NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 1 I'm an outside player?
1987, April 3.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

Louisiana Superdome.

NCAA Men's Division I Championship Finals.

Indiana University vs. Syracuse University.

"Indiana! Smash those bastards!"

"GO! Xue Cheng! Kick them in the balls!"

Amid the cheers from fans of both teams, the two teams were evenly matched in the first half.

39 to 38, Indiana University temporarily leads by 1 point.

During the half-time break, Meng Jin first glanced at the score, then looked at the coach and teammates who were discussing tactics.

Forget it, I guess I don’t have anything to do tonight.

It has been half a year since Meng Jin came here, and he has spent most of the time on the bench.

1987...

For Meng Jin in the past, this was a distant number.

There was no League of Legends, no Dota, no smartphones, and even on the court they wore disgusting tight shorts.

It’s hard to imagine how Meng Jin spent the past six months.

Fortunately, the original owner of this body was quite wealthy. In the 80s, it was definitely not an ordinary family that could send their children to study in the United States.

You don't necessarily have to play this kind of basketball.

I just feel a little sorry for this system.

Along with the time travel, Meng Jin obtained a system called [Basketball Monster Development].

The system was very generous and gave him a super gift package right away, which included [Chamberlain's strength], [Michael Jordan's coordination], [Dominique Wilkins' bounce], [Speed ​​of Spott Webber] and an [Exclusive Skill].

With this physical talent combined with his 213CM height and 228CM wingspan, Meng Jin can only think of two words: superman.

However, the system still has a bit of science in its perversion. It automatically adjusts the attributes according to Meng Jin's height and body shape.

孟进现在这四项属性分别为【力量：88（99）】、【协调性：85（99）】、【弹跳：90（99）】、速度【88】（99）。（PS：所有属性皆为NBA标准，括号内为潜力值）
Everything was fine until Meng Jin clicked on that [Exclusive Skill]...

[Reborn Boxing Champion]: Possessing the punching skills and reaction speed of a semi-professional boxer, this skill will be further enhanced when you are on the basketball court, and the improvement will increase as the fighting time increases. Believe me, this skill will definitely be useful to you. Maybe one day someone will call you the Ali of basketball?

Meng Jin did not expect this exclusive skill.

This doesn't quite match his gentle temperament and this skill.

Of course, apart from this everything went well.

Meng Jin was successfully spotted by head coach Jim Boeheim, successfully joined the school team, and successfully started his water dispenser career.

Although his skills are still at the level before the time travel, it is hard for a talent like Meng Jin to not be noticed by the coach. He is only a freshman now and still has great potential. His skills and awareness can be slowly trained.

If Jim Boeheim didn't recruit him to the basketball team, the football team would definitely not let go of such a good seedling.

In universities across the United States, it is common for basketball teams and football teams to compete for players. People with exceptional athletic talent usually choose between the basketball team and the football team.

Because these two sports are the best for picking up girls, nothing else.

He stayed in the school team for half a year. During this period, the system did not appear again. It gave Meng Jin a task to "appear in the NCAA finals" and then disappeared.

"Beep beep beep!"

A burst of rapid whistle brought Meng Jin back to reality.

On the court, Syracuse University's starting center Ronnie Seikaly fell to the ground holding his ankle!

After a brief medical treatment, Ronnie walked into the locker room with the help of the team doctor.

"Damn! Ronnie looks done."

"asshole!"

"Fake!"

"That's a dirty move!"

Then there was a burst of abuse from the audience.

The fans' anger is not difficult to understand. The guy who was just injured is not a marginal character. Ronnie Seikaly averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds per game this season and is the school's absolute inside core.

Syracuse University's bad luck did not end there. Syracuse University's power forward Derrick Coleman became a little impatient because his partner left the court.

He committed two fouls in just one and a half minutes.

Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim quickly replaced him as a protection for Derrick Coleman because he had already received two fouls in the first half.

The situation on the court suddenly became unfavorable to Syracuse University, and Indiana University launched a series of targeted inside attacks.

If you can’t score in the first attempt, go for the rebound, and then score in the second and third attacks!

Syracuse University quickly lost control of the inside and lost 8 points in a row!
Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim paced back and forth on the sidelines anxiously.

Looking at his figure, Meng Jin had a hunch that he might have a chance to play tonight.

Rebounding is everything in this era, and that's what this jumping man does best.

The reason why Jim Boeheim hesitated was because the shadow cast by Meng Jin was too big in the round of 16.

During the round of 16, Boeheim intended to let Meng Jin experience the atmosphere of the knockout stage. As a result, he was too excited and committed 3 fouls and 4 turnover in 1 minutes, almost causing Jim Boeheim to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage.

