NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 133 Slam Dunk Prototype Character
Repaying blood with blood and tooth for tooth is not Meng Jin's life creed, but sometimes it must be done, especially in the NBA arena where the law of the jungle prevails.

Karl Malone was looking for his teeth on the court. This is not an exaggeration. Meng Jin's attack just now really broke Malone's front teeth, and there were two of them.

Layden argued with the referee with saliva flying.

The fans were greeting Meng Jin crazily. The fans were biased towards their own players. They selectively ignored Ma Long's dirty moves in the last round and focused on Meng Jin's flying knee.

All the sounds and images were intertwined, and the whole scene became extremely chaotic.

Perhaps because of the lessons learned from the past, the referee today did not send Redden off the court, but only gave him a technical foul.

After resting on the sidelines for 5 minutes, Karl Malone returned to the court with a vengeful heart.

The score was not widened in these five minutes. Stockton organized the team's offense very well and Griffith's performance was also very efficient.

After Malone came on the court, he took a mid-range jump shot, but the ball was so crooked that it didn't even touch the rim.

The Bulls quickly switched from offense to defense, and Meng Jin made a 1V2 dunk in the frontcourt.

"Hey! Carl, your teammates probably want you to rest more."

After Meng Jin finished the dunk, he immediately ran to Malone and started talking trash.

"I'll break your bones, I swear!"

Karl Malone has lost his temper. He looks strong and tough, but he is sensitive and fragile inside. He can easily lose control when faced with provocation.

Malone asked for the ball again. After getting the ball, he pushed Grant twice, then turned around, squeezed Grant away and made a layup.

During this period, Malone had not yet developed the skill of turning around and jumping after posting up. His post-up plays were so monotonous and distinct. His usual offensive choice after posting up was to directly turn around and finish with a layup or a jump shot.

"boom!"

Karl Malone's shot was extremely accurate, the basketball hit the board hard and bounced out.

Jazz head coach Layden on the sidelines felt something was wrong, and just when he was wondering whether to substitute Malone, he fell down.

After Jordan and Meng Jin set a pick-and-roll, Meng Jin cut inside without the ball. Malone had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and he showed off his iron elbow.

When Meng Jin approached, he suddenly swung his weapon violently!
Ma Long's elbow was very powerful, using almost all his strength, otherwise he would not have fallen to the ground after missing the target with his elbow.

Ma Long was about to get up. He half-knelt on the ground, supporting his body with his strong arms, but his staggering steps made it hard for the referee not to notice.

The referee walked up to Karl Malone and gestured to him, "Karl, what's this?"

This scene is very funny, just like the referee in the boxing ring asking the boxer if he can continue fighting.

"This is two, you idiot!"

Malone cursed mercilessly, and the referee was stunned and gave him a technical foul.

Meng Jin, who was standing by, was stunned. This was a bit like a sting operation.

Layden replaced Malone and asked the team doctor to check Malone's head. Based on his years of experience, he judged that Malone might have a concussion.

After Ma Long walked into the player tunnel, he never came out again. Sure enough, the examination results showed that he had a concussion.

There is a reasonable explanation for the two outrageous shots that Malone made before he left the court.

The Jazz did not fall apart because of Malone's departure. On the contrary, his departure inspired the morale of the entire team. Whether it was Stockton, Griffith or other role players, they all played very hard.

After three quarters, the two sides were still tied. The fans in Salt Lake City became the Jazz's sixth man. Their cheers were crazy. Meng Jin could only hear this level of noise in the playoffs.

Salt Lake City is the devil's home court. In addition to its high altitude, it is inseparable from the crazy fans. This is a corner of the United States. There are not many entertainment methods in this era. The best entertainment activity for Salt Lake City people at night is to watch the Jazz play.

The score was not widened until the fourth quarter.

Meng Jin scored 8 points in a row, all of which were obtained in positional battles. Then, Jordan also made consecutive jump shots in positional battles.

Sometimes cooperation does not necessarily require two people to complete. Meng Jin opened up his touch to attract more defensive attention, allowing Jordan to have a more relaxed shooting environment. This is cooperation.

Jordan used jump shots to expand the Jazz's defense, creating a more relaxed space for Meng Jin to break through, which was also a collaboration.

