NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 134 Special Friend

In the evening, Pippen and Meng Jin chatted for an hour. Pippen saw the news that Meng Jin won the Player of the Month Award, which made Pippen jealous. He always regarded Meng Jin as his goal to catch up with.

Meng Jin suggested that he set a more realistic goal, such as Reggie Miller.

Reggie Miller has secured a starting spot for the Indiana Pacers this season, averaging around 16 points per game.

The Indiana Pacers have experienced great turmoil this season. After the start of the season, they were first greeted with a 6-game losing streak. Ramsey, the coach with the second most wins, lost his magic overnight. After the 6-game losing streak, Ramsey left the Pacers' coaching position.

After Ramsey left, Reggie Miller called Meng Jin with concern. Reggie Miller was afraid that the next coach would not like him so much and would deprive him of his starting position and reduce his playing time.

Fortunately, Ramsey's successor, Mel Daniels, maintained his predecessor's personnel strategy and put Reggie Miller in the starting position in both games he coached.

You read that right, it is indeed two games.

Mel Daniels is not a serious coach. He is the Pacers' player personnel director. He was appointed as a fire-fighting coach this time purely because the Pacers couldn't find anyone else. After all, Mel Daniels is a Pacers legend, the ABA Most Valuable Player, and a former member of the coaching staff at Indiana University. The management thought he could more or less handle a few games.

The result was two consecutive losses. Mel Daniels felt the pressure from Ramsey, but the good news is that he no longer has to bear such great pressure. The team later hired George Irving as the official coach.

Fans have no expectations for George Irving. He has proved himself before. George Irving served as the head coach of the Pacers in the 84-85 and 85-86 seasons. This time he is returning to the old place. The team's record was bleak in the two seasons he coached, with 22 wins in one season and 26 wins in another season.

But at least he didn't perform badly in his first game after returning, leading the team to a 105-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, giving the Pacers a break.

The Pacers changed three coaches in nine games, but Reggie Miller's status remained unchanged. Everyone could see his efforts and progress. This was also the point that Meng Jin encouraged Pippen to focus on himself and polish himself. No matter which coach it was or where he went, everyone would appreciate him.

"Damn coaching staff, they let me play point guard one moment and small forward the next." Pippen complained on the other end of the phone.

"Go talk to them, communicate with them, tell the coaching staff your ideas, you can play small forward or point guard, the most important thing is to fix the position first, this is very important, the first few years of the professional league is a shaping period, just like laying the foundation before building a high-rise building."

Meng Jin remembered that in the previous parallel world there was a player named Tyreke Evans. He was extremely talented and had won the Rookie of the Year award, but such a player was ruined by the team. His home team at the time, the Kings, did not plan his future development well. They changed his position three times in three years, causing him to be completely lost.

"I will tell the coaching staff that I like to play point guard. I watch Magic Johnson's videos several times a day," Pippen said.

"We can't lose our defense either," Meng Jin reminded.

"Of course, this is my biggest advantage. By the way, I heard that you knocked out Karl Malone's teeth. What's going on?"

Pippen read about Meng Jin's heroic performance in the newspaper yesterday.

"He provoked me, and then I beat him up, that's it." Meng Jin replied.

Pippen laughed on the other end of the line: "You always have an excuse for your wild moves."

"Shouldn't I fight back?" Meng Jin asked back.

"Of course, of course I should. I have to thank you. You helped me earn $100." Pippen was still laughing on the other end of the phone.

"What do you mean? Please explain it clearly." Meng Jin asked.

"At the beginning of the season, my teammates and I made a bet about when we could see your violent methods on the court. I bet it would be within a month after the start of the season. Thank God, you did it on the last day of November. I am proud of you," Pippen said.

"Damn it, are you betting on whether a gentleman will resort to violence on the court? Scotty, you really dare to bet. Normally you would lose everything, but you are lucky this time." Meng Jin replied.

Pippen laughed: "Hahaha, next time I will bet like this again, and the bet will be increased to 200 US dollars."

12月3日，公牛120比98血洗了小牛，结束了魔鬼6连客的最后一场比赛。

马克-阿吉雷全场拿到23分9篮板，罗兰多-布莱克曼20分5篮板，德里克-哈珀18分5助攻，萨姆-帕金斯11分7篮板。

The performances of several main players of the Mavericks were normal, but if the Mavericks want to beat the Bulls, they cannot rely solely on normal performance. Meng Jin continued to be in good form this night, scoring 38 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Jordan continued to grit his teeth and play the role of a gold medal assistant, scoring 27 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds.

