My days of working at the NBA

Chapter 52 Tough Guy?

The game resumed with the referee's signal.

Missouri is on offense, TJ Taylor serves.

Instead of positioning himself inside, Du Ze moved to the top of the arc near the center line to create space.

Hansbrough scoffed, unleashing a torrent of trash talk: "You coward, you don't even dare to face me head-on?"

Du Ze wasn't angry and calmly replied, "I'm afraid America's number one toughest man will give me another elbow."

In a competition, it's not just about manipulating your opponent's mentality, but more importantly, protecting your own emotions.

If someone can't handle being provoked by a few words, then the competition is over.

of course.

Some abnormal individuals are different; the more stimulation they receive, the easier it is for them to release dopamine, creating a state of heightened arousal and a better feeling of attack.

But clearly, he wasn't that kind of pervert.

The two of them, hand in hand, pushed and shoved each other, until they reached the top of the arc.

Duze successfully positioned himself in place, and Lawrence arrived just in time with the ball, grazing past Duze.

Because Lawrence is fast, Ty Lawson was tripped.

Hansbrough finally let go of Duze's hand and moved inside to defend Lawrence, delaying the play, with Lawson following behind.

But Lawrence handled it cleverly, not rushing forward, and immediately returned the ball to Duze.

At this moment, although Hansbrough was close behind Lawrence, he was only a little over a step away from Duze.

Ty Lawson had just chased after them and was in roughly the same position as Hansbrough.

As soon as the ball returned to Du Ze's hands, the two instinctively lunged to defend.

Du Ze simply pulled it up.

The two jumped together.

As a result, Du Ze faked a shot and then passed the ball directly to the basket.

Lawrence didn't stop after receiving the ball; he drove straight to the basket. He received the ball just then, and there was no one to help defend him under the basket. They could only watch as he easily finished the dunk.

2:0.

On his way back to defend, Lawrence shouted, "Beautiful pass..."

Du Ze simply gave a thumbs up and didn't say anything more.

This combination was specifically arranged by Anderson during pre-match practice.

In the last game, Du Ze's support play was very effective. In order to enrich the tactics, the old man specially designed several offensive combinations for him.

So far, the results have been excellent.

Upon reaching the backcourt, Hansbrough immediately took his position and then sneered at Duze behind him, saying, "Softie, let me teach you how to play under the basket."

After saying that, he reached out to Ty Lawson for the ball.

As the nation's top center and a mainstay of North Carolina, Hansbrough's words still carry significant weight.

After receiving the ball, he didn't rush to dribble it, but quickly observed the surroundings and found that no one was coming to help defend.

This stunned him for a moment, and his face immediately darkened.

The nation's top center was dribbling in one-on-one, and there was no help defense? That's seriously underestimating him.

Although head coach Roy Williams emphasized before the game that Duze had a very strong defensive instinct and was a top-notch help protector of the rim, Hansbrough was the number one center in the country. He had been growing up with praise and didn't take the coach's instructions to heart at all.

Just confront them directly.

Leaning against Du Ze, he pushed his way in.

With his strong physique and considerable strength, he could easily outmaneuver most of the NCAA's interior players.

This time is no exception.

Duze was forced to retreat under Hansbrough's relentless attacks.

In just three moves, Hansbrough pushed to the basket.

After the second impact, he sprang up like a freed beast, ready to force a dunk.

Unfortunately, the next second...

While he was suspended in mid-air, he saw a huge hat fall from the sky.

The opponent even snatched the ball from his hands mid-air.

Unable to gain support in mid-air, Hansbrough crashed to the ground.

Missouri immediately launched a rapid offensive.

Everyone had run over when Hansbrough finally managed to get up and watch as Duze followed up with a flying dunk.

4:0.

Hansbrough was panting, his eyes momentarily unfocused.

He couldn't understand how Du Ze had jumped up in that last round.

Generally, when a defensive player is hit, their body will move backward, in which case they have lost their balance.

How can you jump when your body is already out of balance?

Moreover, she jumped higher than him.

He jumped first, but Du Ze, who jumped after him, somehow managed to block his jump.

It's simply unbelievable.

Before he could think, Du Ze had already jumped and hopped to his side.

"Tough guy, what took you so long to get up?"

Du Ze's voice was devoid of emotion, and his words contained not a single insulting word; they even carried a hint of concern.

But that's the most fatal thing.

To say the most ironic thing in a calm tone.

Hansbrough's face turned red. Even with years of competition experience and having seen all kinds of storms, his eyelids twitched and his veins bulged.

Du Ze's voice rang out again: "Tough guy, teach me how to play under the basket again, okay? I'll thank you."

If you return the other person's words verbatim, but have someone else say them, the irony will be completely different.

Hansbrough, with his pride, couldn't stand such humiliation. He reached out and pinned Duze behind him, signaling to Ty Lawson again for the ball.

Du Ze whispered like a devil, "Wow, no wonder he's a tough guy."

The more he heard these kinds of words, the more Hansbrough's adrenaline surged.

After receiving the ball, he gritted his teeth and mustered all his strength to ram it in again.

The next second, he suddenly turned over and raised his hand to shoot.

This offensive rhythm is quite unexpected, and the rollover after the impact can create more distance and ensure shooting space.

As a result, just as the ball rose, Du Ze also rose from not far away.

Do not……

It didn't rise up...

It's like suddenly pulling yourself up from the spot.

Hansbrough's first reaction was, "That's a really high jump..."

After realizing what was happening, he had a bad feeling.

But it was too late.

The Blood Hat strikes again.

boom!

The ball was slapped away hard.

Hansbrough was completely stunned, and even forgot to reach out to grab the ball.

Lyons retrieved the ball, and the fast break resumed.

Hansbrough finally tracked back to defend, but could only follow behind and watch the smoke.

Lyons's aggressive attack missed, and Duze, who followed up, stood out like a crane among chickens, particularly among the jumping crowd.

Reach out.

Take the ball.

A powerful dunk, adding another 2 points.

Missouri took a commanding 6-0 lead in the opening 48 seconds.

After landing, Du Ze glanced at Hansbrough, who had followed him not far ahead: "Tough guy, your skills under the basket are really good. You truly deserve to be the best center in the United States."

Praise followed.

But the boy's blushing had already outweighed everything else.

If he could, Hansbrough would just want to dig a hole and crawl into it.

Without a doubt, this was the most humiliating moment of his career, bar none.

North Carolina's head coach, Williams, was already getting impatient on the sidelines: "Calm down, play according to the tactics."

Being blocked twice in a row, and then getting caught out on two fast breaks – even the most stubborn person would feel the pain.

Hansbrough, however, was clearly not a stubborn man.

Upon returning, he did not take his position but instead chose to move up to provide cover.

At this point, Du Ze's taunts would reach their peak: "Tough guy, what's wrong with you? You've gone soft already?"