Goji Berries Have Miraculous Effects

Chapter 45: Goji Berries Have Miraculous Effects

The next morning, the Real Madrid team set off for Paris, France.

This was also Sun Hao's second time visiting this romantic city; the last time he was here with Fernandez to watch the World Cup Final.

Returning to a familiar place, everything felt deeply recognizable.

After getting off the plane, the Real Madrid team took a bus to the hotel. The driver was a local who took them on a brief tour around some scenic spots.

An interesting thing happened—during the tour, they unexpectedly spotted the Virtus Bologna team.

Unlike them, Virtus Bologna was sightseeing under the lead of their head coach.

Everyone approaches games differently. Some, like Real Madrid, head straight to the hotel to rest and train upon arrival, while others, like Virtus Bologna, relax by sightseeing before the match.

There's no right or wrong; it's just a difference in attitude toward the game.

The next evening, both teams appeared simultaneously at the Bercy Arena.

The venue, which could hold twenty thousand people, was already packed to capacity.

Ancient Rome ruled Europe for over a thousand years, and France was one of its main territories.

The Colosseum from Ancient Rome is world-famous, and that culture has been passed down to the present day.

This is evident from the arena's structure—the seats at Bercy Arena have a steep incline, making it look much like a canyon.

Fans sit there watching the game, much like how spectators watched gladiator fights in Ancient Rome.

Interestingly, the NBA Jazz's home court, the EnergySolutions Arena, has a similar design.

It uses the canyon effect to maximize the crowd's cheers, concentrating them onto the court.

Players on the floor are surrounded by roaring cheers, as if constantly injected with adrenaline.

Of course, for visiting players, it's an explosive wave of interference.

The Jazz's home court is one of the NBA's famous Devil's Home Courts, and Bercy Arena's design achieves a similar effect.

Because it was a neutral venue, the seating arrangement tonight was especially interesting.

Split along the north-south line, the arena was divided in half—one side held Real Madrid's fans, the other side held Virtus Bologna's fans.

The two sides were like rivals shouting across a river, and it was easy to foresee that once the game started, the scene would be spectacular.

When the players from both teams entered the court and saw this setup, they all felt an invisible pressure.

But among everyone, Sun Hao was unusually calm.

It wasn't because his mental fortitude was strong enough to completely ignore the surrounding atmosphere, but because he had seen scenes like this many times in his past life.

Most NCAA game venues look like this.

And because of that, even though the NCAA's influence is far less than the NBA's, when it comes to game atmosphere, the NCAA completely crushes the NBA.

Sun Hao's expression was calm, but before warm-ups began, he spotted two familiar figures at courtside.

Gasol, Ginobili, Danilovic—he had already seen all the European stars of this era he remembered from his past life. He hadn't expected to see the remaining two here at courtside as well.

Coming to Europe to play basketball really was a good choice.

After warm-ups ended, both teams went through their starting lineup introductions.

On Real Madrid's side, the Trident of Prigioni, Sun Hao, and Gabajosa all took the floor.

On Virtus Bologna's side, Ginobili and Sasha Danilovic started together in the backcourt.

In addition, Sun Hao noticed another player on Virtus Bologna: Marko Jaric.

Jaric stood 2.07 meters tall. In history, he played seven seasons in the NBA, averaging 7.1 points and 3.6 assists—a solid Shooting Guard.

But what caught Sun Hao's attention wasn't his NBA performance; it was his wife.

Adriana Lima, a world supermodel, the top model for Victoria's Secret, with a signing fee ranking among the top three in the world.

An interesting coincidence: Real Madrid's backcourt was overflowing with Point Guards, while Virtus Bologna had an abundance of Shooting Guards.

Add to that the fact that one side started with two Point Guards and the other with two Shooting Guards, and this Semifinals matchup was already fascinating just from the lineup.

After the introductions, both teams did their final pre-game warm-ups, and the atmosphere at the venue kept heating up.

Just then, as the starting players from both sides took the court one by one, the Semifinals were about to begin.

The fans on both sides could no longer hold back, erupting into cheers and shouts. Two waves of sound crashed into each other from left and right, and the players on the floor already felt like their ears were about to explode.

A fiery basketball atmosphere.

The referee's whistle blew. Gabajosa leaped high and tipped the ball back to his half of the court, officially kicking off the Semifinals.

Prigioni brought the ball up front and organized the offense, while Sun Hao ran off the ball around the half-court.

The two teams had been in the same group and had faced each other before. Virtus Bologna was guarding against this, with Ginobili chasing Sun Hao closely from behind.

Whether it was because Sun Hao had touched his head last time and he deliberately grew his hair out, Ginobili's hair was noticeably longer than during their last match.

But he was still as slippery as an eel, weaving through consecutive screens and sticking tight to Sun Hao.

