NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 42: Men's competitive spirit, turbulent team
"boom!"

"boom!"

The next day, when Meng Jin pushed open the door of the training hall, he heard the sound of basketball practice inside.

"Hey! Meng, you here?"

Michael Jordan smiled at Meng Jin with the attitude of a winner, and his expression really showed that he deserved a beating.

This time the two people's roles were swapped, and the person who was soaked became Jordan.

"Oh, Michael, you're really early."

The two of them seemed calm on the surface, but in fact there were undercurrents.

Over the next few days, the two men started competing with each other, arriving earlier each day.

A few days later, head coach Collins and general manager Krause heard about it.

Klaus: "I heard these two guys are competing with each other?"

"If Meng comes to the stadium two hours early to practice today, Michael will definitely come two and a half hours early tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow Meng will come two hours and 45 minutes early. I heard that the stadium management has given the keys to the two of them because it is too early and he can't get up." Collins shook his head and said, "I'm really worried that they will live in the training hall one day."

Krause smiled and said, "That's good for the team, don't worry."

Krause and Collins couldn't understand these two people. They felt that Jordan and Meng Jin were a bit childish and the competition between them was like that between two children.

At this time, Bulls assistant coach Bach smiled mysteriously on the sidelines.

Old Bach said he understood them, this is the damn competitive spirit of men!

After a week of running-in, the Bulls started their preseason journey.

The opponent in the first game is the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jordan played for only 9 minutes in this game, took 2 shots and made 1 goal.
Jordan gave more time to the newcomers, allowing them to find the rhythm of the game and become familiar with the team's tactics.

Meng Jin scored 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in this game.

His focus today was not on offense or defense, but on running tactics and cooperation with teammates.

He knew very well that if he wanted to get playing time he had to integrate into the team, and if he wanted to integrate into the team he had to memorize the team's tactics, positioning and hand signals as soon as possible.

"Good performance." After the game, head coach Collins patted Meng Jin on the butt.

Bach pulled him to his side and said, "Overall it's good. There are some details that need attention. You need to remember the tactical positions better."

Bach attached great importance to Meng Jin and helped him all the time.

In the second preseason game, the Chicago Bulls faced the Indiana Pacers.

Meng Jin still mainly relies on running tactics.

Reggie Miller stood out.

He wanted to show off his skills in front of Michael Jordan.

There is nothing wrong with this idea. In the 80s and 90s, no guard didn't want to show off his skills in front of Jordan.

Reggie Miller's mistake was that he didn't control his mouth.

At the end of the first half, Jordan scored 4 points and Miller scored 10 points.

Reggie Miller jumped up to Jordan and said, "Jordan, who do you think you are? The great Jordan? Now there is a new boss."

Jordan ignored him and walked into the locker room silently.

Meng Jin, who was standing behind him, was very curious when he saw this scene and walked to Reggie Miller's side: "Reggie, what did you just say to Michael?"

Miller repeated what he had just said.

Meng Jin was silent. Meng Jin didn't say anything, patted his shoulder and walked back to the locker room.

As soon as he entered the locker room, Meng Jin saw Jordan asking people around him: "Who is that bald rookie from the Pacers?"

Meng Jin knew without even thinking that Jordan was going to teach Reggie Miller a lesson in the second half.

Sure enough, Jordan took the initiative to ask for more playing time.

When the game ended, Michael Jordan's personal score had risen to 44 points.

Reggie Miller scored 12 points.

At the moment of the final whistle, Jordan whispered in Miller's ear, but it was unclear what he was saying.

Meng Jin only saw Reggie Miller with a gloomy face. It was probably at this time that the seeds of his anti-Joe fighter were planted.

The third practice match was against the Washington Bullets.

In this game, Jordan continued to slack off, while Meng Jin broke out.

He scored a big double-double of 25 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks, with an amazing shooting percentage of 66.6%.

In the next few preseason games, Meng Jin maintained his form.

8场季前赛，公牛6胜2负，孟进拿到场均可以拿下18.1分8.9篮板2.5盖帽。

From teammates to fans, everyone is looking forward to Meng Jin's performance in the NBA game.

Time quickly came to the end of October, a week before the start of the regular season.

Everything is going in the right direction for the Bulls. The main players are gradually recovering, the newcomers are integrating into the team at an accelerated pace, Meng Jin and Oakley are no longer fighting, and Jordan's eyebrow wound is gradually healing.

At this moment, a conflict broke out within the Bulls team again, and it was a fierce conflict!
However, this conflict has nothing to do with Meng Jin.

The two parties in the conflict were head coach Collins and Jordan.

The cause of the conflict is ridiculous.

For some reason, Collins arbitrarily tampered with the score of the team's training match.

Perhaps he wanted to make it more difficult for Jordan, but Jordan, who could not tolerate any sand in his eyes, exploded on the spot.

roar!

Smash the ball!

Get away!

Seeing this scene, Grant was terrified: "Meng, what should I do?"

Meng Jin shook his head: "Don't do anything."

After less than a month of training, Meng Jin discovered that the Bulls team was not as simple as he had imagined, and could even be said to be very complicated.

Not to mention the conflicts between players, there are conflicts between players and general managers, there is a gap between the general manager and the head coach, and now there is a conflict between the head coach and the top player!

Jordan turned his head and looked at Grant as he passed among the players: "Idiot, what the hell are you looking at?"

Grant: ???

Okay, okay, you have to scold yourself anyway, right?

The next day, the news of the two people's quarrel spread throughout the city on the headlines of major newspapers.

Chicago Tribune: Breaking news! Bulls head coach Collins and top star Michael Jordan had an internal conflict! According to people familiar with the matter, the conflict was caused by Collins tampering with the team's training scores without authorization. After the conflict, Michael Jordan left the court in anger!
"Chicago Sun-Times": The conflict between master and apprentice is definitely a dangerous signal for the Chicago Bulls. If they want to move to the next level, the team must be more harmonious and stable. Perhaps Collins' stay in the team has entered the countdown?
"Chicago Sports Daily": This is definitely the biggest crisis since Collins coached the Bulls. If handling the relationship with the top star has always been the priority of every team coach, it now seems that he has obviously messed it up. Afterwards, Jordan was fined by the Bulls. This may be bad news for Collins because it may further anger the team's top star.

(End of this chapter)