the penalty area.

He Zhongqiu immediately moved to the basket and maintained defensive pressure on McGrady from the top.

The next moment, McGrady took a step into the air, stretched out his right elbow to position himself, and grabbed the ball with his left hand ready to dunk.

He Zhongqiu, who was highly focused, had a very fast defensive reaction speed, which was no more than 0.2 seconds. As soon as McGrady's feet left the floor, he jumped up.

Generally, the starting reaction time of professional 0.1-meter runners is between 0.3 and 0.1 seconds. second should be the fastest reaction speed of humans. It can be seen how quick his reaction is. It seems that the two of them jumped almost at the same time.

McGrady's vertical jump is 82 centimeters in physical test data, but he has amazing explosive power, long heels and light weight, so his maximum running jump reaches 104 centimeters, 22 centimeters more than the vertical.

He knew that Wolverine was very good at blocking shots, so this time he almost jumped up with all his strength, and his jumping height was at least over 95 centimeters.

His arm span is also very long, 218 cm, only 6 cm less than He Zhongqiu, and his standing reach is 269 cm, 17 cm less than He Zhongqiu.

When he reached the highest point, the height of the basketball in his hand reached 365 centimeters, which was one arm's length higher than the basket, and his head was level with the basket.

In this attack, he had a very good feel and enough jumping ability, so he was determined to make this dunk.

He Zhongqiu's vertical jump was only 80 centimeters at most, but he had the advantage of reaching high, and his defensive height still reached that of McGrady.

"Take it!"

When McGrady was about to slam dunk, He Zhongqiu grabbed the basketball accurately with his powerful claws.

"how is this possible?"

McGrady was extremely surprised. He had tried his best in this attack, but he was still blocked by Wolverine. He couldn't believe it.

"Oh ho!"

The moment the block happened, the entire Madison Square Garden was boiling with countless fans cheering.

"Ohhhh."

"Wolverine! Incredible block."

The excited roars of the two live commentators echoed throughout the venue.

He Zhongqiu failed to complete the block, the ball bounced up, then he jumped again to grab the basketball and passed it to Nash.

The Knicks immediately launched a fast break counterattack, and finally Nash broke into the basket and passed the ball to Alan Houston, who made a mid-range shot.

Not long after, McGrady broke into the basket again and was blocked by He Zhongqiu. Since then, he has never broken into the restricted area and just shot from outside.

The Knicks attacked, and He Zhongqiu squeezed into the basket to get a position.

With a strength of level 96, he can bench press over 250 kg. Not to mention Drew Gooden, even O'Neal, who weighs 160 kg, might not be able to handle it. He didn't use any steps, but relied on brute force to easily get to the basket.

At this time, Nash's importance was highlighted. When He Zhongqiu turned around and blocked Gooden, he also passed the ball in.

What happened next was very simple. He Zhongqiu caught the ball with one hand, turned suddenly on the spot, and then pulled it up in an instant.

"boom!"

"Di!"

A two-handed dunk nearly collapsed the entire basket, which swayed and sank nearly two feet at most, scaring the reporters in the media seats behind the baseline to flee. The referee blew the whistle and pointed at Drew Gooden.

When he turned around, Drew Gooden was directly knocked off track by the terrifying force. He failed to jump up to block the shot and was called for a blocking foul.

"Oh ho!"

Madison Square Garden was once again filled with enthusiastic cheers and shouts.

"This attack under the basket is so powerful! I seem to see the Big Shark's attack under the basket." Barkley said in surprise.

"It seems that Wolverine's explosive power has become stronger?" Kenny Smith said hesitantly.

Barkley said: "It's not like, it's true. I think not only his explosiveness, but his strength may also be stronger than before."

Kenny Smith said: "And the speed, the speed of the fast break, he can run as fast as Nash, the starting speed is very fast, which is incredible, he is a center."

A minute later, He Zhongqiu made a slam dunk from three meters away. Guden was unable to avoid it and was knocked away, then left the court injured.

"A monster! It's a monster!"

Buckley said in a tone that was both excited and horrified: "Wolverine's athletic ability is stronger than last season, and his offensive skills are also stronger than last season. He is evolving rapidly. The Knicks really picked up a treasure, a gem.

Once he's finished evolving, I think there won't be any center in this league who can compete with him, except Shaquille O'Neal."

"The Big Shark is getting old." Kenny Smith said in a heavy tone.

"Then, the league's restricted area will welcome its next ruler." Barkley said in a very affirmative tone.

At the end of the game, the score was 73:115, the Magic lost by 42 points, and the Knicks won a landslide victory in their home opener.

贺中秋和纳什、阿兰休斯顿、邦奇威尔斯四人分别轰下39分、21分、18分15分，联手贡献93分。

In Yanjing, CCTV-5 live studio, Xu Jicheng said with a smile: "Congratulations to the Knicks and Zhongqiu for winning the opening game. This is a good start. I hope the regular season will go smoothly."

Xu Jicheng laughed and said, "Tonight, the Magic's inside players who were against him were all eaten alive by him. They had no power to resist. He did not hold back in the opening game.

If it weren't for Nash and Alan Houston on the outside, he wouldn't have been able to shoot as much as he wanted and would have definitely scored more points."

Then the three of them began to summarize the game. Sun Zhenping first talked about the Magic, saying: "Tonight McGrady made 23 of 8 shots, with a hit rate of only 34.8%. His hit rate last season was 45.7%, which was not a good performance."

