Active European Emperor

Chapter 49: The Reigning European Emperor

The Real Madrid team was introduced first.

After the introductions finished, the battle anthem turned into the national anthem, and the fans' frenzy surpassed even the warm-up period.

Then came the Panathinaikos team.

By the time the host introduced Bodiroga, the crowd's emotions were already unstoppable.

First, the fans collectively stood up and began wildly shaking Bodiroga's massive cloth banner.

Next, the front-row fans grabbed oversized team flags and started frantically waving them left and right.

The battle anthem began, voices roared in unison, threatening to lift the arena roof off.

Then, fireworks burst everywhere.

Roars, white smoke, and a sky full of streamers thrown into the court.

Sun Hao felt the pungent smell of gunpowder all around him; inhaling it into his lungs was especially uncomfortable.

This scene—this wasn't about stepping onto the court to play basketball; this was about stepping onto a battlefield to fight!

Beneath the white haze, the court had turned into the Roman Colosseum.

Watching the scene before him, Sun Hao suddenly worried about how they'd leave the court if they won.

What a bunch of absolute madmen.

By the time their opening ceremony ended, the court was covered in streamers.

Fortunately, the organizers had prepared for this. As soon as the ceremony finished, while both head coaches arranged their opening tactics, a crew of staff came onto the court to clean it up.

It seemed the Greek team's pre-game style was already infamous.

After the final tactical arrangements before the game, the starting players from both teams took the court one by one.

The Panathinaikos fans... started again.

The roar of "Hoo, hoo, hoo" sounded like the war drums of a medieval army before battle.

This was really forcing someone to grab a shield and spear and charge into the fight!

Gabajosa and Zeljko Rebraca jumped for the tip-off.

Rebraca, standing at 2.15 meters, used his long arms to tap the ball back to Panathinaikos' half, officially kicking off the EuroLeague Final.

Just then, the Panathinaikos fans reached their climax.

The roar peaked, and the flag-wavers began waving again.

Sun Hao felt tired just watching them. This was only the start of the game.

Could they really last through the whole match?

This wasn't a soccer game—if they went wild after every basket, wouldn't their voices be wrecked by the end?

But Sun Hao's attention quickly snapped back, because Bodiroga was already showing off as soon as he reached the frontcourt.

Bodiroga played the three-position, and guarding him was Trinidad, Real Madrid's strongest perimeter defender.

Trinidad was a swingman, standing 1.96 meters, not much shorter than Bodiroga.

But height didn't seem to be the deciding factor in this matchup.

Without even calling for a screen, Bodiroga blew past Trinidad with a crossover and drove low into the paint.

The speed and the range of his crossover were things a 2.05-meter man simply shouldn't have.

Gabajosa rotated over to help, but Bodiroga calmly pump-faked.

The fake was so convincing that Gabajosa bit and jumped.

Bodiroga pivoted on the spot, spun past him, and gently laid the ball into the basket with his right hand.

Smooth. Damn smooth.

From the crossover to the stop, to the fake shot and the spin—the whole sequence of moves was seamless.

It wasn't that Trinidad was a bad defender, or that Gabajosa was stupid. It was that Bodiroga's skill was simply transcendent.

Like a Nascent Soul cultivator fighting a Golden Core in a fantasy novel—a total crushing in every aspect.

Your full speed was slow motion to him. He could calmly read the situation and make his choice.

Honestly, Sun Hao was a bit awestruck at that moment.

This was even more impressive than what he'd seen on video.

This was the reigning European Emperor who, three years ago, had just joined Real Madrid and led them to the La Liga championship.

Now, three years later, at 27, he had reached the peak of his personal ability.

He didn't go to the NBA not because he lacked the skill, but because he genuinely didn't want to!

Real Madrid advanced the ball to the frontcourt.

At this point, Sun Hao noticed that Panathinaikos had opened the game in a 3-2 zone defense.

The center stands at the high post, the two guards at the left and right forty-five-degree angles, and the two forwards drop to the low post.

It's the exact opposite of the 2-3 zone defense Virtus Bologna set earlier; the 3-2 zone is a defensive scheme primarily aimed at guarding the three-point shot.

If you compare Real Madrid to a car, Prigioni is the engine, and Sun Hao is the transmission.

Both of the most critical parts come from the perimeter.

And with Rakocevic inside, they don't have to worry about losing the paint like Virtus Bologna did in the last game.

This defensive formation is too targeted.

Panathinaikos isn't just strong in their own right; they came fully prepared.

Real Madrid's perimeter has no openings. Prigioni drives with the ball, but his layup is contested by Rakocevic and misses; the latter grabs the defensive rebound.

