"If either of you could have stopped one, wouldn't we have had a chance?" Tang Long grumbled, then waved his hand. "It's fine, one ball left, we still have a chance, come on."
Zhou Peng and Ding Mianhui exchanged glances. Was this guy out of his mind? A chance for what?
For the fifth ball, Tang Long positioned himself inside the three-second zone. Yao Ming and the other two adopted a triangular offense, with Yao Ming as the spearhead, and A Lian and Sun Yue ready to drive to the basket from the sides.
After Yao Ming passed the ball, it went to A Lian. Ding Mianhui was in front, providing defense. A Lian went for a post-up.
Although A Lian wasn't known for his physicality in the NBA, his build meant he had few opponents in China besides Yao Ming. Post-up against Ding Mianhui was easy. He powered his way in two steps, shoved Ding Mianhui aside with his shoulder, and then shot from the left.
Ding Mianhui's face lit up.
He knew he couldn't hold A Lian and had focused on his hands during their clash.
As A Lian went up for the shot, Ding Mianhui quickly swiped at the ball.
Unexpectedly, A Lian had deliberately lured Ding Mianhui into jumping. The moment Ding Mianhui leaped, A Lian abruptly pulled his hand back and dashed to the basket, finishing with a dunk.
Five points.
Tang Long's face darkened.
During this entire exchange, he had only touched the ball once when he made the initial pass. The Yao Ming trio had then scored five unanswered points.
"That was great."
Yao Ming smugly nudged Tang Long with his chin.
Back in the league, Tang Long often made things difficult for him with LeBron James as his teammate. Now, Tang Long was finally getting a taste of his own medicine.
"Don't just stand there, get your punishment done."
"Brother Yao, you're ruthless."
Tang Long didn't waste any time. He grunted and did ten push-ups, then said, "Coach, that was just a warm-up. And I just got back, still a bit rusty. Can we go again?"
"No problem."
Yonas nodded.
"Then Coach, can I pick my own teammates?"
Yonas and Guo Qiang exchanged a look and nodded again. "Yes."
"Alright."
Tang Long, holding the basketball, turned his gaze to the others. Zhou Peng scoffed, "He's just blaming the earth for not being attractive enough to shit."
"Show-off. Just playing in the NBA and you're addicted to showing off."
Whispering to each other, they watched Tang Long with amusement as he picked his teammates. They wanted to see who he would choose. If he lost again, it would be a major embarrassment.
"I think there's no need to think, it'll definitely be Da Zhi and Wang Shipeng."
"Da Zhi is a certainty. I think it might even be Du Feng," Ding Mianhui mused. "Using Du Feng and A Lian for the matchup, and Da Zhi to guard Sun Yue, that might give them a chance to get the ball."
As they were whispering, Tang Long walked towards them. "It's you two."
Zhou Peng and Ding Mianhui's eyes widened like saucers. Their mouths hung open, not closing for a long time.
They were utterly shocked.
They had speculated for a long time, considering several candidates, and never expected Tang Long to choose them. How could they not be surprised?
"What, scared of them and don't want to play?"
"Tsk, that's a terrible attempt at provocation, worse than the coach's Mandarin." Zhou Peng acted as if he had seen through Tang Long. "Don't give me that. What's there to be scared of? It's you who better not embarrass yourself."
"Winning and losing is common in warfare, what's embarrassing about that? It's the people who don't play seriously who would be embarrassed when they lose." Tang Long's face suddenly darkened. He looked directly into their eyes and said, "I don't care. I've already won an NBA championship, I'm a starter for the Cavaliers. Whether I play well or poorly in the Olympics won't affect my value in the NBA. No matter how badly I play, there will always be a spot for me on the national team. But if you two get beaten 5-0 in a practice match, I don't know if you'll be able to show your faces again. When we go out for a meal, and you both want the same leg of roast lamb, I don't know if you can handle the chef's gaze."
"You can fool me, but don't fool yourselves." Tang Long shrugged and sighed. "An athlete's prime career is only about three thousand six hundred and fifty days. If you want to waste it, go ahead. Later, when you're drinking with people, you can proudly say, 'I was also a national player.' As for why they didn't see you on the court, you can just say that all professions are equal, and what's wrong with bringing water? If you weren't there to bring water, they'd probably get diarrhea."
"Pfft."
The sound was too abrupt.
Zhou Peng and Ding Mianhui glared angrily at the person who had chuckled, then their expressions became subdued.
Because the one chuckling was none other than Guo Qiang, the domestic coach.
This guy was too vicious.
Guo Qiang thought Tang Long's tongue was even more nimble than his ball skills. After the finals, Gasol had complained that Tang Long was a chatterbox. On the court, if he wasn't swearing, he'd just talk to you. It was like a toad on your foot – not scary, but disgusting.
At the time, he thought Gasol was just making excuses after losing. Now Guo Qiang understood. With that mouth, forget Gasol, anyone would find it unbearable.
But surprisingly, Guo Qiang noticed a change in Zhou Peng and Ding Mianhui's eyes. He vaguely saw a murderous intent in them.
Yes, murderous intent.
It was rare to see that in Chinese players' eyes.
Influenced by traditional culture, most domestic players were more gentle. They would only retaliate when provoked, and rarely displayed such aggression from the start.
Guo Qiang's gaze towards Tang Long now held a deeper meaning.
"I won't say anything else. I'll just ask you, do you want to play well? Do you want to go against those foreigners in the Olympics held on home soil?"
"We'll fight!"
"Yeah, we all have two shoulders and one head. What's so special about A Lian? I want lamb chops too. Not only lamb chops, I want lychees too!"
"That's the spirit." Tang Long patted their shoulders. "Don't force it. If you have a chance, take the shot. Move more. If you train well, won't the coach let you play?"
"Beat them!"
Zhou Peng and Ding Mianhui shouted in unison, their booming voices startling everyone else.
It was just a half-court practice, why were these two so pumped up?
Yao Ming rolled his eyes from the side.
This guy, resorting to his old tricks again.
He had experienced Tang Long motivating his teammates during their games against the Cavaliers. He never expected him to be like this even during practice.
Simply unbelievable.
But to be fair, Yao Ming also started to get serious.
Walking to the free-throw line, Yao Ming gave A Lian a look. A Lian understood. While Sun Yue repeatedly ran back and forth to distract Zhou Peng and Ding Mianhui, A Lian quietly slipped to the basket.