NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 125: Evil Oppression

Jordan said something similar in the post-match interview as Meng Jin did. He was very happy to get off to a good start in the season, but this was by no means a battle of revenge.

The Bulls lost the Eastern Conference Finals. If winning a regular season game is considered revenge, then this revenge is too cheap.

When asked about Meng Jin's performance tonight, Jordan was full of praise: "His growth rate is amazing. He is now a superstar. If he needs me, I am willing to gain weight for him to play inside."

The reporters all laughed after hearing this. Everyone thought it was Jordan's dry humor, but they didn't know that it was Jordan's true feelings.

After the failure in the Eastern Conference Finals, Jordan was in pain for a while, but he did not sink into despair. He thought deeply. Jordan did not consider the importance of personal performance and team victory. He thought about which situation would make him more painful, losing or not getting gorgeous data.

It is undoubtedly the former. He does not want to repeat the mistakes of last season, so he is willing to make sacrifices for this.

As long as he can win, he is willing to do blue-collar work. This season, Jordan hates failure more than ever.

At five o'clock the next morning, Meng Jin struggled to get out of bed.

It is already very cold in Chicago in November, especially in the morning, when the temperature is around 11 degrees.

For Meng Jin, he would rather practice for an extra hour at night than get up early in such horrible weather.

But there is no way, the Bulls don’t have a charter plane, and the players have to get up early to catch the flight when playing away games.

On the plane, Jordan patted Meng Jin on the shoulder and said, "Guess whether the stewardess took the left leg or the right leg first."

Meng Jin: "Right leg, 100 US dollars."

Jordan stared at the stewardess, and when she saw him take a step forward with his left leg, she was delighted: "Haha, I won, here's the $100!"

Meng Jin felt that Jordan's gambling addiction had worsened. He used to like gambling on cards and golf, but now he does it regardless of the occasion, place or format.

After getting off the plane, he also wanted to make a bet with his teammates to see whose luggage would come out first. Meng Jin did not bet. He just saw Jordan secretly bribe the staff and give money to the young man.

Now, apart from playing games, Jordan thinks about gambling all the time. It's like a conditioned reflex. When other people see the legs of a stewardess, their first reaction is that she has good legs or nice stockings, but Jordan's first reaction is that he can gamble on this.

On November 11, the Bulls will face the Washington Bullets in a back-to-back away game.

The Bullets' lineup has changed a lot this season. The old boy Moses Malone has gone to pursue his dream. He did not renew his contract with the Bullets during the offseason and chose to join the Hawks to pursue his second championship in his career.

The Atlanta Hawks' current lineup is very impressive, with Moses Malone inside, Wilkins outside, and star players such as Doc Rivers and Reggie Theus to protect them.

NBC directly predicted that this year's Hawks can directly compete for the championship. CBS also believes that the Hawks' lineup is unprecedentedly strong. Although Moses Malone is already 33 years old and was reimbursed last season, the outside world still has full confidence in this three-time regular season and 3-time All-Star player. The reason is simple: the prophet never disappoints.

Moses Malone himself was also full of confidence. He regarded Wilkins as a substitute for Dr. J and was ready to perfectly replicate the 82-83 championship season.

Moses Malone obviously overestimated Wilkins. Although Wilkins and Dr. J are both strong in offense but weak in defense, there are different levels of defensive weakness. Dr. J does not like to defend during the regular season, but his defensive ability is still online when he is serious. After all, he was selected into the best defensive team during the ABA period. Wilkins' defense is all based on his eyes. After all, his defense is not reflected in the data.

Wilkins's playing style can be said to be successful to some extent. Judging from the statistics alone, he and Jordan are players of the same level. Many fans and media outside do think so. This is why so many people are optimistic about the Hawks' performance this year after they got Moses Malone.

However, these people may be disappointed. Wilkins' style of play that only attacks and does not defend is too wasteful for his teammates. Playing next to him will be very stressful. This pressure is not only reflected physically but also mentally. After all, no one wants to fight hard on defense while his teammates stand with their hands on their hips and watch the show.