Rakocevic is tall, but he's faster than expected.

Panathinaikos dares to open with a zone defense, showing great confidence in their newly crowned MVP's ability.

At this point, Sun Hao turns his head to look at Panathinaikos's bench and realizes the coach looks familiar.

After a closer look, he quickly remembers who it is.

Panagiotis Giannakis.

Not just him—probably most Chinese fans know him, because he had a very unpleasant collaboration with the Chinese Men's National Basketball Team.

There's a lot of controversy about him, saying he's overrated, that he has no control over the team.

But in the end, it turned out the players weren't his choice, they didn't run the plays as required, and he only had a few months of practice before a major tournament.

From start to finish, he was dragged in to take the fall.

Sun Hao hadn't deliberately looked into it before, but judging from the opening tactical setup, this is a truly deserving European master coach.

He's only 39, but last year he already led the Greek team to the World Championship semifinals, and they pushed the eventual champion Yugoslavia to overtime.

Facts speak louder than words.

After stopping Real Madrid's offense, at the other end, Bodiroga starts showing off again.

This time, he backs against Trinidad and calls for the ball.

The other Panathinaikos players see this and all clear out to the weak side.

Bodiroga has the advantage in weight and strength. After receiving the ball, he backs down with a half-turn and quickly digs into the low post.

They're in the same position, but it looks like a mismatch.

At the low post, Bodiroga makes a quick turn toward the baseline for a shot.

Trinidad lunges out.

But the moment he lunges, Bodiroga reverses his turn, spinning right past him.

And just as Gabajosa rotates over to help, Bodiroga takes a small step to squeeze through, then lightly banks it in off the glass.

Showy as hell.

The Panathinaikos crowd erupts again.

The big Bodiroga banner they used at the start is raised once more; the fans all stand up and start roaring.

As if that wasn't just a basket, but a gladiator kicking his opponent down.

4 to 0.

Bodiroga opens the game with a flashy streak, scoring 4 straight points and giving the Greek team a perfect start.

And Real Madrid still can't score on their next possession.

Gabajosa catches a kick-out from Prigioni and clanks a mid-range jumper off the rim.

You have to admit, the crazy Greek fans are putting plenty of psychological pressure on Real Madrid.

In contrast, Real Madrid's fans feel completely suppressed.

The neutral court has turned into Panathinaikos's home floor.

Rakocevic secures the defensive rebound and immediately passes it to Bodiroga.

Bodiroga catches the ball and turns to push the fast break in one motion.

Prigioni tries to steal; Bodiroga doesn't stop, does a behind-the-back dribble with his right hand, splitting Prigioni with a between-the-legs move.

Sun Hao sees the timing and lunges over too, but Bodiroga switches to his left hand for another behind-the-back dribble and blows past him as well!

This is insane—he's not even human!

Bodiroga pushes to the frontcourt, sees Trinidad in front of him, rises for a layup, and mid-air does a between-the-legs pass to the middle.

The trailing guard catches it and goes straight up for a layup.

6 to 0!

Showy, so showy it makes your scalp tingle.

At this point, Sun Hao's expression is a bit helpless too.

In four years in Europe, he had seen a true European superstar for the first time.

Compared to Ginobili, who wasn't fully mature yet, and Gasol, who had only just become a starter, the Bodiroga before him was on an entirely different level.

Although Sun Hao had prepared himself mentally and physically, Bodiroga's performance still exceeded his imagination.

This was the strength of the current European Emperor.

Laso had already walked from the bench to the sidelines, his eyes full of anxiety.

He knew the Panathinaikos Team was strong, but he hadn't expected them to be this strong.

Especially Bodiroga—since Laso had just started coaching when Bodiroga left, this was his first time experiencing it firsthand, just like Sun Hao.

Coupled with the frenzied cheering of the Greek fans around him, he was already stunned.

Seeing that Laso hadn't called a timeout, Sun Hao took the ball from Prigioni and signaled for a high double screen after reaching the frontcourt.

The 3-2 zone defense wasn't easy to break; he had to use his head.

Watching the action on the court, Giannakis, sitting on the sidelines, revealed a faint smile.

He knew Sun Hao's three-point shooting was excellent, but throwing up threes against a 3-2 zone defense—even Danilovic couldn't guarantee the hit rate.

Real Madrid Team had been completely thrown into disarray by Bodiroga's play.

ps: New week, begging for recommendation votes from the big shots. If you like Shui Qie, hit him with your votes!

I suspect you guys have a secret crush on me.

Nonsense, no way.

Looks like you're openly fond of me.