Chereads / NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me / Chapter 44 - Badge Trinity, Unstoppable Mid-Range Shot Explodes Anthony Texto

Chapter 44 - Badge Trinity, Unstoppable Mid-Range Shot Explodes Anthony Texto

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The current situation was completely within Wang Chong's expectations.

Durant's ability to confront opponents was weak when he first entered the league. However, after gaining weight and experience, Durant's ability to face off against opponents improved significantly. During his time with the Warriors and the Nets, Durant often played the power forward position and held his own against some physically strong players.

This is evident from the growth ceiling of the "Strength" attribute in Durant's template.

A strength rating of 63 is certainly not on par with inside players, but it's quite respectable for a forward.

Let's compare:

Both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are forwards. Leonard's strength rating is 75, while George's is 60. From this perspective, Durant's strength rating of 63 is pretty decent.

At his peak, Carmelo Anthony had a strength rating of 85, probably second only to LeBron James, Ron Artest, Draymond Green, and a few others among small forwards.

However, Anthony, who had not yet officially entered the NBA, was certainly not as strong as his Nuggets peak. Before undergoing systematic and scientific training in the NBA, Anthony was essentially just an amateur-level player from college.

Wang Chong, on the other hand, was different. After several attribute enhancements, his current strength rating reached 61, just 2 points shy of Durant's peak. This placed him in the upper-middle tier among small forwards in the current NBA league.

This meant that Anthony couldn't use his strength advantage to overpower Wang Chong!

In fact, what shocked Anthony more than failing to suppress Wang Chong with his strength was how Wang Chong had improved to such a level in just two months.

Wang Chong's strength, speed, and explosiveness were not inferior to Anthony's at all. How was this possible?

Anthony looked at Wang Chong with a mix of surprise and doubt.

But Wang Chong didn't care about any of that.

The Lakers' center picked up Anthony's missed three-pointer and passed the ball to Wang Chong.

Upon receiving the basketball, Wang Chong took long strides and sprinted toward the Nuggets' backcourt.

Fast break!

While Wang Chong's fast-break speed wasn't top-tier, and there was a noticeable gap between him and fast-break masters like LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, his long legs made him a dangerous player on the break.

Furthermore, the players in the Summer League had varied skill levels and poor defensive awareness.

For a moment, Anthony was the only one on the Nuggets who managed to get back on defense in time.

"Kid, don't be so arrogant!"

Anthony glared at the basketball in Wang Chong's hands. He firmly believed that Wang Chong, standing at 2.09 meters tall, had a high center of gravity, making his dribbling a weakness.

As long as he could seize the opportunity to steal the ball, he could disrupt the attack.

But he was wrong again.

Durant's dribbling skills are no joke. At his peak, Durant's dribbling ability was rated at 92. For reference, Anthony's peak dribbling rating was 93.

Typically, it's tough to steal from someone with that level of ball-handling.

Wang Chong's current ball-handling ability was rated at 81, which wasn't incredibly high but was more than sufficient against Anthony, who wasn't known for his defense and only averaged 1 steal per game in his career.

Seizing what he thought was a perfect moment, Anthony lunged forward to swipe at the ball in Wang Chong's hand. However, Wang Chong deftly switched hands behind his back, evading Anthony's grasp, and then took the ball to the basket with a one-handed slam.

4:0.

Right at the start of the game, Wang Chong scored twice in a row against Anthony, while Anthony's previous shot was blocked by Wang Chong.

After the ball was exchanged, Anthony led the Nuggets' offense again.

Having learned from his previous mistakes, Anthony was more cautious this time. He began to rely on his skill set. After tricking Wang Chong's center of gravity with a fake move, he took a jump shot from 20 feet away.

Anthony's fans finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Earlier, Anthony was blocked by Wang Chong and missed all three of his attempts, which made them anxious. They were worried that this game might end up repeating the scene from the NCAA finals two months ago, where Anthony was shut down by Wang Chong's defense and performed poorly again.

They were worrying too much.

Neither the current Wang Chong nor even Durant at his peak could be considered top-tier defenders.

At his best, Durant was a competent defender who often guarded the opposing team's top players, but his physical limitations capped his defensive prowess.

As a result, Durant was never named to the All-Defensive Team throughout his career.

Even against a superstar like Anthony, not even a Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) could completely shut down his scoring, let alone Wang Chong, who hadn't yet reached Durant's peak level.

In the NCAA final, Wang Chong had managed to contain Anthony, benefiting from a perfect blend of timing, location, and team support. His strategy of catching Anthony off guard and the assistance from Wade allowed him to successfully limit Anthony's offensive capabilities.

Even though Wang Chong's defensive attributes had improved after the system accelerated the integration of the growth template, it was still impossible to completely lock down Anthony.

However, Wang Chong had no intention of locking down Anthony. Durant's unique position in the league was never about defense.

Durant, a four-time NBA scoring champion and often regarded as the league's best scorer since Michael Jordan, was a master of offense.

When facing Anthony, Wang Chong wasn't trying to out-defend him. He simply needed to score more points than Anthony to win the matchup!

Transitioning to Offense.

Wang Chong took the ball to the mid-range area again. Without any flashy moves, he went straight for a sudden pull-up jump shot.

Anthony reacted quickly, jumping up immediately to contest the shot, but it was in vain.

Not only was Wang Chong's shot nearly impossible to block due to his height, wingspan, and Durant's shooting form, but the positions he chose for his attacks were all within areas that activated the Hot Zone Hunter badge, which boosted his shooting accuracy. Moreover, the badge bonus wasn't limited to the Hot Zone Hunter alone.

Wang Chong currently had three shooting badges: Mid-Range Shot Master, Hot Zone Hunter, and Getting Into Rhythm, all of which were active for his offense.

As a result, when he took his shots, all three badges provided a bonus to his shooting percentage.

With the power of three badges and his own mid-range shooting attribute rating of 94, it's easy to imagine just how high his shooting accuracy was.

The more Anthony tried to defend, the more frustrated and fearful he became.

"What the hell happened to this guy? It's only been two months—how did he suddenly become so strong?"

If Wang Chong had this level of strength during the NCAA finals, Syracuse University would have been crushed by Marquette University, which had both Wang Chong and Wade, leaving them with no room to fight back.

Back then, Wang Chong was clearly a player who severely lacked independent offensive abilities, relying on Wade to set him up for open mid-range shots and performing like an average player on the defensive end. He was nothing like the current Wang Chong, who now possessed a deadly mid-range shot and a variety of mature, solid skills!

End of this chapter

Note: I will continue uploading as promised 4-5 chapters every day until 100, after 100 1-2 per day, with stones, reviews, and collections I will upload more don't worry.