The skills challenge is a new addition this year.
The purpose was to showcase the skills of the league's best point guards.
The game is not complicated. Players complete several tasks such as dribbling, passing, and shooting within a specified time in a field with various obstacles. The player who finishes in the shortest time wins.
Similar to the Three-Point Contest, the Skills Challenge is divided into preliminary rounds and a final round.
Many players have registered...
According to the rules, only four players can participate in the Skills Challenge, and the final selected players are: Kidd, Iverson, Stockton, and Weiguo.
Iverson participated in the Skills Challenge purely to challenge Wei Guo.
at this point...
Iverson said this in an interview.
This is also the biggest highlight of this year's Skills Challenge: Iverson vs. Wei Guo, a competition between former teammates.
actually...
Wei Guo's height of 2.16 meters makes his participation in the skills challenge somewhat incongruous, as the event is clearly designed for shorter players. Even Wei Guo himself lacks confidence in winning the championship.
........
The first player to take the field was Kidd.
"Beep!!!"
The whistle blew, and the timer began.
Kidd retrieved the basketball from the corner, dribbled to a layup, then grabbed another basketball near the free-throw line, dribbled past four obstacles, and passed it chest-down into the prepared net.
Then there was a bounce pass, which Kidd completed smoothly, and he came to the top of the paint to shoot.
"bang~~~"
The first shot missed!
After missing the shot, Kidd quickly grabbed a second basketball and took another shot.
"bang~~~"
The second shot missed again!
The third shot... Kidd finally made it.
Kidd quickly ran to the corner and made a chest pass, then grabbed another basketball near the top of the arc, dribbled around four obstacles, and successfully completed the challenge with a layup.
Kidd's time: 36.1 seconds!!!
The most important thing in a skills challenge is the success rate. If all challenges are completed on the first try, the time can generally be kept under 35 minutes.
Kidd took three shots in a row from the top of the key before making the shot, wasting some time in that process.
After completing the challenge, Kidd checked his total time and was quite satisfied.
Before the All-Star Game, I practiced in the arena most of the time, and my time was usually under 35 seconds.
...
Stockton was the second to appear.
Stockton, nearing forty, is noticeably slower than Kidd; Stockton is very steady.
Every step went smoothly without any errors.
but...
In the shot attempt at the top of the paint, Stockton took two shots before finally putting the ball into the basket.
37.9 seconds!!!
Stockton ultimately completed the challenge in 37.9 seconds.
........
Francis sat next to Wei Guo.
Seeing that both Kidd and Stockton were making mistakes in shooting, Wei Guo turned to ask, "Are all your point guards this bad at shooting?"
Francis, “…”
Suddenly at a loss for words, Francis hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Nobody can guarantee that every shot will make, right?"
"That's true..."
Wei Guo nodded. "But their shooting is really bad."
........
The third player to appear was Allen Iverson.
Iverson was much faster than Kidd and Stockton; from getting the ball to going for a layup to getting past obstacles one after another, he was like a gust of wind.
Iverson then made a successful chest pass.
Next was a bounce pass. Iverson's first pass went astray and failed to put the ball into the net. Iverson picked up the basketball and bounced it again.
"Bang!!!"
The basketball bounced off the edge of the net again.
"Holy crap..."
Wei Guoti, feeling a bit sweaty, remarked to Iverson, "This part wasted a lot of time."
Fortunately, Iverson made his third pass successfully, and then quickly moved to the top of the paint, grabbed the basketball, and shot.
"Whoosh!!!"
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
Iverson ran to the corner, picked up the basketball, and once again made a chest pass, successfully sending it into the net!
Wei Guo shouted, "Alan, run faster, there's not much time left!"
The last step was very simple for Iverson: he took the ball, dribbled past four obstacles, rushed to the basket, and jumped to dunk!
32.1 seconds!!!
Iverson committed two bounce pass errors, but even so, he was still a full four seconds faster than Kidd. This was mainly because he made a shot from the top of the paint and was much faster at getting through obstacles.
........
Stockton is out of contention; now it's up to Wei Guo.
If Wei Guo completes the challenge in under 36 seconds, he will advance to the finals alongside Iverson.
"Beep!!!"
The whistle blew, and the timer began.
Wei Guo grabbed the basketball, took two steps to the basket, and easily put the ball into the hoop.
Next came the challenge of navigating a series of obstacles. Wei Guo's speed was in no way inferior to Iverson's. After clearing four obstacles in a row, Wei Guo made a chest pass and easily sent the ball into the net.
Next up is the bounce pass challenge, which is slightly more difficult than the chest pass.
After running over, Wei Guo grabbed a basketball with one hand and casually slammed it to the ground. The basketball bounced up and went into the net.
"Wow!!!"
Some fans have already exclaimed in surprise.
Wei Guo's movements were so fluid and graceful, it was a true visual treat.
The subsequent shot from the top of the paint was too easy for Wei Guo; he made it on the first try!
Finally, he ran to the bottom corner, made a chest pass, dribbled past four obstacles, and scored a layup to complete the challenge.
23.1 seconds!!!
"Hiss~~~"
"Hiss~~~"
"Hiss~~~"
The stadium was filled with gasps of astonishment; Wei Guo had moved too fast!
Even if Iverson hadn't made a single mistake and had adjusted perfectly, it would have been difficult for him to complete the challenge in 23.1 seconds, which means that Wei Guo is faster than Iverson!
........
Holy crap!!!
Upon seeing the time, Iverson slapped his thigh and said, "If Wei Ge hadn't made that mistake, I definitely wouldn't have been able to beat him."
Iverson and Weiguo advanced to the Skills Challenge final.
As Iverson said, he could only hope that Wei Guo would make a mistake if he wanted to win, but that's not the case.
Iverson's first challenge.
He made several mistakes in the passing phase and ultimately took 37.3 seconds to complete the challenge.
This timeframe no longer posed any challenge to Wei Guo.
When Wei Guo took the stage, he once again completed the challenge without any mistakes, with a total time of 22.7 seconds, which was 0.4 seconds faster than in the preliminary round.
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