Chapter 342: Chapter 99: [Why Should I, Su Mou, Fear!]
"No, your most glorious moment is still far from here."
Su Xi looked at Yao Ming. "Basketball doesn’t need this kind of self-sacrifice. Besides..."
"You’re injured. You’ll only drag me down if you play."
Su Xi told Yao Ming with a serious expression, "Don’t try to guilt-trip me. I want to win this game. Team doctor, check on Yao Ming’s injury, now."
As he spoke, he patted Yao Ming on the shoulder.
Then, he turned to Bateer and said, "Bus, tell Yao Ming. Can you play better than him right now?"
Without a moment’s hesitation, Bateer pounded his chest. "Of course I can."
"Then it’s settled."
Su Xi looked over at Yonas. The man nicknamed the "European Caesar" was still in a daze, not expecting Su Xi to have arranged everything so decisively.
’He’d always thought he was the one in control of the entire team.’
But in that moment, he realized he was nowhere near as bold as Su Xi, nor as daring when it came to making decisions.
If it were up to Yonas, he wouldn’t dare to take Yao Ming out in this situation. If Yao Ming insisted on playing, he would have reluctantly agreed. He couldn’t bear the responsibility, couldn’t face the nationwide condemnation that would follow a loss.
But Su Xi dared.
Although Su Xi’s words sounded callous, everyone knew he was shouldering all the responsibility himself.
Besides, he was doing it for Yao Ming’s own good.
Yao Ming was forced down onto the bench. The team doctor removed his shoe, revealing a clearly swollen ankle. As the doctor moved it, the sharp, throbbing pain was obvious. Encouraged by Su Xi, the doctor cut off Yao Ming’s bandages and applied an ice pack, which meant Yao Ming was out for the rest of the night.
"Fuck."
Yao Ming clenched his jaw.
TWEET!
The whistle blew. Su Xi led his teammates onto the court for the final showdown.
Watching Su Xi’s determined back, Yao Ming yelled, "You better fucking win this for me!"
Su Xi turned back with a grin, his handsome brows raised slightly.
...
The Argentinians looked at the Chinese Team’s new lineup, completely caught off guard. Yao Ming wasn’t playing? They actually dared to keep Yao Ming off the court at such a crucial moment?
Everyone in the arena and every viewer watching on TV was thinking the same thing.
"What’s going on? Is this another one of Little Sheep Su Xi’s schemes?" Maggette asked Kobe, completely baffled.
Yao Ming had rested for so long in the fourth quarter. Logically, he should have plenty of stamina now. Why was he subbed out after just a couple of possessions? He was playing great just now.
Everyone was thoroughly confused.
Even Kobe couldn’t figure out what was happening.
Meanwhile, Su Xi was already facing off against Delphino.
Delphino looked at the youngest Finals MVP in history standing before him, the most successful young basketball player in the world over the past year. He couldn’t help but feel a flicker of smugness.
He stared at Su Xi and spat some trash talk: "You guys are finished. Yao Ming’s hurt. You don’t have a chance!"
Su Xi shot him a look and quickly pressed forward. Delphino immediately turned sideways... After playing a whole game against him, he knew how to evade Su Xi’s pestering defense.
But just then, Su Xi swiftly circled around him again, extending his arm.
’Here we go again.’
Delphino sneered, half-turning his body to shield the ball from Su Xi with his broad back before passing to Ginobili.
It was a very routine, safe pass.
But in the instant the ball left his hands, Su Xi shot out from behind him like a bolt of lightning. With an explosive burst of speed and a long, outstretched arm, he actually caught up to Delphino’s pass, tipping the ball to Li Nan on the side.
Li Nan secured the ball and passed it to Su Xi.
Su Xi took the ball. He didn’t rush to push it up the court. Instead, he turned sideways, shot a cold glance at Delphino, and said, "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re worthy of trash-talking me?"
Maximum taunt. Maximum contempt.
Delphino’s anger instantly boiled over. In his entire professional career, he had never been so humiliated.
’He desperately wanted to rush over and land a heavy punch on Su Xi.’
But in the end, he could only take a deep breath and endure it. The game was more important. He would get his revenge on this guy when they won.
’Just you wait!’
Delphino clenched his jaw, vowing to avenge this humiliating slight.
He was completely unaware that he had been the one to start it, that this humiliation was entirely self-inflicted.
Su Xi brought the ball into the frontcourt and began running down the clock at the top of the three-point arc, with Delphino watching him closely.
Su Xi wasn’t in a hurry. The Chinese Team was up by 2. The more time they used, the better their chances of winning.