Griffith wanted to use his personal ability to make up for some points. After getting the ball, he relied on Paxson to break through and make a layup, but was caught by Meng Jin who moved from the wing. He blocked his shot and sent both him and the ball flying.

Meng Jin pulled Griffith up. This was supposed to be a very polite thing to do, but it became a mess because of Meng Jin's words: "Have your hands stopped growing since kindergarten?"

Meng Jin held Griffith's hand in his palm. He even felt that Griffith's hand was not much bigger than Madonna's. He had heard before that Griffith had small hands, so he never dunked with one hand because he couldn't hold it. He always jumped high and then slammed the ball into the basket with both hands.

It seems the rumors are true.

From Griffith's perspective, Meng Jin deliberately humiliated him and trash-talked him.

Griffith quickly responded, but his trash talk level was very average, not even as good as Malone's. He just kept saying things like "I'll beat you to pieces" and "I'll kick your ass".

Meng Jin had no desire to argue with him. His threshold was very high. He would be motivated to argue with a master like Larry Bird. At the very least, he had to be at the level of Malone. Now Meng Jin just wanted to quickly defeat the Jazz and end tonight's game. After getting the ball, Meng Jin faked a move and then pushed his left foot backwards to accelerate into the basket, causing Mark Eaton to foul. After dunking over Mark Eaton last season, this big guy had a psychological shadow on Meng Jin. When he saw Meng Jin rushing over with all his strength, his first reaction was to foul, not to block.

One and a half minutes later, Meng Jin caused Mark Eaton to commit another foul. This was the sixth foul of the "Mammoth" Mark Eaton in this game. After shaking his head, Mark Eaton had no choice but to leave the court due to full fouls.

Mark Eaton's sending off had a big impact on the team.

Although Mark Eaton provides limited firepower for the Jazz every night, he is the core of the team's defensive system. The Jazz, who are already behind, have an even harder time when he leaves the court.

Stockton was forced to increase his shots, but under Jordan's close defense, his hit rate was touching. As his physical strength declined, the Jazz exposed their fatal flaw of scoring. In the next few minutes, the Jazz completely lost control of the game. They were unable to respond calmly, and even Stockton made consecutive mistakes.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Redden stopped struggling and replaced the main players.

The Bulls defeated the Jazz 104-94 on the road.

孟进拿到了全场最高的33分外加12个篮板3盖帽2助攻2抢断。

Jordan had 27 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals.

The best performing player on the Jazz side was Griffith. Paxson and Vincent took turns defending him, unleashing his offensive talent. He scored 32 points and 8 rebounds.

Stockton had 15 points and 17 assists, Mark Eaton had 8 points and 17 rebounds, and Thurl Bailey, who came off the bench, made up for the lack of firepower left by Malone and scored 23 points. However, his rebounds were very eye-catching. As a 211cm big man, he played for 31 minutes and only got 1 rebound.

During the handshake after the game, Thurl Bailey and Meng Jin whispered to each other: "I admire you very much. You play the way I imagined you would. I also envy you because you can play the position you like."

Meng Jin didn't know what Thurl Bailey meant by this. He didn't know this guy very well. In fact, Thurl Bailey was the originator of the big small forward, but he still did not deviate from the NBA-style "claws" of playing PF throughout his career.

Seeing a player like this emerge in the league, Thurl Bailey's psychological activities were complicated, including happiness, jealousy and envy.

When Meng Jin came out of the shower, he was blocked by a group of aggressive Salt Lake City reporters.

"Meng, do you think your flying kick on Karl Malone went beyond basketball action?"

"Will you apologize to Karl Malone?"

“Do you feel like you are setting a good example for your kids?”

“Does basketball have to be filled with these martial arts moves?”

"Coach Layden said you ruined basketball. What do you think about that?"

Meng Jin was very angry. He didn't even sit down before yelling at the reporters: "Karl Malone and I suffered the same injury. In the last round when he fell, he hit me hard in the face with his arm. I just hit him back in the same way. You can't blame me just because it was someone else who fell instead of me? I know you all have sympathy for the weak, but this set of ideas doesn't work on the basketball court. Forget it. This is a league full of passion and confrontation. Was my approach wrong? No, I will never apologize to Karl Malone. I just repeated what he did to me."