Therefore, those who think that the Hawks have made some achievements this season are all outsiders. NBA coaches and professional players do not think that this gorgeous Hawks team can go too far, unless Wilkins suddenly has his Ren and Du meridians opened up and changes the playing style he has adhered to for many years.

The Bullets without Moses Malone were not as vulnerable as imagined. They even led the Bulls by 29 point, 28 to 1, in the first quarter and were only 5 points behind at the end of the half. The score gradually widened in the second half of the third quarter.

In the end, the Bulls won their second consecutive victory with a score of 118 to 106.

The Bullets' backup shooting guard, this year's No. 11 second-round pick from the University of New Orleans, Rydell Ickells, played unexpectedly well. He played aggressively throughout the game, getting a team-high 8 free throws, 19 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound.

Another young player of the Bullets, John Williams, also played well. His stats tonight were 12 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. He performed very well all-round. The most commendable thing was his rebounding stats. After Moses Malone left, rebounding became the biggest problem the Bullets will face this season. Bernard King and Jeff Malone certainly cannot be relied upon, as these two people only have their eyes on the basket.

In fact, in the early days of his career, Bernard's rebounding protection was definitely above average. He was tough and good at positioning. He once averaged 9.5 rebounds per game in a single season.

But when he became more and more obsessed with scoring, this skill was thrown away by Bernard King. In the 80s, it was a tradition for small forwards not to defend or rebound. You ask why? Because the best small forwards of this era did this!
Bernard King, Wilkins, Dantley, Mark Aguirre.
Last season, some media called Meng Jin one of the best defensive small forwards in the league. Seeing this news, Meng Jin himself was a little embarrassed. He knew that he was not outstanding in 1V1 defense, and it was common for him to slack off on defense in order to make fast breaks. His biggest highlight in defense was chasing down blocks and assisting in blocks, which were all related to his mobility and had nothing to do with defensive skills. Even so, some people still thought that his defense was good for a small forward position, which shows the attitude of small forwards of this era towards defense.

In the middle and late stages of last season, in a game against the Hawks, Wilkins said something that Meng Jin will remember for the rest of his life.

"Why did you run inside to help defend? Why did you go inside to grab the rebound? The basket is over there!"

Meng Jin was speechless at the time. As a master of trash talk, he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

It seems that in this era it is normal for small forwards not to defend.

But think about it, it seems that this is something that everyone tacitly agrees on. Even Chuck Daly, who is famous for his focus on defense, allows players like Dantley to be on the team.

Bernard King scored 29 points tonight. He was like a machine, constantly scoring points with jump shots in the two bottom corners. The Bullets' home court, the U.S. Air Force Stadium, was packed tonight, but more than half of the people came there for Jordan and Meng. After Moses Malone left, fans have no expectations for the Bullets this season, and Bernard King's style of play cannot attract box office sales. No one is willing to spend money to watch him shoot in a fixed position with fixed movements all night.

What fans most want to see tonight is Meng Jin's dunk. The scene of him slamming the ball into the basket over Bol last season is still fresh in people's memory. However, Meng Jin failed to meet the fans' expectations in this game. Moses Malone left this year, Bol also transferred this year, and the Bullets don't have a famous big man, so Meng Jin has no motivation to rush in for a dunk.

孟进今晚拿到22分7篮板4助攻1抢断，乔丹拿到25分11助攻5篮板，他们都不是公牛表现最好的球员。

Horace Grant broke out tonight, he had 25 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists. For him to achieve these numbers tonight, he should first thank Bullets coach Unseld, and secondly, himself.

Unseld sent out a small lineup tonight, with Terry Cartlidge and Charles Jones at the fourth and fifth positions, both of whom are only 203CM tall.

Grant had a great time, but Cartwright suffered.

He was completely unable to keep up with the offensive and defensive rhythm tonight, and only got 20 points and 2 rebounds in 2 minutes.

After returning to the locker room, Jordan couldn't wait to taunt Cartwright: "Hey! Big guy, are you playing tonight? Why didn't I see you?"

"Big guy, New York is more suitable for you. It's not too late for you to go back now."

