Wang Yi cut in from the right wing at a 45-degree angle. As the ball was lobbed his way, he leaped high and caught it in midair.
Then he went straight into a shooting motion.
Wemby, who was guarding him, hurriedly jumped to block the shot. But Wang Yi pulled the ball back in midair and switched to a layup. After faking Wemby out, he stretched his arm toward the basket again.
But there was still a mountain standing in his way: Antoine.
If Wang Yi took the shot, Antoine was certain to block it.
Trying another layup to evade Antoine clearly wasn't realistic.
Jordan's legendary three-step layup had required plenty of preparation. Each time he shifted the ball in midair, the movement was small—that was how he managed three shifts.
But Wang Yi was attempting an alley-oop, so he hadn't had nearly as much time to prepare as Jordan.
And to evade the long-armed freak Wemby, he'd already made a huge move on his first shift.
After getting past Wemby, asking him to shift the ball again was simply too much.
And now Antoine and Wemby were closing in on him from the front and behind.
There were defenders on both sides, too.
He was hemmed in on every side.
Passing out was now next to impossible.
Yet in that situation, Wang Yi neither shot nor passed. He simply landed on the floor.
Then he jumped again.
That was enough to fake out Antoine as well.
Under the basket, Wang Yi now had only the tiniest opening to shoot through. But he seized it and jumped, releasing the ball.
Only then did everyone finally understand.
Wang Yi's first move had been an alley-oop, so he hadn't touched the ground.
That meant that when he couldn't figure out what to