Inside the indoor training hall of Olimpia Club Milan, the squeak of cleats scraping the floor grew increasingly intense. The one-on-one duels in the first half had reached a fever pitch.
On the sidelines, 17-year-old Tony Parker, 19-year-old Chris Paul Gasol, 20-year-old Hedo Türkoğlu, and Mehmet Okur sat side by side on a bench, watching the game intently. These top young talents in Europe basketball dared not blink for even a moment.
On the field, Dejan Bodiroga, the star player of Greece and hailed as " Europe's best player Panathinaikos," is facing off against Celtics's 22-year-old starting forward Chris Paul Pierce. Neither of them relies on an explosive first step or amazing jumping ability. Their duel is entirely a battle of ankles, rhythm, and brains.
Bodiroga performed two consecutive crossover dribbles, his shoulders slightly lowered. Pierce didn't fall for it easily. He lowered his center of gravity, planted his feet firmly, and used his excellent lateral movement to quickly slide and block Bodiroga's driving route.
Upon discovering the route was blocked, Bodiroga remained calm. He paused briefly, then unleashed his signature move – the "El Latigo" ( The Whip ).
He pushed the ball sharply to the left with one hand, his shoulder and eyes working in perfect unison to create a highly deceptive change of direction. Pierce instinctively slid to the left to block. Just as Pierce shifted his weight, Bodiroga flicked his wrist back, pulling the ball sharply to the right with an uncanny rhythm!
This wide-open "push-pull" completely fooled Pierce. Pierce, whose center of gravity was shifted, stumbled slightly, and Bodiroga took the opportunity to gather the ball and make a layup, scoring easily.
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
Pierce, instead of being annoyed by the play, had a glint in his eye. He walked over, picked up the ball, and tossed it to Bodiroga, his tone full of pure discussion. "That fake push and pull you made just now, the movement and timing were perfect. I thought you were going to make a strong run down the left, and I had just shifted my weight when you completely threw me off my rhythm."
Bodiroga caught the ball and smiled gently. At this point in 1999, as the "King of Europe," he had a strong sense of pride and preferred to stay in Europe as a top-paid core player rather than become a role player in the NBA. Since they could not become rivals in the future, he naturally had no need to hold back.
"The key lies in wrist control and shoulder deception, Chris Paul," Bodiroga demonstrated in slow motion. "None of us have the absolute speed to beat someone in one step, so we can't rely on explosive power; we have to rely on rhythm. First, push the ball out to deceive the opponent's center of gravity, and the real killing move is the moment you pull the ball back."
Pierce nodded thoughtfully, mimicking the footwork from before. "One more time, I want to try defending against that move." Pierce readjusted his defensive stance.
Bodiroga nodded with a smile.
The second time, Bodiroga used the same trick again, a fake push followed by a pull. This time, Pierce no longer followed the movement of the basketball and his shoulders, but instead focused his attention on Bodiroga's waist, hips, and supporting foot. When Bodiroga faked a push on the left, Pierce only used tiny steps to adjust, his center of gravity as stable as a mountain.
Just as Bodiroga was about to pull his wrist back to the right, Pierce's exceptional lateral agility was on full display. With only a few tiny steps, he preemptively secured the right lane as Bodiroga completed his pullback, blocking the breakthrough route with his strong chest like a wall.
However, Bodiroga revealed an unfathomable arsenal.
Faced with close marking, Bodiroga quickly gathered the ball, pivoted on his right foot, and jerked his shoulder upward, making a convincing shooting fake.
As Pierce shifted his weight, he stepped over the defender with his left foot while simultaneously raising his right foot, ducking under Pierce's raised arm and flicking the ball towards the backboard with a reverse layup before his pivot foot landed again.
The moves were fluid and seamless; the first layer was deciphered, but the second layer immediately followed, perfectly illustrating what it means to "play ball with your brain."