"If I were you, I would be embarrassed to stay in the locker room. 2 points and 2 rebounds, any high school student can do it! How old are you this year? 31? 32? God, you can be a high school student's father." "Michael, save some saliva for your next opponent!"

Meng Jin couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't that he wanted to help Cartwright, but mainly because Jordan kept nagging in the locker room, which made him feel annoyed. He was just like Tang Seng, who had no one to pay attention to and just kept talking to himself.

Jordan also knew when to stop. He didn't want to push veterans like Cartwright too hard. Jordan didn't dare to use the tactic of not giving food to Cartwright if he didn't play well. This tactic was only suitable for rookies. The old players would really turn against him, and then the only one who would be unable to resolve the embarrassment would be Jordan himself.

Three days later, the Bulls suffered their first loss of the season, falling to the Knicks 123-126 at Madison Square Garden.

I don't know what was wrong with Collins tonight, he actually put out a double tower lineup of Dave Korsin and Cartwright.

Grant, who performed well in the last game, played at the three position, Meng Jin played at the two position, and Jordan played at the one position.

This lineup even shocked New York home commentator Mike Breen. In all his years in the industry, he had never seen an NBA team field four players taller than 4cm at the same time.

Bulls head coach Collins has his own ideas. On the one hand, he is committed to quickly finding Cartwright's instructions. He has heard that Cartwright and Ewing are very efficient when they play as a pair, but why didn't Collins think that if the two of them are so strong together, why would the Knicks let Cartwright play as a substitute?

The advantages and disadvantages of the twin towers are too obvious. They have height and more second-chance opportunities in the interior, but when the opponent speeds up, it is difficult to keep up with the rhythm, unless it is a twin tower like Olajuwon and Sampson.

Not only did the Bulls fail to limit Ewing tonight, they also allowed other Knicks players to open up in fast breaks.

尤因今晚18分18篮板，约翰-纽曼35分，马克-杰克逊20分15助攻，杰拉德-威尔金斯17分3篮板，特伦克-塔克10分。

The only thing that made Collins happy was probably that Cartwright scored 20 points and played pretty well tonight.

The Knicks coach was very happy. If Collins had put out a normal lineup, it would have been difficult for them to win. Putting out the twin towers was equivalent to entering a track that the opponents were familiar with.

After the game, Collins explained the lineup by saying that he was considering the playoffs and trying more formations.

After hearing this, Meng Jin wanted to slap him twice. He hasn’t even figured out the regular season, but he’s already thinking about the playoffs?

On November 11, Collins returned to the original formation in a back-to-back game against the Celtics.

The Bulls played their classic SHOW-TIME tonight.

Jordan constantly shared the ball and assisted his teammates in the transition between offense and defense. Meng Jin was responsible for attacking the city, Paxson was responsible for shooting arrows from the outside, and Grant continued to stay energetic.

Since defeating the Celtics in the series last season, the Bulls' Celtics phobia has disappeared, especially Jordan. Before, he felt scared every time he saw Bird, although it couldn't be seen from his face, but that was the fact.

乔丹今晚拿到30分16助攻10篮板，孟进则狂砍46分5篮板1助攻2抢断。

The two scored more than half of the Bulls' total points, and together they defeated the Celtics.

Now it is the Celtics' turn to be afraid of the Bulls. Their fans are very scared of seeing two MJs. When these two see the Celtics, they are like chicken blood and go crazy on the court. The worst thing is that the Celtics players can't stop them. They can deal with the unreasonable Jordan, but if they encounter two like this, the fans say they can only call 911 for help.

Cartwright had 9 points and 10 rebounds tonight, but he still did not meet the coaching staff's expectations.

Bird scored 18 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. In the three games so far this season, Bird's performance has been below his career average. There is a voice in the outside world that this old bird can no longer fly, but Bird's fans do not agree with this statement. They think that Bird's condition is not declining, he is just saving his strength for the playoffs, which can be seen from his playing time.