The news that Meng Jin refused to apologize became the front-page headline of the next day. Meng Jin had anticipated this result. He really couldn't control his anger at the time. Perhaps this was a trick of the Salt Lake City media, or perhaps he was overreacting. Meng Jin tried not to pay attention to the news or the reactions of the outside world.

As expected, the fans cursed at the team, but surprisingly, they cursed Karl Malone more.

Americans’ values ​​are sometimes like this. They don’t care too much about blatant hooliganism and even worship this style.

But people hate Ma Long, an evil uncle who seems honest but is actually extremely repressed.

Many fans think that Meng Jin is tough enough and chooses to fight back immediately when being bullied. At the same time, fans also think that Ma Long is hypocritical and cowardly because he said in an interview after the game that he did not deliberately hit Meng Jin in the face. This kind of pretending to be pitiful may be effective if it is an American sweetheart, but Ma Long is a big and strong tough guy, and the fans don't buy it.

This was an unexpected surprise for Meng Jin. A day later, he received another surprise. Assistant coach Bach told Meng Jin that he became the Player of the Month for November.

The Chicago Bulls had a record of 12 wins and 2 losses in the month, with Meng Jin averaging 33.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. Coupled with his explosive performance on the court, he surpassed his teammate Jordan, who averaged a near triple-double, and won the first Player of the Month award in his career.

Although Meng Jin has gradually grown into an All-Star player, he still cannot get the recognition of some people in the league, especially some old coaches, such as Ramsey. He does not like Meng Jin's way of playing. He believes that Meng Jin's talent and height should play inside, not on the outside. Ramsey even thinks that Collins is wasting his talent. If Meng Jin is under his command, he will definitely be trained to become a strong inside player.

When fans saw this report, they all said that it was a good thing that Meng Jin was not in your hands.

Famous coaches are capable but usually stubborn. We always stick to our own way. It was a blessing for Meng Jin to play under a young coach like Collins when he entered the league. Apart from anything else, at least Collins is bold and innovative. Most coaches would not consider putting Meng Jin at the small forward position.

Of course, this is inseparable from the help of old Bach. Although the old man is 60 years old, he has a pair of eyes that can see through the potential of players. From the first time he met Meng Jin in the summer league, he saw Meng Jin's potential. He is definitely Meng Jin's mentor.

A player's ability to succeed is important, but the environment and the coach's appreciation are also important. Spanoulis and Milicic in the previous parallel universe are the best examples. If the coach doesn't give you playing time and won't use you, you are nothing.

If Ginobili was under Larry Brown or Van Gundy, his ending would probably be similar to theirs. Compared with Span and Milicic, he is undoubtedly lucky to have met Popovich, who knows how to use people better.

Meng Jin's influence is expanding, and this scope is not limited to North America. Some people in Europe and Asia have begun to pay attention to Meng Jin. The height of a center combined with the playing style of a guard is itself an eye-catching thing, not to mention that Meng Jin has also achieved gorgeous statistics.

One of them is a 21-year-old young man named Takehiko Inoue in Japan.

Takehiko Inoue has always been a basketball fan. He was passionate about basketball in high school and joined the basketball club. After entering university, he found his dream. In his junior year, Takehiko Inoue chose to drop out of school and become Hojo Tsukasa's assistant. Takehiko Inoue has always wanted to draw a basketball comic, and he has been accumulating experience for this.

Takehiko Inoue likes to watch NBA videos during his rest time. As the only yellow person in the NBA, the appearance of Meng Jin gave Takehiko Inoue a lot of inspiration. At first, Takehiko Inoue planned to use Meng Jin as the template for the protagonist, but later gave up because Meng Jin was too strong. If such a talented player like him was made the protagonist, the plot would have fewer twists and turns.

Moreover, Takehiko Inoue feels that Meng Jin's physique and playing style would be more interesting if he were to be the biggest villain in Slam Dunk.

Just thinking about the protagonists fighting against such an oppressive monster makes my blood boil!

Meng Jin grew up watching "Slam Dunk" in his previous life. He never thought that he would have any dream connection with this anime. Sometimes fate is so wonderful.

(End of this chapter)