Why do we say gritting teeth?
The person who was most unhappy after Meng Jin won the Player of the Month award was not his opponent or his haters, but Jordan.

Jordan wanted to be the absolute king of the team. He didn't want any teammate to be above him, not even for a month. Jordan thought about not passing the ball to Meng Jin in the game against the Mavericks and starting his own crazy scoring mode, but in the end he gave up the idea.

Last season's defeat was a painful lesson. Sometimes Jordan would dream about being defeated by the Pistons. Of course, Jordan's dreams were not entirely nightmares. Sometimes he would dream about overcoming the Pistons and winning the O'Brien Cup after defeating the Lakers. After all, the Lakers' overall strength was not as good as the Pistons last season. They were able to win the championship because of Isaiah Thomas' sudden injury and a little care from the referee. If the Bulls had overcome the Pistons, maybe Jordan would have dangled the championship ring in front of Barkley this season.

After waking up, Jordan felt even more lost. He felt that it would be better to have a nightmare.

So Jordan put the team's victory first this season. He also had performances of 50+ in the first half and had games with crazy shots, but more often than not, Jordan played the role of a logistics minister, constantly supplying ammunition to his teammates.

But this is not Jordan's nature after all, and no one knows how long he can hold on.

After defeating the Mavericks, the Bulls have two days of rest.

For Meng Jin, he would rather play games every day than rest, because the amount of exercise during his rest period is much greater than that during the game. This is the common concept of the two training matches, using a lot of training to form muscle memory. In addition to basketball training, Tim Grover will arrange a lot of muscle training for Meng Jin, especially core training, so as to ensure that Meng Jin's movements in the confrontation are not deformed and reduce the damage to Meng Jin. Tim Grover also arranged several underwater training for Meng Jin this season. This training can reduce the pressure on the knees and use the buoyancy and resistance of water to exercise the muscles of the whole body. This is the inspiration Tim Grover and Meng Jin got when they went on vacation in Italy.

Tim Grover was not the only one who gained inspiration during the vacation in Italy. After returning from vacation, Meng Jin carried a camera with him wherever he went. When his teammates asked him why he carried a camera with him every day, he replied that it was to record the beautiful life.

Meng Jin carried a camera with him every day, but no one had ever seen the photos he took. They only knew that Meng Jin would not let anyone touch his camera, and that he only developed the photos himself, keeping it secret.

Jordan couldn't stand it anymore and asked Meng Jin for the film: "Let me see what you shot."

Meng Jin slapped Jordan's hand and said, "Will you lend me your wife?"

Jordan was a little angry: "What nonsense are you talking about? Of course not!"

Meng Jin nodded: "Then I can't do it either."

On December 12, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Celtics 6-116 at home. The Bulls played easily tonight and secured the victory in three quarters. The reason was that Larry Bird was not there. Bird underwent surgery last month and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Whether he can return to the playoffs depends on how far the Celtics can go.

Tonight, Celtics sophomore rookie Reggie Lewis exploded and scored 33 points. In the 10 games that Bird was absent, Reggie Lewis performed very well, averaging about 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game. You must know that Reggie Lewis averaged only 4.5 points per game last season. The coaching staff initially let Reggie Lewis play just to try their luck. After all, the weakest position in the Celtics lineup is the backup small forward. Without Larry Bird, no one can fill this position. Unexpectedly, Reggie Lewis gave the Celtics a huge surprise.

When Celtics head coach Jimmy Rogers, whose hairstyle resembles Einstein, visited Bird in the hospital, he smiled and joked, "You might be on the bench when you come back next season."

But joking aside, Jimmy Rogers has already thought about the lineup for next season. Larry Bird and Reggie Lewis can start together, and Reggie Lewis can play the No. 2 position. Danny Ainge has become a victim of this lineup change. Jimmy Rogers plans to make him the sixth man or trade him directly. The coaching staff has not yet decided on how to do it.

After the game, Grant felt very disappointed.

Meng Jin was very curious. The Bulls won the game and Grant's 15 points and 8 rebounds were pretty good, so why was this guy sighing all the time?

Upon asking, I found out that Grant originally thought he had a chance to win the Most Improved Player award this season, but after seeing Reggie Lewis, he gave up. He could only be considered a big improver, while Reggie Lewis simply changed his account.

