On February 18, the Rookie Challenge was held as scheduled. Watching a group of first- and second-year rookies walking around on the field, Wang Feng looked envious.
It's a pity that he only received the reward from the Rookie Challenge once.
Now he is in the third season of his career. He is no longer a rookie, so he can only watch helplessly.
The final winner of this year's Rookie Challenge is still the World Team, and the MVP player is Jamal Murray.
Because he had nothing to do with Wang Feng, he didn't pay too much attention to it. The Rookie Challenge itself didn't attract much attention, and people didn't have much interest in a group of rookies playing in the game.
The main event is still behind.
…
On February 18, Chinese fans turned on the TV and immediately heard the voice of the CCTV channel commentator.
"Viewers, welcome to watch the live broadcast of NBA All-Star Weekend 2017."
"Today is the individual event day of the All-Stars. There will be three competitions: skills challenge, three-point contest, and dunk contest."
"This All-Star Weekend, Chinese player Wang Feng unexpectedly chose to sign up for all three events. Is he preparing to win a Grand Slam? Even looking at NBA history, no one has ever achieved such a feat during All-Star Weekend.
, please let us wait and see.”
In China, because Wang Feng signed up for three events, these three individual events have received unprecedented attention. Everyone wants to know how Wang Feng will perform in these three events.
…
The first event held is the Skills Challenge as usual.
Like other events, the Skills Challenge has also undergone many modifications over the years.
The current skill challenge is divided into two groups, namely the inside group and the outside group. Each of the two groups has 4 participating players. There will be a two-by-two knockout system, and one player will be selected from the two groups.
The two winners will then compete in a final showdown to determine the champion.
This competition system provides great convenience to inside players. At least one inside player will enter the finals no matter what, ensuring that the positions of participating players are diverse and interesting, and even big players have the possibility of winning.
Just like last year's Skills Challenge, the final was a duel between Thomas Jr. and Towns. In the end, center Towns defeated point guard Thomas Jr. with his better performance and won the Skills Challenge Championship.
As a player who mainly plays the forward position, Wang Feng is naturally divided into the perimeter group.
In addition to Wang Feng, the perimeter team also includes the previous runner-up, Isaiah Thomas, and traditional point guards John Wall and Devin Booker, who have explosive physical fitness.
The four players in the post are Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, DeMarcus Cousins and Kristaps Porzingis.
In the outside team's duel, Wang Feng's opponent in the first round was John Wall.
After the two people got ready, they started at the same time as the referee blew the whistle.
The skills challenge has a lot of content, including dribbling, passing, layups, three-pointers and other events. The winner will be determined by whoever takes the shortest time.
"Wall took the lead right at the beginning of the game! He is so fast!"
As a traditional point guard, Wall's physical fitness is extremely explosive. Wall, who is 1.91 meters tall, sprints 100 meters at an astonishing 10 seconds 3. Looking at NBA history, it is second only to Allen Iverson's 10 seconds.
13 seconds, ranking second in history!
There is no doubt that Wall's speed has definitely reached the full value of 99, and his background as a point guard makes him extremely capable of controlling the ball, and he can move very fast with the ball.
Wang Feng's speed and agility are both in the early 90s, and his dribbling ability is only 90, which is enough for daily use on the court, but compared with Wall, he is obviously much worse.
As soon as the two came up, Wang Feng was quickly separated by a certain distance.
But he didn't panic. Wang Feng knew where his advantage was. The initial dribbling obstacle was not the key to victory for him.
Playing steadily according to his own rhythm, Wang Feng steadily passed the obstacle dribbling stage, then layup and passed the ball.
In the area where Wall is best at, the gap between the two has been further widened.
"Oh, Wang Feng is in danger now!"
The CCTV commentator said anxiously.
"Sure enough, Wang Feng is still lacking in these aspects compared with traditional point guards. The gap between the two has widened to more than 3 seconds. Now we can only wait and see whether the last-minute three-pointer has any hope of comeback."
While speaking, Wall had already reached the final three-point line and aimed at the basket to shoot.
"Bang."
The crisp sound of striking iron sounded.
Wall took aim for a long time but still couldn't make the shot.
This season, Wall's average three-point shooting percentage per game is only about 31%, which is definitely not considered unqualified as an outside player.
Wall, who missed the shot, immediately ran over to pick up the ball, then came back to the three-point line and took another shot.
"Bang."
Wall's face darkened.
At the same time, Wang Feng, who was more than three seconds behind, finally arrived late.
Standing in front of the three-point line, Wang Feng took a deep breath and raised the knife in his hand.
"brush."
The crisp sound of brushing the internet sounded.
"Beautiful, Wang Feng's three-pointers are as stable as ever! With this three-pointer, he came back and defeated Wall and advanced to the next round. Will Wang Feng's opponent in the second round be Thomas, who defeated Booker?
, this is another strong enemy. The strength of the runner-up in last year's Skills Challenge cannot be underestimated, and it is even more difficult to deal with than Wall..."
This is indeed the case.
After a short rest, the outside group finals between Wang Feng and Thomas Jr. began.
Thomas had a clearer lead than Wall at the start. In terms of 100-meter speed, Thomas couldn't beat Wall. However, the skills challenge is not a running competition. Speed is only a means of establishing a lead, but it is not the key to victory.
Yinsaiah Thomas, who is only 1.75 meters tall, although his straight-line speed and explosive power are slightly inferior to Wall, his flexibility, that is, his agility ability, is higher than Wall's.
Facing the dribbling challenge that requires bypassing obstacles in the skills challenge, Thomas's advantage is even more obvious.
Wang Feng had already anticipated this situation and was not in a hurry. Just like when he faced Wall in the first round, he always followed his own pace.
Thomas made a fatal mistake in the passing phase. Because he was too eager to pursue speed, he made two consecutive passing mistakes. Wang Feng immediately seized the opportunity to recover the gap.
Taking this opportunity, the two of them came to the three-point line almost at the same time and took shots!
"Brush." "Bang."
Wang Feng's shot hit the net and entered the frame, while Thomas Jr.'s shot hit the iron.
Wang Feng once again used the advantage of three-pointers to defeat Thomas and enter the finals.
"Congratulations to Wang Feng for entering the finals of the Skills and Challenge Competition. I never thought that it would be his first time to participate in such a competition and his performance would be so stable. By entering the finals, Wang Feng has a great chance of winning."
The commentator said happily.
That's true, because on the other side entering the finals is a post player, Kristaps Porzingis.