"Damn, you have too many tricks up your sleeve." Pierce couldn't help but laugh and curse, but his eyes were full of excitement. "I had clearly blocked your path, but I still fell for your combo and lost my balance."
"Your lateral movement and judgment are incredibly sharp, and your lower body strength exceeded my expectations," Bodiroga praised without reservation. "If I had forced a shot just now, you would definitely have blocked it. So after my first move was shut down, I had to use a fake shot to force you to shift your weight."
The two walked forward and bumped fists as they talked, sharing their experiences without reservation.
In the transition, Pierce, with the ball in his back to Bodiroga, didn't use any fancy dribbling. Instead, he used his broad back to directly challenge him. He first feinted to the right with his shoulder, then suddenly slammed into Bodiroga to the left.
The timing of his shot was perfect. Just as Bodiroga instinctively leaned back, Pierce used the momentum to bounce back, smoothly stepping back and hitting a fadeaway jumper.
"Hiss..." Tony Parker on the sidelines couldn't help but gasp. Europe basketball emphasizes overall movement, and this one-on-one technique that combines physical confrontation and space creation to the extreme is also a revelation for them.
Bodiroga looked at Pierce, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, followed by deep admiration. "Your shoulder is so deceptive. That move you made just now was specifically testing my defensive balance."
"That's right, it's the same principle as your step-back earlier," Pierce replied with a smile. "As long as my shoulder is close to my opponent's, I can feel his center of gravity. If he pushes forward, I step back. If he retreats, I pull up for a jump shot."
Bodiroga agreement. "So our core strategy is not to outreact with the defenders, but to induce them to make the first decision, and then we suddenly slow down."
"Absolutely right." Pierce grinned. "Control the rhythm of the defense, and you control the court."
In this training hall, without media or spectators, a top-level technical exchange spanning Europe and America continued in this pure and tacit atmosphere.
After several hours of intense training, the players headed to the locker room one after another.
The empty half of the court gradually quieted down. In the huge arena, only the monotonous sound of basketballs hitting the floor and penetrating the net remained, along with a tall, thin figure still running tirelessly.
That was Andrei Kirilenko, who was selected by the Celtics with the 23rd overall pick in the first round this summer. At that time, his contract with his Russia team had not yet expired, and he would have to wait at least two more seasons before officially joining the NBA. But the Celtics still invited him to their Europe training camp ahead of schedule.
In this empty half of the court, he stood alone outside the three-point line, pushing a cart full of basketballs, and began extra practice.
This was Lin Qi's request, specifically to strengthen his weakest area—long-range shooting. At 18, Kirilenko's body still had the slender build of a teenager. From the corner to the top of the arc, he repeated the tedious yet focused independent shooting drills over and over again, his jersey already soaked with sweat.
Mark Price, towel in hand, slowly walked along the sidelines. The former legendary striker observed for several minutes before speaking, only after Kirilenko had finished a set of shots.
"His release is quick, and his footwork is very agile," Price said calmly, "But his right elbow flares out a bit when he shoots. This flaw makes the arc of his shot inconsistent when his stamina drops."
Kirilenko stopped what he was doing and listened attentively.
"Come on, try lowering your center of gravity a bit more, and when you release the ball, press your wrist down naturally, concentrating the power in your index and middle fingers." Price took the ball and personally demonstrated a standard long-range shot, clean, smooth, and full of power.
Kirilenko did as instructed immediately. This time, the sound of the basketball hitting the net was noticeably crisper and more consistent.
Price looked at the young man's persistence, smiled slightly, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.
On the second-floor stands, Lin Qi leaned against the railing, coffee in hand, silently observing everything. Before he could even think of a way to move things around, the players on the court had already naturally begun to exchange skills and techniques. This atmosphere of mutual support and improvement purely for the sake of basketball was exactly what he wanted to see.
This trip to Europe yielded far more rewards than he had anticipated.
Outside the window, the night in Milan is deepening.