However, the actual situation was not right. Although he had experienced an offseason, Bird's back injury did not improve. Not to mention playing, even turning over at night was painful. Now he has to undergo an hour of physical therapy after each game. The worst thing is that he also has problems with both heels. The team doctor suggested that he undergo surgery. Bird originally wanted to receive conservative treatment and then play a few more times, but after this game he was determined to have the surgery. Otherwise, even if he could make it to the playoffs, he would be beaten if he met Meng Jin and Jordan in this state.

The best player of the Celtics tonight was Kevin McHale, who scored 30 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist. It was easy for him to single out Grant every time. If Grant tried to confront McHale, he would immediately switch to agile mode and use his footwork to tease Grant. If Grant held back, McHale would use his shoulder to push him away, then make a layup or a shot.

In short, Grant was under McHale's control.

Radio hosts are keen on asking retired stars a question: "Who was the first player in the NBA to beat you?"

After retiring, Grant admitted it was McHale.

Celtics rookie No. 24 Brian Shaw was asked the same question by the host after retiring.

Brian Shaw answered without hesitation: "It's definitely Meng, definitely that guy MJ. That was the third game of my rookie season. He taught me a lesson and beat me up."

The host asked: "The coach asked you to defend MJ? Are you kidding me?"

Brian Shaw said with a smile: "I still remember that game. An hour before the game started, Coach Jimmy Rogers found me and told me very seriously that Danny Ainge couldn't play tonight and asked me to start. I was very nervous at the time, thinking to myself, you want me to defend Michael Jordan? He was the scoring champion last season, I would definitely be dead. But the coach told me that I was not defending Jordan but Meng Jin."

"This is a strategy for defending MJ. Many coaches would do this at the time. They would use a player of about 2 meters tall with a certain amount of strength and flexibility to defend him. His ability to combine with the ball and his explosiveness would make the big man evaporate in an instant. This is the experience people have summed up."

"OK, I think I'll do it. I kept brainwashing myself before going on the court. Meng is nothing big, just a big guy with better athletic ability. My strategy is to let him shoot instead of drive. I thought I'm 198cm tall and he's 213cm tall. As long as I leave some space, what can he do to me? He definitely can't do anything. So I went on the court with this mentality."

"He ended up scoring 28 points in the first half."

Hearing this, the host burst out laughing. Brian Shaw had a serious face from beginning to end, but what he said was very comedic.

"You know what? I was about to collapse at that time. He shot a jump shot over my head, used the Mengjinbu on me, and dunked on my head. This is not the most hurtful thing. Listen, this is not the most devastating thing for me."

"Do you know what hurts the most? The most hurtful thing is that he suddenly called me during the halftime break and said the first sentence to me. He said, "You look unfamiliar. Are you new here?" I didn't know what he meant. In fact, I was already stunned by him at that time. I looked at him and nodded. As a result, he said, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you something. Welcome to the NBA."

"Damn! It was a very common sentence, a sentence that every rookie has heard before, but combined with the scene at that time, as well as his expression and tone, the lethality to me was definitely more than 200%! This is the most lethal sentence I have ever heard in my career. I was going crazy at the time, thinking, is this the NBA? I don't want to play anymore!"

"However, this is not the most heartbreaking thing. I went back to the locker room and told coach Jimmy Rogers that I didn't want to defend that guy anymore. The coach looked at me and asked, 'Do you think I will let you defend him in the second half? Fuck, he scored 28 points in the first half!'"

"As a result, in the second half, the Celtics changed at least three people to defend him, and the results were almost the same. Did he score 45 or 46 points in that game? I can't remember clearly. I just remember that he was the first person who beat me since I entered the NBA. After that game, I was depressed for at least a month."

After the season, Brian Shaw took a break from the NBA and went to Italy to play basketball, where he met former NBA player "Sweet Pea" Joe Bryant. It was during that period that Brian Shaw met 11-year-old Kobe.

One of Kobe Bryant's favorite things to do is to pester Brian Shaw for a one-on-one challenge and ask him about NBA stars. The name Brian Shaw mentioned most often was Meng Jin. Kobe's first impression of Meng Jin was established by Brian Shaw.

In the eyes of 11-year-old Kobe, Meng Jin's image is tall and majestic, but also a little evil and oppressive.

(End of this chapter)