The team scrimmage was a classic black vs. white matchup. The regular starters from last season—Link, Michael Jordan, Laettner, and Haywood—along with newcomer Larry Hughes, formed one team, while the substitutes included Tyronn Lue and Yao Ming.
That's right; even though Yao Ming was the 2002 number one draft pick, he still had to compete with Brendan Haywood for the team's starting Center position.
Although Yao Ming appeared humble, he was extremely competitive at heart. Facing Haywood's defense at the start, Yao Ming couldn't back him down, but he showcased his "Shanghai Footwork," with hooks and turnaround fadeaways that made defending him extremely difficult for Haywood.
"Oh, no!" When Yao Ming faced Haywood's defense again and went for a turnaround fadeaway, Haywood reached in for a steal and was whistled for a defensive foul.
Haywood was exhausted. Standing at 213cm, he had been the tallest person on the court, or at least among the tallest, ever since he started playing basketball. Even the 216cm Shaquille O'Neal wasn't much taller than him. But facing Yao Ming, Haywood's memories seemed to flash back to elementary school, being bullied by an upperclassman.
Yao Ming's performance also greatly satisfied head coach Doug Collins and assistant coach Larry Drew.
"Wow, Mr. Doug, Yao's interior offense is beyond my expectations. I didn't expect someone so tall to have such a delicate touch and solid footwork. If he could gain some weight, I don't think many interior players in the league could stop him from scoring!" Larry Drew said.
Gaining weight?
Doug Collins couldn't help but frown.
Regarding the team's new number one draft pick, whether Yao Ming should gain weight had actually been discussed by the team management. Yao Ming's current weight was indeed a bit insufficient; facing some power-based defensive interior players, it was hard for him to establish position in the low post.
The 213cm Brendan Haywood could push Yao Ming out of the "deep low post," forcing him to demand the ball in the "mid-low post." The closer to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage and the greater the offensive threat. But if he gained weight, his flexibility would definitely be affected. At 226cm, Yao Ming's running and jumping abilities were at a T1 level among players of his height. Besides making Yao Ming "clumsy," gaining weight also raised concerns about whether his knees and ankles could withstand the load.
Even someone as monstrous as Shaquille O'Neal suffered from ankle injuries, which was one reason why he often coasted during the regular season.
"No! I believe Yao... even without gaining weight, can become a dominant interior superstar!" Doug Collins said with firm eyes and a certain tone.
(TN: Personally, i think gradual weight gain would be good for Yao)
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On the court, after Yao Ming successfully scored three consecutive times in the paint against Haywood, Michael Jordan leaned into Link's ear and said, "rookie, have you seen enough of the show? It's time for us to get to work!"
"Okay!" Link nodded with a smile.
Yao Ming's low post 1v1 was very strong; the only thing that could stop him was his own shooting touch. But Yao Ming was afraid of fronting defense...
The black team, composed of the starters, soon used fronting defense to limit Yao Ming's touches.
Brendan Haywood chose to front him, while Link blocked Tyronn Lue's Passing lanes from the perimeter.
Standing over two meters tall, even if Haywood didn't front him, it wasn't easy for Tyronn Lue to get the pass off. With his height and mobility, Link was like a moving castle, obscuring Tyronn Lue's vision. Tyronn Lue took a risk with a pass, but it flew straight into Haywood's hands—it was ridiculously off-target. Of course, besides post-ups, Yao Ming was also willing to set high pick-and-rolls and off-ball screens for his teammates.
Good pick-and-roll quality and a mid-to-long-range shooting touch gave Tyronn Lue some shooting opportunities, but... with Link's 229cm wingspan, a Explosiveness attribute of [9], and a Perimeter Defense awareness of [90], Tyronn Lue always found that Link could leap up the moment he released his shot, severely disrupting his shooting rhythm.
"Uh... although Link doesn't jump high, his Explosiveness is at the level of a power dunker." Soon, during an interior attack, Yao Ming was met with a volleyball-style block from Link, who swooped in from the wing.
For the second half of the training, Washington Wizards head coach Doug Collins put Yao Ming in a group with Link and Jordan.
"Hey, big man, quick, come set an off-ball screen for me." Jordan used Yao Ming's off-ball screen to find an open spot. After drawing a help defense from the 216cm Etan Thomas, Michael Jordan looked at Yao Ming, who immediately understood and cut to the basket. Jordan threw an alley-oop to Yao Ming, but the pass was clearly too high, and Yao Ming missed the dunk. Michael Jordan immediately rushed in for the rebound, flying out of bounds but saving the ball and Passing it back to Yao Ming under the basket.
"Dunk it!"
"Dunk it!"
Link, Michael Jordan, and the Washington Wizards' coaching staff all shouted in unison.
Yao Ming nodded inwardly, gathered his strength to jump, shouldered aside the charging Etan Thomas, and with a "Bang!", slammed the basketball into the hoop.
At that moment, the Washington Wizards players were all hyped, except for the posterized Etan Thomas.
Playing alongside Link and Michael Jordan, Yao Ming clearly felt more comfortable and increasingly proficient. Although Yao Ming's Speed made it hard for him to roll to the rim for dunks, he could finish with a hook shot. Even if he missed, there was a certain probability he could grab the Offensive Rebound for a second-chance points.
Regarding Interior Defense, although his wingspan wasn't as great as his height, his 226cm frame was right there, so protecting the rim was no problem. In terms of post defense, aside from players of Shaquille O'Neal's caliber, it was undoubtedly very difficult for other interior players to overpower Yao Ming.
In terms of transition defense, when Yao Ming had plenty of Stamina, he wasn't actually slow and could definitely make it back in time.
The only thing was that the pick-and-roll was hard to defend!
After three team scrimmages, Yao Ming earned the starting Center position. Brendan Haywood felt a bit unwilling about this, but it wasn't a bad thing; healthy competition within the team could better stimulate one's potential.
When Link first entered the NBA last year, he faced similar issues. However, Link completely won over Connet Alexander after just one team scrimmage.