Yang Jian nodded and said, "Some of his shots were inappropriate, but his performance in other positions was not good either. If he doesn't take a shot, the Magic's offense will be unimpressive."

Xu Jicheng went on to say: "Juwan Howard shot 14-for-4, with an even lower hit rate. Drew Gooden shot 11-for-3, not much better.

Both of them were restricted by Zhongqiu's defense and could not enter the paint area. They could only shoot from outside. Zhongqiu rushed out and blocked Howard once and Gooden twice. Coupled with the performance of Mutombo and others, their offense did not work. "

Sun Zhenping nodded and said, "Today, Zhongqiu sent out seven blocks and two steals, completely blocking the restricted area, and the defense exploded!"

Yang Jian smiled and said: "Mutombo played for 25 minutes and also had 4 blocks. McDyess played for 13 minutes and stole the ball from Howard once. Doriak blocked Gooden once.

Among the inside players, only the starting power forward Harrington did not perform well, but the others were good, with the four of them contributing 12 blocks and 3 steals. "

徐计成笑着道：“中秋在进攻端也非常棒，打了36分钟，20投14中，命中率70%，加上14罚11中，一共轰下了39分12篮板2助攻2抢断7盖帽2失误2犯规。”

Yang Jian said: "Among the 11 attempts at the basket, 10 were successful, and 9 of the 4 shots from the backboard were successful. The hit rate of the shots from close range was 44.4%, which is also very good."

Sun Zhenping nodded and said, "11 times of attacking the basket, including 5 alley-oop slam dunks with Nash, all of which were dunks on cuts, and two dunks on fast breaks. The remaining 4 times were his own low-post attacks with the ball, and he made 3 of them. He played much more easily on the offensive end than last season."

Xu Jicheng said: "With Nash's passing this season, Zhongqiu should be much easier on the offensive end, saving a lot of physical energy consumption in positioning.

But it was very clear that he invested more on the defensive end tonight, often making up for the three-point line, which was another test of his physical fitness. "

Sun Zhenping said: “The defense of the first and fourth positions is not good, and Zhongqiu’s investment in defense cannot be reduced, so the physical strength must be distributed well.

Centers are not as good as guards. I think they won't be able to maintain such a high number of shots on offense in the future. 20 times is a bit too much.

O'Neal averaged only 21 shots per game in one season, and only 17 shots so far in his career. As a center, this many shots are enough, considering the physical consumption. "

At this time, in the TNT live studio in Los Angeles, Barkley and Kenny Smith were also doing post-match summaries.

However, the two went off topic and talked about the feud between McGrady and the Magic.

Barkley said in the previous sentence that McGrady's shooting percentage was 11 percentage points lower than last season's regular season. The next sentence said:

"You know, Kenny, ever since the Magic traded away McGrady's good friend Mike Miller, he has been very upset with the management."

Kenny Smith asked in surprise: "Charles, how do you know that McGrady is unhappy with the management? The media has never reported such news."

Barkley chuckled and said, "This makes you seem unprofessional. I came to this conclusion by analyzing McGrady's data."

"What data?" Kenny Smith asked unconvinced.

Barkley smiled and said: "Mike Miller only played 16 games for the Magic last season and was traded, and from then on, everything changed for the Magic.

In the previous 16 games, the Magic had 9 wins and 7 losses, with a winning rate of 56.25%. At the end of the season, the Magic only had a winning rate of 51.2%.

After Mike Miller was traded, McGrady's scoring numbers started to rise, his shots started to increase, and he won the scoring title last season."

Kenny Smith's eyes twitched. Charles, do you think McGrady is just trying to get more points? You are really not afraid of trouble!

Barkley continued with a big mouth and a grin: "I think McGrady is taking revenge on management."

"All right, Charles."

Kenny Smith quickly interrupted Barkley and said, "If you continue, McGrady's fans will scold you to death."

At this time, as the best player of the game, He Zhongqiu accepted a post-match interview with a TNT TV reporter.

"Wolverine, taking 20 shots tonight, does that mean you will increase your shots in the new season?" the reporter asked.

He nodded and said, "That's how the coaching staff arranged it. They thought my offensive efficiency was okay, so they asked me to increase the number of my personal attacks.

Of course, it won’t be as many as tonight, because I was a little too excited tonight and took up some of my teammates’ shots.”

In fact, he didn't take many shots. The coaching staff gave him about 18 shots, which was 5 more than last season.

Depending on the situation, when the opportunity is good and the physical strength is good, he can also launch more attacks. For him now, this is not a problem.

The reporter then asked: "After a few preseason games and this game, do you think it was right to trade Kurt Thomas for Nash and to trade Madman for Bonzi Wells?"

He pondered for a moment and said, "These two trades have improved our perimeter defense and weakened our interior defense. From a defensive perspective, there has been no significant improvement.

But on offense, Nash + Wells should be better than Kurt Thomas + Madman, especially our organizational ability is much stronger, which makes my offense easier. "

The reporter then asked, "I noticed that your movement speed is significantly faster than last season. Is this the result of training during the offseason?"

He smiled and nodded, "Even during the filming time, I did not interrupt my training."

"Speaking of movies, I really hope Blade 3 can be released as soon as possible. I can't wait to see your wonderful performance in the movie." The reporter said excitedly.

"I hope I won't disappoint you." He nodded and smiled.

“I wish the movie a big hit.”

"Thank you."

(End of this chapter)