When the shot clock was down to 8 seconds, Su Xi suddenly made his move. He drove hard toward the basket. Delphino was prepared, but he still couldn’t keep up. Su Xi’s combination of explosiveness, speed, and power, coupled with his incredibly low-gravity dribbling, allowed him to blow by Delphino in a single step.
He scrambled to catch up, but at the same time, Nocioni and Ginobili came over to help, instantly trapping Su Xi in a three-man pincer.
Their intention was to cut off all of Su Xi’s options in this final moment, not allowing him to shoot or pass.
A triple-team. It was something never before seen on an Olympic court.
On the sidelines, Kobe tensed up, his fists clenching.
He was clenching his fists so hard. He desperately wanted to be out there in Su Xi’s place, to feel that suffocating trap for himself.
In this regard, Kobe had strong masochistic tendencies.
Maggette shook his head. He thought Su Xi had no way out this time.
But just then, caught in the tight space, Su Xi suddenly made a small feint. Then, from within the heavy trap, the basketball flew out with an effortless grace... It was his Super Sense of Distance talent!
Su Xi got the shot off under extreme defensive pressure.
CLANG!
But the ball bricked.
Scola elbowed Wang Zhizhi in the ribs. As Wang Zhizhi winced in pain, Scola jumped up and snatched the rebound.
Kobe let out a sigh of disappointment.
He cursed inwardly: ’Four guys fighting for the board, and our two still come up empty?’
But Su Xi showed no signs of anger. He wasn’t like Kobe, who loved to curse out his teammates and hit them with the death stare.
Instead, he clapped his hands and reminded everyone, "Defense!"
Su Xi wasn’t upset at all. In fact, he was quite happy, because the Super Offensive Talent he’d gotten from Kobe had just climbed from 79 to 80, which was like breaking through to a whole new level.
’Sure enough, desperate situations yield great opportunities.’
’Weren’t all super scorers forged in the fires of missed shots?’
’Even players as great as Jordan and Kobe are regulars on the all-time list of missed shots.’
Su Xi felt no psychological discomfort about his own misses.
At that moment, Ginobili, who had the ball, said to Su Xi, "Jack, no matter how often you switch, no matter how hard you run, you can’t guard our entire perimeter by yourself. One-on-one, on either offense or defense, we can’t match you. But when our three Argentinian perimeter stars team up, what will you do then?"
Su Xi didn’t debate him, focusing instead on his defense.
He kept hounding Ginobili, who quickly used a screen from Scola to pass the ball to Delphino.
Delphino gave a pump fake that sent Zhu Fangyu flying, then quickly shot from behind the three-point line... SWISH!
It went in.
Argentina took the lead by 1 point.
After making the shot, Delphino flashed three fingers at Su Xi, then tapped his own temple hard with those same three fingers.
It was an extremely provocative gesture.
"Slow it down, no rush."
Su Xi turned to his teammates and said, "Get to your spots. If I get double-teamed, crash the boards hard."
Su Xi was perfectly calm.
He didn’t show the slightest hint of panic from being behind.
In contrast, the announcer in the broadcast booth was going ballistic, slamming the table and yelling, "Why isn’t Yonas putting Yao Ming in! Why not Yao Ming! Can someone give me an answer? Whoever keeps Yao Ming on the bench at a time like this is the greatest traitor in the history of the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team!"
As if in answer to his words...
The television broadcast cut to a shot of the sideline, where the team doctor was changing the ice pack on Yao Ming’s ankle. The camera clearly captured the swelling.
THUMP.
It wasn’t just the announcer whose heart skipped a beat.
Fans all over the country were stunned when they saw it, falling into a state of collective worry.
"Yao Ming is injured," Coach Zhang said. "The Chinese Team has to withstand this pressure."
The next second, Su Xi drove to the basket. Ignoring Scola blocking his path, he exploded upwards, knocking Scola over and laying the ball in with one hand.
The head referee made no call.
Scola lay on the ground, slapping the floor and yelling, "Foul! Foul!"
The Argentinian fans in the crowd backed him up, and a chorus of boos erupted.
The referee stood firm under the pressure and didn’t change the call. It was legal contact within the restricted area.
He wasn’t going to call an offensive foul just because some guy fucking fell down and could yell "Oh God! Oh God! My God!" a few times.
Su Xi turned around. He looked at Ginobili as the global broadcast camera zoomed in on him. "A double-team is a little weak. Next time, send all three of you."
"What do I have to fear?"
...