After that, Meng Jin never appeared in the knockout rounds.

But now Boeheim appears to have no choice.

NCAA games are divided into two halves, each lasting 20 minutes. Since the introduction of the offensive time limit in 1984, the offensive time limit for each round has been 45 seconds.

For such a slow-paced team, if they couldn't grab the rebounds and allowed the score difference to expand to more than double digits, victory would be far away.

After looking at the bench, Boeheim suddenly waved to Meng Jin.

The game has reached this point, we must seek change!

Meng Jin understood what he meant, raised his butt, and rushed to Jim Boeheim at the speed of light.

Jim Boeheim patted him on the back: "Meng, you go in after the dead ball, seize the opportunity! Do you know what to do after you get on the court?"

Meng Jin's eyes were firm: "I totally understand, coach, I will crush them!"

"What do you mean by smashing them!? Go grab the damn rebound for me, okay?" Jim Boeheim suddenly raised his voice.

"Yes-sir!" Meng Jin saluted Jim Boeheim.

Half a minute later, the ball became dead.

Jim Boeheim patted Meng Jin's butt, and Meng Jin knew that was the signal for him to play.

Although this routine of a small player getting a chance by chance and then making his debut is a bit outdated, it happens in every league and every year.

It’s just that some people seized the opportunity and some didn’t.

Meng Jin tucked his jersey into his shorts and strode into the court with steady and confident steps.

Looking at Meng Jin's back, Jim Boeheim felt a little worried.

Is this kid going to do anything weird again?
The moment Meng Jin stepped into the arena, the system sound suddenly rang!
“Complete the mission [Newcomer]: You are still an unknown pawn, but you have already made your debut on the highest stage of the NCAA. Seize the opportunity. Maybe this is a good start.”

"Obtained mission reward: [Basic ball control skills]: This skill will greatly improve your ball control attributes. There is no fancy ball control, only simple and solid ball control skills."

Meng Jin glanced at the [Ball Control] attribute that was upgraded to 80 points and was a little speechless. As an inside player, why would he need to control the ball?
But on second thought, at least this is better than boxing, after all, it is a basketball skill.

"Damn, what a wimp?" Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan shook his head in the stands.

"Michael, do you know him?" asked Bulls teammate Oakley next to him.

It is no coincidence that the two appear here. March Madness has an almost crazy appeal not only to fans, but also to professional players.

Jordan shook his head again and said unhappily: "Look at his skin color!"

In the eyes of black people, yellow people lack motor cells, just as black people lack brain cells in the eyes of yellow people.

"Michael, tell me the truth, how much did you bet?" agent Falk joked.

People who are familiar with Jordan know that basketball, gambling, and golf are his three major hobbies in life. The matchup predictions before the start of March Madness every year are a nationwide craze in the United States, and tens of millions of Americans participate in March Madness lottery betting every year.

As soon as this was said, Jordan's old teammate Adolf Seaver, insurance adjuster Fred Glover and golf partner Kearns all laughed.

Jordan liked to bring a group of brothers with him wherever he went, sometimes three or five, sometimes seven or eight.

Jordan has become increasingly lonely since becoming famous, and being with his brothers is his way of relieving his loneliness.

"Syracuse made a substitution. They put in a big, yellow guy," said Billy Parker, the commentator for the TV broadcast.

Billy Parker's introduction was very concise, not because his language was concise, but because that was all he knew about Meng Jin.

Another commentator, Brent Musburger, smiled and said, "He looks good, doesn't look like a yellow man, and I hope he can bring some changes to Syracuse's inside line."

Meng Jin appeared in a brief introduction by the commentator. Not many people noticed this big yellow man who had just come on the court, but Meng Jin quickly caught the fans' attention with his actions.

In the first defensive round, Meng Jin did not perform well. Indiana University shortened the offensive time to 40 seconds, and point guard Alford made a mid-range shot.

The score on the court was 49 to 39.

Indiana University widened the point difference to double digits.

Syracuse University quickly started from the baseline and Sherman Douglas quickly pushed across half court.

Syracuse shooting guard Monroe came out from a screen to catch the ball.

Syracuse's tactics were simple, they needed to catch up quickly.

At this time, Meng Jin was fighting with the opponent's power forward Daryl Thomas in the interior.

Darryl Thomas is the captain of Indiana University. He became famous very early and was selected to the McDonald's and Parade All-American Teams in high school.

Both sides were fighting for the advantageous position to grab rebounds. Daryl Thomas kept making small moves, but Meng Jin didn't indulge him.
Take it slow and steady, throw an elbow first.

It is normal to have some confrontation when playing basketball in this era.