A day later, the Bulls lost to the Pistons in a back-to-back away game. The Pistons were in much better shape than in the opening game, while the Bulls were just the opposite. Neither Meng Jin nor Jordan could find the feeling of shooting. Seeing this, Chuck Daly directly shrank the formation and deployed all the players in the penalty area and the edge. This iron bucket formation was difficult to break even if a god came.

Tonight, Meng Jin scored 19 points and Jordan scored 18 points. The highest scorer for the Bulls was Sam Vincent who came off the bench and scored 21 points. No one paid attention to him in the Pistons, and he had a good touch tonight, hitting a lot of jump shots from the high post and beyond the three-point line.

Losing to the Pistons did not affect the morale of the Bulls. They adjusted quickly and defeated the Bucks 125-100 in the game two days later. This is the regular season. There is not much time for you to blame yourself and feel regretful. Whether you win or lose, you have to cheer up and devote yourself to the next battle immediately.

这场比赛公牛一共6人得分上双，乔丹15中10，17罚15中轰下全场最高的35分。

Tonight, Jordan kept attacking the Bucks' basket like a beast. Just look at his free throw count to know how strong his desire to attack the basket is.

孟进今晚手感回暖，全场15中10，其中中距离10次出手命中7球，4次罚球全中，拿到24分12篮板2助攻。

Jordan helps Meng Jin score by passing the ball, and Meng Jin helps Jordan by making more mid-range shots to help him create space for breakthroughs.

On December 12, the Bulls once again won a big victory, and this time the victim was the Heat.

公牛这场比赛打出了非常表示的公牛SHOW-TIME，乔丹28分14助攻11篮板5抢断，孟进狂轰39分7篮板3抢断2盖帽。

From the first minute of the game, the Heat were lost under the iron hoof of the Bulls. No one of their players scored more than 20 points in the whole game. The highest scorer was Grant Long, who was 203CM tall. Grant Long, like the Grant of the Bulls, liked to play basketball with glasses. The only difference between the two was that Grant Long would push his glasses to his forehead when shooting free throws.

Meng Jin met his college classmate Ronnie Seikaly tonight. Ronnie Seikaly couldn't find his form tonight, making only 8 of 1 shots. Meng Jin didn't show mercy to him because of this. Meng Jin not only gave him a solid block, but also dunked over the guy in a counterattack. After landing, Meng Jin shouted the classic line: "Rookie, welcome to the NBA."

Playing with all your strength is the greatest respect for your friends. Although Ronnie Seikaly was a little embarrassed on the court, he forgot about it after the game.

After the game, Ronnie Seikaly and Meng Jin found a restaurant at home to eat and chat. Ronnie Seikaly marveled at Meng Jin's current strength and said that he had found a way to dominate the court. Meng Jin also sighed and said what happened to the Heat this season. So far their record is 0-15, which is really hard to come by in a lifetime.

Ronnie Seikaly smiled bitterly. Although tanking was the team's strategy this season, he knew very well that even if they didn't tank, this team wouldn't be able to beat anyone.

However, Miami fans did not blame the Heat for the result. After all, they were a new team that joined the league this season, and newcomers always need some time to adapt.

On December 12, the Bulls will play against the Hawks at home.

Before the game, Meng Jin was interviewed by a special friend, Zhang Weiping.

Lao Zhang resigned from Meng Jin last month and told David Stern that he had found himself a job as a sideline reporter.

The job of an NBA sideline reporter requires a lot of traveling, but Lao Zhang has gotten used to it. He flies all over the country with Meng Jin anyway. Although the official salary offered by the NBA is much lower than that of Meng Jin, Lao Zhang still prefers to be a reporter. Chinese people like to look good, and the job of a masseur is indeed not good to say to others. Every time a relative asked Lao Zhang what he did in the United States, he was a little embarrassed and vaguely said that he was a staff member of the Bulls. Now he can openly say that he is an official NBA reporter.

Before the interview, Lao Zhang checked the questions with Meng Jin. The questions he asked were very gentle and he was being lenient.

Then the two Chinese people began a conversation in English. After the conversation, Meng Jin suggested that Lao Zhang practice speaking more, as his English pronunciation sounded awkward even to himself, let alone to Americans.

Lao Zhang chuckled and said that he could only try his best, as it would be very difficult to change his accent at his age.

(End of this chapter)