Sun Hao didn't get an offensive opportunity on the first possession.

Prigioni and Gabajosa executed a pick and roll, then Prigioni drove and dished inside. Gabajosa rose for a mid-range jumper from the free-throw line, right in Danilovic's face.

"Swish!"

Gabajosa's first shot, first points!

He looked to be in pretty good form.

Virtua Bologna's turn on offense. Ginobili handled the ball and orchestrated the play.

Just then, he noticed a change in Real Madrid's defense compared to their last meeting.

The man guarding him had switched from Prigioni to Sun Hao.

Real Madrid was actually putting the 1.8-meter Sun Hao on him!

Staring down at Sun Hao, who was a full head shorter, Ginobili immediately backed him down for a post-up.

But he quickly discovered that Sun Hao's physicality was far stronger than he'd anticipated.

The two had matched up plenty in their last game, but back then Ginobili was the one defending Sun Hao, and Sun Hao's offense relied mostly on jump shots—they'd barely had any direct contact.

He tried to back Sun Hao down twice but got nowhere. Turning to face the basket, he executed a crossover into a Euro Step drive.

This was his go-to scoring move, but he soon realized he hadn't gotten past Sun Hao!

Just as he was about to lift off on his second step, Sun Hao's defense was already there, delivering contact.

Sun Hao's anticipation was too precise!

Or rather, he was too familiar with Ginobili.

Especially after their previous matchup, he now had a much more complete understanding of Ginobili's current skill set.

But Ginobili's body control was exceptional. After the contact, he adjusted mid-air and released a floater while off-balance.

Basketball talent comes in many forms: height, wingspan, jumping ability, and so on. Body control is one of them.

Ginobili, like Kobe, was a prime example of that kind of talent.

The play drew gasps from the crowd and had Spurs Assistant General Manager R.C. Buford practically drooling.

Ginobili had been drafted by the Spurs this year, but the team had chosen to let him develop overseas.

Now that Ginobili had led his team to the EuroLeague semifinals, the Spurs naturally sent someone to scout him and decide whether to call him up next season.

Buford's presence showed just how highly they valued Ginobili.

"Smack!"

But just as the admiration settled, a large hand shot out from the side, swatting Ginobili's shot out of bounds!

A beautiful block!

Gabajosa!

His form tonight was more than just "pretty good"!

That block instantly ignited the Real Madrid crowd on site.

With Sun Hao's sudden rise, they'd almost forgotten about this Real Madrid team's interior anchor!

Virtus Bologna's inbound pass came out, and Danilovic's three-pointer missed.

Gabajosa spun around like a monkey reaching for the moon and snatched the long rebound cleanly.

He was in exceptional form today.

Real Madrid pushed forward again. Sun Hao navigated out of the pick and roll to receive the ball, but before he could shoot, he was immediately plastered again.

Ginobili was determined to hound him tonight.

Just then, Sun Hao spotted Gabajosa posting up inside and fed him the ball.

Gabajosa caught it, backed down once, pivoted, and muscled past the opposing center. Seeing the power forward rotating over to help, he leaped and slammed the ball with both hands into the hoop.

"Boom!"

A heavy bomb. Gabajosa hammered the ball through the net.

4 to 0!

Gabajosa had scored all of his team's opening points!

And from that finishing move, it was clear he was a little fired up tonight!

Ginobili called for a screen up front, drove inside after the switch, actively leaned into Gabajosa, and released his shot.

"Smack!"

To everyone's disbelief, Gabajosa had blocked Ginobili again!

And this time, it was a one-on-one, straight-up rejection!

After the block, Gabajosa roared at Ginobili, looking every bit the beast.

He was insane!

"Yorg! Yorg!"

The Real Madrid fans on the sidelines began cheering for Gabajosa.

His performance at the start of this game was truly unexpected.

Virtus Bologna's head coach Messina frowned deeply at this point.

They were already at a disadvantage in the interior matchup, and with Gabajosa in such hot form, they were in trouble.

Just as he was thinking this, Gabajosa set a screen with Prigioni, rolled to the basket, caught the ball, and turned for a little hook shot.

"Swish!"

The basketball settled cleanly into the net.

Gabajosa, scoring 6 straight points to open the game!

Blocks, consecutive blocks, a dunk, a little hook—he was channeling O'Neal, taking whatever he wanted!

Sun Hao watched Gabajosa's stellar performance and suddenly remembered something.

Prigioni's play today was mediocre; he even seemed a bit overwhelmed.

He recalled that when he first treated them to a meal, Prigioni had mentioned his wife and children.

But Gabajosa hadn't, and with his gloomy demeanor, how could he possibly have a girlfriend before him?

That guy was definitely single, just like him in his past life!

That seemed to explain everything.

There's been a rumor going around that Shui Duanqiao and I are living together.

Let me clarify something.

That's not a rumor.