Meng Jin is not stupid. He had observed on the bench that the referee's whistle was too lenient in this game. In the first half of the game, the referee turned a blind eye to many small actions of both sides.

"what!"

Unexpectedly, Daryl Thomas did not want to confront Meng Jin head-on, and he fell to the ground and left the matter to the referee.

"Beep!"

The referee blew the whistle and called an offensive foul on Meng Jin.

"Wang Defa! What are you doing?" Monroe, who had just got the ball and was about to shoot, was very dissatisfied.

There was also a lot of noise in the stadium, with complaints and laughter.

"Woman!"

Meng Jin didn't tolerate Daryl Thomas, so he just lowered his head and yelled at him.

The Indiana University players rushed up quickly, and so did the Syracuse players.

There was almost a large-scale conflict between the two sides, but fortunately the referee separated the two sides in time.

Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine walked up to the head coach and asked, "Should we consider substituting this guy?"

Boeheim's face didn't look very good, but he didn't reply.

Boeheim said what the hell can he say?
This guy was only on the field for less than a minute. Isn't it tantamount to admitting his mistake in the substitution by being substituted off like that?

Indiana University offensive round.

After Alford dribbled across half court, he still kept the tempo high. The fans on the sidelines did not seem impatient. The offense of that era was slow to begin with, and the fans were used to it.

With 10 seconds left on the offensive clock, Alford broke into the paint and passed the ball, but Rick Calloway missed his two-point shot.

"Snapped!"

Meng Jin grabbed the moon with one hand and held the ball in his palm very handsomely.

"here!"

Douglas waved and ran forward. Meng Jin looked around and saw that there was no pass. The route was blocked.

Meng Jin turned his head and looked at Monroe on the other side. The situation was similar.

When Daryl Thomas saw that Meng Jin couldn't pass the ball, he immediately got angry and rushed to him in one step!

Meng Jin held the basketball high and swayed his upper body left to right.

"It didn't look good for Meng. He looked like he was backed into a corner and couldn't respond," commentator Billy Parker said.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the commentator finished speaking, Meng Jin completed the pass on the court.

Bend over!

Ball!

One step over!

It only took Meng Jin one second from being forced into a corner, nearly losing the ball, to dribbling past the opponent.

Daryl Thomas was a little confused. He didn't expect Meng Jin to use this method to break his press.

Sometimes inspiration happens in a flash.

Meng Jin was like Newton who was hit by an apple. At that moment, the thought that went through his mind was: If you don't let me pass the ball, can't I just dribble it myself?

At this time, everyone's eyes were on Meng Jin, and no one noticed that Syracuse University head coach Boeheim was standing on the sidelines.

If Boeheim was just a little upset in the last round, this time he was completely worried.

Indiana University allowed Meng Jin to hold the ball and advance, as they didn't think a big guy holding the ball could pose any threat.

It wasn't until Meng Jin dribbled across half court and approached the three-point line that Indiana University felt something was wrong.

Doesn’t this guy want a dragon?
Point guard Alford quickly let go of Douglas and rushed towards Meng Jin.

Gambling steal!
In his opinion, it is not difficult to steal the ball from such a big player because his center of gravity is too high when dribbling.

Meng Jin reacted quickly and immediately pulled the ball behind him, perfectly avoiding Alford's steal.

This is one of the few uses of [The Rebirth of the Boxing Champion] on the court, allowing Meng Jin to have the reaction speed of a quasi-professional boxer.

But before, even if his brain could react, his body couldn't keep up, because before he acquired the [Basic Skills of Dribbling], Meng Jin was a rough guy.

After passing Alford, the fans' enthusiasm was ignited!
Meng Jin was very focused and automatically blocked out the noise from the sidelines. He received the ball at the free throw line and jumped in the paint area.

Burn the sky with one hand!

When he reached the highest point, Meng Jin felt a little regretful.

This jump was too high. Maybe he should have done some movement in the air to make this dunk less monotonous.

"BOOM!!!"

49:41.

After landing, Meng Jin's ears regained their decibel level.

"Damn! This big guy's head is above the rim!"

"Absolutely, my eyes are not mistaken."

"I was more surprised by his dribbling just now!"

"He's as agile as a 185cm guard!"

The discussions and cheers soon filled the entire stadium!

Looking at the excited fans around him, Meng Jin was a little surprised.

Is the threshold so low?

As for being so excited?
Don’t say, it’s really true.

What age is this?
80s!

Fans have never seen a big guy play like this!

Olajuwon, who is always known for his flexibility, was just making some dreamy moves in the paint, but what Meng Jin did just now was a one-stop operation throughout the entire court, and the final finish was the kind where he headed over the rim.

(End of this chapter)