Chapter 772 - 693: Golden Chicken Standalone

Chapter 772: Chapter 693: Golden Chicken Standalone

Nowitzki’s eyes lit up.

Chen Yu was conflicted, and Nowitzki was just as torn.

He felt this shooting method suited him, but he also trusted Chen Yu’s team’s judgment.

"Okay."

Soon, Nowitzki came off the bench.

His matchup was Rashid Wallace.

In the All-Star Game, big men like Nowitzki didn’t get many opportunities to score. Often, even when they got the ball, they’d choose to pass.

Their methodical offense certainly wasn’t as flashy as the guards’ high-flying dunks.

But soon, Nowitzki got the ball.

He held the ball at the elbow.

Rashid Wallace was guarding him closely.

The Pistons had three players selected this time.

A team-oriented squad like them wasn’t suited for this kind of entertainment-focused game.

But this was exactly what Nowitzki needed.

He dribbled, leaned in slightly, quickly pulled back and jumped, supporting himself with his left leg, raising his right leg, leaning back, and lofting the ball high into the air.

Rashid Wallace instinctively tried to jump and defend but was slightly impeded by Nowitzki’s raised right leg.

The basketball CLANGED off the rim and out.

Rashid Wallace stood there stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the referee on the sideline with a questioning gaze.

It was as if he was asking the ref, ’Isn’t extending his leg like that a foul?’

The head referee, Foster, also seemed a bit stunned. But from his angle, Nowitzki had raised his leg, but his lower leg wasn’t extended.

It was just an instinctive motion as his body leaned back.

Most importantly, it was all within his own cylinder, so there was no issue.

Nowitzki’s casual display didn’t cause any stir.

But a minute later, when Nowitzki got the ball again, he did the same thing: turned sideways, leaned in for a quick post-up, and immediately pulled up for a fadeaway shot.

His right leg kicked out again.

This time, the ball swished through the net.

Rashid Wallace still looked baffled. He hadn’t defended that hard, thinking Nowitzki could have just pulled up and shot directly without needing to fade away.

But he did fade away, and he extended his leg.

In the final stage of the first half, Nowitzki only took those two shots, and they didn’t attract any attention.

In the second half, when Nowitzki took the court again, he still chose the same shooting form.

This time, he was facing Bosh.

He dribbled forward, then turned, stepped back with his left leg, raised his right leg again, and released a fadeaway jumper.

Chen Yu’s goal was a straight pull-up jumper.

But many moves could be linked to it, like a turnaround step-back or a post-up fake.

Nowitzki already had to deal with a lot of back-to-the-basket situations.

This shot created a huge amount of space and was steadily drained.

The ball’s extremely high, parabolic trajectory attracted some people’s attention for the first time.

For example, Phil Jackson of the West team.

For some reason, he turned his head and glanced at Chen Yu.

A couple of plays later, it was Nowitzki again. A simple lean-in, and he pulled up for the shot.

It was that same one-legged fadeaway.

Bosh reacted quickly and jumped high, but with the added fadeaway, Nowitzki’s release point was truly beyond the reach of an ordinary person.

The ball once again swished cleanly through the net.

Jackson folded his arms.

A little over a minute later, Nowitzki did it again.

He backed Bosh down on the baseline, then spun around directly into the one-legged fadeaway jumper.

Another make.

Jackson’s eyebrows shot up, and he walked straight over to Chen Yu.

"Chen, why is Dirk shooting like that?"

Chen Yu smiled and retorted, "Is there a problem?"

Jackson realized his question was a bit abrupt. He waved at O’Neal next to him, signaling for him to move over a bit.

O’Neal wanted to be difficult and not move, but on second thought, he decided against it and obediently gave up his seat.

Jackson sat down and then said with a smile, "Chen, it’s not that there’s a problem. I vaguely remember him shooting like that before."

A one-legged shot is normal. Anyone might take one when they’re off-balance or have limited space to shoot.

Let alone a shooting-focused big man like Nowitzki.

But today was clearly different. He was obviously using it as a regular weapon.

If you looked closely, the motion was fluid: a slight hop off the left foot onto his toes, right leg raised for balance, body leaning straight back, arm raised high.

Even the angle of his fadeaway and the height of his arm were as precise as if measured with a ruler.

So it was obvious this was a technique honed through countless repetitions, not something he just came up with on the spot.

"Chen, I remember the media reported that Dirk has been in special training with you. Don’t tell me this is the result of it?"

Nowitzki’s performance had declined severely this season. It wasn’t just the Phoenix media and fans; media all across the United States were curious about what on earth had happened to him.

First of all, it definitely wasn’t a physical problem.

With Chen Yu around, how could he have a physical problem?

Then, the resourceful media naturally dug up that Nowitzki had been training with the help of Chen Yu’s team.

But they didn’t know what he was training.

And there had been no change in Nowitzki’s playing style.

But now, Jackson thought he had the answer.

Starting from December, Nowitzki had been practicing it for almost three months.

"That’s right."

Chen Yu had nothing to hide.

Jackson’s eyebrows shot up again as he looked back at the court.

It was Nowitzki again, facing Hill in a mismatch. After a simple triple threat, he pulled up and shot.

Hill stretched his arms, but still couldn’t bother the seven-foot-tall Nowitzki, who was fading away and releasing the ball from a high point.

Jackson unconsciously folded his arms and began to stroke his beard.

"This shot... it’s..."

He wanted to say that it was really something special.

’Nowitzki is so tall, and with the fadeaway and high release point... how do you defend that?’

Originally, Jackson was going to sub Nowitzki out. Now, he decided against it and just let Nowitzki play.

He wanted to get a good look at what this shot of Nowitzki’s was all about.

The relaxed defensive environment allowed Nowitzki to shoot as if he were in his element.

Nearly three months of crazy practice—and I mean really crazy.

Every training day, at Chen Yu’s request, he had to take several hundred shots.

Coupled with the effects of Chen Yu’s systematic training, he had already developed muscle memory.

That’s why his shooting was so accurate.

And Nowitzki, who was intentionally testing it out, used this shooting form regardless of the situation he faced.

In the entire second half, he took 11 shots, made 8 of them, and racked up 16 points.

By this point, even the players on the court had noticed Nowitzki’s strange shooting form.

"Chen, what is Dirk doing? Why is he shooting like that?"

O’Neal said with a look of disgust, "That move is so ugly. Standing on one foot, he looks like a rooster."

Ugly?

Chen Yu was taken aback for a second.

It was true, Nowitzki’s one-legged fadeaway was indeed a bit unconventional.

Just as O’Neal said, he did look like a rooster standing on one leg.

Compared to the ultimate hangtime fadeaways of Jordan and Kobe, it really wasn’t pretty.

"Ugly doesn’t matter. And even if he looks like a chicken, he’s a golden chicken!"

As if by a stroke of genius, a name suddenly popped into Chen Yu’s mind—a term from Chinese.

Golden Chicken Standalone!